DSLR full motion video the old fashioned way

[Stephen van Vuuren]

As a few old-timers here may remember, I developed a technique with a film SLR and motordrive to create motion and did a short with a Canon Elura with a motordrive:

Crisp Yellow Flowers on Vimeo

I have now refined the technique using a DSLR (Pentax K10d) and have a piece that started as camera test for my IMAX film but I've turned into a short. The K10d does not make the best JPEGs and I shot this with the crappy standard lens, but still, I was pleased with the results.

Still Life on Vimeo

I basically take 3fps continuous footage of a subject and use both artificially slow movement and Twixtor in AE to create 24fps. It's not meant to be 100% realistic - I like the effect plus it allows me to have 2K master using a $700 camera.

I think I would like to get my hands on a 5D Mk II and shoot the same scene with RAW burst and then 1080p - then a little play in AE and see what I can come out with. Very interesting times.

[Bob Thompson]

Outstanding video and soundtrack, Stephen. They certainly are exciting times

Bob

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by Bob Thompson

Outstanding video and soundtrack, Stephen. They certainly are exciting times

Bob

Thanks - I had fun with the soundtrack. It's actually a 5.1 mix but Vimeo does not appear to support that.

These are very exciting times. I can't wait to see what's next is this area. It's almost like deja vu as basically a 35mm still and 35mm movies camera are very similar - just different frame/sprocket size arrangements to accommodate motion vs. still.

Hopefully, digital video is going to no longer be "video" and now truly be a sequence of still DSLR images once an intra-frame codec and fast enough media write times are there. The Ikonoskop camera is a promising sign.

My fantasy is Nikon taking their D3 sensor or Canon taking their 5D MK II and putting it in a DSLR like body with a detachable Super 8 like grip. We can dream...

[John Wyatt]

I wish there were more projects as innovative as this...

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by John Wyatt

I wish there were more projects as innovative as this...

Thanks.

The old cliche "Necessity is the mother of invention" holds true here. I find it motivating to work with limitations.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Stephen van Vuuren

As a few old-timers here may remember...

The discussion of Stephen's technique spanned several threads in our Alternative Imaging Methods forum from 2003 to 2004. To better serve those who wish to go back and review that material, I've consolidated all of them together into one thread for easy reference. The link is:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/alternati...irst-test.html

[Stephen Boss]

Amazing. Great work.

How do you like the k10d? I was thinking about getting a k20d before all these new dslr's got released.

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

The discussion of Stephen's technique spanned several threads in our Alternative Imaging Methods forum from 2003 to 2004. To better serve those who wish to go back and review that material, I've consolidated all of them together into one thread for easy reference. The link is:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/alternati...irst-test.html

Thanks Chris - that was fun to peruse. As result of reading those discussions back then, a guy named Charles Lim took this method and has been making short films with it. We've corresponded a few times and his stuff is very nice. He's shooting with much higher end DSLRs for the fps speed.

cinema2

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by Stephen Boss

Amazing. Great work.

How do you like the k10d? I was thinking about getting a k20d before all these new dslr's got released.

As I had a limited budget at which the K10d was at the top end, I think at the time it was the best DSLR in the price range. I like some of the unique exposure modes. The JPEG processing is not great (for this technique I have to shoot JPEG as it's the only way to keep the camera in continuous mode until the buffer fills). But it's a great camera for RAW stills.

I also liked the D40 but more limited manual controls and the lack of remote release that activated continuous shooting were deal breakers. Better JPEG images than K10D.

I think the K20D has much better JPEG processing but the continuous mode appears to have suffered from the reviews I've seen due to the extra pixels.

I did test a rental D200 but had problems with the mirror moving the camera between shots even on a heavy tripod. I don't know if that's a problem with D200s or just that unit.

It will be interesting to see what HD video modes Sony, Pentax etc. feel that have to add now that Canon and Nikon have done so. Pretty much they all have live view but perhaps they will take a different strategy.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Still Life was wonderful. The subject matter, pacing, and color palette reminds me of Cries and Whispers by Bergman.

People who knock the D90 and 5D MkII aren't considering the possibilities that these cameras offer. Shortcomings can be worked around, if you have the freedom to choose your subject and style. The key is to identify the strengths and make the most of them.

Bravo!