Taking Stills with MX Red

[Richard Lowther]

Does anyone know what is the best frame rate and resolution to use when shooting live footage if you also want to pull stills from the same footage?

Thanks
Richard

 

[Richard Lowther]

Sorry some more questions ....what is the best shutter angle to use? How about the lenses? I shot a bunch of stuff at 3k 50fps with a Cook 20-100 and the still were horrible. Maybe I didn't process them correctly?

 

[paulherrin]

depends on a lot of things... usually people like the highest resolution possible, however you can get a higher fps at lower resolutions on R1... so there's some tradeoffs. your frame rate will automatically affect your shutter speed and exposure. if you want "cinematic" 24 frames per second motion, the motion may be to sharp for you if you shoot at 1/240th as opposed to 1/48th. so like i said, there's not a one-size-fits-all for pulling stills. if you're just going for stills i would decide between resolution and framerates, and if you're going for both i would shoot full rez or 3k @ 60fps... maybe. it all depends on what you need to deliver for.

really broad question man. narrow it down and you can probably get a more helpful answer, but those are things you should think about in your decision. if you don't know how to make those kinds of decisions i would get someone else who can, or can teach you about the process.

 

[paulherrin]

that lens was probably wide open, which means it's going to be softer, and is already a softer lens in general. plus, you probably have some motion blur from your shutter. if you're shooting just to pull stills, shoot it for stills. if you're shooting for both, understand the compromises and what options you have and make an informed decision.

 

[Richard Lowther]

Sorry for been so vague ....we are shooting for PAL so we could go either 3k 50fps or 4k 25fps but we also want to use the stills. Which would give the best results for stills?

 

[paulherrin]

well... if you're just trying to get stills you'll have more resolution at 4k, but more frames to work with at 3k. then there's the whole shutter angle thing. if you're shooting for stills, shoot for stills and pick the shutter speed and f-stop you want to go for and light accordingly... or if you're reacting to an environment, pick it on the fly with the knowledge and experience you've gained while considering your delivery. i don't know what anyone else can tell you besides that?

especially if you're going for motion, the real thing to consider will be your shutter speed. which depends on the shoot and how much movement there is. then pick the framerate based on your delivery and how many frames you want to capture per second. you may want to be aware of options to add motion blur to your motion and test it. check out reelsmart motion blur and furnace/kronos.

 

[Richard Lowther]

Do you think using a heavy soft effects while we are shooting is also making us get these bad stills?

 

[Ketch Rossi]

In order to get the best Frame Grabs to be sued for stills, you need to think a tad better about illumination first, Resolution second, depending on size you need your prints,
or size of the monitor or screen were you will be showing this images, third decide the frame rate, the lowest the better, fourth the Shutter speed, the highest the better, happy shooting....

 

[hans de vries]

If you can't make it more specific, you have the best options with 4k, 25 fps should be enough for stills, don't use any softening filters, high shutterspeed.

 

[Richard Lowther]

thanks for all your feed back....
I can see I did everything wrong when shooting to expect to get good quality stills.