Paddy Eason

Update - there's a chance the issues visible in these images were one-offs. Similar tests with another D20 didn't exhibit them. Further testing in progress, so for now, pls don't assume that all D20's will have these problems... of course if you are planning on using this new-ish camera, you would be doing your own tests.

Ah - forgive me, I thought we were discussing the D20 here. Obviously the discussion switched to a different camera 5 pages ago, and I missed it. For anyone who's interested, here are some small patches (actual pixels, no resizing) cut out of some D20 HD images from tests we did a few weeks ago. Arri D20, shooting 4:4:4 uncompressed into the s.two. Camera shooting in "User 6" mode, which, if memory serves, is one of the higher gain (1 or 2 stops) video-ish colourspace settings, with highlight compression on. Images taken into Shake, and saved out as highest quality jpegs. Yes, yes, yes, I know that conversion to jpeg potentially brings up a load of issues, but I think that you will still see some things of interest in these images. Most specifically the high level of noise in the red and blue relative to the green, and also the low resolution and "blockiness" of the red and blue relative to green. Also some obvious and colourful moire. Quite worrying. YMMV. In the camera's defence, I should add that we shot a load of material of more "naturalistic" subjects, projected it all in a high-end grading suite with a high spec projector, and sat for a couple of hours commenting on how wonderful the material looked. So it's probable that Arri have made the necessary compromises in the right places. Trouble is - I have a load of chromakey shots to worry about! ;)

I'm certainly no expert, but I think you are misunderstanding the way Bayer arrays work: http://www.arri.com/news/newsletter/articl...9211103/d20.htm

It's a nice idea, but there's a couple of things that spring to mind - - How big IS that market for stop motion cameras? - If final delivery is 35mm print, and one is doing a DI, how much does one gain from shooting at a higher res (eg full 2880 wide as per the Arri's full RAW Bayer output)? Can you get 2880 images through any known post pipeline? - Digital SLRs are getting pretty damn good, and shoot at considerably more that 1920 or 2880 wide. Usually with a smaller chip than 35mm too, which has got to be helpful when it comes to stop motion (DOF probs). I couldn't comment on the difference between 35mm film lenses and pro 35mm/digital stills lenses though. But I can see why it seems a neat idea, technically. I like the idea of shooting extended dymamic range by autobraketing. Very nice. How does anyone feel Corpse Bride looked? Shot on Nikon prosumer DSLRs, I believe (or was it Canon?).

After you take your SR tape (or s.two DMag or whatever) it seems to me you still have a few hoops to jump through before you get to the finish line...

Not true. As I understand it, they are working on (or have just released) an upgrade that takes the ASA to 320 (?). Just before that, through use of different user settings with varying amount of gain, you had a choice up to 200. Of course, you can underexpose and "push" process in the grade any amount you want, with concurrent noise issues. From what I have seen, noise/grain is considerably less than what you would see with 35mm film of a similar ASA rating.

ah, now, you've made me feel reaally stupid already... ;) The problem is, yes, it's tape. Most of us already involved on this feature have spent decades avoiding anything with the word "video" in, and consequently our brains lock up when someone says "tape" or "timecode" or "deck". And this stuff ain't obvious, in terms of detailed workflow - you can ask the people sweeping up the mess on several features that are around in post right now... But your tech hints are actually quite revealing and reassuring (some of the same lines we have been thinking on). I may well email you - thanks for the offer! P

We are in the middle of some testing of just this. We ran an Arri D20, shooting 4:4:4 into both the SRW-1 deck at HQ quality (2:1 compression) and also the s.two disk array (no compression) simultaneously. Very shortly I will be having a look to see whether the compresson of the SR deck has any visible implications for grading, keying etc. We are trying to work out a complele pipeline for our production (med budget vfx-heavy feature) using either the SRW1 or the s.two. Or both. It's certainly not obvious how to run all this through with complete safety, redundancy, convenience etc. Actually, it's a complete headache. I am really hankering after 35mm again! Can anyone show me a tried-and-tested pipeline for SR > final print? :) P.