M Carter

I do a ton of corporate interviews, musing about some doc projects if I get some free time... The #1, by-god awesome, holy-cow thing for me as an interview shooter and editor: freaking 4K. If you have a feel for narrative, human nature, drama, etc, you can guide and cut a great interview. But reframing has changed the game for me. You can hide cuts, and tighten up the shot for the most dramatic or impactful statements. When I come in tight, I can do subtle camera moves/pans which really just "work" subconsciously. I can shoot a little wider than usual for lower thirds or graphics and still have plenty of pixels for a wide range of shot changes, without moving the camera. That's my #1. I use the NX1 for all interviews now (the 4k footage is pretty astounding), with a Nikkor 28-70 2.8 zoom generally - that zoom looks fab and it allows me to adjust framing quickly, like I setup with a stand-in and then the subject is 7' tall. (#1-a? A morphing plugin for your NLE. When they work, they're lifesavers - get every f*cking UMM and pause and stutter OUT of your edit!!)(Unless those express the personality - for corporate stuff they're goners). Other MASSIVE thing for interviews - if it's not "to the camera" (which I generally dislike) - who is the subject talking to? If it's me, I'm in a chair with a monitor on my lap, but I HATE looking down to check focus - people instantly feel like you've got something more important on your mind. So I have to go deeper with the DOF and if the subject is really active or excited - you'll lose focus. So I try to get someone to be an eye line. I QUIETLY whisper questions to that person - if you're behind the camera and you ask the question, even if you say "tell her...", their eyes will shift back and forth and it looks shifty. I'd much rather be riding focus behind the camera. With a follow focus and a 12" whip, so no jitters. I only wear headphones for initial setup and first roll with the subject, they are too "distancing" for me, unless I'm not the interviewer. IF THE INTERVIEWER IS NOT IN THE EDIT - make sure they answer IN CONTEXT so the question is not needed. Most people understand this, and understand if you stop them and say "context, please" or lead them - "I'm sorry, could you start that with 'the reason I love what I do'..." #3 major thing for a great interview - a third person with an eye for detail and grooming - most any lady or your gay buddy will do - (not trying to be sexist, just my hard experience) - even the receptionist - to keep an eye on hair, collars, lint, wrinkles, etc. There's too damn much to be focused on (for my tiny brain anyway) - most ladies like to be asked to be the grooming police and watch for that lock of hair that pops up halfway through, to watch for makeup issues on female subjects that guys don't even SEE. Have them look through the monitor for issues like shining skin, too. (I KNOW this sounds sexist and generalized, but I've found it to be true!!! If a lady looks decent in her clothes, she'll see what needs fixing.) So for a doc, I'd think about your assistant - someone that can watch for those details, help setup and pack and carry, and either be an eyeline or can babysit focus. I also use the NX for steadicam b-roll, I just stick the cheap little 16-50 OIS kit lens on it, very small and light on a Came steadicam, and I use the same QR on everything so I can be on the steadicam in seconds. From there, b-roll, establishing shots, whatever you need... lenses, tripod, jib, sliders, shoulder mount, etc. Have an ND solution if you'll be moving in and outdoors. Good audio is a must, the DR60 is a great piece of gear, and the camera-out with its own level control means you can use it as a preamp and not need to synch (I use the NX1 and when gain is staged properly, no difference between the DR card or the camera). But you have the recorder files as a safety if you get an over (and the DR records a 2nd track at -6DB which can save your ass). Get some closed-back headphones (even cheap ones). You need a great mic, or at least a good one - Oktava, AT 4053, or at the least a Rode, but get a hyper, not a shotgun. For about $200 you can get one of the OST lav mics AND the XLR barrel converter, which converts phantom power to mic power. So you can use a lav and not mess with wireless and be all-XLR, no monkey-business 1/8 crap in the chain. There's a small OST that hides great in a tie knot. LIGHTING - for a big window office where you want to hold the exterior, you generally need a 575 or 1.2k HMI par. And with many angles, your diffusion frame will reflect in the window, so you need strategies for that. Often a polarizer will knock down lesser reflections. Or you can ND the whole window if you have all day. I keep a 575 in the truck, but I have a "one-rock-n-roller-cart" setup to make one trip in for most gigs. I TRY to use a quad biax - they're usually under $200, and I clip diffusion across the barn doors, instant softbox that's the right size for faces, small and easy to move, no cold-start issues, etc. I also bring an Aputure 672 LED for rim/hair, or background (probably will get another sometime)... usually a small 300 fresnel if I want warm BG light... I also have a 400 HID setup that works with all the photoflex softboxes, but that's a DIY grow light thing (it kicks ass and looks legit, about 1200 watts of nice daylight). I also have a 2" daylight fresnel with a 150 HID globe and ballast, again DIY but looks like actual gear, about 500 watt equivalent) handy little problem solver. And a bunch of CTB and CTO gels cut to size and ready in a big ziplock. Usually doesn't take many lights to get a nice looking interview setup. In a pinch I can be setup and ready to roll in 20 minutes, though that's kinda stressy! For overhead mic, I use a steel roller stand - it's heavy enough to not need sandbags but easy to tweak the position. Those are pricey, $180 or so, but worth it. I don't bring c-stands to most interview gigs, too hard to pack, too heavy. Use good quality folding stands though, the Matthews steel kit stands are good. Find a good solution to pack all your stands in. I generally bring the steel roller w/ arm - decent stands for key, LED, fresnel - I bring a couple black flags (18x24) for spill or if the hair light is hitting the lens as a flag; a cookie and grip stuff; a couple extra boom arms and heads. Usually 5-7 stands in a bag. An 18" and 22" popup reflector/diffusor, gaff tape, spring clamps, and A LINT ROLLER!!! There are LEDs that would make a suitable key (the Aperture doesn't have the kick except for very dark setups), but they're a grand and up, the biax quad is still a trouper for me. All of that on one cart - I use two motorcycle tie-down ratchets to hold it on the cart. That's my business interview setup, but I'd likely use the same for a doc interview. Last week, basic setup:

By "lock it in" do you mean save it as a preset? I've shot with Panasonic sorta-broadcast video cameras (AC and DVX series) which can save one or two, and my Nikon DSLRs can save about as many as you want (naming them is an issue...) My NX1 can't however. Or do you mean have it not shift or drift or something?

As far as I'm aware, manually white balancing a camera changes the color on two axis - blue/orange and magenta/green. Similar to using CTO or CTB and plus- or minus-green. Manually white balance a still and open the raw image, and you'll see (via the raw sliders) how much correction was used. Or shooting a still in a situation with imperfect WB and then setting white balance in the Raw converter will show you how far the color axis had to be changed to get the color accurate. I'd like a camera to show me those numbers when I manually white balance. Often I'm shooting in offices with modern flo fixtures, which are usually around 3700k with a lot of green. if I have a pre-pro chance, I can shoot the place with a raw stills camera and figure exactly what flos (most of my flos need 1/4 CTB and 1/8 -green to get a clean 5200k) and HMIs need gel-wise so the office fixtures look natural and function as fill. It looks odd to the client when I'm putting orange and green gels on my lights, but it sure is nice in post. I've found if the RAW slider is halfway up for magenta, that usually equates to about a half minus green, and so on. Color temp is more of a sliding scale than linear, but it can usually be sussed out quickly. This wouldn't be an earth-shaking feature but would sure be handy. Modern cameras are pretty decent color meters when you think of it - would be nice to have that data presented somewhere in the interface - since it's already in the camera.

Not likely - that's a function of the optics, not of replacing the rubber ring with a gear. Even changing the ratio to get a longer throw won't affect how the image responds to focus changes.

Great thread title, I was expecting a bankruptcy PR release. The drama!!!

Maybe so, but I do a lot of B2b corporate stuff, which may be half-hour interviews cut to a minute or two, motion graphics, animation, etc. I do a lot of animation (which I use mostly AE for) so there are folders full of image bits and pieces, storyboards. Average final gig folder is anywhere from 60MB to 200MB, and I do need to keep every last little bit, and keep the folder structure preserved. ProRes does keep my overall projects size a good deal larger, but the benefits outweigh that in my case, and it would really take something amazing for me to drop ProRes as my default across the board. I also do some master-planned community stuff, but these are sometimes 10-year to 15-year sales spans over hundreds of acres, and we pick up stuff again and again. So keeping track of things is critical, and I need to get to 'em fast sometimes. So spinning drives and a dock are optimal, with text or excel files for content lists. So I can search a folder full of text files (drive1.txt, drive2.txt and so on - I'm up to drive 18 now I think) to find the file with the disc contents and grab the drive. I don't like the idea of all that archived work being powered-up and live. Since all discs eventually die, I try to keep them sealed in drive boxes and not run them unless needed. if I had a pile of big drives always spinning, that could be 10TB or something... and then I'd need 10TB of constant backup. 4TB is a good size for me right now, a 2x2TB Tbolt2 RAID and a 4TB USB external for backup. I generally have the RAID around half full, but if I get buried in a lot of projects-that-refuse-to-die, I have some headroom. Main thing for me is to try to archive in 500MB or so amounts, which is more time-manageable. When the finder says "Estimated time: 9 hours", that's worrisome - our 'hood was built in the 20's and if there's a thundercloud ten miles away, the power goes out (they've improved that now). Backup batteries only last so long and I have a lot of stuff plugged into the UPS. Again, these sorts of workflows are insanely unique to the freelancer or mega-huge effects shop or first-year DSLR shooter, and every case is probably different. A HUGE driver for me is cost and ROI - I'n in an enviable position of mostly working on fun stuff for good, long-term clients and I don't have to go out and beat the bushes every week - but that means I don't work some days at all. It's interesting to me to read the different solutions people use.

Do you really, really need 4K for a dramady? I'd say go for the most luscious, natural, emotion-grabbing look you can get. I'd see 4K if you had lots of effects work or knew you were going to reframe like crazy. I don't know that it's necessary when you can get a beautiful look from a used BM cinema cam, unless you have some sort of contract specifying a large-frame delivery.

The 35-70 2.8 AF was a top-line pro Nikkor back in the day and they're reasonable and have an aperture ring. Just have to watch the veiling flare on those, use a good hood and make sure your copy doesn't have haze internally. I shot several music videos with that lens. Pro-build, all metal, 2.8 all the way through. I really liked it for stylish music vids - I could use the top flag on my matte box to dial in (or out) flare from visible lights, had a cool look. Replace with the 28-70 2.8 though.

I think you're misreading what I mean by "Archiving". Sure, original card is in there, and the edit files. And the 1080 and 4K prores versions of everything, the after effects files and renders, the stills, the audio, the protools folder with audio sweetens or repairs or edits or music, all the client notes, storyboards, and edits, the bid, the revises to the bid, the script and revisions, reference images, edits from first pass to final, and Flash or Carrara animations and their associated image sequence folders... I mean, the whole freakin' job, with the entire folder structure preserved. 100-200GB folders are the norm, but I just archived a 1.2 terrabyte job (6 or 7 shoot days, primarily interviews and b-roll, and tons of graphics). I had several brand new 1TB drives, tried like hell to prune that folder down. I generally archive when my 4TB RAID gets over half full, if possible. As I mentioned earlier, this can be 5-10 hours of copying and file managing. Doesn't shut the computer down, just makes it slower, so I try to do it overnight or on a weekend... except I seem to work a lot of weekends... I just convert everything to ProRes from the start though, render everything from AE as prores (unless I need an alpha channel) and generally do image sequences from other programs and convert those to prores if needed. It takes very little time (I usually do it while I'm checking cameras and gear back in) but saves me a lot of hassle down the road. Disk space is cheap.

Reading Andrew's article - it seemed to suggest the sensor is APS-C/Super 35 - or did he mean "with the speedbooster". It would be really REALLY cool if Panasonic had a doubled-the-bitrate H265 option in there. H265 turned out to be a great feature in the NX, once the world caught up.

That's not the issue for me as far as backups and archiving. Mainly making sure I have a 1 and 2TB raw drive on hand when my RAID fills up, being a little more aggressive about trashing things that don't need to exist (I archive to raw drives with a USB 3 dock). I don't deliver or edit 4K, but I do a lot of 4K on a 1080 timeline, so it's not unusual for a longer-term project folder to hit 1TB... and that's about 6 hours to copy to an archive, test the archive, and delete from the RAID and the backup. So I try not to let archiving backlog as much as I used to. Then again, nothing sucks like archiving and then the client calls and says "so and so's title just changed, can you do a new edit?" Luckily, I use a dock and raw drives so I can do quick things right off the archive, but I try not to use those discs much. I did the same. I just bought one of these since I came from a Pro Tower internal RAID. Seamless and reasonably fast (300mb/s or so), $300. You can get a USB 3 RAID box for dual SSDs even cheaper, though drive costs are an issue. I have 7200 RPM spinners in this, 2TB each for a total 4TB working space. I have a 4TB drive in a USB 3 enclosure for backup at night. It's a great product and far better reviewed than the OSC/MacSales raid. Quiet, too. I have no issues with FCPX or After Effects (though I use an SSD for AE scratch files). I've never wanted anything but my apps, email, and billing on the internal drive. And I still think the Cylinder is a fail as far as no drive bays and relying on USB and Tbolt (and the iMac is no answer to that). But Apple always knows better than us, right?

Not my experience with the blimp. I rarely swap mics with it, but I don't find that to be a hassle, and it's as quiet as one could expect in normal wind conditions. Everything stays nice & tight with it (you have to learn to tighten the oddball shockmount swivel). Rubber bands have held up for years now, too.

I am finding drive speed to be less important for FCPX. But After Effects still seems to need the basic Adobe recommendation - app on a fast boot drive, scratch disk on the fastest shizz ya got, footage and content on a fast drive. As I migrated from the tower to the cylinder, I tested lots of stuff, and that's still the way to go with AE. My first step for any gig is "everything gets pro-res'd". Since shooting 4K, I've found a 4TB RAID 0 (and a 4TB single-drive backup that runs at night) has been workable. Biggest issue is the size that job folders can become. Archiving a terrabyte at a time isn't unusual for me, and that takes 6-8 hours to transfer the content. More and more, I'm finding managing my archives and backups takes more planning as file sizes go up.

No, but if you ever see me selling an Alexa for $5k, western union only... IT'S HIM!!!

I think their blimp is a very good value. My son bought an Indian blimp for less $$, but it's not as well designed. Their mics are decent, but moving up to the AT 4053? Haven't looked back.

I agonized over this, got the entry level Mac Pro. I get good Disk Speed tests, about 1000mb/s - all checks green. I really like having a component setup though vs. the all-in-one. Thing is, are people putting their apps, footage, and scratch files all on the internal HD? I'm using an external Tbolt2 RAID (2 spinning 7200rpm discs) and a couple cheap USB 3 enclosures with SSDs. At some point I'll probably add a dual SSD raid just for footage and leave Photoshop and IDD stuff on the spinning RAID. Everything is nice & speedy, but with OS X, FCPX just really smokes anyway. I'm getting good render times with After Effects, but Adobe's really dropped the ball with AE performance for some time now. What really sucks about either solution is the maze of cables and USB 3 hubs. I had 6 drives in my Mac Pro tower. I think the cylinder is a giant fail for high-end creative work (as is the iMac in this regard). Really miss all those raidable drive slots plugged right into the motherboard.

Well, as a long-time NX1 shooter, I'll say it's pretty fantastic. You can get a really beautiful, cinematic image with it. It can really, really sing with old lenses - like 60's/70's glass, Canon FL or the various screw-mount stuff, aperture-ring Nikkors (I'd get adapters while they're still around). The native glass seems awfully "clinical" to me. The H265 is a real space-saver - even if you convert to ProRes to edit, you can shoot all day without a ton of cards or SSDs. If you use an external audio recorder and good mics, you can run the camera-out into the NX1 and if you're careful, you can get fine audio without having to synch in post (though I would 100% advise you still record externally too). 4K is absolutely the shit for reframing or post-stabilizing... but the jello at 4K is abysmal. At 1080, the jello is in the best-in-class range (but it ain't global-shutter class, it's still there). So - handheld or real action stuff, shoot 1080. I only shoot 4K if I know I'll reframe. AF can be useful, but you might test low-level (1/4) diffusion, pro mist or black pro mist, with NX glass. "Iron Man" was shot with 1/4 and 1/2 pro mist (black I think?), and we don't think of it as a "diffused" movie at all. Where it fails is where the BMC stuff really kicks in - DR. Doing outdoor work or indoors where you want to hold a sky through windows, you'll need lighting - indoors a 575 HMI par is the bare, bare minimum and a 1200 would do much better. Outdoors, HMI or a very well-executed reflector and scrim setup. That's if it's bright and sunny and you want to hold sky color and detail. And overall, shooting flat with lighting, not camera profiles really helps. Some big, soft fill sources to bring up shadows so you can tamp them back down in post. I've played with the Andrew Reid conversion and luts, but you run the risk of big, chunky, moving noise if you go too far. Get close in-camera. But those issues are the same with most any 8-bit, non-raw camera. You really have to plan for highlights and deep shadows, and I'm a believer in printing out plenty of color reference (send images to a photo print place - have good prints) and attaching to your storyboards, and setting yourself up on set for a successful grade. It's no Alexa.

So Vasile mod is out as far as bitrate, KS is in - where does one find the KS mod with all the instructions, etc? And is it confirmed that Vasile's mod isn't right for upping the bitrate?

Remember that for the "HBO Special" look, you need at least 2 operators - one to track the comedian and one to get audience responses. You have to quickly ID people that are really cracking up and get a lot of variety of reactions. Just having a static camera on the audience isn't going to be that great. It's good to use a long lens for that and stay out of people's faces, dress in black and stay in the shadows. People can clam up if they feel they're being filmed. If you have a static camera that's wider getting the stage, shoot 4K and reframe to get a "3rd operator" look if possible.

Man, I think you're SOL on that one - the manfrotto (like most systems) is a dovetail setup. You'd have to grind out the dovetail edge on both sides of the baseplate, and come up with something that clamps down. Or grind a camera plate flat-edged. But then you lose the whole "system" setup, since a modded camera plate would just fall out of any other baseplate. I've got all kinds of Manfrotto QR - there was a company that made carbon fiber base plates, really lightweight. And there's lots of chinese knockoffs on eBay that are cheaper than the genuine stuff. But the fact that it's a dovetail, I don't know how you'd get around that. I've managed to have every rig let the camera slide off towards the back. I suppose you could attach some sort of top-lift system to the manfrotto camera plate. that's how I mod other tripods, I attach their camera plate to a manfrotto QR system.

The classic, pre-wireless-AF-way - wide lens, f5.6 to f11. Focus in the range your subject will be in (I dunno about the "infinity focus" comment, unless your subject is on the horizon. Why would you set initial focus miles away from your subject?) The wider the lens, the deeper your DOF, and the more you stop down (within bounds of reason - avoid diffraction) the more DOF. Before you even get the camera on the rig, find out just how much focus range you have (use the EVF, use peaking, move in and out, rehearse the move without the rig) and stay within that range. Getting someone to grab your belt and walk with you (like guiding a blind man) lets your brain stop worrying about tripping, and that person can help keep you in the DOF zone as well, esp. if they're part of the shot rehearsal. I've had great results with the NX1 and kit lens on AF for doc-style work - but you have to keep the subject in the focus box. And if the subject has dark clothes on, the AF may hunt. Review every shot before you move on. Something like a 20" HDTV or HDMI computer monitor is a big help here (for playback focus checking). If the monitor doesn't play nice with the camera, try a powered (active) splitter, that will sometimes get the signal through. Keep in mind that if you use a production monitor with peaking - peaking works on playback as well as recording, so you can also use that to check shots (if the peaking is useable).

After years of upgrading D-series bodies, I'm convinced it was the OLPF. I watched resolution go up over time, but the fine-detail level was what really jumped out at me.

From the Amazon product page, questions & answers: Nx1 weight with kit lens and battery: 1290g according to Samsung's site. And the 16-50 kit lens has been my favorite for my steadicam. So, 90G overweight. Zhiyun's Amazon comment is that heavier weights affect the lifespan of the motors. Wonder if 90g is a huge difference?

As far as marketing goes - keep in mind one of the issues that likely killed Samsung's NX line - the strap didn't say "Canon" or "Nikon".

I've shot retail product (primarily apparel and jewelry, with various consumer and tech products) for close to 20 years, back to the film days with 4x5" Ektachrome. Done stuff for Neiman-Marcus, JCPenney, Blockbuster video, all sorts of manufacturers and wholesalers, and on and on. My thoughts: Even if "just for the web", shoot full rez and raw. Doing minor fixes or going pure-white on the BG is easier at big sizes. In your bid, note that you'll shoot full print size and archive for future use. You never know when someone will decide to do a flyer or a print ad. With a modern 20+ MP stills cam, you can shoot for billboards. Having shift and tilt is nice for product shooting. If this is a one-off deal, I wouldn't worry about it. I don't do as much product as I did in the past and haven't needed it - I still have a big camera stand which to me is more important, esp. in the digital days. Lighting is more important. A soft box, white reflectors, and a7" and 11" grid head (to "raise" detail in folded soft goods or add sparkle to jewelry) is a basic starting point. If you're doing more of a still-life look or food, grids and even tungsten lights can play a bigger role in sort of a "heightened beauty" look. You really want complete control for each light, either by individual controls or with a symmetrical/asymmetrical pack or nets and ND. (As for tilt-shift - I've built a tilt rig to use Mamiya 645 lenses on a Nikon camera... still need to get a lens and complete it...) I'm a Nikon fan for this work, especially since Nikkors can go on all sorts of modern cameras for video, and there are decades of classic glass out there used for someone starting. You don't need AF or OIS for this stuff. I'd look at a used/refurbed D7100 - really great stills image and nice video. I cite the 7100 since it was the first Nikon to lose the OLPF (low-pass filter). I'd say a camera without OLPF is a primary consideration; as a product and corporate people shooter, it was really a new era in fine detail. To my eyes this was a big game changer - the leap in IQ from the 7000 to the 7100 was pretty astounding to me. (I'm sure there's Canon stuff that's equally good - when Digital first gained acceptance, I delivered many shots from an Olympus P&S for no-rental-budget clients - it was the first full-manual consumer digital with a strobe connection that saved uncompressed TIFFs - six to a card! Each shot took 20 seconds to write to disc... but the IQ was badass). (This when renting a pro digital stills cam was a pricey affair). There must be a zillion product shooting tutorials on the web - check them out, but avoid any "light-tent" style setups - you do want a sense of directionality to the light, to make things look three dimensional, vs. just-plain-flat. Film, no photoshop: Nikon, 50mm lens. Silly Olympus P&S: