Matt Short

Thanks for the leads. The one from Cavision is about $630. Not too bad.

On the Panasonic website they show the Varicam with an eyepeice extender. I would like to get one for my Betacam (would help work around mattebox & FF) but, I can't seem to find out where to get one. Any ideas?

How does it compare to the mini35 adapter?

Can the EF adapter be used for for video?

What are you using to CC? Problem shots like these I would take into after effects, create masks and correct each section individually. I did a quicky with this shot. http://home.comcast.net/~mattshort1/_2_copy.jpg

I have yet to see the movie but, I read in Post, the decision to go digital was to be able to see into the shadows. To make the night seem more like real life (not a blue tint as in film) which probably explains the depth of field also.

I've rented my camera package (beta sp) a couple of times to very experienced friends of mine. I will never, I repeat, NEVER do this again. Niether one of these guys have ever owned their own equipment. All they've ever done is rent. I went on one shoot with one of these guys and couldn't believe how he treated my camera, right in front of me! I realized this would be the last time I rented out my gear about the third time I said, "Hey, Bob, how about putting the camera on the tripod instead of just dropping it in the dirt." <_<

Alvin, Here's the link for pinnacle systems, so you can check out commotion. http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.a...110&Langue_ID=7

The best program (for the money) is Commotion. It is an excellent tool for paint, rotoscope, wire/rig removal and compositing. Its only about $500 and it comes with Primatte and Composite Wizard. The main drawback is its a deadend program. There is no developement or plans for a future version. I have version 3.1 and I use it all the time. It would definitely handle everything your trying to accomplish here. Matt

I'm sure others here will agree, being able to effectively deal with difficult people is 50% of shooting. >>As for the DFN shots that have all color shits in them (not many), I'll just have to be extra tricky.<< Just use a seperate layer for each color. The main problem with the shot I did was the shirt color was very close to alot of the background. I did use a garbage matte around the girl. The entire shot may require rotoscoping the shirt. Also,for your greenscreen shots, I'd try to find somebody with the proper software to key and composite those shots instead of trying to do it with Premiere. You've got some great looking shots, to have a crappy chromakey in the middle of it would be really distracting.

I only had time to fool around with one. It was very difficult to keep any color and still make it look like night. I'm not sure if it would be very convincing in motion. In After Effects, I doubled the layer, and selected the color range of the shirt to seperate it out on that layer. Then, I tweaked the two layers with tints and levels.

How about posting a shot of the characters in colors. I'd like to try the DFN with them to see if I can get the effect and keep the colors. >>Is there sufficient blue chroma data in a YUV signal to pull a clean key? << Yes

I'm all for doing as much in-camera as possible but, I'd shoot it bluescreen and composite in After Effects. Actually, I'd probably try it both ways and have the bluescreen shot as a backup. You have alot more control and can experiment with different techniques in AE. It seems like a fairly simple composite - key out the ghost, adjust opacity, add a blur and maybe a plug-in effect like Shine. http://www.trapcode.com/products_shine.html

I took a stab at the DFN shots on my lunch break...

I do alot of greenscreen & compositing work and though your subject is too close to the greenscreen, it is a very managable shot. If you can shoot it again, move the screen back and light the subject according to your composite. Also, I find that using a Bluescreen works better with blondes. What software are you using to pull the key? You should really use something like Ultimatte or Primatte. The keyers that come standard in most NLEs are pretty lame. I took the jpeg and did a quick key to see how difficult it would be. I used Primatte with a spill suppressor and a lightwrap. I also used a smooth screen filter on the greenscreen and adjusted the levels. It took me about 5 minutes. When trying to get a decent key, you'll usually end up using a half dozen different filters, even if its properly lit & shot. Cheers