Hi folks,

another Video I recently created with my F3. We've been shooting in -3db gain and postprocessed the image in Neat Video / After Effects and the result is an incredible clean image.

Have a look here:
PayLife Black Making-Of on Vimeo

What do you think?

Kind regards,
Chris

why did you need Neat Video with an F3 at -3DB?

Great looking piece by the way.

To even more reduce any digital video noise. I experienced that S-Log introduces a little bit more noise than regular REC709 does.

I am using Neat Video on nearly all of my projects to master the final output. It reduces noise and sharpens the whole image up a bit.

Really beautiful work. And loved the hybrid English-German word I caught-- ge-airbrushed!

I forgot about noise from SLog.
what settings are you using for Neat Video?

It is an amazing program

To even more reduce any digital video noise. I experienced that S-Log introduces a little bit more noise than regular REC709 does.

I am using Neat Video on nearly all of my projects to master the final output. It reduces noise and sharpens the whole image up a bit.

+1.

Looks wonderful!

Need to do some tests with S-Log to see if -3db reduces the dynamic range as it would with most cameras. I have a feeling that there will be half stop decrease.

Very nice looking images though, almost too clean perhaps. The grain in film does give it a nice feel sometimes.

Nice looking stuff. What lens/lenses did you use to shoot this?

The Sony kit "primes". I can't remember the settings for Neat Video. I always use the auto function and set the sharpening to about 120%.

At what stage of PP do you clean your footage? Is it the first thing you do, the last?
I'm going to try it with what I shoot my EX1 in low light.
Thanks

pietro

Can you guess what settings this was shot at?

S-Log, +12DB and Sony 35mm T2.0 - which means ISO 6400. Oh yeah, and it was recorded to a PIX240 at 1080 30p with PR HQ (220Mb/s).

I included a jpeg before and after a simple curve in Photoshop and a TIFF for an uncompressed view.

I don't see any need to use NV with an F3. It is just amazing at how little noise there is. At ISO 6400, this camera is cleaner than my EX3 even with its PP set to reduce noise.

Are you using the new version of NV which includes CUDA acceleration? If so, is it noticeably faster?

The Sony F3 is so clean even at +12dB, of course you don't NEED neat video.

Here is a video I shot with +12dB and +18dB in the nighttime without using Neat Video:
S-Log Test Night on Vimeo

Oh! Didn't know about Neat Video V3. Downloading it right now. Sadly I have an ATI card in my MacPro but I'll report if it speeds up processing anyway.

@Pietro: I do the noise reduction in the last stage of my PP. After the edit, cc and everything.

Btw, the attached image is/was my setup.

I'll be honest, I find myself adding noise or grain to some of my F3 projects.

I appreciate and want low noise as a means to facilitate good color correction, latitude, and low light situations, but in the end I'm learning I don't love an ultra clean look for most jobs...I'll add just a little texture as a last step to give it something extra.

@ Christoph: thanks

Here is screenshot of the F3 output. Simply amazing!

I sure with there was a way to get rid of the nasty highlight handling of the F3 without $3700 for S-log. That still looks great.

S-log makes it a new camera.

Is that the Zacuto Follow Focus, Arri mattebox and Sony prime lens? If so, what are your thoughts on the FF? I use these 3 pieces and don't like the feel of the FF. I don't have a ton of experience with other FF and cine lenses; so, I don't know if it is due to the Zacuto FF or the Sony lens. Essentially, I find it rough and turning the FF is not smooth, which has caused a bit of camera shake even though everything was locked down on a Sachtler Video 18.

About Neat Video: When I got my nanoFlash several months ago to use on my EX3, I extensively tested various PP settings to reduce noise. Then, I combined Cineform and NV to try various settings in order to reduce the noise prior to applying vfx and grading. I found that applying NV before anything else was done greatly enhanced my ability to CC & grade. I brought the nanoFlash video into Premiere Pro, applied NV and exported as Cineform. After that, I edited with the Cineform files and then brought into After Effects for grading. I believe this process is the best because I don't want effects and CC applied to the noise, which can cause other issues and artifacts.

It's even better if you use Neat Video in AE in 32-bit mode. It will basically generate new bits into the file and even heavy grading won't cause banding. It's pretty awesome.

It's even better if you use Neat Video in AE in 32-bit mode. It will basically generate new bits into the file and even heavy grading won't cause banding. It's pretty awesome.

Really? That's a big deal. Is that an official "feature" that has a name, or just something you found while testing?

I know that in computer-science/DSP speak that's essentially "dithering", but it's also helpful sometimes and I've never known any video app to offer it.

I have found in both Photoshop and AE that editing in 32bit mode does make a huge difference with color.

Is that the Zacuto Follow Focus, Arri mattebox and Sony prime lens? If so, what are your thoughts on the FF? I use these 3 pieces and don't like the feel of the FF.

I am using the Shoot35 FF and Mattebox which I really like. Check it out here: Welcome to shoot35! (http://www.shoot35.co.uk/)

At what stage of PP do you clean your footage? Is it the first thing you do, the last?
I'm going to try it with what I shoot my EX1 in low light.
Thanks

pietro

I have the same question.


-

I have the same question.


The best time to clean your footage is the first stage because you don't want effects and color correction/grading applied to the noise. I believe that I stated earlier in this thread that I tested various workflows of when to use NeatVideo. Based on that testing, NV should be used at the very beginning. In addition, it is best to apply NV and export to Cineform, Pro Res HQ or DNxHD, and then edit. During my testing, I exported the same clip to Cineform with and without NV applied. Without NV applied, the resulting Cineform file was more than 3 times the size of the one with NV.

Thanks. That's what I've been doing as well. Only issue is it takes a long time to run neatvideo on my native footage.

The best time to clean your footage is the first stage because you don't want effects and color correction/grading applied to the noise.

If there just would be a batch feature for NV :-( I would drop my whole footage in a batch and let it process over night or so.