Learning process of shooting 3 point music video..
I have never tried making promo video from a LIVE band performance. And I never thought it would be this tricky, but I am glad I took up that challenge. It introduces new challenges, a steep learning curve that requires me to apply all that I have learnt from audio recording and video editing into one project that I am keen to finish.
Preparation before the shoot is vital. Reliable working equipments that would deliver good audio and video is key. A general direction on how the finished video should look like also plays an in important factor. This would determine the gears to bring and the angle of shots you’d need to capture which means possibly less editing in post.
What I think is most important is the ability to communicate with the band on and off stage. To be able to communicate with the band on set, upon your 1st minute of introduction is crucial to let them open up to you later on while they’re on stage, while you’re behind the lens. They are after all the talents that the whole project will showcase. You want them natural in camera, not feel intimidated, or even worse, agitated with your presence around their performance area.
Thank goodness I have a real friendly team of people to work with for this shoot. I have known 2 of the band members for a very long time. Both are very deeply involved in sculpting Dutch pop music, one which I got to know whilst living in NYC, the other at recording studios here in Amsterdam for my graduation project in SAE. Both this gentlemen are well-honored for their work and I have that standard to uphold for this project. I want to make the band look at their best. Nothing more nothing less.
It is no doubt the first LIVE band that I will record and I certainly need extra hands for a 2nd or 3rd angle of view. I remembered instantly a previous edit I did with camera shots collaborated from Dajimstar. He’s fresh into DSLR video, and he shows that same passion with photography and has that creative edge to learn. We shot Gwaan back in spring of 2010. That was a wild party from local party connoisseurs Sized. I simply asked Dajimstar if he wanted to make a copy of his shots to be used as 2nd camera angle in the edit. And there it began.
Unlike Gwaan, this project consists of a 3 set performance for the evening from the band Company Live. Each in a 45 minutes session thus it’s a long evening of trying to catch good moments.
We have over 90 mins of HD footage captured between the three cameras altogether. Now it’s time to narrow it down to highlight the best ones we got and also based on the bands preference. This one is a full length feature on one of the songs they performed that night. Excuse the cheesy floating logo on the screen. It was a quick try out using motion after I made a quick update of the band’s logo. Certainly could use some creative advise on that one. 🙂
So this was put together in a short period. It will be updated once the festive season is off our way. 🙂
Ladies and gentlemen, highlight to the band, Company LIVE.
3 Camera edit in FCP
Nikon D300S with 50mm F1.8 / 17-85mm F4.0
Canon 550D with 24mm F1.4 / 50mm F1.4 / Samyang 8mm F3.5
JVC GZ-HD7 shooting 1080i at 30fps
Røde Stereo Video Mic
Glidetrack HD
Let Me See!
I guess it all goes down to the final servings.
Try to watch GZ-HD7 consumer video posts on Vimeo. It has better resolution as opposed to youtube which does not deliver HD playback. There are groups in Vimeo that are evidently enjoying their camcorder. And if you must compare them to let’s say the HV20 videos. Then do just that! Evidently videos posted on Vimeo are more well directed for community of users. So you definitely see better quality edits and professionalism in the posts there as opposed to youtube. You get optimum video if you on a fast connection and a good video card. Due to the odd downsized ratio in my blogger, the video might not play as good as it is in full screen. Also try to let the flash buffer bar finish uploading if you’re on a slow connection.
Go ahead and view the rest of my posted videos on Vimeo. Feel free to comment on this blog or Vimeo about the HD7. I’m no video professional but I try to keep my creativity at flow. If you don’t own the camera and need to know more about it, you’re more than welcomed to eMail me with your questions. But of course its best if you address your technical questions to JVC themselves. Thanks for visiting my review blog.
Controlling the shots
The HD7 is by far an achievement for pro-sumer video enthusiasts. It has created a a wave of excitement for the video enthusiasts being the first Full HD cam. But despite the claims, there are flaws which should have been fine tuned by JVC. I guess in the real world nothing is perfect, except for my mom’s cooking!
If you fall in the 80% of users who claim that the HD7 is not a good camera – then you are. There is nothing to change that scope of thought unless JVC themselves make the effort to address the existing weakness of the cam. It uses three 1/5-inch 16:9 progressive scan CCDs designed for HD use in a diagonally offset pixel configuration to generate the high resolution image for recording in full HD. There is only so much that 1/5 inch CCD can capture at one time. These are the figures released by Canon on their new CCDs performance :
Newly Developed Progressive Scan CCD Overview
Image size: 1/5” Diagonal
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Pixel size: 3.28 microns x 3.28 microns
Total number of pixels per CCD: 1016 x 558, approximately 570,000 pixels
Number of effective pixels per CCD: 976 x 548, approximately 530,000 pixels
RATTLING HANDS? GET YOURSELF A STAND!
For a camera that fits the size of your hand, that’s a lot of pixel crunching if you multiply that to do 30x in a second. And that’s just for one CCD. There’s 3 of them that needs to be interpolated to give you that final viewing you see. While its capturing and converting all those pixels, then comes the wall of a task that didn’t seem to have been worked out correctly by JVC. Image Stabilization.
Before we scrutinize this biggest weakness of the camera, lets go back to the derived design of the HD7. Idea came from broadcast cameras. How JVC has came about letting you carry those huge studio cameras in the palm of your hand is a feat on its own. Fujinon lens used in the JVC system is also used in broadcast HD video cameras. The incredible minimal F. No. is F1.8 wide open and F1.9 for telephoto. This is only made capable due to the indexed aspherical lens giving superior optical performance on the entire zoom range suited for an HD system. JVC designers can now keep the lens small and at no loss of light when you zoom in to your subject. To understand this, take your DSLR into AV priority mode with a zoom lens. The higher your zoom, you’ll see a significant drop in Aperture and thus the need to add gain – resulting in unwanted noise. This is not the case for the HD7 lens.
Now come the biggest grudge about this camcorder. JVC has this selection included in the OIS menu option, but many (including myself) would swear that we don’t see any change with this option turned ON or OFF. In fact I keep mine constantly on OFF mode since I now only shoot the camera with a monopod. But when I do come to situation where it has to be shot handheld, I will turn it on and try not to breathe – but hope! Why JVC has not addressed its HD7 users about this lousy claim of an IS is yet to be heard about. But knowing its normal not to have a built in stabilizer in broadcast camera has helped me to forgive the claim. But looking at JVC’s page advertizing its great IS Mode gets me fumed to have the camera returned at times. IT IS JUST NOT THERE JVC!! Their claim of the OIS meant for hand-held shots is highly not visible here. Even when I tuck my hands to my chest, I fail to get it stabilized. I guess I have minute parkinsons disease!
So I hear claims that the OIS works only while on a tripod or monopod. But come on JVC, that’d be the 1st I hear about Image stabilization. Maybe I deserve a T-Shirt too for buying myself a monopod. But that’s exactly what I did – an experiment and I’ll only let you guess the outcome.
PIxel Shift Tech
The Red and Blue imaging CCDs are shifted a half-pixel both horizontally and vertically relative to the Green imaging CCD. Because the pixel-shift system uses progressive scan CCDs, signals are processed first as 1920 x 1080p progressive signals, then converted to 1920 x 1080i interlace signals for recording. Thus it is progressive upon capture but when recorded, its interlaced. This explains the need to de-interlace the video when its being exported for playback.
As a result, JVC developed a new HD-specific processing circuit to process high-density interpolation signals for brightness and color. The circuit separates low frequency and high frequency components of the brightness signal to create an image with exceptional color reproduction and less moiré. The analog front end (AFD) uses 14-bit signal processing to produce HD high-quality resolution.
Continue to… LET’S SEE IT!
JVC GZ-HD7 Full HD camcorder
There is so many negative reviews on this cam. But yet I bought it despite the reviews I read. Why? Simple. Coz it sells so much cheaper in the US than in does in Europe and even after the import tax imposed!! Before jumping into the review about the camcorder alone, I’d like to touch about video formats in US and elsewhere in the world.
NTSC VS PAL SHOPPING:
Few people have asked if I’m not worried about compatibility when shopping in US with its NTSC format while planning to use it in Europe or Asia when we’re clearly with the PAL format. Its not a big deal really. In fact its better to buy NTSC than PAL for compatibility.
I remember some 8 years ago, I purchased a miniDV camcorder while living in the US. I bought a Sony DSC-PC115 which was the PAL version of the DSC-PC120BT obviously due to my worry about playback formats. I was new to video, thus I followed the guideline on format requirements. I was so gutted months after my purchase – I’ll tell you why. Firstly PC115 did not come with the Bluetooth transfer option which was about the same price for the PC120BT. Due to fact that we lived in the US, our new TV a Sony Wega only played NTSC and not Multi Region switchable. Meaning, from root of the footages I shot it was set to be in PAL and even when I edit it using Pinnacle Studio set to PAL, it was no longer playable on my TV. Of course I only realized this after I burnt the PAL-DVD format.
So I can only play my edited videos on my computer and that sucks!!
BOTTOMLINE. Television is huge in the US but when it comes to playback compatibility, US is last in the queue. You actually have to pay additional when you seek to buy a Multi Region TV or DVD player there. And not to mention the Step Down Converters that you’d need to get if its a 230V appliance. I still have my 2000W converter with me today! It does come in handy sometimes.
SOLUTION: If you’re an Asian living in US and plan to get video capture devices, think twice before buying PAL formats there. You pay extra but end up getting limited usability for your own pleasure. I am not suggesting this, but based on experience, if you get yourself an NTSC format hardware, chances are the playback appliance that your sibling and friends have back home is most likely already multi-region enabled. TV in Singapore has always been multi-region enabled for as long as I know. But on the reverse, if your friend send you a PAL encoded video to the US, chances are that you might not be able to play it back. Coz your TV is not PAL enabled..
EUROPE’S ELECTRONIC PRICING OVERKILL:
So now its a different war altogether being a pro-sumer. I’ve learnt my ways going about the video formats. But what about pricings when living Europe then??
With my camcorder purchase in the US, I saved about EU500 if compared to buying it here in Netherlands. With the package offered by 42nd Street Photo in New York, it was an obvious choice. At a price tag of about US$1500 inclusive of the Pro Shooter accessory kit with extra 4 Year Extended MACK International warranty, I took the leap. It comes down to about EU965 with the exchange rate when the camera alone would have costed EU950 easy in Holland. Just comparing those prices between Dutch and US electronic retail pricing, it was a no brainer to get it while in the US. Think about the currency exchange rates.
GZ-HD7 BUILD, CONTROL AND USABILITY:
Technically the GZ-HD7 gives me much more custom handling as compared to the rest of the HD camcorders available on that same price range. Period.
Out of the box the camera feels solid in your hands. Definitely not a toy! Its really well built. Not plastic screwed together like the competitors make. There’s no rattling parts. You get the solid black metal gear you payed for. The main chassis enclosing the lens mechanism is made of solid brushed metal. The Hard Drive housing on the right where your hand would be at most times is made of rough-textured plastic for non-slip handling. The flip-open LCD on the left is also encased in plastic. This time in well-polished black encasing the 16:9 widescreen LCD inside. The Fujinon lens is complimented with the lens hood that helps cut out glare and ghosting when shooting in bright light. The Manual Zoom focus ring is smooth and absolutely a plus for creative shots when in Manual Mode.
The manual flip-up lens cover is great help especially when changing lenses and filters keeping the dust out. My only wish here is for improvement on the viewfinder, that it should have been flip-able upwards at an angle when shooting in bright light for better focus. Its an awkward position to have it upright perpendicular while shooting with the LCD closed.
continue to… CONTROLLING THE SHOTS
Meanwhile you can see some of the videos I’ve made with the HD7 on Vimeo. You’ll notice too that most of the FullHD posts in Vimeo is prominently sent by HV20 users. Make your comparisons? And let me know what you think.
I’ll tell you more soon. Be right back!!
RASTASIA RENDERS 