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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

3 minutes from Norway | First footage from RED 3971

Martin Weiss

Martin Weiss

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Powerbook arrived today, and I could finally do some editing.

Some test shots with our new 3971. Nature and some basic lighting setups. All on OK(ish) Nikon Zoom (thanks Brandon; still waiting for the Birger mount), no filters.

Take this as a test, not as a showcase :) Enjoy.

Music by Kevin MacLeod, used with permission.

Update: I redid the whole pipeline in 1048x512 pixel, and learned a lot about compression - and how it is now different from those SD days... Be patient with the new version it clocks in at over 100mb. Read some other threads while it is downloading. Enjoy.

Link: 3 Minutes from Norway (104 meg)

The old link is still working, in case anybody wants to witness the progress from yesterday...

 
Thanks Martin, did the render introduce the softness in most of the shots? Which resolution was used?
 
Nice work Martin...I enjoyed it! I like your choices for framings and composition...very nice.

Also, congratulations on getting your camera. You're in for a lot of fun as you shake it down to see what it can do. Our imaginations are about the only limits when using the camera. Have fun!

------------------------

I am of part Norwegian ancestry - my grandmother emigrated from Norway to the USA in the 1800's. I've been to Norway a few times before - its beautiful there! I look forward to visiting there again sometime soon.
 
Thanks for the feed-back so far. Yes, most softness came from the rendering - and the upscaling introduced in it. I am learning :)

I re-did the pipeline and posted a higher quality version - check the original post up there for the updated link. Quite a drastic improvement.

Grain
Some grain that you see is a direct result of me using the PowerBook for the first time. (My first reaction when opening the previously unseen laptop was: "I need a shave".) It is a cool looking machine, but do not use it for serious colour and/or contrast judgments. Many shots looked fine black on the MBP, but when viewed on two different machines exhibit uncomfortable levels of noise in the darker areas.
Well, something learned and gained.

Optics
The first two days I only had a old Nikkor plastic lens, 35-70 3.5-5.6 if my memory serves right. If those figures are not abhorrent enough, let me throw in the fact that the aperture was wonky and needed to be fixed with creative use of doublesided tape and a rubberband. Doublesided tape does not work very well in cold temperatures. Another thing learned. Anyway, the waterdrop shots, the fog-in-the-snow and a few lakeside shots were taken with this lens. Before Brandon's quick-help shipment of his Sigma 28-70 2.8 arrived. This helped a lot. All other shots are from that lens. It is a flare-y lens, but maybe I am starting to like that characteristic.

Speed
Generally I played with speeds from 100 fps (am running on 8gig CF cards for now) down to about 1 frame every 4 seconds. A couple of shots were reversed or sped up in post. Some both. Sort of Leni Riefenstahl goes 4k.

What I also learned is that 100 fps can often be overkill. Walking/running people just become way too slow. Also running water becomes not beautiful, bot boring. 35-50 fps seems to be a good speed for those things.

The bubbles were shot in 100fps, which turned out to bee too slow for the actual bursting bit. With some almost-straight-in-the-lens lighting (challenging if you are a one-man-team without any mattebox) I got those tiny droplets nicely in the end. Those bubbles really do need some large, soft light sources to pop out. (I also learned that in 4k I got to see my distorted face in some of the bubbles. That is until that face exploded.)

Matches also at 100fps, I pumped out quite some light to avoid the flame burning out, and getting texure on the actual match. Not easy to get the framing right when you do everything.

Size
Most shots were in 4k, the highspeed ones obviously in 2k. All in 2:1 for now.

Thanks
Steve — I especially enjoy/value feedback from fellow cameramen. Thanks. Next time you are in Norway I'd love to meet. (Even though I am not Norwegian, my wife is 100% and the kids 50%)
Sanjin — thanks man. Music is from a talented composer who gives his music rights for films away for free. (See http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ )
A7 and Jason — also thanks. Hope I answered your questions.
 
so nice seeing Nikon glass producing such beautiful moving images. Thanks for sharing.

Jose
 
It is a nice collection of shots, thanks for sharing it. Some shots, such as the grass under the trees at 2:29 and the water and far shoreline at 2:32 are very crisply detailed. They have an entirely different look than most of the other shots. I guess that must be the difference in lenses you mentioned.
 
Wow, that is a difference. Even better! The Sigma looked good too. Sharp, but not too sharp.
 
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