Editors Having Trouble Cropping and Keeping Quality
- Thread starter zaidanator
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I think because they plan to release via a streaming platform they plan to have it in 4K. But that’s a good point I’ll have to ask them.
Hello, I saw your post. A few thoughts. Some go outside your question but are related... Check your raw footage to make sure it is sharp for starters; check your lens to make sure it's sharp from edge to edge - I've had some lenses that aren't sharp across the frame. Make sure your filters aren't adding softness. If you are shooting wide open, If it's focus, filters or the lens that is not good, that might explain part of the issue. Raw footage generally needs a little sharpening in post. However, regarding blowing up to 150%, I rarely push anything past 115%; sometimes 120% of pixel to pixel scale because it starts falling apart beyond that. Comparing the other cameras to the X5S when they are ground based and - let us know - probably on tripod or not moving as quickly in relation to the subject, is not a fair comparison; not sure why that was mentioned. Maybe they should have been shooting 5.2k if they wanted to push in on a video that was going to be delivered in 4k, or talked about framing wider to begin with. Sometimes clients don't know how to articulate what they need and that gets lost in translation.
I try to avoid shooting in 23.98 unless it is a very wide shot and there aren't any foreground elements that need to be sharp. At 23.98, you have to move slower or you will get motion blur - assuming 180degree shutter (or 2x shutter speed at 1/50th) - if you go for shorter exposures it will emphasize the non contiguous granular quality and longer exposures will bring out even more motion blur. I never liked the look of film pans at 23.98 for this reason of too much motion blur. I try to shoot at the best f stop compromise between chromatic aberration and sharpness, which with all the lenses I have for the x5s seems to fall around f5.6. I also don't like to stop down too far which is why I use a variable ND and set the f stop for the direction that the majority of shots will be in since exposure changes quite a bit between shooting into and away from the sun. Sometimes I have to stop down because something is happening right then while I'm flying and barring shutter speed that's the only solution (which can bring out dust specks if the sensor is not clean - obviously do your best to keep it clean). In addition to the footage potentially looking choppy at 23.98 because the frames will be far enough apart from each other in space to stand out as single frames and not a smooth sequence. I also find that occasionally I don't get the focus right even when it looks right in the field, which sucks of course.
When I'm asked to shoot 23.98 I make sure that the client knows what the potential pitfalls are, and I generally suggest shooting at higher frame rates. That often means shooting in CinemaDNG in the narrow FOV, but I try to at least push them up to 29.97 or 48 and still pay attention to speed and distance from subject. All that means that shots need to last longer and be held smoother for the duration.
Then, sometimes you want to shoot in 23.98 so you can get the most exposure at the lowest ISO... Let us know what you find out. I always like a post autopsy on any problem so I can learn how to avoid it In the future.
I try to avoid shooting in 23.98 unless it is a very wide shot and there aren't any foreground elements that need to be sharp. At 23.98, you have to move slower or you will get motion blur - assuming 180degree shutter (or 2x shutter speed at 1/50th) - if you go for shorter exposures it will emphasize the non contiguous granular quality and longer exposures will bring out even more motion blur. I never liked the look of film pans at 23.98 for this reason of too much motion blur. I try to shoot at the best f stop compromise between chromatic aberration and sharpness, which with all the lenses I have for the x5s seems to fall around f5.6. I also don't like to stop down too far which is why I use a variable ND and set the f stop for the direction that the majority of shots will be in since exposure changes quite a bit between shooting into and away from the sun. Sometimes I have to stop down because something is happening right then while I'm flying and barring shutter speed that's the only solution (which can bring out dust specks if the sensor is not clean - obviously do your best to keep it clean). In addition to the footage potentially looking choppy at 23.98 because the frames will be far enough apart from each other in space to stand out as single frames and not a smooth sequence. I also find that occasionally I don't get the focus right even when it looks right in the field, which sucks of course.
When I'm asked to shoot 23.98 I make sure that the client knows what the potential pitfalls are, and I generally suggest shooting at higher frame rates. That often means shooting in CinemaDNG in the narrow FOV, but I try to at least push them up to 29.97 or 48 and still pay attention to speed and distance from subject. All that means that shots need to last longer and be held smoother for the duration.
Then, sometimes you want to shoot in 23.98 so you can get the most exposure at the lowest ISO... Let us know what you find out. I always like a post autopsy on any problem so I can learn how to avoid it In the future.
I meant to say they might have talked about shooting tighter not wider... having problems with blowing up 10% does sound like a problem; was the footage actually delivered in 4K?Also, they may be hinting at you using Neat Video app to sharpen the image.
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It sounds like the footage was out of focus from the get go. The editor said "soft," not "pixelated" or "digital artifacts." I would immediately reshoot some test footage with the same settings and see if you have the same problems the editor has. Use the focus assist. As he eluded to, you should be able to punch down to 200% and still have crystal clear 1080p footage.
My personal experience with the X5 was that autofocus could not be trusted. And even with the best real-time monitor (like an iPad or CrystalSky, et al), 1% out of focus won't reveal itself until you show the footage on a 4K monitor.
D
My personal experience with the X5 was that autofocus could not be trusted. And even with the best real-time monitor (like an iPad or CrystalSky, et al), 1% out of focus won't reveal itself until you show the footage on a 4K monitor.
D
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I've had issues with the 45mm being soft as well, at all fstops, using tap-to-focus, 50% or more of the time. Even when shooting stills. I second shooting more at 29.97 fps vs 23.98, as that can help a little, on its own, with motion blur, but, additionally, if you plan on slowing it down, even 10%, you can get away with dropping shutter speed to 1/80th or 1/100th without too much loss of the 'cinematic feel'. With the longer focal length, that can help. But overall, the X5S and the flying camera systems in this price point overall are really showing themselves due for an update. Just hope it comes soon, and from multiple manufacturers, incl domestic companies.
Tell them to try using After Effects to do an initial color correction and debayer from RAW.
Resolve and Premier do a fast debayer process and aren’t expecting you to pinch in that much on the footage. AfterEffects will use Adobe Camera Raw and do a full debayer process and produce sharper results. If they are saying the proxies look sharp even when pinching in it robs my has to do with the debayer process they are using.
Not normally worth the time it takes because at full resolution you can’t tell but if they are punching in that much it might help.
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Also ask them what editor they are using. In Resolve the default setting for placing 4k footage on a HD timeline is to immediately down res the footage to HD and cropping in on the image will only crop in on the HD footage not the 4k footage. You have to change this in the resize settings for the clip.
If it looks sharp in 4k it doesn’t immediately
make sense that it doesn’t look sharp in HD.
If it looks sharp in 4k it doesn’t immediately
make sense that it doesn’t look sharp in HD.
Hey everyone,
Sorry I am just now getting back to you all. Been a little hectic.
So problem solved. Turned out my shots were sharp and I did everything I was suppose to correctly. I don't know about you but it doesn't matter how confident I feel, there is always a little paranoia in the back of my mind that I missed something.
Turns out the error was on their side. Something happened when they imported the footage. We checked it on several different computers and had no issue so they reimported it and problem solved.
I appreciate all the feedback because I now have a checklist from all of you on how to proceed if this issue comes up again.
Sorry I am just now getting back to you all. Been a little hectic.
So problem solved. Turned out my shots were sharp and I did everything I was suppose to correctly. I don't know about you but it doesn't matter how confident I feel, there is always a little paranoia in the back of my mind that I missed something.
Turns out the error was on their side. Something happened when they imported the footage. We checked it on several different computers and had no issue so they reimported it and problem solved.
I appreciate all the feedback because I now have a checklist from all of you on how to proceed if this issue comes up again.
