Life, love, and the pursuit of pixels

Monthly archives for May, 2011

Tuesday Tip #3 – Compression: Keyframes are your Friends

May31
2011 2 Comments Written by Marco Solorio

To those that are new to video compression and encoding, there may be a setting you might not know about, or are unfamiliar with if you have seen it. It’s the “keyframe” setting in many video encoding applications.

A video compression keyframe has nothing to do with an animation keyframe, so let’s get that out of the way first. When encoding video for the web, or anything that needs small files while maintaining decent visual quality, keyframes can be your secret weapon. Think of video compression keyframes as your reference frames to which all successive frames will be based on. This way, those successive frames don’t need to “recreate” the entire frame of visual data, only what has changed from the keyframe.

The encoding window in QuickTime Player Pro. Keyframe options are in the Motion section in the top-left area.

So if you had a keyframe for every frame (a value of “1”), you’d essentially have no keyframes and your file size would be huge. If you’re gunning for maximum quality without worry of file size, then definitely set your keyframe to 1.

If you set your keyframe value to 240 (and your video was 24 FPS), then you’d have a keyframe every 10 seconds. This is great for talking head type videos where there isn’t a lot of change in the picture. This will surely help produce smaller file sizes while maintaining quality.

If you’re somewhere in the middle with fast moving elements in the picture, then you’ll probably want to have a value somewhere between 48 and 96 (again, if you’re running at 24 FPS). That will give you a keyframe between 2 seconds and 4 seconds, respectively.

Like any digital art form, you need to play with it to get the best results you’re looking for. Maybe do 10 or 20-second sample tests before you encode your 3-hour feature length masterpiece.

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Reviewing the Shape Quick Handle + Rod Block

May29
2011 5 Comments Written by Marco Solorio

At first glance, the visual appearance of Shape’s Quick Handle is stunning with all the machined aluminum parts, and red accents. I was excited to receive it and give it a spin… literally speaking!

The Shape Quick Handle + Rod Block looks as good as it performs

When the Quick Handle arrived, I was even more pleased. The unit as a whole is completely solid and well crafted. I long since abandoned using any kind of handle mechanism that doesn’t use a locking teeth system to ensure the handles don’t move out of place over time. Without teeth, this will undoubtedly happen with heavier cameras, or even lighter cameras with sudden movements. With locking teeth, the handles are guaranteed to never move out of place. Ever.

Shape Quick Handle mounted to 15mm rods

The other problem I’ve had with other handle systems is that even if they have a locking teeth system, it takes two hands to loosen and tighten them into a different position. With the Shape Quick Handle, you can easily and quickly change the angle of each handle with one hand. Just grip the handle, press the red button on the side, pull the handle out (will only come out a little, so you wont have to worry about it completely coming out), spin the handle to the new location, mesh the teeth, and let the handle spring back into place (it is spring loaded, which is great). It couldn’t be easier. There are plenty of times when I need to change the handle to a more extreme angle, like mounting the camera from sticks to a crane or a tabletop dolly. Takes all of about one second per handle!

The Shape's thumb buttons allow for one-handed operation to quickly change the handle's angle.

I also really like the fact that the handle section is lower than the rod block section. This helps keep the handles away from hitting my follow focus and/or my mattebox. It just makes for a tighter fit if I need to.

Front view of the Shape Quick Handle + Rod Block. Note how the handles are out of the way of the matte box and follow focus.

The one thing I wish was slightly changed was how the tighten mechanism works for the rod block. I’d prefer a tightening screw at the bottom of the rod block, rather than on the side of it. It would make for easier tightening of the rod block in more compact situations.

The entire unit might be slightly heavier than others because it’s all aluminum. But for me, I’d rather have the all-aluminum build quality, knowing that it’ll never crack or break under stress.

Note that I paid for this unit; it was not given to me for free for review. I’ve done many, many reviews for DV Magazine, Creative Cow, and other popular resources, but I liked this unit so much that I felt compelled to review it, even though I paid for it out of my own pocket.

The Shape Quick Handle + Rod Block is definitely the best handle system I’ve used. It’s definitely my A-camera handle system of choice!

Visit the Shape Quick Handle + Rod Block product page.

$349 USD List
$300 USD Street

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Tuesday Tip #2 – Variable ND and Polarizers

May24
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Marco Solorio

From amateurs to Hollywood cinematographers, many people have adopted the use of DSLR cameras in their HD productions. Here at OneRiver Media, we’ve been shooting with the Canon 5D Mk II from the very beginning, around late 2008.

The Vari-N-Duo mounted to our Canon 85mm f/1.2L

One of the main reasons people love shooting with DSLRs, including us, is because of the huge image sensors they employ, especially so with the 5D Mk II. Those large imagers can deliver razor-thin depth-of-field (DOF). In most cases, you would use a fast prime lens, with its aperture wide open to get the narrowest DOF out of your camera. The only problem is, as soon as you open up that aperture, you expose that large sensor to more and more light. Obviously this can be a problem on a bright sunny day, or shooting on a well lit set.

Nothing really new about neutral density (ND) filters in general, but for me, having a variable ND filter with me whenever I shoot is one of my must-have tools. I personally use a Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo filter, which is actually two tools in one; a variable ND filter and a circular polarizer. But there are many variable ND filters out there to choose from. I’ve found the Vari-N-Duo to be bullet proof, clean, and well made.

If you want to shoot wide-open on a well lit environment, to obtain that beautiful narrow DOF, you could increase the shutter speed, but if you’re trying to stick around 1/48th that 24 FPS film employs, then upping the shutter speed wont really do the trick (unless you want your entire film to look like Saving Private Ryan).

Bringing down the ISO won’t really do the trick either, at least in sunny conditions.

Marco Solorio adjusting the Vari-N-Duo on set after a lens swap

So to combat all of this, ND filters are used. But rather than carrying around a bulk of fixed ND filters, using a variable ND filter allows you to dial in just the right amount of ND filtration you need. My Vari-N-Duo stops down from about 2-2/3 stops to 8 full stops.

Here are a few tips if you’re going for that filmic look in a well-lit environment. First, put the variable ND filter on your lens. Next, set your ISO to a low (less noisy) value, preferably in 1/3rd values if you’re using a Canon DSLR. Then set your shutter speed around the 1/48th rate. Finally, set your F-stop as fast (lower number) as you can handle. Remember, narrower DOF means you need to be incredibly accurate with your focus pulls!

If the look you’re going for requires your lens to be wide open, you’ll need to adjust your variable ND filter accordingly to get proper exposure. The nice thing is, you just twist the ND ring until you get the exact exposure you need. It’s kind of like working the F-stop on a clickless aperture ring that most video lenses employ, except instead of losing DOF in the process, you maintain the same exact DOF throughout the range of the variable ND filter.

Oh and what about the circular polarizer? The reason I like having both filters in one is that I also love using circular polarizers, even in the studio. It can literally change the specularity (glossy reflection value) of a leather chair, or can change the way the light reacts to a desk’s surface. Outdoors, it can make the sky a richer, deeper blue. Likewise, it can make street surfaces darker and richer as well. And of course, the main reason for polarizers is for removing overly excessive reflections in glass, especially useful for shooting automobiles.

Last tip, whichever filter you end up getting, buy it in its largest available thread size, usually 77mm or 82mm. It may cost you a little more, but this will ensure it will always fit your largest lens, including future lenses you might purchase down the road. For your smaller lenses, get yourself some cheap step-up rings from eBay. Going from 52mm to 77mm is easy. If you end up buying a 77mm-sized lens later on and you have a 72mm filter, you wont be able to use it.

So there are a few tips for you this Tuesday. Get yourself a variable ND filter, preferably one with a circular polarizer. Chances are, you’ll wonder how you’ve shot without one all this time.

77mm Vari-N-Duo to Fotodiox 72mm to 77mm step-up ring to B+W UV filter to 85mm f/1.2L lens.

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Tuesday Tip #1 – Exposing for Chromakey

May17
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Marco Solorio

When shooting chromakey footage (green screen or blue screen), here are a few short camera exposure tips to ensure your keyed footage is the best that it can be.

Note the super clean green screen. Gaffer, Dan Juenemann (left). Actor, Ricky Wang (center). DP, Marco Solorio (right). Sony EX1 via 10-bit HD-SDI to an AJA Ki Pro using ProRes 422 HQ.

Stop down your lens
I personally LOVE to shoot wide open (narrow depth of field), but on a chromakey set, I like to stop down the aperture. This will make the talent sharp, including their hair. If you don’t stop down and the hair is too soft from narrow depth-of-field, the keyer will have a tougher time trying to key it. Do try to distance the talent from the green/blue screen so that if there is any blurriness beyond their focus zone, the green/blue screen will at least benefit from being a little soft.

Faster shutter speeds
If your shot can get away with using a faster shutter speed without losing the aesthetic of the overall scene, then do it. You’ll pull a much cleaner key if your keyer isn’t dealing with motion blur, especially between moving fingers where it’s most problematic.

Gaffer, Dan Juenemann (left). Actor, Jeffrey Weissman (center). DP, Marco Solorio (right).

Low gain/ISO
Always try to keep your noise level down so your keyer isn’t dealing with unnecessary noise levels, as some cameras will introduce colored noise, something we obviously want to stay away from for our green or blue background.

So if you’re going to stop down your lens, increase the shutter speed and lower the gain/ISO, you’ll have to make sure you have a LOT of light for this, for both the green/blue screen and the talent. If you’re finding you don’t have enough light for everything, try slowing down the shutter speed first and go from there. If you’re using a camera with a large image sensor and clean ISO ratings from 100 up to around 1600 ISO, then try increasing the ISO first.

Happy keying!

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All Production Under One Roof

May16
2011 1 Comment Written by Marco Solorio

Jack Kulp recording voice-overtracks in OneRiver Media's sound booth

Today we worked on a long-term project with a company called Syneron and their ePrime product. Our client flew in from Boston last night and flew back out today at the end of the day’s edit. Now that’s dedication!

In the middle of the day, Jack Kulp came in for scheduled voice-over recordings that we needed for the ePrime video edit. Those in the San Francisco Bay Area will know Jack from his morning radio shows on 96.5, KOIT FM. Great guy, great voice talent.

It’s always wonderful working with voice-over talent like Jack, where they can read lines perfectly, even when there’s technical jargon thrown in the mix. After the recording session was done, Jack complimented on how well our recording booth sounded, which was a treat to hear, considering Jack is a voice-talent veteran.

Marco Solorio sitting behind the ProControl mixing console with Jack Kulp on mic in the booth

We use our Neumann TLM-103 on Jack, which matches him very well. We have an Electro-Voice RE-20 mic that would sound great on him too (which he most likely uses at the radio station), but we feel the Neumann is perfect for him. Engineering was done on our Digidesign ProControl system, running ProTools HD.

As always, the tracks Jack recorded were excellent. After Jack left, we hopped back in the main edit suite and pulled the voice-over tracks over the network from the audio control room.  The tracks were then dropped into Final Cut Pro for the video project.

The great thing about having all production and post-production resources in one facility is that it makes for incredibly fast workflows and enormous flexibility. This also eliminates any trans-facility errors and delays, the client is right there for every step of the process, and reduces the overall cost from hiring multiple facilities for different tasks. A value-added benefit for our clients that reinforces our commitment for complete media services.

OneRiver Media's recording studio

OneRiver Media's main edit suite
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Behind the scenes on the set of Saba

May13
2011 3 Comments Written by Marco Solorio

View from video village and out to the set.

OneRiver Media was recently brought on board to help produce a video for Saba Software. Miner Productions is the main producing agency (Tracey Miner as producer), OneRiver Media was brought on for director of photography and technical director (both assigned to Marco Solorio) and all post-production, and Left Coast Productions (Barbara Murray) was brought on as production director and production management. The production itself was shot at ICV in Pleasanton, California in their three-wall cyc studio.

 

Lead actress Taylor Ray touches a clear sheet of plexiglass that sits between her and the camera. Motion graphics will later be composited together to give the shot the "Minority Report" effect. Viewed from the video viallge LCD screen.

We had a two-day production for this shoot (May 10-11), as organized by Barbara Murray. The video itself is supposed to have a Minority Report feel to it for certain parts of the video (namely where the actors interact with a transparent screen). Because of the complexity of the production, it was up to OneRiver Media to figure out how it was all going to work, both in production and in post-production.

Since this video is supposed to have a cinematic look and feel to it, we knew shooting this with our DSLR cameras and our collection of super fast primes was the best option. It’s also our favorite way to shoot video.

 

The Shoot

5D on left (DP, Marco Solorio), floating on 12-foot crane. 7D on right (opperated by Atticus Culver-Rease) locked down on sticks.

Day 1 consisted of a two-camera shoot, so we used our Canon 5D Mk II as the A camera (Marco Solorio, director of photography) and the 7D as the B camera (operated by Atticus Culver-Rease). The 5D Mk II was rigged up in our “cine rig” configuration, which consisted of a View Factor cage as the base, which allows us to mount rods top and bottom for the kind of gear we want to mount to it.

 

 

 

Director of Photography, Marco Solorio sets up the 7D B-camera for some tight B-roll shots.

The 7D was more “tame” with regard to rigging, but did its job well and the footage between the 5D and 7D match extremely well together. All settings were matched together as closely as possible, including picture profiles, white balance, shutter speed (1/45 on 5D and 1/50 on 7D), ISO at 160, and frame-rate. Aperture was usually wide open on the 5D (thanks to our Singh Ray Vari-ND-Duo), but the 7D was stopped down a little more on most shots even though we could have put an ND filter in its matte box.

 

 

Swapping prime lenses on the 5D Mk II "cine rig".

Both cameras were fed to the video village for the director, producer and client to view. The 5D Mk II has an onboard Blackmagic Design HDMI-to-SDI mini converter, which then drives the onboard TVLogic LVM-071w monitor and the HD-SDI feed to the video village. The 7D however split its HDMI signal (passively) to its onboard Ikan 5” LCD monitor and to video village. Still amazes me that both the 5D and 7D can passively split the HDMI signal (and at decent lengths at that), yet neither of them can output a clean, raw 1080 HD signal. But I digress.

5D Mk II floating on 12-foot crane. Actors waiting for director to call action.

Because we wanted some interesting motion in the video, we brought our 12-foot Kessler Crane with remote turret. We ended up controlling the camera from the camera-side of the crane since we had more control that way and merely wanted to “float” the camera around. We didn’t need extreme vertical height, but did float it up and down at times. The 7D on the other hand was always on sticks, but did follow the actors at times, and acquired some B-roll. In the end, our remote turret never ended up being used for this shoot.

 

Short iPhone video of DP, Marco Solorio testing out the motion of the crane.

Using our 12-foot Kessler Crane kind of like a Steadicam rig in terms of smooth motion, except we have the added benefit of smooth vertical Y-axis movement.

Director, Barbara Murray (bottom center) sitting with actors. Producer, Tracey Miner (top center) getting iPad ready for scene.

We did dual-system sound for both days. All audio was set up and recorded by Darcel Walker, a true master of the craft. Since the DSLRs can’t input or output timecode in real-time, I decided that we’d use Darcel’s Fostex PD-6 as the master timecode reference, which also fed our digital timecode slate. Every shot had timecode reference on picture at the head of the take.

Day 1 was extremely complicated, as far as staging setups were concerned, but we trucked through and made it all work. The footage looks great with nice narrow DOF on many of the shots. From the large collection of lenses we have, we used the following for the first day: 35mm f/1.4L, 50mm f/1.2L, 85mm f/1.2L II and the 135mm f/2L. There’s a lot of motion-tracking and chromakeying to be performed for the first day’s footage, but that’ll be another blog post.

Green screen setup for day 2. Gaffer, Dan Juenemann (left). Actor, Jeffrey Weissman (center). DP, Marco Solorio (right).

Day 2 was completely different, even though the footage would be used for the same video. Instead of using our DSLRs for the second day of shooting, I decided that using our Sony EX1 tethered to an AJA Ki Pro would be best since we’re shooting against a green screen cyc for this day. The EX1 has a huge advantage over the DSLRs in this regard with its 10-bit uncompressed HD-SDI output spigot. For chromakeying, this is, well, key! That 10-bit signal is then sent to the AJA Ki Pro, which we set to ProRes 422 HQ for maximum quality. We want every ounce of color fidelity for chromakeying and this combination of camera and DVR works extremely well to accomplish that. After approving Dan Juennemann and Clark Todd’s lighting setup with the waveform/vectorscope, we were all set to start shooting.

Note the super clean green backing. Gaffer, Dan Juenemann (left). Actor, Ricky Wang (center). DP, Marco Solorio (right).

Like all chromakey production we’ve done for about 15 years now, we’ll be using Ultimatte, so we shoot with the actors as normal, then shoot without them for a “clean plate” so Ultimatte can pull an ever better looking key.

In the end, both days resulted in great footage and audio. The client left happy, the producer left happy, the director left happy and I left happy. That’s what it’s all about, right? Stay tuned for a post-production blog post on this project in the next few weeks when the video is completed and approved by the client.

 

Gaffer, Dan Juenemann getting the slate ready for the final shot of the day... the clean plate! And that's a wrap, folks!

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Behind the scenes on the set of Ravelco

May08
2011 1 Comment Written by Marco Solorio

Directory, David Valentin, and Director of Photography, Marco Solorio getting ready for a take.

On April 29th, 2011, we ventured out to Menlo Park, California to shoot three commercials in one day. Yep, three. In one day. Craziness indeed. But to make a long blog short, the footage looked great in the end, and the client was pleased with how it was looking. We were going for the cinematic look-and-feel and we’re pleased we accomplished that.

A big thanks goes out to Ravelco for the opportunity to shoot these commercials for them. If you don’t know who they are, go check them out. Over 4-million anti-theft units installed, and they’ve never had a vehicle stolen! Best automotive anti-theft device on the market, bar none.

Looking at the shot at the video village: Suzette Mariel, Dan Juenemann, Carlos Lopez and Scott Garriott.

The Operation
Ravelco called on about eight production companies to bid on the project. As it got widdled down, it was between OneRiver Media and another company. In the end, OneRiver Media ultimately won the bid for the entire project, for both production and post-production.

The production crew was comprised of six people; David Valentin, director. Marco Solorio, director of photography. Carlos Lopez, lighting director. Suzette Mariel, production management and MUA. Dan Juenemann, grip. Scott Garriott, PA. Anne Marie Ross, behind-the-scenes photographer.

The cast included four actors; Phaedra Starr, Alex Alensandro Garcia, Jennifer Welch, and Carl Miller.

Marco Solorio seting up the 5D Mk II "cine rig"

The Camera
Because we wanted to go for a cinematic look, I decided to use our Canon 5D Mk II as a base, coupled with our large selection of Canon L primes. Interestingly, we ended up only using four different lenses for the entire day; 35mm f/1.4L II, 50mm f/1.2L (used for most of the production), 85mm f/1.2L II, and the 135mm f/2L.

 

Because we’re shooting at 1080p24, I always kept the shutter speed at 1/50, the closest setting the 5D Mk II gives us to the optimum 1/48 filmic shutter speed.

Centered is the 5D Mk II "cine rig" with the 3-ton rig truck behind it.

For the majority of shots, we shot wide open at the lenses’ fastest speed, giving that narrow depth-of-field we were gunning for. Anywhere from f/1.2 to f/2, tops, but we usually stayed around f/1.2 and f/1.4. We weren’t noticing any softness or chromatic aberration (sometimes encountered when shooting wide open) in the types of shots we were shooting, so we kept it wide open most of the time.

To help with exposure control coming into the camera, I used a combination of Panavision-sized 4×5.650” ND filters at the front of the Hyson Films 4-stage mattebox and a Singh Ray Veri-N-Duo that has both variable ND filtration and a circular polarizer. I used the variable ND portion to dial in just the right amount of exposure, and I used the circular polarizer portion to dial in just the right amount anti-reflection on the car while also making the sky richer. The Singh Ray Vari-N-Duo is one of my secret weapons that I absolutely love using. It’s one of those indispensable tools I cannot live without.

HD-SDI driving our TVLogic LVM-071w and video village from the 5D Mk II.

With all the exposure settings in place, we were able to dial in white balance. We shot a chip chart at times to ensure everything would be consistent in post-production.

For video monitoring, we sent the HDMI output to our Blackmagic Design HDMI to SDI mini converter (mounted to the 5D rig), which drove both our TVLogic LVM-071W (also mounted to the 5D rig), as well as a fifty-foot HD-SDI feed to video village which housed a Samsung 24-inch LED display, driven by an AJA HDP mini converter that also de-embedded the audio that drove a 4-channel distribution headphone output.

Setting up the wireless lav receivers that are mounted to the "cine rig"

Audio
I decided that dual-system sound was going to be best for this type of shoot, mostly because I wanted to record four dedicated audio tracks. I’m actually comfortable shooting directly into the 5D Mk II at this point, thanks to the last major firmware update that allows for controlled audio input at uncompressed 16-bit, 48kHz rates, coupled with our Juiced Link JL-CX231 as a phantom-powered mic pre. But because I wanted to record four dedicated audio tracks, recording directly into the 5D Mk II would be impossible, so our Zoom H4N was used and worked out perfectly.

The above setup now seen through the 5D Mk II.

The nice bonus too is that since the Zoom H4N is the recording device, we can monitor all four audio channels with headphones while we record. My only gripe about these small recording devices is that none of them offer timecode in or timecode out with a dedicated port. But it’s not a deal-breaker and the device really works well otherwise.

 

 

 

 

A sample from our storyboard as used for the production

The Scenes
Everything was storyboarded out prior to the shoot so we clearly knew what we had to shoot, how it had to be shot and how many angles. Director David Valentin roughed up the “chicken scratch” version, and I then took that, added a little more detail to make it a clear and concise storyboard that we could follow along on set. I used a combination of Newtek Lightwave 3D and Poser 3D to create the storyboards. It’s a nice combination that allows me to create 3D models or modify existing 3D models in Lightwave, while using Poser to articulate the 3D actors.

The day was split into three portions, each portion covering the commercial we had to produce. The morning portion was an exterior scene that was outside in a neighborhood driveway. The afternoon portion was another exterior scene for a backyard barbecue setup. The last production of the day was indoors in a master bedroom for a at nighttime setup.

One of my favorite lit shots of the day, as done by light director, Carlos Lopez. Marco Solorio on camera. Alex Alensandro Garcia getting ready for his action cue.

As expected, the two exterior productions required more lighting control than the interior bedroom scene. Carlos Lopez was our lighting director and really pulled some magic tricks.  We were losing the available light on the afternoon backyard barbecue scene, but Carlos was able to extend the “golden hour” sun until the last shot was needed.

The day was long but the footage turned out beautiful. Everyone did an excellent job on set. We’re looking forward to post-production; the editorial stage, sound effects and mixing, color-timing and grading.

Stay tuned, as we’ll post links to the finished commercials as they’re released for broadcast.

EDIT: Here is one of the finished commercials, uploaded to our Facebook page:

 

Additional photos from the shoot:

Our Canon 5D Mk II in "cine rig" configuration

Dan Juenemann ready to call a take

Timecode slates always make it easier... and sexier.

Scott Garriott manning the 3-ton rig truck

Marco Solorio adjusting the Hyson Films 4-stage matte box after a lens swap

Turning on the two receivers for wireless lav mics

Adjusting the boom mic for the driveway scene

Setting up for an ECU shot of the Ravelco device on the keychain. Director, David Valentin on left and actress, Phaedra Starr on right

Reverse angle of ECU setup

Director, David Valentin (left) going over lines and storyboard with actors Alex Alensandro Garcia and Carl Miller

Makeup artist, Suzette Mariel touching up Alex Alensandro Garcia

Getting ready to shoot a take in the backyard scene

Getting an ECU shot of the Ravelco device in actor Carl Miller's hand

Director, David Valentin looking over the 'boards while DP, Marco Solorio shoots a chip chart for reference

Ravelco client, Rich Biscevic (far left) looks on as we finish the final shots of the second commercial.
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