Motion Sample Clip from 25P Custom Camera
 

For those who have asked and are still interested, I finally got around to posting a clip from my VC25P (3x1/2" CCD Progressive Scan camera), so you can see how the motion looks in 25P mode.
http://www.ColdDayInHellTheMovie.com
Click on the "Watch a Clip" button.

Re: Motion Sample Clip from 25P Custom Camera
 

Tell me again why this looks better than a normal 3 chip DV with progressive? Or a JVC HD10 (true progressive) , even with it's antique mpeg2 data?
How many good bits deep is that camera?

What should we be looking for in the compressed clip you have up there ?

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't get it!

-Les

<<<-- Originally posted by Dan Vance : For those who have asked and are still interested, I finally got around to posting a clip from my VC25P (3x1/2" CCD Progressive Scan camera), so you can see how the motion looks in 25P mode.
http://www.ColdDayInHellTheMovie.com
Click on the "Watch a Clip" button. -->>>

Hi Dan,

Looks good. Looked a bit like 16mm to me, maybe because of the natural color palette. Nice job with the camera.

Joel,
Thanks!

Dan,

Your footage looks really good. The color looks great and those are pretty impressive results from a homegrown camera. Can't wait to see that trailer. Have you tried any greenscreen work with it yet? I'd love to see how well your footage keys.

I'm sorry if I've missed this elsewhere, but what tape format are you using? Where did you get the parts, and what did it cost you?

Les,
As the title of this thread states, this is a "Motion Sample" clip. The Hitachi camera used in this system does NOT have progressive scan CCDs. The system achieves progressive scan by using a combination of the "frame-integration mode" of the camera and an external mechanical (rotating) shutter. This is all explained in detail in the Technical section of the website. Those who have read about the camera were curious as to whether this "pseudo progressive scan" technique gives the same motion look as "real" progressive scan. That's the purpose for the clip. There was never any claim or intention that this would be "better" than normal progressive scan. What IS better is that this is a 3x1/2" CCD camera, so it has the advantage of the larger CCDs over the 1/3" cameras like the XL1S and the DVX100. So the whole idea was to step up to 1/2" chips without stepping up to the next price level of around $25,000 for a progressive scan camera with chips larger than 1/3".
Issac,
Thanks. Haven't done any greenscreen (yet). Will be interesting to see how that works.
Keith,
Most of that info is on the Technical Details page of the website. The camera records directly to a CAPDIV hard disk, so there's no tape. Total cost (minus labor!) was about $2800.

When you say "external mechanical (rotating) shutter", do you mean physical shutter like on 35mm film cameras?

Shutter
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Mark Grgurev : When you say "external mechanical (rotating) shutter", do you mean physical shutter like on 35mm film cameras? -->>>
Yes, there's a picture of the shutter (though not a very good one) at:
http://www.colddayinhellthemovie.com/VC25PTech.htm
But it's the combination of the shutter AND the frame-integration mode of the camera that enable the progressive-scan imaging.

hi everyone

Thank you, Dan, for the clip ... this is so exciting. I can think of no other place where an engineer working on a protype would share with us help in building our own! I just got through watching the movie 'Visions of Light', and over the years the major studios competed with each other over the closely held cinematophgraphy techniques and equipment. Much of it ewas fabricated like your camera, and we're right there with the birth of the latest technology.

My next camera will be homemade.

Oh ... and when the window blew out I jumped!

Thanks Richard,
Feel free to email me if you need any help when you start building your own camera.