HV20 working out well for greenscreen!
 

Hey all,

I'm working on a new version of dvmatte pro, and so far, the HV20 is really faring well! Check it out here...

A couple notes:
I'm currently evaluating different image controls on the HV20 to maximize the results for greenscreen. So far I've been using a "Custom" image setting, but I'm going to do some tests with the "Low Sharpening" mode soon. The custom settings I'm using right now are Sharpening -1, Contrast -1, Color -1, Brightness +1... I'm also shooting in 24p, and using the Cine setting. Those Custom settings combined with the Cine look gets you the lowest-contrast image out of this camera, which is invaluable when doing further processing... Also, the miniSD trick really helps when you're doing keying, because you want to be at 0db gain.

I'm frankly pretty blown away by the image quality on this $900 palmcorder... The times, they are a-changin'...

- ben

Someone asked about my greenscreen setup -- I shot this against two pieces of fluorescent-green posterboard taped together. For headshots, this stuff is actually pretty nice. It's a very bright green, which is just what you want. And you can't beat the price, at $1/sheet. :)

Good deal - i've had very good results as well capturing HDMI.

Are you going HDV or HDMI?

HDV -- I don't have a way to capture HDMI yet. I'd be curious to compare the two. Although I don't think the HDV compression is the limiting factor anymore...

that looks really good! ill have to check out your keyer sometime.

Thanks Adam! This new version will be a doozy.

I'm impressed the HDV did so well for you!

However, capturing with CINEFORM is immensely superior - if you ever get the opportunity i'd definitely give it a try!

I'm not familiar with how a keyer works but I was thinking that you could only use them with pro cameras. Where can I get some information on the dvmatte pro?

Yeah, a lot of people assume they can't do greenscreen unless they have a high-end camera, but you can get some great results with small cameras these days!

dvGarage distributes my stuff, but I'm about to release a new version -- check the site in a couple weeks!

I didn't realize you wrote this stuff. I just looked at the dvmatte products on the dvgarage website. Very impressive!

Very impressive for an inexpensive camera and impressive software too.

Ben,
I've been considering experimenting with no budget greenscreen work for a long time and would like to go into this. Especially because, with no budget, you need all the help you can get to make your film look more than it is -- and greenscreen is a marvelous way to do that (with no boundaries!). When I have time I'll sort out my plans and get your software.

sorry to go off topic, but is your LinBayer software still available? I know several years ago you were experimenting with a Sumix camera head -- there's a new one out with a credible sensor (look in the Alternative Imaging section). Your program may be of interest to the people on that thread...

Regards,
John.

cool, ill be checking back soon. need to try that posterboard idea too, looks like it gives good results.

Definitely -- greenscreen has become routine for even non-effects movies in Hollywood, and I'd like to see indies have the same flexibility!

Geez, I don't even know where LinBayer is in my archives... It wouldn't be hard to replicate that work. It was basically a logic-based debayer algorithm on top of a pretty basic two-pass 1D interpolation (spline?). The logic-based bit was good for pixel-level detail, but it freaked out when it encountered moire, noise, or fine detail past nyquist.

These days, I'd probably strip out the logic layer and just work on getting the best possible interpolation.

Incidentally, it would be very easy to write a GPU-accelerated bilinear debayer plugin for previewing raw footage -- it would run faster than realtime on most systems...

Ben is the new version of dvmatte pro Mac-only?