Jonny Marshall

Hi Mike, Really good first music video attempt, here's a few things that I think you should take into consideration next time: Firstly, I'd recommend investing in a better mic if you are going to use recorded sound. Ideally you want to get a prosumer recorder (I use the Zoom H2, worth around £130 ($180-$200?) but if that's out of budget, I'd certainly recommend a cheap shotgun mic if you're not using one already. Rode offer a DSLR shotgun mic for around £80 ($120?) which would do, and it will also plug right into a recorder so will still be of use if you eventually decide to invest in one. In a lot of the earlier shots you can hear the shots changing because you haven't added an atmos track. This is basically where you record the environment for several minutes and lay this track under a series of shots so that you can't hear the edits, as the sound will change with each cut. The equipment I mentioned will help with this because it is better quality and more directional than the mic on your DSLR, however if you must use your DSLR mic then just make a 2-3 minute record of the background noise and lay it under your shots so it smooths it all out. Second, some of your shots look great with really good focus, but some (particularly the wides) look more amateur. One reason is because the focus is quite flat, so you may want to move away from the action and zoom in to compensate, which will give you a more shallow depth of field for your subjects. Also, most of your shots would benefit from some basic colour grading, in particular, a contrast boost. Again, this will seperate your foreground from your background and make the shot look a lot more professional and appealing. It looks like you may have done this with some of your darker shots, or this may just be because you shot it in a darker environment. Another piece of equipment I think you'd benefit from using is a fig rig. This basically mounts your camera in such a way that when you operate it, it reduces the amount of accidental camera movement (particularly tilt, which can ruin otherwise great camerawork). They are expensive to buy but if you look around you can make them for under $20. Apart from that, just keep doing what you're doing. The video seemed to get better as it went along so it looks like you're already progressing (assuming it was shot somewhat chronologically). Also I loved the song, so.. thanks for introducing it to me!

Hi Jared, I'm planning on getting the Zoom H2n and already have the rode shotgun mic so I think I can help you out from my research. First of all, you don't necessarily have to use the Zoom and Rode independently of each other, the Rode can run through the Zoom to optimize recording quality, as in the following video: http://dslrhd.com/2010/07/dslr-audio-lavalier-vs-shotgun-microphone/ As for making it fully operational, a windshield would definitely be useful if you're going to be shooting outdoors, but it's not essential as you could optimise the sound from the Rode by running it through the Zoom (which comes with a windshield anyway). The only extra wiring you may need depends on whether you are going to record the sound onto the Zoom and sync it up in post, or feed it directly to the 60D. Here's an example of the setup to do this: http://dpexperience.com/2010/03/18/recording-audio-with-your-video-dslr-part-ii/ Basically all you need to achieve this is get two male-male 3.5mm jacks and run one from your Rode to your Zoom's mic input, and another from your Zoom's headphone input to your 60D mic input. Hope this helps. -Jonny

For the benefit of anyone looking for an answer to this question: Download this program: http://www.apple.com...streamclip.html It basically will convert anything into everything, the important part is knowing what file formats FCE will accept and not need to cache or render before playback. Without going too much into it, what you want is to convert the 550D footage: 1) Drag the file into the program 2) File > Export to quicktime 3) Use APPLE INTERMEDIATE CODEC for compression Then, in FCE you want to use one of the 1920x1080 AIC presets in FCE (50 for 24FPS footage or 60 for 30FPS - they are doubled up due to splitting the frames with interlaced footage): My one final concern is that FCE only has interlaced presets for full HD, not progressive. So for this reason I think just ensuring 'interlaced scaling' is selected when converting the footage will solve this issue, however I'm not 100% positive on how this affects the footage. It looks good to me, and removes the requirement to render the footage, but I will probably go back and ask the guy since he was really knowledgeable and can probably explain this to me - so i'll get back to you on that, but i think 90% of the problem if not 100% is solved by this program MPEG Streamclip. It's free and can be downloaded directly from the Apple website I posted. Seems like the saviour to me, hopefully it will stand the test.

For the benefit of anyone looking for an answer to this question: Download this program: http://www.apple.com...streamclip.html It basically will convert anything into everything, the important part is knowing what file formats FCE will accept and not need to cache or render before playback. Without going too much into it, what you want is to convert the 550D footage: 1) Drag the file into the program 2) File > Export to quicktime 3) Use APPLE INTERMEDIATE CODEC for compression Then, in FCE you want to use one of the 1920x1080 AIC presets in FCE (50 for 24FPS footage or 60 for 30FPS - they are doubled up due to splitting the frames with interlaced footage): My one final concern is that FCE only has interlaced presets for full HD, not progressive. So for this reason I think just ensuring 'interlaced scaling' is selected when converting the footage will solve this issue, however I'm not 100% positive on how this affects the footage. It looks good to me, and removes the requirement to render the footage, but I will probably go back and ask the guy since he was really knowledgeable and can probably explain this to me - so i'll get back to you on that, but i think 90% of the problem if not 100% is solved by this program MPEG Streamclip. It's free and can be downloaded directly from the Apple website I posted. Seems like the saviour to me, hopefully it will stand the test.

Thanks for your response Trevor. I'm pretty sure you can't create a custom sequence in final cut express, it seems to only allow use of the custom presets as shown. Can you explain to me exactly what ProRes is? I've seen it mentioned a lot but I don't really understand it. I also downloaded a plug-in for the camera which I think has something to do with converting the files to ProRes but I don't think the plug-in works with FCE.. at least I haven't been able to. Cheers, Jonny

Hi, this question is half DSLR related and half editing related but it is related so hopefully someone will be experienced enough to help me with both aspects. I have already posted this in another forum category but didn't get much of a response (I'm new to the forum so not really used to navigating where to post topics). Basically I'm looking to buy a Canon 550D for shooting video. My only problem is that I'm editing in Final Cut Express, and I'm not sure how compatible it is with DSLR footage. Firstly, I want to record in HD, but I've done some reading up and some websites have been saying that the moment you hit the record button, the resolution goes from 1080p to 480p, and that it's only true HD if you hook the cam up to a tv and use a full HDTV essentially as an external monitor via HDMI out. I was wondering if this is the case? I would have thought that if the camera is advertised as full HD it has to record in full HD - could someone shed some light on this for me? Secondly, I edit using Final Cut Express, but I am new to the software, and I'm not sure whether the sequence presets correspond with the shooting modes on the 550D. Below is a screenshot of the presets available: As it is American software there are no 24FPS options for 1080p footage (I know this because I have tried selecting all of the presets - and they are all 29.97FPS). I also know that the aspect ratio for Canon 550D footage is 1920 x 1080, so that leaves two Apple Intermediate Codecs (1920x1080i50 and 1920x1080i60). So my first question is what do the '50' and '60' actually mean? Because they are both still 29.97FPS so it must be something else which I can't quite work out. And also, they seem to be interlaced sequence presets rather than progressive, and as far as i'm aware the 550D shoots progressive. Am I right on this and will this have much of an effect when editing? One more question on this subject, I think that the 550D can record in 30FPS (although I'd appreciate confirmation on this), is that the same as 29.97FPS? And also, is there a noticeable difference between 24FPS and 30/29.97FPS? I've been told that 24FPS is better (which I don't have a preset in FCX to edit) so I will probably have to shoot in 30FPS - is it 'worse' or is there not a lot in it? I know that broadcast frame rate is 24FPS so just wondering if this is worth considering.. I have tried editing some 550D footage on my brother's 550D, and as soon as I put it on the sequence timeline it needs rendering. Does this mean that my sequence settings are wrong, and would the right sequence present mean that the footage does not need instantly rendering? And will this rendering mean that I lose quality? Finally, does anyone know what field dominance is? The 550D footage says 'none' however the sequence preset settings say 'upper (odd)'. Massive thanks to anyone who takes the time to address these questions, I know its a lot at once but hopefully there are people out there who understand all this stuff and can help me out. I don't really want to buy the camera if it turns out I can't edit the footage in FCX, because I certainly can't afford to upgrade to PRO. Cheers, Jonny

[EDIT] One more question on this subject, I think that the 550D can record in 30FPS (although I'd appreciate confirmation on this), is that the same as 29.97FPS? And also, is there a noticeable difference between 24FPS and 30/29.97FPS? I've been told that 24FPS is better (which I don't have a preset in FCX to edit) so I will probably have to shoot in 30FPS - is it 'worse' or is there not a lot in it? I know that broadcast frame rate is 24FPS so just wondering if this is worth considering..

Hi, this question is half DSLR related and half editing related but it is related so hopefully someone will be experienced enough to help me with both aspects. Basically I'm looking to buy a Canon 550D for shooting video. My only problem is that I'm editing in Final Cut Express, and I'm not sure how compatible it is with DSLR footage. Firstly, I want to record in HD, but I've done some reading up and some websites have been saying that the moment you hit the record button, the resolution goes from 1080p to 480p, and that it's only true HD if you hook the cam up to a tv and use a full HDTV essentially as an external monitor via HDMI out. I was wondering if this is the case? I would have thought that if the camera is advertised as full HD it has to record in full HD - could someone shed some light on this for me? Secondly, I edit using Final Cut Express, but I am new to the software, and I'm not sure whether the sequence presets correspond with the shooting modes on the 550D. Below is a screenshot of the presets available: As it is American software there are no 24FPS options for 1080p footage (I know this because I have tried selecting all of the presets - and they are all 29.97FPS). I also know that the aspect ratio for Canon 550D footage is 1920 x 1080, so that leaves two Apple Intermediate Codecs (1920x1080i50 and 1920x1080i60). So my first question is what do the '50' and '60' actually mean? Because they are both still 29.97FPS so it must be something else which I can't quite work out. And also, they seem to be interlaced sequence presets rather than progressive, and as far as i'm aware the 550D shoots progressive. Am I right on this and will this have much of an effect when editing? I have tried editing some 550D footage on my brother's 550D, and as soon as I put it on the sequence timeline it needs rendering. Does this mean that my sequence settings are wrong, and would the right sequence present mean that the footage does not need instantly rendering? And will this rendering mean that I lose quality? Finally, does anyone know what field dominance is? The 550D footage says 'none' however the sequence preset settings say 'upper (odd)'. Massive thanks to anyone who takes the time to address these questions, I know its a lot at once but hopefully there are people out there who understand all this stuff and can help me out. I don't really want to buy the camera if it turns out I can't edit the footage in FCX, because I certainly can't afford to upgrade to PRO. Cheers, Jonny