Who is using the HD100 for weddings?
 

If you are using the HD100 for weddings, how do you like it? Are you shooting 24p, 30p or 60i? What camera did you migrate from?

I'm shooting engagement parties and weddings in 720/30p.

The footage looks great using Full Auto mode.

I've started using my HD100s for a few weddings. Weddings are not our primary business, but we do still shoot a few every year. The first time out I set them on full auto, adjusted the focus and let them run just as a test. I didn't want to risk anything the first time out. ;-) However, I was absolutely blown away! The picture is incredible. The next time out I covered the wedding with the HD 100s and used the older cameras as backups. Again - WOW! I had been using the Canon XL1's for several years, but they are probably retiring pretty soon. I've been shooting everything at the wedding in 720/30P. The more I learn about this camera, the more I love it!

- Craig

From time to time I do weddings too when they ask, makes quick money.
But what does make a wedding so different in shooting then any live event were you need to run and shoot?
I use The HD100 in 720p25. Auto Full mode? No way I will never ever use that button!
This camera is great in having a real lens. It's quicker to focus and to set the Iris without having to rely on a full automatic camera which does it's own thing. Turning the camera against a bright window cause the Auto Iris to close etc....that's a big turn off. So no, everything is been set to manual.
Use the Focus assist and Zebra and you are fine.
And this autofocus thing on other camera's I mostly turn it off anyway since it can behave strange and especially in dark situtaions it's not accurate at all anymore. It's useable in good environments like outdoor for example.
For outside and inside (party with dim lights) I use 2 settings:
- Outdoor I use Paolo's scene setting 3.0,
- Indoor I switch the 'Cinegamma' to 'Standard' and pull the 'Gamma gain' up and 'detail' to 2 for having a crisper image in low light situtaions. The 'Gain' in low-light situations I push up maximum to +6dB. With a dimmable lightsource on the camera I can do all I need.

Shutter speed in Full Auto mode ???
 

Hi Scott !
I see you often record in Full Auto mode.
When i turn on Full Auto mode in my hd101 the shutter speed change to 1/25 ??? I see similar effect in manual mode when i change shutter speed from 1/50 to 1/25.(more blurring on moves)
My problem is I would like to set 1/50 shutter speed in Full Auto mode. Is it possible ?

Full Auto mode uses the default shutter speed.

Try switching to High Definition.

In standard resolution 24p on my HD100, Full Auto forces you to use 1/24th shutter, however, if you switch it to High Definition 24p, 1/48 becomes the default shutter speed.

Scott

I'd like to second everything Marc said. Full Auto mode is more of a frustration than a help -especially when you are in and out of different lighting situations where some scenes may be backlit. It also won't switch your ND filter for you and that's the biggest help when going from indoors to out.

The camera isn't terrific in low light, but switching to Standard Gamma and boosting the gamma is a big help. –A great suggestion.

I'm currently shooting SD60i for two reasons: It will match easier with my other cameras which are not HD100's. And it is MUCH better at doing a good quick slow-mo which is the basis of making a good wedding video (at least for all parts not the ceremony, and even some ceremony). I usually do a 24p conversion in post using Nattress (3:2 pulldown in a 60i timeline) to most of the before and after shots). But trying to slow down 24p footage has proven to be not as great of an effect. Once I start doing HD weddings, I'll probably invest in Twixtor or some other program to help out the slow motion.

Other than that, the camera is great for weddings. Though there are certain benefits to other cams in image-stabilization and wider lenses, I'm hooked on the over-the-shoulder shooting style and the real, easily adjustable lens. At first I was uncomfortable not having my peripheral vision (at least on my right side), but now after 7 weddings, it's second nature.

I was previously using the Sony FX1 and I still do as my secondary camera. As I mentioned elsewhere, it’s nice for wider shots and quick detail shots that require some zoom due to the image stabilization. They match pretty well and I color-correct in post to ensure great images from both cameras.

Anyway, best of luck.

Hi Chad,

I do all my events in HD, even if I know that the end result will be only for a DVD.
It gives a better image converting HD strait from the time-line into SD MPEG2.
I tell all my customers I keep the original HD file as a backup, in case they want it on BlueRay or HD-DVD later on.
For now as a teasing tool, I convert the highlights from a project in WMV-HD. I burn it as an extra file on the DVD.
When they watch it on their laptop they all say: Wow, this looks so much better then SD DVD. I'm sure many of them will want the HD movie later on when the Blueray and/or HD-DVD breaks through.

How are your archiving? Lately, I've been buring H.264 DVD's but it takes too long to encode. Do you have a shorter method?

Marc,

I'm starting to come around to this HD wedding idea. I have already seen how much better the SD DVDs will look due to bypassing the 4:1:1 compression down to 4:2:0 of DVDs. But having the HD backup is yet another way to generate business down the road for when the technology is in their homes. May I inquire as to how you put the HD WMV file on the same disc as their SD movie?

For archiving purposes I would imagine you just print it back to tape right?

One thing I would have to figure out is whether to shoot in HDV24p or 30p. 30p is nice, but I do go for that filmic look for the before and after coverage. Maybe I could let the couple decide? How does your slow-mo look?

Chad,

Indeed it will generate some business afterwards when the HD-DVD formats get more common.

WMV-HD:
The WMV-HD file I place in the root of the DVD, next to the folders TS_Video & TS_Audio which is generated automatically by the DVD authoring package.
I shoot in 25P to be close to the Pal framerate here in Europe. The conversion to 50i gives very good results.

Concerning slow-motion effects I used the frame-blending of my Matrox RTX100 extreme PCI card before. But it does only SD. It's ready for Ebay now.
I'm now using Time-warp from Adobe After Effects. It takes time to render but it gives awesome results. I will upload some footage soon. It gives much better results then with interleased is possible. Another reason why I shoot progressive and not SD50i.

I started the same way, doing everthing manual but it is just a pain in the ass. Constantly white balancing, adding gain and changing the audio levels for each take.

I shoot in many different lighting situations and I just can't be fumbling with the camera each time the lighting changes or the DJ gets louder ect....

It is always better to do it manual if you have the time but it just doesn't look good to a client, to be tweaking the settings. I'll settle for the slight loss of quality and make my day easier.

This is event videography, not the next Star Wars.

Can you use a combination of auto & manual controls, or are you stuck with "all or nothing?" In other words, could you be using auto gain while simultaneously employing manual white balance?

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. The iris is the easiest to switch. If you know you're going to move someplace tricky and don't want to mess with the iris, the switch is right there next to your pinky. But to me, making a quick adjustment is a lot easier than having the iris dip one way or the other uncontrollably and lose an important moment. You get used to it really fast. It’s also much quicker & easier than with any other 1/3” chip camera I’ve ever used.

It may not be Star Wars, but I want all my work to be the best quality it can be. If that means taking a few moments (when I have them) to find a good white balance and/or gain setting, then so be it.

Hi Scott,

I understand your feeling about it, that it can be overwelming, having to set manually all the settings. But in reallity it is not that hard, it needs some training of a few hours to get used to it. It's like driving a car. The first time you have too many pedals, after a while you don't even think how to drive, you just do.
You will see that the footage you get by doing everything manual get's a 'constant' look instead of relying on auto settings. Watch out for churches were they have colored glas. It will screw the auto balance big time.

I'll explain my workflow when I shoot, which for me gives the shortest time to setup the camera on an event in a new situation. Maybe others can jump in here too, we can all learn from each other. I would be interested anyway to hear how others setup their camera the quickest way.
When I'm walking from indoor <--> outdoor I already:
- Zoom out the lens so you have already a pretty sharp image
- Take in or out the ND (outdoor ND1 or ND2, indoor take them out)
Entering the room or arriving outdoor:
- Set the exposure first by relying on the zebra, and turn the Iris of the lens.
These are settings which for me need to be done first since they cannot be easilly corrected in post without loosing image quality.
- Only when I have the right exposure then I check the white balance. Over- or underexposed images make it not possible to make a good white balance. I made presets so I can swap quickly between 3200 indoor or 5600 outdoor already. But is some cases you need to set it differently like with TL-lights (On my camera I turned on the mode to fade the white balance, this way the white balance doesn't jump while already shooting if no time).
- Then look for your shot , zoom in and Focus.

My audio I mostly put in Auto, it gives good results on events. For concert and productions I use manual settings for audio.

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?

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.

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.

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

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?

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?

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

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.

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

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?

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.

Sounds good to me. It really is a tragedy they didnt include downconversion on the hd100/hd110. That would have been neat!

What method do you use to archive the edited HD masters to be used later?

Though I haven't done it yet for an HD wedding, you should be able to print back the final program to tape using your camera (or deck) and FCP or MPEGStreamclip.

Alternatively I know someone who buys internal hard drives and enclosures and stores final projects on those (since internal drives are pretty cheap these days). He then swaps out the internal drive from the enclosure when it gets full and labels it or something, and then put a new one in. It's not a terrible idea since ProHD tapes are about $9 each and a 300GB drive could hold about 30 hours of HDV 720p footage (and is only $115): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=TSD-320AS

Wow, thanx for the tips.

That is not a bad idea at all. I am guessing you could put somewhere around 15 full edited wedding videos on one of those hardrives.

Printing back to tape would be the most reliable method. That would suck if the hardrive died or failed to mount. It has happend to me in the past and I have resorted to a raid 5 system.

Would there be any substantial quality loss from printing the edited master back to tape?