Brian Drysdale
-
Posts
5,718 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Brian Drysdale
-
-
The Avid FreeDV has one video and two audio tracks. I've got it for doing my showreels, however for anything more complex you're going to need a lot more audio tracks. For a drama 4 tracks isn't really enough, chances are you'll need at least 2 dialogue tracks and if you could need any number of tracks for building up the sound effects, plus then there's the music. I'd say you'd need at least 8 tracks. You always find that you're running out, my last short drama had 24 tracks. Using stereo sound will use up a lot of tracks.
I expect you could find a way of working around it using third party audio software. However Avid FreeDv only a demo and I understand you can't use it and then transfer your editing to one of their full programs.
-
Then at the shoot we used a tripod, Film Crew, boompole, Lighting, Sony PD170's....really the "right tools" for the job. But ya know what; people kept saying the drunken dream-imagery was the best part of the film. That taught me the value of a smaller hand-held unit, unscripted and unteathered by anything but a collison of ideas....
The right tool is what is required to tell the story in the way you want to tell it. The Bolex is a good camera and has been used on a large number of documentaries and dramas (many cameras have been converted to Super 16 and used as MOS cameras on high end productions); if it or a PD170 or whatever gets the effect and gives the quality you need, you use it.
-
Doggonit Mitch...for some reason you are making total sense. However, one point is I would only blimp the Bolex without the mags attached. I'd use the mags for MOS situations only.
Having made a home made blimp for a Bolex many years ago to shoot sync sound on a low budget film, it's a no contest. To silence the Bolex to the levels needed for a feature film the blimp would be bigger than the NPR. In the end the film I made was mostly shot with an Arri 16BL - it was sooooo much easier.
Get the tool for the job, you may need to put a barney on the NPR for some scenes, but shooting a whole film with a Bolex inside a blimp is a lot of extra work (especially reloading every 100ft). It's a great MOS camera, but not for shooting sync sound. BTW Without the proper viewfinder the 16BL is a lot worse than the NPR to handhold.
Also, shooting dialogue with 100ft loads will leave you with loads of short ends that may be too short to use.
-
Thanks Andres, I appreciate it. That is the manual I have and I must have looked at that a dozen times, but still no diagrams. Thanks, Jim
If you're in a 50hz PAL region you could point the camera at a TV and try both settings. At 25fps the picture will be stable in the viewfinder.
My much modified LTR is slightly older and changing from 25fps to 24fps involves a screw under the motor retaining ring, so I can't help directly
Failing that give one of the Aaton agents a call, they're usually very helpful.
-
After christmas I'm going to buy my first Film camera, I ve shot on DV for years but due to request I need a 16mm camera. I 've seen to good offers in the UK, a Bolex EL and an Arriflex BL. Can anyone give their opinion of which is better and why? I do know the bolex is easily converted to S16 in comparison to the Arri BL, but the build quality and the handling of the Arri looks a lot longer lasting. please send all the infomation you know, Mattundefined
It depends on what you want to use it for. The 16BL is a blimped camera for shooting sound (31db - it's a old 1970s camera), while the Bolex is an MOS camera and is quite noisy. Having said that, if you buy a 16BL check how noisy it runs, I've heard some cameras that needed work in the repair shop.
Shooting super 16 is an issue, everything in the UK is 16:9 and very little standard 16 is being shot. The Bolex is good for shots that don't require sync sound, it's useful for single frame and varible frame rates. The 16BL is a much bigger, heaver camera... it could be a culture shock if you're used to DV cameras. You also need a blimp for the lenses on the 16BL, which restricts you to older zooms that already have a blimp fitted, or the blimp for prime lenes (it takes Mk1 Distagons).
Longer term a Bolex will be more useful, if you want sync sound there are other 16mm cameras that can be modified to Super 16 and you can buy for a good price.
-
Isn't the 16 bl equiped with the magnetic sound recording ? (I remember so) If so, you have to take off all this recording stuff as a first step...
Single system sound was an option on the 16BL when shooting news. The recording heads would be easily removed and any camera that was used for shooting only double system sound wouldn't have had the heads fitted in the first place.
You'd be better converting an old Aaton LTR or an Eclair to Super 16
-
On this project we didn't use the magnetic strip, since the final film had a print with optical sound.
If you want to record the sound on the mag stripe whilst shooting you'll have to shoot single system sound (com mag) using a camera like a CP16 with a built in magnetic sound head (you'd also need the Auricon Amp/Mixer). Assuming you're using old style film editing, you can either cut the film with the sound combined with the picture (the flatbed editor will need to have a head fitted), or copy it onto a double system (if was being edited on film it would have been transferred 16mm magnetic film).
They used to shoot news this way. The sound quality wasn't as good as recording double system, but the originals are still in news film libraries. However, over time the mag stripe can lift.
If you're doing a non linear video edit, transfer the picture and sound together on a TK that has a sound head fitted for magnetic stripe. There could be a problem finding one, but they're around for transfering older material to video.
Basically, I'd ignore the magnetic stripe and use double system sound. You'll also find problems projecting it, since most 16mm projectors only have optical sound. Also, cutting single system film is a bit of a lost art: it was ok for a news item but not much else.
-
Can you cut film that already has a magnetic stripe on it before you shoot? I recently bought 2400 feet of Kodak Ektachrome 7240 Video News Film that already is magnetic striped. I have not shot on it yet and it is unopened in my fridge, but i need to know if I'll have to do an in camera edit or 12-minute takes (they're 400' each) or some mixture of both which would be infinitely more complicated than normal editing. I plan to film it with a normal no-sound 16mm camera and add sound in post. On that subject, can you film it without sound and not damage the stripe? This is an expired stock but if anyone knows if you can splice magnetic strips without sound distortion that would help a lot.
Would appreciate any suggestions - thanks!
I shot a film using mag striped B & W neg which was cut into A & B rolls without any problems. When they shot news using the mag stripe it was edited using a tape splicer. A magnet was used to wipe the sound from the overlap due to the sound head being ahead of the picture (26 frames?).
However, some film cameras may not like the magnetic stripe, certainly Aatons don't. So, it would be an idea to test the stock in the camera you're planning to use.
Brian
-
The real pain with the black bars is that if you compress for web or dvd and its shown on a computer monitor....those darn bars DO show. You need crop 5 to 10 pixels on the left and right on Compressor or whatever app you use for web and dvd compression to crop those out.
These films are being delivered on Digi Beta, but there will be dvd copies made and the films are also going be video projected at festivals.
I'll pass that info to the editor.
-
Hi,
Perfectly normal and no, it will not be seen on underscanned displays if they are operating correctly. I believe it's something like the first and last six pixels of each line which may contain picture but, according to the 601 spec, "may not be used for any other purpose". Most cameras blank them.
This is one reason that a lot of software, including Adobe Premiere, gets aspect ratio conversion very slightly wrong - the actual 4:3 or 16:9 picture area is that inside the 704-wide central area of the frame, not the entire 720 width.
Phil
Thanks, I've told him not to worry. Most productions here are shot on Sony cameras and they don't have the black bands on either side on the FCP.
-
The editor on a couple of short films that I shot using a SDX 900 shooting on DVPro50 at 25P has noticed narrow vertical black bands on either side of the 16 x 9 picture. He's cutting it on Final Cut Pro HD using interlaced PAL, rather than progressive frames and he's curious about these black bands. The pictures themselves are fine and the black bands are outside normal viewing on a monitor, but would be seen on underscan.
Has anyone come across these before and know the cause?
-
Hi,
We used the greenscreen from a Steadicam for a nightvision effect from a helicopter in a short film. We shot the original on video at dusk and played it back through the Steadicam, filming the monitor screen using the 35mm camera. Worked for a one off shot.
Brian
-
Hi,
This weekend I'm going to be shooting the first of three short films using a Panasonic SDX 900 with Canon Zooms (An unusual camera here). I'm planning to shoot at 25P on DVPro50, posting on Final Cut Pro for delivery on PAL Digital Betacam for screening at festivals with digital projection and possible TV transmission, with no current plans for a film out . Unfortunately, the camera will only be arriving the day before the shoot with a 9 inch monitor, so there will be little opportunity to test.
For the first film I'm thinking of shooting with the "Film Like 2" gamma selection (For the other shorts I may try out one or two of the scene files from the Panasonic web site). I'm just pondering over the best detail setting for the lenses that we're using.
I notice that there are a number of different settings: the Master DTL in the Paint menu and then "H DTL" levels for each of the gain settings (low, Mid, High). Does the Paint menu override the gain DTL settings? Since I notice the manual recommends different DTL setting for each gain level.
The manual recommended 0 for the V DTL when shooting 25P, so that's the way I plan to set it.
I've got a fair amount of info on the Varicam and used it at the Santa Fe HD Workshops, how much crossover is there?
Brian Drysdale,
DP & Steadicam
Belfast
freeware video editing
in Students, New Filmmakers, Film Schools and Programs
Posted
You could try Audacity. It's a freeware sound editor and has multi tracking. You'd have to work out the syncing issue, but perhaps by laying down a couple of tracks on the Free DV at a time, they could be dumped over into the Audiacity and your sound track built up. It's really intended for home studio type use, but might be worth testing. I haven't used it, but a friend has used it for their music.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/