Regarding greenscreen work, I had my VFX Supervision class do a studio greenscreen test shoot with a variety of cameras (RED MX, 35mm Kodak 7212, 5D, 5D Magic Lantern, 7D, 7D Magic Lantern, GH2, GH2 Sedna). The RED MX and 35mm were obvious winners, but among the DSLRs, the GH2 Sedna reigned supreme. With skill and enough effort, it's not unreasonable to get RED-quality keying with the hacked GH2 (with a light application of Neat Video) - the key is to shoot it properly on-set.
all keying was accomplished with The Foundry's Keylight
@pinger007 Good to hear. I plan to shoot both Scarlet and GH2 together for green screen on Saturday.
@blackspot ....thanks for those green screen tips...I will utilize them!
@Gameb, thanks, good to know...
@thepalalias did you compared scarlet with gh2 ?? what are the major difference between them ?
@rajamalik Today was my first day with the Scarlet. I spent pretty much the whole day getting as deep into the camera as I could and creating presets. But I have downloaded the new firmware that will enable the higher framerates and plan to install it tomorrow, then I`ll be applying it to shooting more real world conditions. It would be unfair to do any comparisons with the GH2 until after all that (and I will be happy to do so).
However, as a first impression, I will say that the difference in dynamic range and noise level is really noticeable and I love the ability to check for shadow and highlight clipping at the push of a button. I had to work a lot harder to exceed the dynamic range of the camera than I do with video mode of DSLRs released so far, including the GH2. And the Scarlet 2K 60P seems to have less rolling shutter than the 1080 24P on the GH2 (or 720 60P on the GH2 for that matter).
The Scarlet also has the ability to name and store in-depth presets (which I used to come up with frame rate, resolution, shutter speed and HDRX combinations) and that combined with REDcode RAW means that you can spend more of your time preparing before you get on-location instead of doing it while the talent is waiting. ISO, WB, etc. are all just meta data on the file so you can change it after you get it in post.
There is a definite learning curve that first day, but I have reviewed practically every menu and focused in on the ones most relavant to my shooting approach by now. So when the testing comes, it should be a lot more fair than if I had just done it without enough prep.
So here is looking forward to CM Night and RED Scarlet working together later in the week. So far, each of them seems able to do important things the other cannot and each seems like a great tool for different applications. For instance, it is way easier to handhold the Scarlet with a 13 lb lens than with the GH2.
Updates this weekend.
Hey! I am shooting a short with mostly the 'Natural setting" and one or two shots with the VY canis majoris day setting and I was trying to render the video using sony vegas....IT LOOKS HORRIBLE! Does anyone know what settings to use in order to render the video in the best quality considering I do not have to put it on the internet?
@thepalalias I'm looking forward to it :). Thanks for all your hard work testing and helping people on the forum too.
@leejb4 Depends on how you want to play it back, what size you want, etc. Since you mention not needing Internet playbac", I am guessing you just want to create a master or digital intermediate. For that, install either of the following free codecs: UT Codec (PC playback only) or GoPro Studio (works with both PC and Mac and c installs the Cineform codec). The first is matmatically lossless and the second is "viusally lossless". The first is larger in file size and plays in fewer applications, the second is smaller in file size, can playback at higher frame rates and works on both PC and Mac. Neither one works inVLC, so if you inted to use that, HUFFYUV is a lower performance codec that can also create high quality files.
Make sure to set the project settings to use "best quality" and the same frame rate as your source material. Then in the AVI dialog (when you render/export) make sure to do the same. The codecs mentioned above all support Iwndows Video AVI, but if you are heading for a Mac, you could also output to Quicktime .MOV and use the mathmatically lossless Animation codec.
I hope one of these will be helpful you. Note that, with the exception of Cineform, many of them are too data intensive for real_time playback on some systems. Cineform generally supports real time playback on most modern systems. Other good codecs (if the above do not meet your needs) are DNxD and the Matrox codec, both of which bear similarities to the Cineform codec but may be supported in different programs.
If your quality issues are the result of resizing, simply use the original resolution when creating the master and then open the .AVI file (and do use a .avi file) to open in VirtualDub. In virtualdub, add a resize filter and set it to lanczos3 and then set "compression" to one of the codecs above and save. Good luck!
@strabcali Thanks!
I know it's a silly question but how do I download the zip files Nick posted?
@tokionwonder make sure you are logged in, and then click on the link.
@mee duh! i was trying without logging in. lol. thanks!!
@tokionwonder no problem, I did the same thing my first time. Kept clicking, and wondering why nothing was happening ^.^
@mee @tokiowonder me too LOL.
@driftwood , any news on cluster 2.0 ?
@thepalalias that is a cool update act scarlet and gh2. hai if you could do a motion test between this 2 it will clear lots of doubts,..the most dicussed topic about dslr and digital film camera is their motion capture,...the fast moving object (car) road highway,...train even,..try something and post,..if gh2 is near it can be used for commercial pictures too,....
Scarlet at 2K is softer than the GH2 at 1080p. But it's definitely better regarding RS.
@thepalalias Careful with the beta update, it will give you phantom power and many other goodies, but it's still flaky. I wouldn't use it for serious production work yet, at least keep a force downgrade to the production version ready on a SSD. Make sure to reset the Scarlet to factory settings before doing the upgrade!
For those interested: today I spent 3 hours shooting with a Scarlet using 3.2.8 beta. No problems at all - the camera performed perfectly all day, including shooting 1280x480 at 120fps and at 60fps with HDRX, etc.
I kept waiting for some sort of "gotcha" moment, but it never came. The image quality is great and the stability was solid throughout.
The green screen shoot schedule will not pan out, but hopefully I can do some more direct comparisons tomorrow. Today I had my hands full shooting over 3 hours of handheld footage with a 13 lb lens and no viewfinder. :)
I did some quick and dirty tests for my self with VY CM. One word "SUPERB". Didn't take tripod so the video is rubbish but the single frames show it all. This was done with EX Tele using Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 macro. I use Nostalgic c+2, s+2 filme (Canon look). Tomorrow I'll do proper videos.
@thepalias Glad to read this! I suspect we have a faulty side handle…
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