Hi all, I'm in a research period at the moment before I go ahead and build my next system. Quick question, which camera are you flying underneath your cs system? To meet uk broadcast standards (and established post-production workflows), I'm looking at flying either the canon c300 or canon 5d mkiii, but I'd very interested to get an idea of the different cameras being flown by cinestar users. Thanks in advance. Dave
I'm still experimenting with a Sony HDR CX760 shooting in 1080p60 and the highest quality mode. Specifically I'm shaking down the gimbal stabilisation settings, the MK IR control for zoom/record/shutter, and, of course, a thorough shake-down of the pilot. I'm ingesting the footage into Adobe Premiere CS6. Gave up on trying to ingest into Final Cut Pro 7 as the transcoder took way to long per minute of footage. Andy.
I fly with an Eos 7D/5D and a Sony CX730 (1080p50), all my footage are transcoded with Cineform Neo Scene. I use the Strato Snapper to drive the Sony and a GentWire Focus cable to focus and take pictures with my DSLR. All the files are transcoded in ProRes HQ to have an "easy" workflow with Final Cut Pro or Adobe...
Thanks for the Cineform Neo Scene link. I was hoping it might preserve 1080p60 from the CX760, but it does not. Ah well...je vais continuer à chercher.... No....wait a minute....I found another page: http://cineform.com/products/neoscene#specs and it *does* claim to handle 1080p60....so I'll give it a try and report back.
No no Andy Cineform preserve the Frame rate no Problem... This is a document copy of a transcoded cineform file straight to .mts file from the Sony CX 730...
Thanks for that! I just downloaded the trial version, but you've saved me some time! Merci bien! Andy.
C' est un plaisir de vous aider...!!! Cineform Neoscene is the perfect tool for CX7... and DSLR users.
Salut Marc: I'm getting some quite bizarre results with NeoSceneMac and the Sony AVCHD files from the CX760. I ran it to convert the AVCHD files to ProRes HQ, converting 420 to 422 -- and it appears to have done that OK and created .MOV files. But, if I try and play those .MOV files using Preview, or bring them into Final Cut Pro (and allow it to change the sequence settings to match the clip), those clips will play for a few seconds, stutter a few times, and then freeze frame -- even though the playhead keeps advancing through the video. Also, NeoSceneMac removed the two stereo audio tracks from the AVCHD and left me with just a single video track. Have you seen these kinds of problems, please? Andy.
Hello Andy, What is your Ram capacity... To play well "Pro Res HQ 50fps full HD" in the Final Cut TimeLine you must have a mini of 16Gb. With 8Gb it doesn' t play well and after 30s or 1 minute the frame freeze... No, i have my two stereo tracks transcoded, may be a setting in FCP. So be sure that you don' t record the audio track with the 5.1 surround sound position on your CX 760.
To verify the exact feature of your video, I recommend you this small free utility that you can find on the apple store, it is very comprehensive and gives a lot of information on scanned files. http://www.pozdeev.com/invisor/ Hope this help you... Cheers. Marc.
Thanks, Marc. I'm running on a Mac Pro5,1 with 32GB of RAM under OS X 10.6.8, so I don't think RAM is the issue. As you say, I also switched the CX760 to 2-ch stereo (why record an Cinestar 8 in flight in 5.1? ) Merci mille fois for the Invisor link. Here's what it showed for the Prores HQ file it converted (just one of the several), they all are devoid of audio. Thanks Andy
Ok Andy i think i' have the solution for you... You have to download and install Perian ( as i do years ago...but i' ve forget to tell you.) to convert your AVCHD files with audio track, and all will be OK on your Mac...
Hi Dave We are in the UK and we fly with the 5D MarkII and are currently adapting our cinestar 360 gimbal to take our C300 but that involves customising the mount to accommodate the C300's tall form factor. Neither really meet all UK HD Broadcast standards across all the channels so we are also interested in the Blackmagic & 4K Canon DSLR when they come out but don't know what their full specs are yet. We shoot 1080 25p & transcode to ProRes422HQ using mpeg stream clip which is quicker than compressor in FCP and then we go to FCP7 Kat
Aha! Thanks, Marc. It did seem odd that Cineform wouldn't know about the problem. Kat: Could you post some details about the modifications to take the C300, please? Are you having to have your own carbon fibre cut, or just buying a longer down tube (e.g. a motor boom) and cutting it yourself? Andy.
Hi Andy. I have bought 3 extra booms and will be cutting the modification lengths from that myself. I am away on shoots for the next 3 weeks so won't be doing it straight away but as soon as I get a chance I will post some pics & details of the lengths I have cut for each axis. I am not sure that I am going to top mount it as the top plate just has one screw to hold the handle and that has already become wobbly from normal filming so am going to try and bottom mount it first as think the whole weight of the camera on that one screw will create too much give. Not sure what bottom mounting will do with the cog but we shall see. hopefully my radian will arrive at the same time thanks. Kat
Hi Kat: I gather carbon fibre (aka fiber )is a bit messy to cut. I'm told that you need to find someone with a water-jet cutter. Not sure whether that's true or not, but CF is a great way to create a lot of black dust. Ask me how I know. I would think bottom mounting the C300 would be the most secure, then gravity is working with you rather than agin you. The Radians will certainly help -- but plan on spending a little bit of time adjusting the Radian servo gain to get to the "Goldilocks" spot. The mass-in-motion of the C300 might make the servos work for a living. Thanks Andy.
FYI- when I need extra boom material for projects, the logo 600 CF booms are the same size and significantly less expensive. I'm guessing the original cinestar was made from those.
Thanks, Joe. (You mean I have to buy another tool! OK. I can stop any time I like. Just like stopping buying cameras!) Looks like it will do a better, safer, job than my bandsaw. Thanks Andy