XL2 Demo Reel!
 

I have finally finished my 2009 Demo Reel. I'd say about 95% of it was shot on two XL2s. I up-resd the reel to 720P for Vimeo. Have a looksy and let me know what you all think.


Ry

Nice work Ryan! You have some really good stuff in your reel. (Man, XL2 footage uprezzed to 720P looks pretty darn amazing. Gotta try that when I have the time.)

I think what I personally would've liked to see is more camera movement. I think visually you have some nice interesting variety of camera angles (along with good variety of graphics and efx); but I'd like to have seen maybe some tracking or dolly shots, etc. (you had some nice rack focuses, and pans during the Home Documentary segment).

Overall, really good work!

Best,

Thanks Jeff! There are a couple of Dolly shots in there, but because all the clips are cut so fast to match the music the dollies go unnoticed. The shot of the fighter whaling on the bag was a dolly, as well as the shot going across the turntable. I do agree though, I have to break out my dolly and my slider more often.

Thanks for the response! It is much appreciated.

Ry

Hi Ryan,

Which dolly/slider are you using?

Just made a DIY dolly bought from Igus. But I'm still working out how to properly mount the dolly slider onto a proper tripod, using a fluid head that can support the weight of the XL2. Here's the thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/dolly-tra...ml#post1158419

Might need to purchase that 75mm bowl adapter, and a 501HDV head.

Best,

Hi Ryan. The only criticism I have is that it took a while to get going... The whole flyby on your name at the start seemed to take forever. Of course this is purely opinion, so feel free to disregard... I thought the rest of your footage looked great!

Thanks!

Jeff

I agree with the intro. It takes 15 seconds for us to see any footage, so I would maybe cut that down. As a director looking at DP reel, I don't really care what the title looks like. I want to see the footage.

Quick question for you. What process did you use to uprez to 720p. The footage does look amazing.

Not just a DP reel, but editing and compositing as well. The primary reason for the name in the beginning is for C4D representation. Quite a few clients have been requesting 3D work recently, but I do agree that it is a bit drawn out. I will be fixing it shortly;)

Thanks Josh! I just dropped the footage into a 720P timeline and hit it with Instant HD to sharpen it.

Good job! Well done.

good job
 

Really llike it, very polished

Ryan, great looking clips. Image quality is excellent. I have lived in Colorado for years, and my wife is from South Fork Colorado, down in the San Luis Valley, where is Highlands Ranch? Bob

Thanks guys!

Bob, Highlands Ranch is south of Denver. It's right between Castle Rock and Denver.

Ryan, I told my wife about where you live and she said she has relatives not far from there. You do great work. Bob

Extremely well done
 

This is by far the highest quality XL2 footage I've seen. I think the whole demo is great. It greatly depends what you are trying to achieve/sell with it.

How exactly did you manage to make it look so good? What lens did you use? What software? What converting and upscaling process. I really would like to know. Because you are master at it.

Thanks a lot.

I must concur, this is some fabulous footage!!

While I have moved to HD, I still have my xl2 and hundreds of hours of footage, much of which I could still use, it would be great to up rez some of my better footage for use with my hd.

what program are you using? I have been trying out Moyea (free) and was semi pleased with it.


Wait to hear!


dale guthormsen

Hello Ryan! Fantastic demo reel!! Yes please tell us! I still use Canon XL2! Here is my channel on youtube if you want to look! I love to film wildlife!!

YouTube - KDArvidsson11's Channel

Thanks again everyone for all the positive feedback! Sorry, I haven't been to the XL2 thread for a while. A lot of people are asking me how I up-resd the footage, so I am going to do a quick tutorial sometime in the next couple of days. Keep an eye out for it.

I would be very interested in your tutorial Ryan.

I'm still using a XL2 mainly because of the financial situation I'm in. Can't afford to replace it. I also have a hunch Canon will come out with guns blazing with a new lineup to head off the Sony invasion. In the mean time I really want my XL2 footage to look as good as I can.

Your help will be much appreciated.

There is no doubt that some XL2 videos can look great uprezzed to 720P.

It also gives you the option to re-use some of your favourite "unrepeatable" XL2 clips to slot in with future HD work, including Blue Ray.

Still anxiously waiting for the tutorial
 

Hey Ryan, I was just checking to see if that quick tutorial was going to be posted on this thread or did you post it somewhere else. I'd really like to know, if you've got the time, how you did it.

Thanks,

Steve