Smoothness
 

Hey guys, I've just shot a short "date/engagement" video and I notice in post that when I slow down the clip to 45% it doesn't seem to be very smooth like others. I shot it with my XL2 on 60p and WS. Am I doing anything wrong? I would like to have to motion a bit more smoother in post. Thanks for the help in advance.

Mike

Maybe you could put the clip on the web so we could look at it.

I will after i get two things done first. To have the couple sign a release form and find a webhosting site.

"Smoothness" has a lot to do with shutter speed. Hypothetically, if your clip was shot outside on a bright day and your camera was in Auto, the shutter would likely be fast causing a strobe look when you slow it down.

Was the camera in Auto? What were the light conditions?

Hey Craig you're right its on auto. Gosh Now i know for my next shoot on the 15th of this month. Hehehehe I will do soemthing testing with lighting. Again i'm an amatuer compared to you guys. Appreciate the feedback...i will post my findings.

Just to clarify one thing you mentioned. You said that you shot it in 60P? 60P or 60i? As far as I know the XL2 won't shoot in 60P, but it will shoot progressive in 30fps or 24fps. I just wondered if I had it wrong. If that baby shoots in 60P then you're all set for crystal clear slo-mo.

Yeah, what Mike said made me stop and think, 480/60p is an impossibility with DV format video. If it's 30p it is going to have some judder when slowed down. 60i could be turned into nice slo-mo though. I know a way to deinterlace 60i nicely to 60p, but 30p is never going to have a temporal resolution greater than 30fps.

Maybe I should take that back. I think there was somebody working on a VirtualDub filter to take 30p and generate in-between frames using some sort of interpolation to produce 60p. I wonder if he got anywhere with that.

hi mike. you'll need a filter to help with frame blending when you slow down past 50%. i use magic bullet for color correction, but it has the added benefit of frame blending my slow mo shots.

Or get software that makes great slo-mo video from goodervideo.com. For most things, it looks fantastic. It intelligently interpolates new frames of video. The slo-mo software alone is only about $25.

Say Marcus, have you tried the other GooderVideo apps too? They do have me curious.

What editor are you using? and are viewing the timeline or a rendered clip?

FCP does frame blending on it's own without plugins. There is a check box for frame blending for any speed change (by default it is on) and it does a nice job compared to other editors according to Event DV's article "Battle of the NLE's." I don't think that is the problem. Mike did acknowledge that his camera was in AUTO and the camera could easily have been compensating for a lot of light.

Mike - I highly recommend the training DVD "Camera Command."