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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 :)

A case for 1KWS 120fps…

G

Glen Powell

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So depending on who you are; this will enrage you or bring a smile to your face.

I recently wrapped shooting a fairly large project that was shot entirely on Scarlet using 1KWS @ 120fps. By way of background - I shoot almost exclusively advertising; increasingly branded content that goes directly to the web. Serious filmmakers may mock me now...

This was a project that will only ever be seen inside a smartphone / tablet APP. It will never be seen on a TV. It will never be seen projected on a 40' / 60' / IMAX screen. It won't even really get an online treatment… Just iPhone & iPad.

I can't show you the finished pieces - but I can show you the rough pitch video that I used to win the bidding process. This didn't get any sort of colour correction at all; straight from the camera: 1KWS, 120fps, 180º shutter, 3:1, all shots RPP 25mm, around T4 - ish


This was a test video that we shot based on the client brief (speed ramping / slo-mo, wide screen aspect, etc) I shot using Scarlet 1KWS mainly because I own the Scarlet and wasn't interested in renting an Epic or Phantom for the test. My full intention was to use one of those other cameras if I won the bid… However the client loved it, and it looked super clean inside their APP mockup (download and watch on your iPhone or iPad for full effect).

So even though we had a pretty fat 6 figure budget to shoot these with, and I could have used any camera, I used the two Scarlets that I already own. Made enough that I could buy a pair of Epic's - but I'll wait for Dragon.

So… Yeah these look like crap (ish) when blown up beyond 1280 x 480 - But that's not the intention.
 
Glen, The spec looks awesome!! VERY WELL DONE....An EPIC is totally not necessary whatsoever. Your Scarlet is more than enough to do the job.
 
My only thinking is if 120fps was even necessary. Did they explicitly say what speeds or could you have gotten away with 2k/60 or even 3k/48? I find the most noticeable speed difference going between 24 and 48; the difference between 48 and 60 is (obviously) barely noticeable, and the when going to 120 you need some really fast motion to see the benefits (most of the time.) That said, pouring a liquid is something I would consider "really fast motion".

Good stuff.
 
Mike P. said:
My only thinking is if 120fps was even necessary. Did they explicitly say what speeds or could you have gotten away with 2k/60 or even 3k/48? I find the most noticeable speed difference going between 24 and 48; the difference between 48 and 60 is (obviously) barely noticeable, and the when going to 120 you need some really fast motion to see the benefits (most of the time.) That said, pouring a liquid is something I would consider "really fast motion".

Good stuff.
Click to expand...

In the *real* versions that will be in the app, we made the pours into the jigger a lot splashier and ended up slowing them down further than the 120fps. Still looked fine, but if these were for broadcast the extra resolution would have helped. There is also so much ramping going on here that sometimes the slo-mo gets lost.
 
No need to be so defensive Glen; right tool for the right job. The spec, while not "finished" to the same degree, is still slick where it counts. And it's super smart to take some of the money you would have spent on rental, and put it towards ownership of even better equipment.

Basically, I'm saying I'm jealous in all the best ways possible.
 
I'm impressed by how clean your image is. In my tests with Scarlet I never got anything that clean at 1ksw - but I never tested it with studio lighting. Is there any magic noise reduction going on, or just great exposures?
 
Michael Winokur said:
I'm impressed by how clean your image is. In my tests with Scarlet I never got anything that clean at 1ksw - but I never tested it with studio lighting. Is there any magic noise reduction going on, or just great exposures?
Click to expand...

I can tell you from all my experience DITing, studio lighting helps de-noise the image a TON. Using a sharp lens is also really important; any chromatic aberration gets multiplied when you're so close to the pixels like that.

Still, you are right that even at that, Glen's image is pretty clean. It also is smaller than 1280x480 on playback (I think), so that helps to reduce the noise a little.
 
Michael Winokur said:
I'm impressed by how clean your image is. In my tests with Scarlet I never got anything that clean at 1ksw - but I never tested it with studio lighting. Is there any magic noise reduction going on, or just great exposures?
Click to expand...

Just lighting, a great lens stopped down to T4, and RC 3:1

Bob Gundu said:
Nice. Julie doesn't have to cut anything and gets to wear funky clothes!
Click to expand...

Jules loves the feather skirt!
 
I should probably also mention that the Vimeo version in the first post is compressed to 30MB…
 
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