Heya, I'm probably going to regret posting this stupid thing on the board, but I finally splashed out and purchased myself a nice GL2 (well actually an XM2 since I'm in the UK) and decided to try and make a test movie on my own. (Not to mention making this my first post on the boards too.)

I'm gonna post a link to it, but you should know that I severely screwed up the lighting, since I was literally filming this on my own (yay for the remote control), so it doesn't look particularly great, but I still felt it was worth posting it here, incase there's anything un-lighting related that anyone can comment on.

So here it is, please 'try' to enjoy this 2 minute short - 'To Be Twins'. (Yes it involves 'twins' because I didn't want to bring anyone else into my 'playing around' stage.)

http://www.brokenpipefilms.com/james/ToBeTwins.wmv

Cheers!

WOW!

James, what NLE do you use? I use Vegas and Sony have a Levels FX that could have "lifted" the Gamma a bit. What settings did you have the XM2 on?

You Lonsdon-ish? I'm Wembley.

But really .. great story line .. and not a tad concerning too! ..

Grazie

I'm using Ulead MediaStudio, which I originally just went for because of Video Paint... Yay for rotoscoping - ahem. Looking for something better now, but at least it does it's job for shuffling around shots!

I forget which settings I used, but I went for something that I felt looked moody and effective on the LCD screen... of course you need test movies like this to realise that I should have turned down the LCD brightness to make it look closer to how it would appear on monitors/tvs. I was using just a simple desk lamp for a key light and it looks okay in the close ups, but evidently for the wider shots I needed to manually raise the gamma even more.

I'm in Peterborough, so reasonably close to London... close by train at least!

Cheers for the comments! If the timing of the dialogue hadn't been such a hassle in filming (to get me talking to myself), I would consider remaking the thing with better lighting, but as it happens, I'd rather make something else for my next 'test'.

You know you can flip the "data", you see this when flip out the LCD, switch to see your settings you shot in? Great way to remember what I did.

Grazie

Grazie,

I don't know the meaning of your colloquialism "flip the data". Are you saying that while reviewing the DV tape in the cam's VCR mode that you can display the camera settings used when the tape was being recorded?

If not, I'm all wet; can you rephrase and type slower so I can catch it this time. ; )

" If not, I'm all wet; " . . GET A grip! Steady on Sir!

"Are you saying that while reviewing the DV tape in the cam's VCR mode that you can display the camera settings used when the tape was being recorded? " YES . .

Grazie

Wasn't expecting to learn a nice tip like that from such an innocent thread, so thanks! Still, it doesn't help me in this case since I merely recorded over it because I don't feel the need to keep such test footage at this stage.

James! WRONG! You need to keep AL:L test footage at this stage . .this is how learnt .. Granted, I don't know your financial circumstances but miniDV tape is real cheap .. I buy for under £2.00 .. what you paying?

Grazie

Grazie,

Thanks for typing slower for us slow readers. ; )

Do you know if this is a capability of just fine Canon products like your XM2, or is it an inherent characteristic of the DV recording spec and any DV cam can recall this data if enabled by the manufacturer?


In your reference " If not, I'm all wet; " . . GET A grip! Steady on Sir!", again, I didn't quite get the gist of what you were saying. That I'm all wet and should have known the fact of being able to recall DV camsettings (probably true, I've read the GL2 and XL1s manuals a dozen times each and I'm certain its in there somewhere). Or were you saying that I shouldn't think I'm all wet because this is a little known trade secret. Sorry to ask, but I feel like a mental midget trying to interpret your post. And I want to be clear because you consistently provide useful advice. Thanx!

<<<-- Originally posted by Graham Bernard : James! WRONG! You need to keep AL:L test footage at this stage . .this is how learnt .. Granted, I don't know your financial circumstances but miniDV tape is real cheap .. I buy for under £2.00 .. what you paying? -->>>

Noted, and thanks... I'll keep test footage then from now on. The tapes I've gone for were certainly more expensive than £2 per 60 mins. But I guess the concept of splashing out around £1600 for the camera means I can probably afford to keep all footage if they're just £2. Where do you get yours? I'm using Sony tapes which were leftovers from a TV show pilot I've been working on, so I'm guessing it's a good idea to stick with the brand (for lubricant clogging reasons).

Cheers!

I'll dig out the info for you . . they're in 3 places around the UK I believe. I get mine in Harrow .. think they were £1.89 . . or less?

Anyways email me and I'll respond - yeah? Oh yes these will be Sony Premium. 60 mins The ones with the "RED" hatch strip . .yeah?

Grazie

graham UNDERSCORE bernard AT lycos DOT co DOT uk

I tried to view you movie but it seems I have a problem. I use a mac and for some reason I can see anything. I hear it perfectly but I've no view.
How is this possible? This is not the first movie in wmv format that has this problem. Anybody know a solution?

Sounds like the codec itself is the problem... being 'Windows' media video maybe that's the issue?

Anyway, as a short term fix I've got a (bad quality I'm afraid) version of the film here: http://www.brokenpipefilms.com/james/ToBeTwins.mov

Don't expect too much though, the screwed up lighting makes this version even worse than the other!

How can this "twins" effect be done easily. I tried to figure it out on my own in Vegas, but couldn't do it.

Anyone know how to do this in Vegas 5?

Oh.....I assume you can't move the camera to get the "twins" effect unless you have those $100k computer controlled cameras that make the same exact pass over and over.

... "Anyone know how to do this in Vegas 5?" - Yes. But better you get the "2 cats" tutorial or veggie and study the method there. Just as a pointer in the correct direction use Bezier curves/masking. In this way one can insert a layer over the "backgorund. This "shaped" mask including the "double" will be seen as double. But, if you are referring to the "double" moving behind the image - I don't know. And yes, cameras locked off.

Here's the 2 Cats Tutorial:

http://matthew.chaboud.com/vegas5/twocats/

HTH,

Grazie

I've done a couple of 'twinning' shots in my time, and yes, barring motion control setups you definitely need a locked off camera, though you could fake movement in post (though you'll lose video resolution of course).

For any shot where I needed one 'version' to go in front of the other, I used Ulead VideoPaint to literally draw out a blue/green solid block around each person each time, so I ended up with a completely blue background with just the twin moving around it. Comping that onto a black background plate looks surprisingly good, though make sure your person's shadows are included in the shot.

As for a 'double' moving behind the image, a simple method I used for 'interaction' for another shot I needed to show two people skipping down a path holding hands which was much less time consuming basically involved using a split screen overlay shot first, (look below, you can see the effect it had on the left guy's arm. Then I literally drew in a blue blob around the right guy's arm, so I knew it'd fit in properly, and comped that over the top of the original left guy's plate. That left a perfect looking shot :) Actually, the shot on the left is after I'd done the same thing with the shadows, you can see they look pretty damn good, even though it was a simple chop down the center(ish) of the screen.

http://www.jh-m.demon.co.uk/twinning.jpg

Nice editing on the close-ups. Looks a bit red to me though...did you white balance or try color correcting in post?

Fraid so... as I mentioned I screwed up the lighting, so you really couldn't see much at all. I had to pump up the brightness, and the white balance wasn't set correctly. Hey, it was the first day I had the camera and I was trying to be clever ;)

Still, got to learn somehow, haven't we?