HDRx is a Savior

[Justin Kirchhoff]

I was directing and dp'ing a shoot last week shooting in the bright Texas sun. I'm telling you, if HDRx didn't exist I don't know how we would have gotten some of these shots. I did +2 on most shots, but my favorite was in a downtown office building shooting out a glass window overseeing the Austin skyline. It was beautiful.

There aren't many situations where I needed HDRx since the dynamic range on the camera is already very useful. With our 5 indoor/outdoor locations we shot last Friday, it was amazing to see what this camera can do. It's making me a better director and DP, allowing me to stretch my creativity.

Thanks RED team.

 

[Graeme Nattress]

Thanks Justin. Be keen to see any examples you can show us!

Graeme

 

[Zeb B]

I gotta believe Ketch used HDRx on the shot right after the 1:00 mark

http://vimeo.com/24105829

 

[Sulekh Suman]

I gotta believe Ketch used HDRx on the shot right after the 1:00 mark

http://vimeo.com/24105829

It's possible that he used HDRx. The window could be tinted as well. It will be hard to merge the tracks given the position of the girl in the frame.

 

[Justin Kirchhoff]

Thanks Justin. Be keen to see any examples you can show us!

Graeme

How is this Graeme? I can't show much more than this...

One thing to note is the detail that's retained in the limestone brick, the clouds and the actress' face. She had very fair skin and the sun wasn't really helping. I exported two different DPX sequences, one for A Frame, one for X Frame. Then pulled a luma matte from the X Frame.

 

[Zeb B]

That's the ticket! Subtle but awesome

 

[Justin Kirchhoff]

I gotta believe Ketch used HDRx on the shot right after the 1:00 mark

http://vimeo.com/24105829

I'm sure the window was tinted. Most of my A frames from our R3Ds still showed a lot of detail in the highlights, but HDRx was necessary for some of these shots since we didn't have the proper NDs to fight the bright sun.

We also shot inside a waiting room where there was a tinted window, and an open door leading to outside. It was neat seeing how the camera could both handle the bright sun and the "perfect" exposure through the tinted window...

 

[jake blackstone]

It's possible that he used HDRx. The window could be tinted as well. It will be hard to merge the tracks given the position of the girl in the frame.

Yes, those shots are with HDRx. I graded it:yesnod:

 

[Zeb B]

Yes, those shots are with HDRx. I graded it:yesnod:

Oh snap! Score one for the NOOB!

Jake, (if you have time please) what were some of the tech challenges in that shot? The guys above are referring to it being difficult: "It will be hard to merge the tracks given the position of the girl in the frame."

 

[Michael Thornton]

Jake, I love the color work on Ketch's video.

Great Job

 

[jake blackstone]

Oh snap! Score one for the NOOB!

Jake, (if you have time please) what were some of the tech challenges in that shot? The guys above are referring to it being difficult: "It will be hard to merge the tracks given the position of the girl in the frame."

It wasn't difficult at all. The movement was very slow, so i had no problem with the differences between A and X tracks. I graded it on FilmMaster and at the time it wasn't equipped to deal with HDRx. So, A and X tracks were brought in as a separate tracks and composited in FilmMaster. Piece of cake...

 

[jake blackstone]

Jake, I love color work on Ketch's video.

Great Job

Thanks Michael.
This is actually a second version. The first version was done in 4k and was much cooler in overall tone. We had to reedit it for some nudity content. So, for the second version I decided to go with much warmer tones and this version is only HD...

 

[Zeb B]

So now we know the Wizard behind Ketch ; )