Who is using the HD100 for weddings?

Chad Terpstra · July 13th, 2006, 07:55 AM

It's true, you get used to it in whatever way works best for you. For me, I'm already changing all the needed settings WHILE I’m walking from indoors to out. Last weekend we were at a house where many people were hanging out and conversing inside and out. I was going all over the place into all different lighting setups from very dim tungsten in a bedroom upstairs to bright sunlight outside. So if I'm walking down steps or out the back door, my fingers are already on the ND filter, the white balance and I've switched to auto iris temporarily with my other hand to get the initial setting. From there I turn off auto iris and can easily make small adjustments by the time I even put the viewfinder up to my eye. And zooming out right away is crucial too in order to start w/ a sharp image. It all really becomes second nature after a while.

I tend to get white balances right away when I get to a location and toggle between a couple different ones depending on what room I'm in. I just wish there were one more white balance setting because two doesn't always cover it. Of course for those spontaneous events when something happens the moment you arrive, I have FAW in the preset option.

Consistency is important (like Marc said). It looks very unprofessional to have your white balance be shifting during the ceremony or whatever event you’re capturing, and correcting drifts over long periods of time is not a quick or fun process.

By the way, back to HD weddings, is there a way to have some footage be 24p with something like a 3:2 pulldown, but fit it into a 30p timeline? Marc may not know since he’s in PAL land, but anyone else?

Marc Colemont · July 13th, 2006, 08:27 AM

White Balance:
There are 2 fixed settings available 3200/5600 and two A/B user programmable settings, which make 4 in total.

24fr to 30fr time-line. On PC my Cineform ASpectHD would be able to upconvert the footage. Allthough I have not needed it yet, so I can't confirm how well it works or not. For MAC I don't know what programs are available overthere.

Scott Jaco · July 14th, 2006, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

Absolutely. All the controls affected by "Full Auto" can be turned on or off one at a time in manual mode. I usually have the audio levels in auto and toggle between manual white balance and iris.

How do you get the Audio Levels in "Auto" without "Full Auto" being turned on?

I know how to get auto gain & white balance but the audio is a mystery.

Chad Terpstra · July 14th, 2006, 06:32 AM

There's a switch for each channel behind the flip-out LCD. You've been searching the menus too long! ;-)

Scott Jaco · July 14th, 2006, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

There's a switch for each channel behind the flip-out LCD. You've been searching the menus too long! ;-)

Ahh Yes!! God, I feel stupid! There's a dedicated switch for this feature...right in front of me! No wonder I didn't spot it! I was going through all the menus trying to find it.

Scott

Bill Edmunds · July 19th, 2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

Absolutely. All the controls affected by "Full Auto" can be turned on or off one at a time in manual mode.

So you should use the camera in manual mode, and switch the individual functions to auto when needed? Where are the switches for auto/manual white balance, gain, and shutter speed? I know where the switches for audio level and iris are, but I odn't see how to switch between auto/manual on gain, et al. Also, I assume that if you are in Full Auto, you cannot override individual controls?

Chad Terpstra · July 19th, 2006, 09:37 PM

Bill, All the switches you're looking for are found in the menus. I think it's in Switch Mode where you find "FAW," which means Full Auto White Balance as an option for the preset on the toggle switch. Gain can be accessed from the same menu - change the setting for one of L, M, or H to "ALC." Not sure what that one stands for, but it makes your gain automatic. As far as shutter speed, you might have me there. I don't know of a way to put that one into auto. But do you really want to let it automatically control something as important as your shutter speed? That might be acceptable if you're going for the consumer camera look as those cameras will flip from high to low shutter speeds like it was all the same. It’s just a little jarring when you're watching something at 1/60i and it suddenly dips to 1/30 or 1/15 shutter and then goes back up again. –Or how all the motion outside can be extremely stopped because it cranked the shutter up to +1/1000. Granted the HD100 might be more careful than that, but why risk it? But that's just me. I think the new HD110 will have more options as far as Auto mode.

Bill Edmunds · July 20th, 2006, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

Bill, All the switches you're looking for are found in the menus. I think it's in Switch Mode where you find "FAW," which means Full Auto White Balance as an option for the preset on the toggle switch. Gain can be accessed from the same menu - change the setting for one of L, M, or H to "ALC." Not sure what that one stands for, but it makes your gain automatic. As far as shutter speed, you might have me there. I don't know of a way to put that one into auto. But do you really want to let it automatically control something as important as your shutter speed? That might be acceptable if you're going for the consumer camera look as those cameras will flip from high to low shutter speeds like it was all the same. It’s just a little jarring when you're watching something at 1/60i and it suddenly dips to 1/30 or 1/15 shutter and then goes back up again. –Or how all the motion outside can be extremely stopped because it cranked the shutter up to +1/1000. Granted the HD100 might be more careful than that, but why risk it? But that's just me. I think the new HD110 will have more options as far as Auto mode.

Can manual/auto functions be assigned to one of the customizable user buttons?

Drew Curran · July 20th, 2006, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Edmunds

Can manual/auto functions be assigned to one of the customizable user buttons?

I wondered this too. But the manual seems to imply that only certain functions can be assigned. I might be wrong... I was once before! LOL

Check the manual for more info

Andrew

Chad Terpstra · July 20th, 2006, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Edmunds

Can manual/auto functions be assigned to one of the customizable user buttons?

As far as I have tried in the camera, they cannot. It is limited to black stretch, AE compensation + or -, Black compress, bars, and preset temp. I have mine set to Black Stretch 1, 2, & 3 since different situations call for different amounts. If there were one more button (and I wish there were), I would set it to preset temp.

Guy Barwood · July 21st, 2006, 09:59 PM

On my DV500 I set one of the gain switch positions to Automatic Level Control [ALC] (the other positions to 0db and 6db) and set one of the white balance switch's to Full Auto White [FAW] (the others are Preset and a manual setting).

This way I can switch to auto white and auto gain any time I like without going into the menu. Obviously auto iris is turned on and off on the lens.

Can you do this with the HD100 series? I assumed you could.

Drew Curran · July 24th, 2006, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guy Barwood

On my DV500 I set one of the gain switch positions to Automatic Level Control [ALC] (the other positions to 0db and 6db) and set one of the white balance switch's to Full Auto White [FAW] (the others are Preset and a manual setting).

This way I can switch to auto white and auto gain any time I like without going into the menu. Obviously auto iris is turned on and off on the lens.

Can you do this with the HD100 series? I assumed you could.

If i understand this correctly (i'm new to the HD100) there is a gain switch on the side of the body, with low, medium and high settings. There is also a white balance switch with 2 user programable presets available, A and B. There may be other setttings within the menu's.

The auto iris button is just in front of the zoom rocker switch on the lens.

Andrew

Chad Terpstra · July 24th, 2006, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew Curran

If i understand this correctly (i'm new to the HD100) there is a gain switch on the side of the body, with low, medium and high settings. There is also a white balance switch with 2 user programmable presets available, A and B. There may be other settings within the menu's.

The auto iris button is just in front of the zoom rocker switch on the lens.

Andrew

That's correct. Except there are three WB positions available: User A/B, and thre "preset" position is where you (in the menu) select FAW, 5600K (sunlight), or 3200K (indoor). Only one option is possible at a time for the Preset position. FAW is what I use and it comes in handy.

BTW, I've decided to step up to the HD wedding. Check it out: http://wedding.terpstar.com/approach.html - Under Format on the bottom left.

I just stopped liking the look of SD compressed video on HD screens (such as computer monitors). They look fine on CRT TV's, but on the screens of the future, not as nice. Guess it's time to re-work the work-flow.

Jonathan Nelson · July 25th, 2006, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

That's correct. Except there are three WB positions available: User A/B, and thre "preset" position is where you (in the menu) select FAW, 5600K (sunlight), or 3200K (indoor). Only one option is possible at a time for the Preset position. FAW is what I use and it comes in handy.

BTW, I've decided to step up to the HD wedding. Check it out: http://wedding.terpstar.com/approach.html - Under Format on the bottom left.

I just stopped liking the look of SD compressed video on HD screens (such as computer monitors). They look fine on CRT TV's, but on the screens of the future, not as nice. Guess it's time to re-work the work-flow.

Chad, that is a sweet website you have there.

I see that you shoot all 720p then downrez it onto dvd. Do you edit the hd footage or do you downrez it before editing? I am thinking of offering something similar but I am not sure how I am going to downrez the footage and I do not think I want to edit the hd footage unless I have some way of saving it for the future. I have been looking at some decks that downconvert via firewire but I am just not ready to put out that kind of money for one of these even though I probably should. I rather buy firestores!..:)

So I will probably have to buy some kind of program to do the job and I bet it will take time to downconvert. I guess I could link up to an analog to digital converter and use the downrezed signal coming out of the hd100's components but I would think there would be some quality loss.

Any ideas or suggestions on how I can shoot hd and easily downconvert it to SD?

Chad Terpstra · July 25th, 2006, 07:22 AM

Jonathan,

Actually for me the whole point of shooting it HD is to avoid the 4:1:1 compression of DV (which is further compressed by putting it onto a 4:2:0 DVD, leaving you with 4:1:0). They look fine on SD CRT's, but on an HDTV, the compression is magnified. I'm aiming for a higher end client base who would be likely to have the latest & greatest TV's.

Secondly, as mentioned previously in this thread, it is to generate potential busniess down the road by having HD masters of all the weddings ready to be burned onto HD-DVD or BluRay when the clients are ready to "upgrade."

If you want to edit in SD, I suggest shooting it that way because the potential for bad dropouts increases in HD (in that the dropouts are usually more severe than they would be IF they happen). Also your slow-motion will be better from 60i (lower resolution, but smoother). For slow-mo I'm probably going to get something like Twixtor or whatever FCP filter I can find that does tweening for in-between frames. Perhaps the next FCP version will have "Optical Flow" included in it???

Anyway, thanks for your comments on the site. I just redid it. As for down-conversion on capture, I'm surprised the HD110 does not list this as a new feature. The Sony FX1/Z1U has always been able to do this... Oh, well. Maybe the HD200 will implement that.

July 13th, 2006, 07:55 AM	#16
Chad Terpstra Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 320	It's true, you get used to it in whatever way works best for you. For me, I'm already changing all the needed settings WHILE I’m walking from indoors to out. Last weekend we were at a house where many people were hanging out and conversing inside and out. I was going all over the place into all different lighting setups from very dim tungsten in a bedroom upstairs to bright sunlight outside. So if I'm walking down steps or out the back door, my fingers are already on the ND filter, the white balance and I've switched to auto iris temporarily with my other hand to get the initial setting. From there I turn off auto iris and can easily make small adjustments by the time I even put the viewfinder up to my eye. And zooming out right away is crucial too in order to start w/ a sharp image. It all really becomes second nature after a while. I tend to get white balances right away when I get to a location and toggle between a couple different ones depending on what room I'm in. I just wish there were one more white balance setting because two doesn't always cover it. Of course for those spontaneous events when something happens the moment you arrive, I have FAW in the preset option. Consistency is important (like Marc said). It looks very unprofessional to have your white balance be shifting during the ceremony or whatever event you’re capturing, and correcting drifts over long periods of time is not a quick or fun process. By the way, back to HD weddings, is there a way to have some footage be 24p with something like a 3:2 pulldown, but fit it into a 30p timeline? Marc may not know since he’s in PAL land, but anyone else?

July 13th, 2006, 08:27 AM	#17
Marc Colemont Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Belgium Posts: 695	White Balance: There are 2 fixed settings available 3200/5600 and two A/B user programmable settings, which make 4 in total. 24fr to 30fr time-line. On PC my Cineform ASpectHD would be able to upconvert the footage. Allthough I have not needed it yet, so I can't confirm how well it works or not. For MAC I don't know what programs are available overthere.

July 14th, 2006, 06:32 AM	#19
Chad Terpstra Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 320	There's a switch for each channel behind the flip-out LCD. You've been searching the menus too long! ;-)

July 19th, 2006, 09:37 PM	#22
Chad Terpstra Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 320	Bill, All the switches you're looking for are found in the menus. I think it's in Switch Mode where you find "FAW," which means Full Auto White Balance as an option for the preset on the toggle switch. Gain can be accessed from the same menu - change the setting for one of L, M, or H to "ALC." Not sure what that one stands for, but it makes your gain automatic. As far as shutter speed, you might have me there. I don't know of a way to put that one into auto. But do you really want to let it automatically control something as important as your shutter speed? That might be acceptable if you're going for the consumer camera look as those cameras will flip from high to low shutter speeds like it was all the same. It’s just a little jarring when you're watching something at 1/60i and it suddenly dips to 1/30 or 1/15 shutter and then goes back up again. –Or how all the motion outside can be extremely stopped because it cranked the shutter up to +1/1000. Granted the HD100 might be more careful than that, but why risk it? But that's just me. I think the new HD110 will have more options as far as Auto mode.

July 21st, 2006, 09:59 PM	#26
Guy Barwood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 423	On my DV500 I set one of the gain switch positions to Automatic Level Control [ALC] (the other positions to 0db and 6db) and set one of the white balance switch's to Full Auto White [FAW] (the others are Preset and a manual setting). This way I can switch to auto white and auto gain any time I like without going into the menu. Obviously auto iris is turned on and off on the lens. Can you do this with the HD100 series? I assumed you could.

July 25th, 2006, 07:22 AM	#30
Chad Terpstra Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 320	Jonathan, Actually for me the whole point of shooting it HD is to avoid the 4:1:1 compression of DV (which is further compressed by putting it onto a 4:2:0 DVD, leaving you with 4:1:0). They look fine on SD CRT's, but on an HDTV, the compression is magnified. I'm aiming for a higher end client base who would be likely to have the latest & greatest TV's. Secondly, as mentioned previously in this thread, it is to generate potential busniess down the road by having HD masters of all the weddings ready to be burned onto HD-DVD or BluRay when the clients are ready to "upgrade." If you want to edit in SD, I suggest shooting it that way because the potential for bad dropouts increases in HD (in that the dropouts are usually more severe than they would be IF they happen). Also your slow-motion will be better from 60i (lower resolution, but smoother). For slow-mo I'm probably going to get something like Twixtor or whatever FCP filter I can find that does tweening for in-between frames. Perhaps the next FCP version will have "Optical Flow" included in it??? Anyway, thanks for your comments on the site. I just redid it. As for down-conversion on capture, I'm surprised the HD110 does not list this as a new feature. The Sony FX1/Z1U has always been able to do this... Oh, well. Maybe the HD200 will implement that.