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Night Skiing at Brighton Ski Resort!

by Michael on October 4, 2011 in Video with 1 Comment

I thought I would change things up a bit (I am itching to go skiing again this season!!).  Hope you like it.

It was very dark and extremely windy that night!  Watch this eerie dark trip down a run at Brighton Ski Resort in Utah. Windy like a blizzard. That’s my dad skiing ahead – I used my tripod as a stabilizer.

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Canon EOS 7D, shot in 24p
Canon 17-85mm IS
Zoom H4n
Redhead Windscreen (Gunmetal)
Manfrotto Tripod as a ‘stabilizer’ :)

HDR-like color correction in Premiere.

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H4n audio spruced up with Premiere’s compressor. The H4n did well with the Redhead Windscreen. It was very, very windy out (the video doesn’t do it justice) – yet the Redhead really held up. Snow was piling up in my lens hood, and the Redhead was CAKED in white flakes. Later, I shook it off and let it air dry. I thought for sure it would get ‘matted’, but it nearly returned to its original fuzziness after it dried. redheadwindscreens.com

I shot in these blizzard conditions with my 7D, Canon 17-85mm IS lens, Olympus Zuiko f1.8 50mm manual lens, H4n, and Redhead windscreen for approximately an hour. During that time, I changed lenses in the snow and the 7D had no problems. The LCD screens on both the 7D and H4n were ghosting, but were still fully functional. The temperature was around 20º.

-Michael

Lavalier Mic Connected to DSLR Audio Test

by Michael on September 5, 2011 in Review, Video with No comments

Since my last video, I wanted to test the Audio Technica ATR-3350 connected directly to the microphone jack on my Canon 7D DSLR.  Here is a quick test of the audio quality.

Notice the audio levels are extremely high and my voice is distorted. Using the ATR3350 connected directly to a DSLR is not a very good option at all unless you have Magic Lantern for the 550D (T2i), 5D Mark II, or other DSLR.

With Magic Lantern, you can control the gain control. Since the 7D has automatic gain control (AGC), the levels are blown way out to -0db.

☞ PROS:
✏ Convenient way to have on-talent audio without extra equipment
✏ Could work very well with a DSLR that has the Magic Lantern firmware hack (Such as the Canon 5D Mark II, T2i, or others)

☞ CONS:
✏ Nearly unusable audio because of the AGC (Automatic Gain Control) on the 7D
✏ Only records to left channel with provided 3.5mm connection (simple solution would be to buy a 3.5mm mono to stereo adapter)

Please bestow a ♥ like or leave a ✉ comment if you have questions!

Audio Technica ATR-3350 Review in Windy Weather

by Michael on September 2, 2011 in Review, Video with 1 Comment

Audio Technica ATR-3350 connected directly to a Zoom H4n. I needed a affordable lavaliere microphone for some upcoming projects and this one seemed to fit the bill just nicely.

It was very windy out, so it was the perfect day to test the ATR3350 vs the H4n built-in microphones. I am also using a Redhead Windscreen on the H4n. The Zoom H4n was set to Mono mix for both the ATR3350 microphone and the H4n onboard microphones.

☞ PROS:
✏ Extremely affordable (~$20 – Amazon: Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone)
✏ Small microphone (about the size of an eraser)
✏ Long 20 foot cord (could be a con as well)
✏ Solid construction
✏ Comes with 3.5mm to 1/4″ adapter

☞ CONS:
✏ Power pack with switch has a very stiff clip – will only clip onto somewhat thin clothing or belt
✏ Loooong cable
✏ Not a high-end lavalier microphone

☞ Overall: The Audio Technica ATR3350 is a fantastic microphone for under $20 and works extremely well. Best used to replace shotgun microphones in interview situations.

Please bestow a ♥ like or leave a ✉ comment if you have questions!

2.35:1 Cinemascope (Anamorphic) Aspect Ratio Tutorial

by Michael on August 29, 2011 in Tutorial, Video with No comments

A 90 second tutorial on exporting 1080p widescreen (16:9) footage to Cinemascope aspect ratio (otherwise known as Panavision or Anamorphic Scope – 2.35:1 ratio).

In this example, I used 100 pixels on the top and bottom. TRUE 2.35:1 aspect ratio would be 132px on top, and 131px on bottom (or vice versa). The final output would be 817px tall.

Please bestow a ♥ like or leave a ✉ comment if you have questions!

☞ ASPECT RATIO CONVERSION METHOD:

To convert from any aspect ratio to a wider format (such as 2.35:1 or 1.85:1), all you have to do is

DIVIDE the WIDTH of your SOURCE footage (1920 in this example) by the final aspect ratio desired (2.35 in this example).

So,
1920
DIVIDED BY
2.35 = 817 pixels tall

Your final output would be 1920×817.

✏ To find the amount to crop off the top and bottom, subtract your pixel number (817px here) from your source footage height (1080px) and divide it by two. If it is a decimal number (such as 131.5), even it out to whole pixels (i.e. – crop 132px from top, 131px from bottom).

✏ Here are some examples of aspect ratio conversion methods. These are all assuming 1920×1080 footage. If your SOURCE footage is 1280×720, your width would be 1280; if your SOURCE footage is 720×480, your width would be 720; and so on.

☞ 16:9 to 2.35:1 / Cinemascope / Anamorphic / Panavision Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (1920) DIVIDED BY 2.35 = 817px tall
Crop 132px off top, 131px off bottom.

☞ 16:9 to 1.85:1 / Academy Flat / “Flat” Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (1920) DIVIDED BY 1.85 = 1038px tall
Crop 21px off top, 21px off bottom.

As a ‘bonus’, here is the method for converting your 4:3 aspect ratio video to regular 16:9 widescreen (assuming 640×480 footage):

☞ 4:3 to 16:9 Regular Widescreen Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (640) DIVIDED BY 1.778 = 360px tall
Crop 60px off top, 60px off bottom.

★Other Tutorials:★
Slow Motion from pictures tutorial – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmhIQjPVKQ
Color Correction tutorial the RIGHT way! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EutVgTck6U

To learn more about aspect ratios, Panavision, Cinemascope, Anamorphic Scope, and much more – go to http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenoram…

Audio: Zoom H4n and Redhead Windscreen

Slow Motion From Pictures! (After Effects Tut)

by Michael on July 8, 2011 in Photography, Tutorial, Video with 9 Comments

Create a super slow motion effect from images in After Effects! All you need is two or more photos to create this effect. Pixel Motion is used in After Effects.

Please bestow a ♥ like or leave a ✉ comment if you have questions!

0:18 – Slow Motion From Photos Example
1:00 – Tutorial Start (tips and important information)
2:51 – How to Create Slow Motion From Pictures (method explained)

☞ TIPS:

✏ Rotate around your subject – your axis of rotation should be around the subject in the photo.
✏ Choose subjects with little background detail to achieve the best Pixel Motion effect.
✏ Keep the motion between images very, very subtle. Practice rotating around your subject once or twice before you take the picture.
✏ Remember to have your camera on manual EVERYTHING: Aperture, Shutter, Focus, and White Balance. This will ensure the fastest multi-burst from your camera (DSLR or point-and-shoot). If you are shooting at a higher ISO, turn off in-camera noise reduction.
✏ Rename your files to numbers or alphabetical order – After Effects sometimes won’t create a proper JPEG sequence with filenames such as “IMG_9738.JPG”. In this example, I renamed my photos by chopping off the first 5 characters (making the filename “738.JPG”) with a file renamer.
✏ Resize your images to your output WIDTH (1920 for my project). I created an action in Photoshop that automates everything. This will speed up your overall production and processing time.

☞ You can also use this method by zooming into your subject (instead of rotating) while shooting the images. Do this by either zooming with the lens, or physically stepping closer to your subject. Remember your manual focus here.

UPDATE: How to resize your photos/images:
✏ Download my Photoshop preset
✏ Follow the included instructions

REMEMBER that the photos you run through this Photoshop action WILL be overwritten. What I do is create a new folder called ‘resized’, copy my originals into it, then run the Photoshop action on the ‘resized’ images folder. After that, I chop off the first five characters of the filename with a file renamer such as File Renamer Basic (http://bit.ly/​File-Renamer-Basic).

Audio: Zoom H4n + Redhead Windscreen

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