Slow Motion

2000lux

2000lux

PRO user
Has anyone shot some really slow motion footage? I have a client that wants to shoot someone swinging a baseball bat, and really slow it down at the moment of impact, etc.

I'm trying to decide if we can use an FS7, or a FASTEC, or go all the way and hire a Phantom crew.

Also, what about lighting? I know when you get into really high speeds, you can see the flicker of some lights. Also you need A LOT of light. HMIs, or my Aydentech JAB might be good tools?

I'm very new to slow mo' so any information or advice is welcome!
 
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There is an algorithm to determine the flicker as you increase frame rate speed. I'd have to research but I'm sure someone here will know far better than I how to go about it. I helped rig for a Hummingbird shoot in Arizona. JABs would be great. Focus is so critical. Sorry if I'm being obvious.

Good Luck.
 
http://www.lovehighspeed.com/lighting-for-high-speed/


All you need to know above.. your best bet is to of course shoot outside on a sunny day.. with over 2K tungsten lamps.. DC powered if poss.. presuming your in the US.. the Phantom Flex is a much 'easier ' beast than the older phantoms..
if you want really slow mo.. over 1000 fps.. otherwise try a F55 with RAW recorder up to 240..
 
Some of the REDs will do 240 fps as well. Higher speeds will need a higher end camera.

Side note: a buddy has a 10 year old Casio digital camera. It does variable high speed recording at different resolutions. That sucker will give you 240 fps in SD 720x480 with the ability to ramp playback speed in the camera. Heck of a consumer camera at that age.
 
Also keep in mind that when you get into high speed you are limited to a burst depending on how much ram is built into the camera and a number of other factors. If I recall the FS7 is something like 10 secs so if you are trying to shoot baseball... while it may be possible that is a really tight window to hit the trigger record pitch and get the whole sequence.

As I recall the Check the literature on the Adentech site but they do state what they are flicker free up to If I recall it is probably way above anything you will be shooting.
 
Some cameras like the Phantom allow you to set how the record trigger operates. Most of the guys that I know that used to shoot some really HS stuff had it set so that they hit the trigger AFTER the event happened(so they would get something like the 5-10 seconds before they hit record. I don't remember how big the buffer was exactly). I don't know if the F5/55 will operate like that(I don't think, but I won't bet anything valuable either), but my P2 Vari doesn't. It's only 60 frames, but I could have saved a LOT of time and wasted data space over the years if it operated with a buffer for slo-mo instead of just punching and waiting for it to happen.
 
The Thing on The Sticks said:
If I recall the FS7 is something like 10 secs so if you are trying to shoot baseball...
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There is no "burst" mode with the FS7 or the F55. You can record 1080P @ 180 fps on the internal cards until the card fills up. And you can record 2K RAW @ 240 fps using a suitable external recorder until that card fills ups.
 
Run&Gun said:
Some cameras like the Phantom allow you to set how the record trigger operates. Most of the guys that I know that used to shoot some really HS stuff had it set so that they hit the trigger AFTER the event happened(so they would get something like the 5-10 seconds before they hit record. I don't remember how big the buffer was exactly). I don't know if the F5/55 will operate like that(I don't think, but I won't bet anything valuable either), but my P2 Vari doesn't. It's only 60 frames, but I could have saved a LOT of time and wasted data space over the years if it operated with a buffer for slo-mo instead of just punching and waiting for it to happen.
Click to expand...

Actually it might I have been known to set the pre record on my 400 up to max just so that I can hit the button after an event. The problem again lies with the buffer size available, actually for that matter I think all high frame rate recording past a certain point may be pre recording, as you are recording the info faster than the hard drives can write it.

I did a job last year where I got to sit around and talk shop with a dedicated Slo Mo guy for about 8 hrs while we waited for some engineers to figure out that the device we were supposed to record would not go off with the equipment on site. The long and short of it is that there are three factors to keep in mind.

1) each bump in speed will cut your available buffer time by half so the farther you go the more finite your window becomes. The more triggering can become an issue.

2) One way around this may be to cut your frame size and push the image back a resolution step, you all know the implied issue there. On The FS-700 if you kick the seed up you need to go to 250fps before you need to go down to 720p. I am not sure if the F-55 will do 4k slow mo but my gut wants to say you need to be in 1080 or lower as well.

3) The issue of light the faster you go the more you will need. Think of it as setting a DSLR exposure to 1000 or higher while maintaining a Low ISO say in the 200 or 400 range. Sure you could try to introduce some gain but it will only do so much.
 
Douglas said:
There is no "burst" mode with the FS7 or the F55. You can record 1080P @ 180 fps on the internal cards until the card fills up. And you can record 2K RAW @ 240 fps using a suitable external recorder until that card fills ups.
Click to expand...

Yeah I made a typo there I was speaking of the FS-700 which I used for a shoot a couple of months back. I have not had my hands on the 7 as of yet.
 
That's funny because I keep saying I'm going to do it!
This week is the first time I've shot with an XDCAM codec in about a year.
 
Run&Gun said:
Most of the guys that I know that used to shoot some really HS stuff had it set so that they hit the trigger AFTER the event happened(so they would get something like the 5-10 seconds before they hit record.
Click to expand...


This is how HFR replays are done, you have 14 seconds and break that up into as many as 4 blocks.
You hit the button and the recorder cues back that many seconds.

If you have questions or need a system I highly recommend Jeff Silverman at Inertia Unlimited. These are the guys that do the big shows.
http://www.inertiaunlimited.com/
 
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That's about $99.99K more than I'm willing to pay. I have a better idea anyway, but I'm not going to tell you! :-)
 
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