Getting a DV Cam "Look"

[Jayk2k]

I have done some work on this in the past...

1) Conver to YUV, scale U&V to 1/2 or 1/4 rez, then back up.
2) Pull an edge detect, and use that as a mask for contrast and sharpness. A lot of DV stuff has horrible black edges...
3) CC everything to NTSC legal.
4) Field render in 3d of course
5) A general noise filter will work fine, no need to get a greenscreen.

What software are you planning on using?

[Whylee]

Hi Jay thanks for responding.

RM eh? I was talking to Lee yesterday. I did a tour of RM when I was in town visiting looking for work while you guys were on GoodBoy. I wonder if we "met" for a second. I'm hoping to maybe check you guys next spring.

Anyway what software? No idea. I know AE, Shake, Combustion and Fusion. I could comp it at work and use Combustion (started using it here past few months) though I haven't been too impressed. My last gig before that I was using Fusion and man... Loved it! So still kinda thinking of doing that LW upgrade for a basic cut of fusion but not tons of moula sitting around after moving all my belongings to Vancouver.

So basically I have no idea and am just rambling.

That "horrible black edges" would be the edge enhancement stuff I was talking about I guess? You mentioned field render in 3d ofcourse... Ofcourse... uuhh yeah that's it. Actually I'm confused, why would it matter if you rendered fields in or added in 2D. You really think normal noise would work? I was thnking of shooting the greenscreen or just black video so it would be bang on.

What I'm thinking of doing is filming some shots from the skytrain in Vancouver/Burnaby. Found these stretches where the train is 4 stories up or so and you have a really clear view for quite a distance of the mountains while going over roads/buildings/etc. Going to see if I can stabalize the plate on say the mountains in the background then timeramp it and treat it to look like you're traveling really fast. At that point I'm going to add a Tomcat model I'm working on so it looks like a jet hitting the hard deck over a city. Other then that all my plates would be stationary looking up at a sky or out at a sky from the top of a building. So was trying to think of how I could do something more dynamic.

Hopefully that made sense. I may do this at 24fps if there's nothing in the plates that gives away that it should be playing at 30. So if I can get away with a 24, I may try treating it not to look like DV. Kinda up in the air right now starting to jot down ideas/techniques.

Anyway that's what's starting to kick around in the head.

Phunt

[Jayk2k]

Ok a few issues spring to mind...

If you plan on doing 24P, does your camera shoot 24p? If not, does it shoot 30p? Just from my limited experience most progressive modes in DV cams come off looking soft compared to the fielded counterpart. Just something to think about.

If you mix field and frame motion, it will probably jump out of the monitor and smack you up side the head... It becomes pretty obvious pretty fast. :thumbsdow

The whole reason for rendering fields in 3d, is that it will be the same smooth motion as the video. Doing it in 2D correctly would involve rendering 2x as many frames, and interlacing them.. might as well do it in 3d right? ;)

Now on the other hand, if you are speeding the footage up to probably 4-10X, then it might not be as much of an issue, as you would need to blur the footage enough to kill any motion you would recognize as field vs frame anyway.

Normal noise works for the most part. At least in Fusion you have control over the grain tool to adjust red green blue independant, and that helps a lot. Other apps, I'm not sure...

Either way, it would be better than shooting green screen that's for sure. Most keyers wouldn't be able to maintain that tight a key on footage to keep grain, and remove all the green. Black on the other hand, may be "added" to the footage relatively easily.

I'm heading back to Toronto the end of next week, then I may end up back here soon after if I can't find work back "home".. The joys of contract work.

[Whylee]

Jay,

Too bad to hear you're leaving Van. Work seemed slower in Toronto in the spring so I came here after spending time in Cali. Buying that condo in Toronto seemed like a good idea at the time. :annoyed:

Do me a favor and shoot me off an email at peter@peterdhunt.com as I'd like to ask you some "Vancouver" stuff if you don't mind.

Phunt

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