How do I shoot slow motion with the 60d?

[Art White]

I have the Canon 60d and I have been reading up on how to shoot slow motion video with DLSR cameras. I was told to take the frame rate from 24 to 60 and drop the shutter speed from 125 to 50. All I see on this camera is Movie rec. size 1920x1080 24, or30...1280 x 720 60 and 640x480 60. That's the only place I see to change the frame rate. I tried it but it looked the same when i used premire pro. I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here but thanks if somebody can tell me what.

Thanks
Art

[John Wiley]

You're not technically shooting slow motion just because you're shooting 60 frames a second. It only becomes slow motion when you play it back at a reduced speed - like 24fps or 30fps.

Two ways to do this in Premiere:

1. Drop the footage onto a timeline, right click and select speed/duration, then change the value to either 40% (if putting 60p onto a 24p timeline) or 50% (if using a 30p timeline).

2. Import your footage and right click on it in the project window. Select modify>interpret footage then select then check box for "assume this frame rate" and in the text box enter the frame rate of your timeline (30 or 24). The clips will now play back in slow motion in the source preview window as well as when you drop them on the timeline. This method works on multiple clips at once so can be used to batch conform all your footage.

[Noa Put]

Also bear in mind that when shooting 720 50p with your dslr will result in some ugly moire and aliasing artifacts, worse then in 1080 25p. So be sure you don't have any high detailed stuff in the background or blur it out with a faster lens.

[Art White]

John
Thank you. So it's no different than slowing any other file. I'm used to shooting with a HPX 300 where I change the frame rate in the camera and when I take it to premier it renders and I don't have to adjust the speed on the time line. Why not just shoot at 24 with a 24 sequence and slow the clip? Is it a quality loss by not shooting at 60 with a shutter 125?

Noa,
Thanks. I'll look out for that. I only have 2 lenses for this and they are mid range. I'll find out when I practice later today!
Art

[Art White]

Well? I shot it with all the settings I have in my 60D. Frame rate of 60 does work best but it sure stutters alot when I did my test with my home made slider. The background was out of focus with my 1.4 lense so that was ok, but any movement with the camera was choppy. Might be the Premire codec or because I didn't transcode the footage..dunno.

Art

[Pedanes Bol]

Choose 60 fps, shutter speed 1/250. In post slow down 25%.

[Evan Bourcier]

I feel like the information being offered here is confusing... When I shoot something I want slowed down on a canon DSLR I do it at 720 60fps, and shoot with as high a shutter speed as I can afford, as sharper frames play back better in slow motion. Then I import it into premiere, drag onto my 1080p 24fps timeline, apply InstantHD and upscale it to 1080, then go speed/duration, and you can go anywhere between 100%-%40. 60p at 40% gets you 24p, so you're slowed down maximally.

If you try to slow down 24p footage 50% all it does is hold each frame for twice as long, so it stutters. When you shoot 60p and playback at 24 you're still playing at 24 different frames per second so it doesnt stutter, but that 60 frames or 1 second of footage now takes a little over 2 seconds to play back, hence smooth slowmotion.

Hope this all made sense. You can shoot any shutter speed above 1/60 btw, but I've found I'm happier with higher ones when I can afford it, the 180 degree shutter doesnt really apply to slowmo I find.

[John Wiley]

Originally Posted by Art White

John
Thank you. So it's no different than slowing any other file. I'm used to shooting with a HPX 300 where I change the frame rate in the camera and when I take it to premier it renders and I don't have to adjust the speed on the time line. Why not just shoot at 24 with a 24 sequence and slow the clip?

Art

If you shoot 24fps and slow it down, you'll end up with either blended or duplicated frames. The motion will not be as smooth. Of course some software such as AE or Twixtor uses interpolation to create in-between frames but this process is not 100% accurate.

If you play back 60fps at 40%, you are still playing back 24 unique, complete frames per second.

[Art White]

Ok,
I'll shoot some more in the AM because I didn't shoot a fast shutter and I only tried to slow it 50 - 40%. I don't have InstantHD but I do have AE. So motion like paning only effects the moire etc. and not the slow motion look in these cameras, right?

Thanks
Art

[Walter Brokx]

Shoot 60fps at 1/120 and interpret footage (right click clip in projectwindow > modify > interpret footage) as 24, 25 or 30 fps (whatever you are using in the timeline). This will give you shots that last 200% 240% or 250% the recording time.

InstantHD is a plugin to blowup footage to HD. Great tool but has nothing to do with slowmotion.

[Shannon Rice]

I would normally record at 60fps, put it into a 30fps timeline, then use Twixtor to change the output to X% of the original speed.

I also use Motion Weighted Blend, and Inverse with Smart Blend, with a dash of motion blur to make it look a bit nicer.

Cheers,
Shannon