Decking in just one day

Very pleased - managed to build a 4.8m x 4m garden deck complete with 18 LED lights in just one day from scratch. I sourced some plastic adjustable feet from eBay which negated the need to construct the deck from the usual wooden posts, concreted into the ground. This new way allowed us to build the outer frame first, level it off using the adjustable feet (sat on concrete pad stones where necessary), before in-filling with joists. The feet are required every 1m or so, which also enabled the deck frame to be constructed from 3"x2" timber rather than the usual 6"x2", as it was so well supported. The whole frame is also fixed to the house wall using joist hangers too.

Shed alterations

Forgot to post this at the time, so thought I'd add it now (better late than never!).

I was never happy with the fact that I didn't install any windows in my garden lodge, so last summer I fitted two windows to the side elevation along with some new worktop :)

I also treated the outside to a sand and an oil, which really brings out the cedar....

Pluraleyes with multiple cameras and separate sound

Recently I have been playing around with using Pluraleyes to synchronise multiple cameras, all containing "scratch" audio, together with sound recorded on a separate solid state audio device. Once again, Pluraleyes worked flawlessly (once I developed a additional stage first) and the fact that it also automatically makes a multi-clip for Final Cut, makes it even better. I will shortly be testing out the new multi-cam and synchronise feature in Final Cut X which might make this method redundant, but here is my workflow for synchronising multiple cameras and separate sound for multiclip editing:

Firstly, transcode footage to both ProRes and ProRes PROXY (this is done as sometimes, depending upon the number of clips, and the power of your machine, Final Cut will struggle with the playback).

Secondly, use Pluraleyes to sync the separate sound to one of the camera angles.

Thirdly, export this as a new Quicktime file (you can use the reference movie option to save disc space).

Now, reimport this file back into Final Cut and use Pluraleyes to sync this file to the remaining camera angles.

Pluraleyes will make a multiclip with all cameras now synchronised.

Once edited, one can use the RECONNECT MEDIA option to relink the edit back to the original ProRes files.

Update

It's been a while since my last post, but just wanted to add a quick update to the Blog. Firstly, I have recently purchased a DSLR base plate with standard rods from a supplier in Hong Kong via eBay. Usually these things retail for around £150 minimum, but I paid about £58 so very pleased about that. The beauty of these things is that they allow for better positioning of my DFocus follow focus and also, at a later date, it is easy to adapt it into a full shoulder rig too.

Here is a quick picture of it:


As can be seen from the picture, as I have a battery grip on the 550D, the rods become too low to allow the gears on the FF to match up with the lens gear. Therefore, I sourced an additional pair of 6" rods and a riser from eBay to effectively "lift" the FF up closer to the lens. One can obtain something called the "DRISER" from Jag35.com to do the same thing, but this actually works out more expensive than buying two rods and an adaptor!

I also fitted the DSLR base plate with a Manfrotto quick release plate so that it can be quickly detached from the tripod.

Also looking at purchasing either a Canon 28mm f1.8 USM lens or Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens but can't decide which one. The Canon is probably slightly better than the Sigma, but the Sigma is a little bit "faster" with its 1.4 aperture.

Very recently also bought a new microphone too. I didn't want a shotgun as I can borrow these quite easily, but did want a cheap hypercardioid mic for indoor work. The choices are either the AKG CK93 capsule on the SE300 body (about £300), or the AT 4053b (about £450 ish), the Oktava MK-012 or going much more expensive, something from Schoeps. I didn't want to spend a great deal, and was lucky enough to find some end of the line Studio Electronics SE2A true condenser mics with three capsules (OMNI, CARDIOID and HYPER-CARDIOID) for only £75. The mic is lightweight and seems to perform well.

Timelapse video

Been playing again with creating timelapse video sequences and now I understand the process much better.

Firstly, unless you really need the extra resolution (i.e. perhaps you plan to zoom in on a section of video for example), then the camera can be set to its lowest JPEG image setting. In the case of my 550D this happened to be 2592 x 1728 which is obviously much higher than is needed for standard 1080P HD video.

Secondly, as most DSLR cameras take their pictures with an aspect ratio of 3:2, we need to ensure that when exporting the image sequence to 1920 x 1080, that the aspect ratio is preserved, otherwise horizontal stretching will occur.

Any way, the way I carried out my timelapse was to record a series of images every 5 seconds (using Magic Lantern's built in intervalometer) and to simply then take these into Quicktime Player 7 using its "OPEN IMAGE SEQUENCE" option.

Upon doing this, a window will appear asking what frame rate to use - I simply chose the standard PAL of 25fps.

The sequence can then be exported and I chose to use Apple ProRes LT (in case I wanted to take the finished video in a FCP project) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. IMPORTANT: you need to make sure that PRESERVE ASPECT RATIO using CROP is selected to ensure that the resultant video file is not stretched.

Job done!

Canon 5D MKIII or 6D?

Been thinking lately about whether to jump to full frame and get the 5D MKII. Currently (Sept '11), you can snap (excuse the pun) a 5D MKII and 24 to 105 f/4 IS L lens for around £2100. This fairly large discount must be due to the imminent arrive of the 5D MKIII or its equivalent.

I watched a few comparison videos last night looking at the features of the 5D MKII and the 7D and from these, what I have learnt is that I'd like a full frame version of the 7D and not really the 5D MKII which has a few outdated features.

I therefore came across a few rumours of a "6D", which will be a lower priced full frame DSLR with perhaps the features of the existing 7D :)

Hopefully this will happen soon......

DSLR Cinema

I've recently been told about a new book called DSLR Cinema by Kurt Lancaster. Looks good and have ordered a copy....

Field of view tool

This is an excellent tool for showing the difference between different sensor sizes and how it affects the field of view. Wish there was one to show DoF too.

http://www.abelcine.com/fov/

Glidetrack Shooter SD

Just purchased a Glidetrack Shooter SD from Alistair @ www.glidetrack.com. I cannot recommend this product highly enough - it is simply an awesome piece of kit, especially when linked with the Manfrotto 577QR quick release place and Manfrotto 701HDV head.

Here are few videos I have shot with it recently:

http://www.vimeo.com/17981477

http://www.vimeo.com/17979791

http://www.vimeo.com/17953967

1/30s Shutter?

Due to the 180 degree shutter used in film cameras, the optimum shutter speed on a digital SLR should usually be around 1/2n where n = frame rate. For PAL 25fps therefore, the shutter should be 1/50s. If you shoot with a higher shutter than this, you can get very "staccato" looking images, especially during fast motion shots. However, what about shooting at the camera's minimum of 1/30s? The image might become too soft and there might be too much motion blur, however it's something I am going to try soon. The benefit of this is that for low light shooting, you can get away with a lower ISO or smaller aperture.....

Posted a demonstration video showing different shutter speeds at my Vimeo pages: www.vimeo.com/digitalvideoslr

DSLR CAMFRAME

Just bought a DSLR Camframe from B-Hague in Nottingham as shown here (without the camera which was taking the picture!). It provides side and top handles together with two additional hot shoe mounts (which I have used to mount my 126 LED light to one side, and HDMI field monitor / Zoom H4N to the other side).

Canon XLH1s vs. Canon 550D

Decided that in a few weeks time I am going to make a demonstration video comparing the differences / similarities of the Canon 550D SLR and the Canon XLH1s camcorder. I want to compare the DoF available with the same aperture on both. The Canon XLH1s, like many camcorders is around a x7 crop factor so I would have thought that with say an f1.8 aperture, the DoF is still going to be extremely deep. The plan is to film a tape measure from an angle so that the DoF can be measured and compared. The camcorder lens is a 5.5mm to 108mm "L" lens (equivalent to approx. 38mm to 778mm in 35mm format) and has a maximum f number of 1.6. Should be an interesting comparison.

Light tests

Have just taken delivery of 126 LED light. Will post a comparison video of it very soon when I get chance to make one!

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

Just been watching a behind the scenes video of Jamie Oliver's new Channel 4 series and noticed that they were using a DSLR for some of the shots. Looked like the 70 to 200l f2.8 lens was being used in one of the shots. They also appear to be using RED ONE cameras too.

http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/jamie-oliver/jamie-s-30-minute-meals/index.html

LIGHT

Been looking at the Litepanels range of portable LED lights to sit on top of the camera. Their Micro Pro looks excellent but it retails for around £300!

I therefore visited eBay and after a bit of hunting around and review checking on YouTube, I have opted for the "CN-126" 126 LED light panel, which apart from being made from plastic, looks more or less the same as the Litepanels one. The best thing is that it retails for £37.50 and will take rechargeable camcorder batteries.

It also comes with a diffuser filter too and is totally dimmable.

Great Sound Design Website

I always like to show my students sound design / sound for picture "making of" documentaries as I think that they inspire students to start wanting to play with sound and go out and about acquiring sounds which they can later work with.

A student told me about this website yesterday and it simply is fantastic with lots and lots and lots of documentaries regarding sound design for films:

www.soundworkscollection.com

Tokina 11 to 16 f2.8

I think my next lens purchase will be the super wide Tokina 11 to 16 f2.8 lens. It doesn't seem to get a bad review anywhere and it's specially made for cropped sensors. On the 550D, the focal length will be around 18 to 26 which is still nice and wide.

Why a Crop Factor of x1.6 on APS-C sensors?

Just been reading around: (I think this is correct!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor [accessed 02/10/2010]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device [accessed 02/10/2010]

http://www.december.com/john/photography/cropfactor.html [accessed 02/10/2010]

to try and ascertain a good formula for calculating the crop factor between a full frame sensor and an APS-C sensor (used by 550D / 7D etc.).

The dimensions of a FULL FRAME sensor is 36mm x 24mm with a aspect of 3:2. Dimensions of an APS-C sensor is 22.7mm x 15.1mm, again with a 3:2 aspect.

Square root of (36^2 + 24^2) DIVIDED BY the square root of (22.3^2 + 14.9^2) = 1.6 approx.

This explains why the DoF on camcorders with such a small image sensor (6mm diagonal, 4.8mm x 3.6mm in the case of a 1/3" CCD), are so deep.

The crop factor of this 1/3" CCD sensor would be around x 7. Now, the ratio between each successive f stop is ROOT 2 or 1.414. Comparing a FULL FRAME f stop to an APS-C 1.6 crop shows that the difference in effective f number is around 1.13 fstops (i.e. 1.414 x 1.6). By this what I mean is that f4 on a FULL FRAME camera equates to f2.5 on a 1.6 crop. Now f2.8 would be ONE FSTOP wider, (i.e. 4 / 1.414) so f2.5 is slightly wide than this. Therefore, returning back to the previous example of a 1/3" CCD sensor with a crop factor of x7, how many effective f stops wider would the lens need to be to give the same DoF? Well, 7 / 1.414 = 4.95. Therefore, approx. 5 fstops wider! A 50mm lens with an f8 aperture on a FULL FRAME camera would therefore require 7mm lens with an f1.4 aperture to give approx. same DoF. If we took the same 50mm lens with an aperture of f2.8, we would need an aperture of f0.5???

The 1/3" example above doesn't have the same aspect ratio however, so the calculations will probably differ slightly :)

[Addition]: What about the difference between a x1.6 cropped sensor and 1/3" CCD? Well, as mentioned above, the dimensions of an APS-C sensor is 22.3mm x 14.9mm (diagonal of 26.7mm) and the dimensions of a 1/3" sensor is 4.8mm x 3.6mm with a diagonal of 6mm. Therefore, the crop factor between the APS-C and 1/3" is 26.8 / 6 = 4.55.

It would therefore seem that the effective change in f stops between these two sensors is 4.55 / 1.414 = 3.22 f stops. What this means is that f/8 on an APS-C camera would be the equivalent of a little over f2.8 on the 1/3". Also, to obtain the same field of view on the 1/3" camera, one would need to use a lens 4.55 times smaller (50mm lens, 35mm equivalent = 80mm on APS-C camera and 364mm on 1/3" sensor). So, to give same field of view, I would need to set the lens on the 1/3" camera to 80 / 4.55 = 18mm approx.

A test is going to be carried out to establish whether this is the case, by comparing both the field of view and Depth of Field between a 1/3" video camera and a Canon 550d (APS-C sensor). Watch this space!..... will place a demonstration video on Vimeo.

Here is an interesting article which shows some example shots taken with two different sensor sizes and it sort of agrees with what is being said here:

http://www.janrik.net/DOFpostings/PM1/Depth_of_Field_Versus_Sensor_Size.html [ accessed 14/11/2010].

The crop factor between the two cameras is x3.07. To obtain the same DoF on both sensors, one needed to be set to f/4 and the other f/13. This is very interesting as this represents a little over 3 f stops difference (i.e. f/5.6, f/8, f/11 and a bit more to f/13). The focal length must also have been set to 3.07 times shorter too, although it doesn't stage this in the article. My theory that that the change in f number is equal to the crop factor / divided by 1.414 doesn't therefore ring true here, so it will be interesting to see what my test demonstrates.

[EDIT - 10/01/2010] - JUST FOUND THIS AWESOME FIELD OF VIEW CALCULATOR / DEMONSTRATION TOOL:

http://www.abelcine.com/fov/

DAM - Digital Asset Management

There's not really a right or wrong answer to "looking after" all of the assets which make up a project, but the need for a decent asset management strategy, especially when using double system sound is very important. Students often run into problems when moving from one edit suite / studio to another, and often leave some of their files behind. I have therefore created a basic flow chart which discusses a solution (not THE solution) to help make asset management easier.

This video http://www.vimeo.com/14840608 which I thought was excellent, runs through some really useful methods; my flow chart is attached here too, with a couple of extra stages added if necessary, such as setting up the scratch disc and exporting to ProTools for further sound editing .... (please click on the picture to open it and so that you can read it properly).

The flow chart (and video) makes use of Final Cut's MERGE CLIP feature when using double system sound and this has been discussed and demonstrated on this Blog previously. Equally, PLURALEYES could be used for the automatic sync'ing of clips if a clapperboard of some kind of sync point was not used......

First Electronic Viewfinder for DSLR

Redrock micro have jsut announced the world's first HDMI electronic viewfinder for HDSLR cameras:

http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2010/09/26/redrock-micro-launches-the-microevf-for-hddslr/

Monopod

Went out with the camera this morning to a local nature reserve to have a further play with my new 70 to 200L f4 lens. However, this time I also took a monopod and what can I say, these things are great and help take the weight incredibly well. When normally holding the camera with the lens at its maximum focal length, it's so tiresome to hold it steady; not with the monopod!

Great!

Audio drifit issues

Found a very interesting article here discussing a "glitch" in Final Cut Pro which sometimes can cause separate audio to start drifting from the picture:

http://brucesharpe.blogspot.com/2009/06/dslr-dual-system-audio-999-solution.html

I intend to make a demonstration video discussing this shortly.....

ZOOM H4N Output Level Settings

Carried out a little test the other day to compare the output levels of the Zoom H4N when input to the Canon 550D. The audio output is on its own too "hot" for the 550D to handle and as the 550D has no gain controls for its audio input, a PAD cable needs to be employed. Luckily Pink Noise Systems manufacture a custom mini jack to mini jack cable with built in -25dB attenuator to prevent the input on the 550D from overdriving. I wondered however what effect changing the audio output level on the Zoom H4N would have.

With the audio output on 50 (i.e. half way), there was quite a lot of noise present, but compared to a setting of 75 and 100, it sounded far more transparent without any nasty AGC (automatic gain control) kicking on the Camera. I am not interested in keeping the audio any way as I would use separate sound recorded by the Zoom any way, it's just that I wondered how the quality of the audio recorded by the camera would be affected.

Results here: http://www.vimeo.com/15159957

Zoom H4N Limiter Settings?

Just been playing around with the three different LIMITER settings on the ZOOM H4N. The manual doesn't give any information as to what level the limiter actually kicks in at, so I decided to quickly test the three. It appears that on "LIMIT 1" it kicks in at around -9dBFS, "LIMIT 2" at around -6dBFS and "LIMIT 3" at around -3dBFS. I think to try and keep recordings as transparent as possible, I will therefore use LIMIT 3 from now on. Recording at 24 bits, it is not necessary to get as close to 0dBFS as possible, so as long as sufficient headroom is left, the limiter at this level should very rarely kick in; only when the signal is getting very close to 0dBFS....

Sensor Size vs. Depth of Field

Just had a thought - yes, the sensor size does affect the camera's field of view, but does it also have an impact on its depth of field?

Let's take a 35mm camera (such as the Canon 5D MKII) which has a full frame sensor. If we stick on an 80mm lens set with an aperture of f/4, then the diameter of the iris at this setting would be 80mm / 4 = 20mm. However, with a cropped sensor of 1.6, the same effective field of view would be obtained from a 50mm lens (i.e. 80mm / 1.6 = 50mm). Therefore, with this, the diameter of the iris, again at f/4 would only be 12.5mm, i.e. smaller than for the uncropped sensor. So, to obtain the same aperture diameter of 20mm, the f number would need to be 50mm / 20mm = f/2.5 which is more than one f stop larger.

Looking at it another way, if the aperture of 80mm lens on the 35mm camera was set to 12.5mm (i.e. the calculated diameter of the 50mm lens on the cropped sensor), its f number would only need to be 80 / 12.5 = 6.4.

Or putting it another way, the equivalent f number rises or falls by a factor equal to the SQUARE of crop factor:

f/4 on 1.6 cropped sensor = f/2.5 on full frame

f4 on full frame sensor = f6.4 on 1.6 cropped sensor.

This is very interesting as it means that to get the same depth of field that say a 50mm f1.4 lens would give on a full frame sensor, one would need a 31mm lens with an aperture of approx. f0.55 (1.4 / 1.6^2)!

It can therefore be seen that using a full frame camera yields not only a change in the field of view, but also a decrease in the depth of field.

The Road to Coronation Street

Found an interesting article discussing the recent BBC4 Drama "The Road To Cornoration Street" in that it was mostly shot on the Canon 5D MKII Digital SLR:

http://www.4khub.co.za/node/82

Final Cut Issues

Spent an age today trying to compile a demonstration video whereby some footage was 1080p ProRes from the Camera and others were MP4 screen grabs from Quicktime Player X. Firstly, I was unable to get the screen grab footage to load into Final Cut Pro, so I tried transcoding it to ProRes and HDV but neither of these would still load into FCP? Any way, eventually, after using EXPORT TO DV within MPEGStreamClip, I managed to get some footage to load. However, I didn't realise until after several exports of the finished edit, that my sequence preset had been set to PAL DV 720 x 576 due to the format of some of the clips being brought in. This was fine, or so I thought, because I could simply amend the sequence preset from within the settings window. After having changed the sequence preset back to ProRes(LT) 1080p 25fps, the strangest thing happened to all of my footage in that its dimensions drastically reduced, even for the native 1080p footage from the camera? To cut a long story short, the only way to get round this was to re-add each of the pieces of footage back onto the sequence? Very strange??

Vimeo

Have just registered with Vimeo so will be posting higher quality videos there too from now on....

Home page:

www.vimeo.com/digitalvideoslr

Channel:

www.vimeo.com/channels/audiovideotraining

Lilliput HDMI field monitor

Another new toy for rig (well toys as I have also upgraded my Tripod Head to a Manfrotto 501HDV) is the Lilliput 668 HDMI field monitor.

There are many very expensive HDMI capable field monitors out there, but this caught my eye because it was so much cheaper than all of the others. It came supplied with everything required including mini HDMI to HDMI cable, ball levelling hot shoe adaptor, sun screen and battery. I highly recommend this little screen and is great for reviewing footage on and for focussing. Its resolution isn't true HD (800 x 480 pixels) but it more than does the job for me.

See it here:

http://www.carcomputer.co.uk/shop/monitors/hdmi-monitors/lilliput-668gl-70np-h-y-7-hdmi-field-monitor-non-touch-screen

Canon 70 to 200 f4

Just bought a new lens - the Canon 70 to 200 L F4. Absolutely delighted with it and yesterday I carried out a test to establish how the lens performed under different aperture and shutter speed settings. The lens isn't amazingly fast being f4 only, but it is a constant f4 throughout the zoom range and its image is razor sharp.

The test settings used were a constant focal length of 200mm and wide open at f4. As I was shooting in daylight the only way to avoid over exposure was to increase the shutter speed to 1/400s. This is not ideal and I have ordered some cheap ND filters to help bring the useable shutter speed down to 1/50s (for 25p) but these haven't arrived yet. Any way, I then lowered the aperture down to f5.6, f8, f11, f13 and f16, changing the shutter speed to compensate. Interestingly, the "proper" shutter speed of 1/50s could only be obtained with an aperture of f13.

Video here....

Slow Motion

Shot some 720p video using the NTSC format the other day (so that 60fps) can be used. Clip captured and transcoded to ProRes(LT) 1280 x 720 @ 60fps and then slowed down to 42% (i.e. 25 / 60) of its original speed in Final Cut. The "frame blending" option was also unticked.

Example here....

Slow shutter speed, in high light with Shallow DoF - how?!

Recently I went to film a Lancaster Bomber on a Taxi run and I wanted a short DoF, setting my lens to f2.8 or sometimes f4. It was daylight, so light levels were high and due to the wide aperture setting of the lens, the only way to obtain the correct exposure was to increase the shutter speed. Everything looked fine apart from the fact that the propeller blades of the plane appeared to be almost stationary; the high shutter speed of (probably) 1/1000s saw to that!

The problem with shooting at a high shutter speed is that the it sort of takes away the "film" look of the footage, where the shutter speed is always set to TWICE that of the current frame rate being used (as each frame is only exposed to light for half of the time). Therefore, at 25p, a shutter of 1/50s should be utilised. Similarly, when shooting at say 50p, a shutter of 1/100s should be used. So therefore, if you want to use a wide aperture setting for shallow DoF, gain the correct exposure and only use the optimum shutter speed, how you can achieve this; there are no more variables to play with!

The answer (after some research!): some kind of Vari-ND filter attached to the lens which enables the user to control the amount of light actually entering the lens to begin with. Philip Bloom, and others, recommend the Singh-Ray filters (http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html), but these are very expensive. Therefore, I have found a DIY alternative whereby two polarising filters can be bought and one reversed: http://www.petapixel.com/2010/08/27/how-to-build-a-cheap-and-simple-variable-neutral-density-filter/

Not sure how well it works, but worth a try :)

Rode NTG1 vs. Rode NT1 microphone test

Knocked up a quick demonstration video to compare the tonal difference (if any!) between the Rode NTG1 shotgun mic and the Rode NT1 studio mic. Obviously there are differences in the pick up response between the two mics and I wouldn't want to use the NT1 outdoors, but inside and on axis, they both sound good. There is slightly less "room noise" on the NTG1 but this is down to its hypercardioid pickup. Didn't mention in the video, but both mics were approx. 18" from mouth.

The video itself was shot with the 550d camera and Tamron 28 to 75mm f2.8 lens to give nice shallow DoF. Audio was handled by Zoom H4N and sync'd up with picture using Pluraleyes software (although a hand clap and Final Cut's MERGE SEQUENCE function would have worked just as well).

Exported from Final Cut with a 2.35:1 "widescreen" filter applied. Black bars removed by exporting to MPEG4 (3000kbps) using a resolution of 1920 x 816 (i.e. 2.35:1) and aspect ratio maintained by "crop" option.

RIGS

Really getting into DSLR video now and all its toys. I have been looking into supports and rigs for a while now and whilst the likes of Zacuto are extremely good, they attract a premium. Their "Striker" retails for about £800 alone which is too rich for my blood.

I have therefore been looking at the "Half Inch Rails" website which details more of a DIY approach but who sell really well engineered and light kits. For a complete solution, together with rail mount for an HDMI field monitor etc., and a simple follow focus which can be accessed via your thumb (so no need to move hand away from grip), you're probably looking at about £600, which whilst expensive does allow the option of quickly moving the whole rig onto a tripod. For this, the Manfrotto 577/501 plate combination is recommended. I am looking at the possibility of a 501HDV video head for my tripod, together with a 577/501 plate for the rig so that they can easily be interchanged.

I am also looking at another new lens for my camera and for me, I think it's got to be the Canon 70 to 200 f4 L lens. I cannot find a bad review about this lens any where and, with the cropped sensor of my 550d, would give a zoom range of about 112mm to 320mm and a constant aperature of f4. Ideally, the f2.8 version would be better, but this costs much more and weighs a lot more too! The IS (image stabalised) version is also recommended but again, I'd rather not spend £1000 at least on a lens! Therefore, I think the non-IS f4 lens will be great for me.

The whole rig, when finished, should comprise the Half Inch Rails rig, together with Zoom H4N for audio, some kind of HDMI field monitor and tripod. I already have the LCDVF viewfinder as well.

Just need that lottery win :)

Canon EOS Utility for Training Purposes

Ok, it's been a long time since my last entry, however I plan start blogging again.

I have recently been playing around with the Canon EOS Utility software which came with my EOS550D and it is fantastic for demonstrating lens parameters in realtime, so for lectures and training videos it works a treat. You can use the utility to control all parameters of the lens and camera such as f stop, shutter speed and ISO, together with a realtime preview which in realtime shows what effects changing these have on the image. A cracking tool for demonstrating basic lens theory.

Pluraleyes

What's nice about the Pluraleyes software is that it allows for the audio device to keep rolling when the camera is stopped and started. What I mean by this is that due to the 12 minute approx. recording time of DSLR cameras, these obviously need to be stopped and started. Usually, the audio device would also be stopped and started at around the same point and then the scene would be re-marked again using a Clapperboard etc. The nice thing about Pluraleyes is that the audio file be continuous and it just fits in the video where necessary. Therefore, you can start the audio running, start and stop the camera as much as you like and then throw all of the short video clips at the software, along with the continuous audio file and Pluraleyes aligns all of the clips to the appropriate place along the audio file into a new FCP sequence. Video tutorial to follow soon....

LCDVF

It is my intention soon to get back into blogging and will be posting my findings / tests / videos of the Canon 550d DSLR camera together with other features such as recording double system sound via a Zoom H4N and Final Cut / Pluraleyes etc.

In the meantime, I have just purchased a viewfinder which adheres to the back of the camera via 4 pretty strong magnets and also offers a 2X magnification. I have to say that this device is simply fantastic and provides not only an incredible unobstructed view of the LCD which is essential for focussing (especially outside in sunlight), but also an extra point of contact for increased camera stability.

Here is a picture....



More to come....

Pluraleyes

Very recently discovered some extremely effective software for automatically aligning audio to video when using a double system setup. "Pluraleyes" is a plugin for Final Cut Pro which basically lets you throw any video files at it, together with the accompanying audio files and it will align them automatically and then place each of the newly aligned clips into separate sequences. There is no need for any kind of visual / audio cue (clapperboard for example) and it seems to work extremely well in the basic tests I have done with it.

I will be posting a tutorial video on using this piece of software very soon....

UPDATE: Here are a couple of tutorial videos...

Canon EOS550D

It's been a long time since my last Blog, but I just thought I quickly mention my new toy - the Canon EOS550d DSLR camera. This camera is simply awesome and allows for full HD video at 24fps and 25fps (plus others too). Audio capabilities are not so good, so I have also got hold of a Zoom H4N audio recorder to do double system sound.

Update

A new photo showing the more or less complete layout.

Decking almost there....

Good day today, most of decking now complete and all lights now twinkling away :)

Decking

Good progress made today - bottom deck more or less sorted with lights in too :)

A few more photos

Almost there now... floor laid, all electrics, sky and data finished and tested. Will now press on and get the rest of the garden decking completed....

Almost there....

Plaster is now almost dry so painting can begin soon :)

Spent the weekend off and on sorting out the side fascias and front soffit, complete with LED downlighters. I am really pleased with how these lights look.

Cladding

Western red cedar cladding now fitted and I'm really pleased with the results. Plasterer is coming tomorrow so it won't be long now for completion.

Rockwool and Plasterboard

Things are coming on well now. Walls have all been filled with RS60 high density Rockwool and some of them have now been plasterboarded too. Should hopefully have all plasterboarding finished in the next couple of days as my plasterer is booked for the weekend. Western Red Cedar cladding from Canada (courtesy of Benchmark Timber, www. benchmarktimber.co.uk) is also due this week, so I am hoping the exterior will be complete soon as well.

The photos were took with my phone so apologies for the poor quality. As can also be seen in the photos, the first fix wiring is in place for the 4-way consumer unit (which is fed from a 6mm SWA cable from the house consumer unit, via a 40A MCB and RCD), alarm system and lighting. I have decided to make two lighting "wells" out of MDF which will be painted white, the same as the walls and then positioned immediately beneath the roof eaves. These boxes will house some low voltage LED lighting strips (http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/FL4205WH.html). These lighting strips are modular in design and can be simply connected together in series to provide the amount of desired light; I am hoping that these will provide a nice subtle amount of lighting, shining up the ceiling. The decking surrounding the lodge will also house some LED spot lights as will the front soffit overhanging the front doors. Both set of these lights will be fed from a sensor complete with a timer so that when nightime approaches, the lights will automatically come on and then run for upto 8 hours. Wiring has also been provided for a slimline panel heater to keep me warm in the winter - I have used Nobo slimline heaters before and I really like their design, so I will be going for one of these again (http://www.elementshop.co.uk/product.php?pid=703&cat=).

For the sockets, as I did previously with the garage conversion, Starline dado trunking will be used. Using this system not only means that I don't have to worry about cutting plasterboard around endless backboxes, it also means that the amount of sockets can be decided upon later (and also additional sockets in the future can also be easily added).

Another successful day...

Floor fully insulated today with Celotex GA3090 (90mm thick) then overboarded with 18mm t&g floorboards. Perimeter edges then all filled with mastic.

Roof complete

Roof completed today :)

Shingles

Annoyingly, the felt shingles didn't arrive when they were suposed to, so I only got half the roof done this afternoon. Only took a couple of hours to get this far, which I am pleased about.

Progress update

Productive day today, even though weather was shocking. Managed to get all panels on, breather membrane and battens. French doors fitted as well. Looking good.

Watertight

Managed inbetween the recent bad weather to get the 18mm roofing ply on, together with the roofing underlay. The building is now watertight and ready for the felt shingles which will look far more attractive!

Roof rafters now on

Roof rafters, apart from front and rear ladders now on....

Lodge gets going

Had a very productive couple of days and as can be seen, the frame for the whole lodge is now up, as is the ridge board and one rafter.

The work begins

OK, so have spent the last few weeks off and on (as have had a lot of assessment lately) building the deck joists which will form the foundation for the lodge, together with the decking surrounding it.

Here is a time lapse video of the past couple of days work....

Blogs in Blackboard

Started to think about next year's teaching and am definitely going to go down the Blog route for one of the assessments in both of my main Modules. I was going to get the students to create a Blog using BLOGGER, however I have now discovered that Blackboard (the University's Virtual Learning Environment) has a Blog tool built in which can easily be configured for each Module. Doing this means that all students enrolled on the Module will automatically be able to add entries to the Module's Blog. They can only see their own entries (together with my comments) but I can choose from a drop down box which student's Blog to view - brilliant! This means that it isn't necessary to navigate to an indivudal student's Blogger address, instead all Blogs will be viewable directly from within the Module Shell within Blackboard.

Images, movies, audio etc. can easily be uploaded too and the Blog can be exported as a standard HTML package for archiving purposes too.

There is also the option to automatically link the Blog to an assessment within the on-line gradebook too. I like it!

Another roof option - much cheaper :)

OK, forget the previous post on lightweight roof tiles. I have not found a much cheaper solution with similar longevity. Felt shingles laid directly onto a felt underlay on standard OSB roof boards:

http://www.katepaluk.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/SuperKLGrey.html

For the whole roof, including edge trims and ridge tiles, the total comes in at only £238 inc. VAT.

Lightweight Roof Tile

OK, following on from previous post on my new "lodge" - I have discovered a ligthweight roof tile which I now plan to place on the roof:

http://www.britmet.co.uk/

The tiles are much lighter than traditional roof tiles and have a 40 year guarantee. They can also be laid on a 12 degree pitch or greater (luckily mine is 13) so they seem to be more than suitable for what I want. The company also sells matching barge board trims and ridge covers so the end result should be excellent. Price is around £550 all in for my roof which I don't think is bad considering its longevity.

The Lodge Studio......

OK, so I have now moved house and have spent the last four months completely redecorating, laying new floors, fitting a new bathroom and en-suite, updating the kitchen and ripping out the fireplace(!). Not bad going considering I've been at work full time as well and the house is over 1500 square feet. In my previous post I discussed converting the integral garage into a new playroom / studio, but we have now decided that perhaps a garage to put old paint tins in and the cars, would actually be useful. Therefore, I have designed a new "lodge" which I am about to start building in the garden. I have been calling it a shed, but this doesn't really do it justice as it will be fully insulated and plastered just like a house :)

Unlike the shed I built two years ago, this one is going to be built from pre-fabricated panels which I will build firstly in the garage and then (hopefully) bolt them together on the foundations.

Plans are attached for anyone interested and I a plan to document its construction. I am currently researching different insulating products and also a lightweight roof tile as I'd rather not use felt! Some of this work might be useful for an MSc I am about to start this September in Energy and Sustainable Building Design.

Should be good..... now, where did I put my cement mixer?

Too high video bit rate.... again

Been researching this issue and basically, DVD SP4 assumes that it is the video rate which is too high even if the error is being caused by something else. Essentially, the combined bit rate of one video track, all audio layers and all subtitle layers must not exceed 8Mbps (if using 5 angle streams or less). Therefore, with the two uncompressed WAVE file layers encoded using 1536kbps each (standard 48kHz, 16 bit) or effectively 1.5Mbps and with the AC3 layer encoded using 448kbps, or approx. 0.5Mbps, this gives a combined rate of 3.5Mbps, only leaving 4.5Mbps maximum for the video stream. Having the audio all encoded to AC3 solves this issue, which is what Apple recommend and this also then makes the files adhere to the standard DVD spec.

Have ordered the Apple Training Book on DVD SP4 which looks a good read.

"Too high video bit rate"

A group of students ran into an issue yesterday when burning their final multi-audio layer DVD for their Audio Post Production coursework. The brief is for the students to create a 3 minute soundtrack for some original or found footage but there must be three audio layers: stereo mix, stereo mix with commentary and 5.1 ac3 mix. For some reason the DVD project in DVD SP4 would not build and the error message "too high video bit rate" kept on appearing. Firstly I tried lowering the maximum bit rate within the encoder section of the preferences window; no joy. Next I tried compressing their video file into an m2v file in "COMPRESSOR" so that no transcoding was required within DVD SP4; still no joy. Next I tried converting their audio files into AIFF 48kHz 16 bit files (even though they were already in this format); still no joy.

Finally I tried building the disc with just the main stereo audio layer - hooray, success! However, this was no good since they need to have three audio layers to accompany the video stream? I next tried just the main stereo stream with the 5.1 ac3 stream - hooray, even more success! What about just adding the main stereo and stereo with commentary layers I hear you ask? No joy! Therefor, for some reason DVD SP4 would not build the DVD when it had two uncompressed audio layers even though I have done this and demo'd this many times successfully?

Any how, the only option was for me to convert the uncompressed stereo with commentary file into 2.0 ac3 (using the Dolby Digital Professional 2.0 preset within COMPRESSOR) and then to re-import this into DVD SP4. Now, with the uncompressed stereo mix on layer 1, ac3 stereo with commentary on layer 2 and 5.1 ac3 mix on layer 3, everything worked fine. This is slightly frustrating however since I wanted the students to submit uncompressed versions of their two stereo mixes. Very strange?

Summer Schools

Already have got four different summer school type activites lined up to take place over the next couple of months or so. Should be good as the ADR sessions always go down well - think I will do something new this year, perhaps a scene from something like Monsters Inc; should go down well with the kids.

Blu-Ray again

It appears that you can't even buy a Mac Pro with built-in Blu-Ray player (let alone BURNER) - what are Apple playing at? How can companies provide clients with one-off Blu-Ray discs from DVD SP 4 - presumeably they can't!

ADR Sessions

Running Intro ADR sessions this week in class and again, the exercises appear to be going well; it's something which students really seem to get into. Running with ADR Studio again (alongside ProTools) and getting the students to both engineer and record some of the replacement lines for a provided piece of footage. Have just been looking into another piece of software by Gallery called "VirtualVCR" which, as far as I can see, will also provide the visual streamer at the cue point too.

Blu-Ray support in DVD SP 4?

Just been thinking about a new module I am working on which is basically Audio Post Production for TV but aimed at audio type students who have never done any video before. I was just thinking that I should cover Blu-Ray / HD DVD Authoring but it appears that at present, DVD SP 4 on the Mac does not support Blu-Ray. I don't want to use Encore - does anyone know if Blu-Ray is supported by DVD SP 4?

EyeTV

Currently researching products for recording TV programs and then streaming them around the house to various devices. I have come across a product for OSX called "EyeTV" and it looks awesome. Basically, the interface looks more or less identical to iTunes and has the ability to automatically place recordings made into a shared iTunes library for accessing around the house and even more cool, is the fact that it can make recordings available in Safari for devices such as the iTouch / iPhone to stream wirelessly! 

There are different products available, (i.e. Freeview or Digital Satellite) and there is even one with dual tuners so one can record either two different programs simultaneously or record one and view another. I think the setup for me will be a Mac Mini and EyeTV dual tuner setup at the "nerve" centre (the software will even power up the computer when a recording is scheduled) together with either a network storage device, or large USB device plugged into something like Apple's Airport Extreme for sharing the storage (and also providing Wireless-n for iTouch devices etc.). 

You can even log on to the device via the web to program it- nice! The system is very similar to Sky+ obviously, however the problem with Sky+ is that there is no way to stream its content anywhere around the home. You therefore need to watch the recordings in the room where they were made. 

A few more training videos....

Have produced getting on for twenty "training" type videos for my teaching over the past year or so and a couple can already be found on this blog. I thought I'd attach a couple more here: the first is on the idea of basic "workflow" which discusses aligning audio and video files within the NLE first before then exporting the whole sound mix to ProTools for further tweaking etc. The second discusses using the software "ADR Studio"....

More building works.....?

Have got my eye on a new house which contains an integral garage. If I manage to purchase the house (offer been more or less accepted, just waiting for my house to sell, but almost there I think), the plan will be to convert the integral garage again. This time, as the property is almost new and also as it is integral, the project is going to need full building regs and planning approval, so I am already researching a suitable design which will easily exceed current regs. The plan this time will be to create more of an Office / Studio / Games room, so this time I think the Vocal Booth will be left off the design in favour of a ceiling mounted projector and Playstation 3 :) with all AV cabling installed etc....

As permitted development rights to convert the garage have been removed for the property (this seems to be more and more common nowadays with parking at a premium), an additional parking space across the small front garden might be required. This is a bit of a headache as it also means getting the kerbside dropped by the Council too, however, worth it in the end I reckon.

Looking forward to getting the old jigsaw out again.

Multiclip editing in Final Cut

Recently been preparing an exercise / demonstration to illustrate the uses of merging clips and using multiclips within Final Cut Pro, synchronised using free run timecode.

A really good exercise will be to setup a two camera shoot, say to record an interview, with the audio being handled by a separate audio recorder with all three devices synchronised together using FREE RUN timecode.

Once the footage is captured, both clips can have the same higher quality audio attached by simply using the MERGE CLIPS (by timecode) command which is fine when dealing with single pieces of footage with separate audio. However, a neater method when using multiple cameras is to use the MAKE MULTICLIP (by timecode) command. This will create a multiclip containing the two camera angles and the higher quality audio file (the same method could also be used if one of the cameras was used to record the audio too). By using the MULTICLIP ACTIVE TRACKS command and setting this to VIDEO ONLY, it is possible to carry out a live edit, toggling between to the two camera angles, whilst still keeping the audio track constant. For an edit to be achieved in real time, one must remember to set the PLAYAHEAD SYNC to "OPEN" so that the VIEWER and CANVAS windows are ganged together.

As with all of my teachings, I have created a Quicktime tutorial file showing these methods, but the quality, once posted onto Blogger is not particularly great - however, it's here for reference if anyone is interested in viewing it....



Following on from what I said earlier about using the MERGE CLIP command, something to touch up here in relation to that is that of nesting sequences within sequences. Let's say that some footage has had its separately recorded audio file aligned to it using the MERGE CLIP (by timecode) function. What will have been created now is a clip containing BOTH the camera's on board audio and the separate audio; i.e. 4 audio tracks. To make it so that each time a section of this clip is used, audio tracks 1 and 2 don't have to be manually removed or muted, another neat trick to drag the clip onto a new sequence, remove the camera's audio and then edit this sequence into the main edit sequence, if that makes sense!

Text book again, again, again

Heard back from Focal Press about the text book and it appears that my proposal / idea is a little too vague for them and needs to be more concrete. I therefore reckon I will perhaps re-work the idea so that is something more along the lines of "ProTools for AV Post Production", i.e. making it more of a hands on ProTools training guide, with some supporting theory. I need to get my a**s in gear and have another go.... being a bit lazy at the moment.

Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Awards 2008

At DeMontfort University, students can recommend members of Academic Staff for a Distinguished Teaching Award. Just received this email - as it says, I didn't make it into the final 10, however, I'm really chuffed that I was recommended by my students. It's even more important to me this year as 2007/08 was my first full year of teaching at DMU and with a brand new module too. Copy of email received:

Congratulations Justin!

You were nominated by your students for a Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008. This was a record year when over 400 student nominations were received for more than 200 staff. I am sorry that on this occasion you didn’t make it to the final 10 who received an award from the Vice Chancellor in June. Nevertheless, we wanted to let you know that your students think highly of you and your contribution to the student experience is valued as the following quotation testifies:

In the past months he has made more effort to help out each student, email replies to queries the same day and email information to students that don't even have anything to do with the module [...]. He has taken time out to provide help and information not just with the course and module but with the university as a whole in an enthusiastic and helpful manner. He always seems to have a smile on his face and helps out with any problem you may have ASAP.

It’s great to know that the students value your teaching. Keep up the good work!

Don't want this to appear as I am blowing one's own trumpet so to speak, just nice to know that my teachings appear to be going down well :)

BBC Radio Drama

A few weeks back I was involved in a BBC Radio Drama Training Day. The session was based around attempting to brainstorm ideas, write a script and then record two different dramas all within one day. Personally, it was great to be involved in the writing of something, as creating narrative is not something I have done a great deal of before. One of the "dramas" created was entitled "Short Fuse" (a title we had to use), so my electronics background helped a great deal with getting the odd physics type pun in here and there!

A rough mix, kindly edited by one of the students I was working with can be found here: http://www.audiotheque.co.uk/audio/download/97/

A very good day all in all.....

Summer School

Last Thursday I ran a couple of 1 hour studio sessions to a group of Year 10 students from local schools. To make the session as interesting and as fun as possible, I got them to have a go at re-dubbing the dialogue for a 20 second clip of The Simpsons. ADR Studio was used, in conjunction with ProTools and both of the sessions went extremely well. I was observed for the first session by a colleague who had been doing similar things both in and out of schools for the past 15 years and he commented on how excellent the session was. Most of the children engaged in some way, either by providing a voice, or by engineering the recordings and by the end of the session, the completed clips were played back to group which they enjoyed immensely. I plan to run further sessions throughout the next Academic Year.

Text book (again), (again)

Back in touch this week with Focal Press to chase them up about the original text book proposal. Now that marking and assessment is almost out of the way, thought I would crack back on with the project. They replied straight away telling me that the original proposal was forwarded to another commissioning editor who has since left. Therefore, they asked me to resubmit together with an example of my writing. Hopefully will hear back soon....

Summer School

I have been asked to run a "summer school" session for some children over the summer. The activity will be getting them to ADR a small section of a cartoon, which should go down really well.

Recent Coursework and PPM meters

Yesterday saw the main hand in for my module on Audio Post Production whereby I asked the students to create a complete sound track for either a 3 minute extract from a film, or for some of their own created footage. The assignment stated that every sound must be originally recorded and that any dialogue must be replaced using ADR techniques. The finished 3 minute piece then had to be submitted on DVD together with two other audio layers: a 5.1 mix and a stereo mix complete with supporting "directors commentary" added. Some of the students also investigated the use of "ducking" techniques whereby the commentary automatically dips down the level of the main soundtrack when present and then when not, the main soundtrack returns to unity.

One of the other main areas I wanted my students to ensure, was that their levels did not breach broadcast "safe" levels, which in Europe is PPM6 maximum (which equates to approx. -10dBFS), with the digital reference tone being PPM4 (-18dBFS). This area is important and it is something I plan to cover more on next year. It's simply not the case of checking levels on a PPM meter - calibration is necessary as otherwise, like with all uncalibrated meters, the readings are useless. A student asked me the other day, why, even though they had normalised their levels to -10dBFS (so that nowhere was their peak outputs higher than what is effectively PPM6) that the meter was overloading. This is an interesting area, as again, it's not as simple as generating a 1kHz sine wave at a digital level of -18dBFS and then adjusting the software's master fader until the meter reads PPM4. This method would produce a monitoring situation which did effectively show correct levels within the studio that it was carried out in, however, take the soundtrack anywhere else and it won't be. It is important to realise that the ELECTRICAL output level entering the PPM meter must be such so that for a sine wave with a level of -18dBFS it shows PPM4. If the sine wave is generated and then, say, the master fader within the software is adjusted, then the tone is obviously no longer -18dBFS. All faders within the session must be set to unity (i.e. 0dB) and then the actual ELECTRICAL output must be adjusted. Some professional audio interfaces (the Digidesign 002 for example) are set so that -18dBFS = PPM4 (or 0dBu, 0.775Vrms) so this is not a problem, however when using other audio interfaces, especially cheaper models, or ones powered solely by USB, the outputs simply can't output sufficient level. To overcome this, a small mixing console can be used to amplify the electrical level of the audio interface so that, for -18dBFS, the PPM reads accurately.

Text book (again)

After hearing nothing from Focal Press, have just received an email from John Wiley Publishers about writing a book with them. I will submit the proposal soon and then await to hear back....