Guest fstop Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Hi, I posted at another forum some time ago about shooting Sony DSR 500 and I was recommended to purchase a piece of software from www.dvfilm.com that apparently can convert the footage into 24p- has anyone tried this and do you have any advice/info you can give me or tell me how I should go about all this? What are the results like? Is this software used professionally- do you see it in use on TV or anywhere? Any soaps? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landon D. Parks Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 I used it once. It's about the best software you can get that de-interlaces the footage. It's still not as good as shooting in 24p in the first place however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Landon, what camera and format did you shoot with? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 anyone please? much appreciated! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Connolly Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hi I've not used the DVfilm software but you can download a demo version of the software(from the dvfilm site), this would allow you test it with your footage. Since your in PAL land you would need to convert to 25p. You can get good results de-intelacing footage, personally I think 'The League of Gentlemen' is well done, but I'm not sure what software is used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 I'd heard about that- I'd always loved the look of that too- the Xmas special particularly looked like Seale's work on Harry Potter! What do they shoot League on? Anything like DSR 500? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Connolly Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 The location stuff on league of gentlemen is shot on Digi-Beta, from the DVD 'making of' doco it looks like a sony camera so I guess it would be either the dvw-700wsp or dvw-790wsp. On season 3 the slow motion footage is shot on super-16, and it matches the beta stuff, it's intercut with, really well, they must have a great grader. If you do find a good de-interlacer, pls report back. I've got at DSR-500/570 project coming up and I'm thinking about de-interlacing it - if I can find a way of doing it well (ie league of gentlemen standards) without paying a fortune. In the past I've just kept my footage in 50i because I've never been happy with the results I've got de-inerlacing in FCP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 are the dvw-700wsp or dvw-790wsp hard to use compared to the DSR500? I was considering putting some extra money onto one of my films and going with one of those as oppose to doing another DSR500 piece. It's only an extra £100/150 or so to rent, and insurance can't be that higher... Perhaps I'm aiming too high- I need some pros and cons please!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted September 29, 2004 Premium Member Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hi, Digibeta cameras are bigger and heavier than DVCAM; the battery life and tape running time is shorter. Other than that it's a pretty similar experience. The main issue is postproduction - if you dub it down to a DV format for post you won't see much if any difference from just shooting DVCAM, apart from possibly the better hilight handling of hyper HAD CCDs. If you want to post in the usual way, that'll almost inevitably mean either going to a commercial post house or renting a digibeta deck and obtaining or renting something like a Kona SDI input board. The alternative, and mucn mooted, solution is to have your digibeta work transferred to hard disks. I don't know where would do this, but as soon as you can get it on something your desktop computer can read it's going to be reasonably easy to convert it into something you can cut in your favourite NLE. But essentially, the downside to that reasonably-cheap digibeta camera upgrade is the complex and expensive post. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Wow! Thanks for the info, Phil- renting Beta decks and all make it sound as complex as post for shooting film!! I think I should do the first film, see the results with that dvfilm thing, and then decide where i want to go. How long does it take to transfer digibeta to hard disks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Connolly Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hi I've used the dwv-700, its very similar to the dsr-500 to use, all the main controls are in the same place. Also the viewfinder is 2" rather than 1.5", giving a clearer image which is nice. If anything digi-beta is easier to shoot than dv, since you have more colour lattitude to change things in post. Paul Wheelers book 'Digital Cinematography' has a good section in the back detailing the picture setup menus of the Dvw-700/790 and gives suggested settings. Whether or not to shoot on it is a difficult decision and it depends on your post production route, overall budget and the look you are going for. I shot my first short film on the dvw-700, it was self financed and I got a good deal on the camera and I felt the quality would be worth it, but I had problems in post. The digi camera tapes were dubbed to dvcam, so I could do the off-line edit at home on adobe premier. A freind at a post house had offored me free time to online edit the digi-tapes, one of the reasons I shot digi in the first place. Ultimately I never got this free downtime (even after waiting lots) and I couldn't afford to pay the going rate for a digi-beta online(or even half the going rate). So the final version of the film is the slightly lower quality edit I created, from the DV dubs - defeating the point of shooting on digi-beta. My next film is going to be shot on the dsr 500, because in my case I know that I can finish it at home on my PC(if need be), rather than spending lots of money on the edit or relying on favors. You can can get very good results on the dsr-500, and by spending less on the camera it free's up money for other things, like more lights. digi-beta tape stock is more expensive as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fstop Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Excellent info, PhilC! It seems then that for my projects DigiBeta is a needless excess and that Sony DSR 500 will do the job- If the controls etc are similar, could I get DigiBeta jobs having worked shooting DSR 500? It sounds like it's only the post that's different (and complex) and more a money factor. After my first shoot, we'll see if this dvfilm thing looks any good. I've REALLY got to learn about this post/conversion/computer power/compression thing ASAP. Best buy some Pro Plus before I post the thread! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted September 29, 2004 Premium Member Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hi, If you have used a video camera, you've more or less used most of them, except for the subtleties of the menus. However no employer ever believes this and will refuse to hire you unless you have experience on the type at hand. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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