EthanAlexander

FCPX is based on a "trackless magnetic timeline" which is night-and-day different from adobe. You can "trick" it into behaving more like a normal timeline, which I did for a while (by building my timeline above a blank clip on the magnetic part) but once I fully embraced it my editing speed has dramatically increased. One thing I don't like about it is audio editing, which is very hard to batch. If you want to explore FCPX, adding RGB House's "Total Adjustment" adjustment layer and Alex4D's "sound only" crossfade is essential. Why these aren't already a part of the software is mind-boggling. http://rgbhouse.com/?p=74 https://blog.alex4d.com/2011/07/11/fcpx-transition-sound-only/

At work I switch between Premiere and FCPX... When working on jobs for my own clients: FCPX. I like it a lot and it's come such a long way in the past few years. That's the real rub: as long as they dominate with After Effects and Photoshop, there's no way to truly leave Adobe. I couldn't do my job without those two programs. And, for me at least, even if there were programs that could match I wouldn't want to lose the decade of experience I have with each.

I think that people rag on these cameras because they'd never be comfortable not seeing every detail in the shadows. "Crushed blacks. I see CRUSHED BLACKS" is all they'd say. Noam Kroll has an interesting article "How dynamic range is killing your images" or something like that. People get obsessed with preserving highlights and shadows at the expense of a creative image.

I own an FS5 and the auto variable ND is *mint* - I love it. It's probably the best auto setting of any camera, because of how smoothly it can change values, without changing the aesthetics like shutter speed or aperture would. The lowest it goes is 1/4 (2 stops light loss) though, so it may not be useful for a musical if there's not enough light. The key to getting a great picture from the FS5 is making sure it gets enough light! If you have experience with log curves or cinegammas, I'd use one of those to give you some extra room in the highlights and aim to overexpose as much as you can without blowing the highlights (In the case of using the auto ND, you'll set the exposure compensation to something like +1EV, for instance). I'm guessing the stage lights will make for some dramatic differences between the lit and unlit parts of the stage, so the extra dynamic range will be very useful. If you have a quick turnaround, I'd definitely recommend using one of @Andrew Reid's new Pro Color settings. In short, if you plan on using auto ND you're going to need to make sure you have at least an f/2.8 lens because in effect the lens will be a 5.6 with ND on lowest setting. Perhaps paring it with one of the Sigma f/1.8 zooms would be a great combo, cause then wide open you'd still be at f/3.5.

Do you think you could add to that: 11. When asking a question like "what's the best gimbal?" or "which lens should I buy?" add what kind of camera you're using (or system) and especially for what purpose. So hard to be helpful when there's no way to tell what the gear will be used for.

Yes. For instance, if you were to place a FF, non speed boosted 100mm on either an a6500 or a GH5, you'd tell both cameras to stabilize a 100mm. Same logic goes for speed boosted lenses, where you'd tell either camera the "focal reduced" length, in this case 71mm. Just remember, any FF lens on a MFT will look exactly the same as the same mm MFT lens on a MFT. The only difference in those lenses will be the size of the image circle, but the MFT sensor will only ever see the same smaller portion. Hope this isn't getting complex, so to summarize: Since all you're trying to do is figure out the math to tell the camera what focal length to stabilize, there's actually no need to do any math for the sensor size, JUST the focal reduction. All you've got to do is tell the camera what the "mm" is, and when you add a speed booster (0.71x), you're literally placing a 71mm lens on, whether it's APS-C or MFT.

You'd tell it to stabilize a 71mm (or whatever's closest.) It's helpful to think of these as "focal length reducers" and then it's easier to remember that what you're really doing in effect is putting a 71mm lens on your camera.

Even with magic lanern: No XLR, no EVF, poor live-view when recording raw (it's practically unusable in 3.5K), huge data rates, limited dynamic range... Not to mention using raw on a paid shoot would be a risk most wouldn't (shouldn't) take. I've done it.. but I'm not into those risks anymore. It's a great camera - Amazing image, built like a tank, pleasing skin tones. I may never sell mine. But, ultimate? No way. Also, please top approving your own posts. Every forum post in the history of the internet has been approved by the author of said post, or they wouldn't hit submit.

I think you're misunderstanding me... I'm saying sony should be happy to put an E mount on a sony-sensor'd DJI product so they'd get the lens sales. And the guys at panasonic I think really dropped the ball chosing EF mount, but for different reasons (since panasonic doesn't make any lenses that cover S35).

Based on my tests, using Pro Color +1 and Pro LOG matches very well with Wide DR 1 and Pro LOG S. You'll still want to tweak them but they're close. You can see in this vid:

If they don't take advantage of E mount lens sales then they have no business being in business ...Just like whoever decided on EF for the EVA lol

Do super long GOP (keyframe distance) and it will help keep the quality higher at that small bitrate. Don't go too long or it won't be as compatible with devices. Somewhere in the 30-48 range should do.

I've been having some problems the last few days. Slow a lot. Two days ago the site was offline for about an hour. I'm in the US.

Since this is for broadcast (I think?), that means probably a C300 or FS7... And the colors definitely seem more Sony than Canon so... FS7. I'll message you the address to send my prize money. Thanks. BTW great job on the sound!

Edit: This wasn't properly converted to sRGB, so it's a bit more contrasty/saturated than what I've been seeing in Resolve, but it still shows off the skin tones: Had a no-prep interview yesterday and I chose pro log S. Super happy with the resulting look on her skin. Compared to the amount of time I spend working with S Log3 I'd say this color profile is a real winner. This was on an FS5 shooting 10bit.

Oh man, so much better with the grey background!

Do you mean "full" instead of auto or video?

Exactly. With the Pro Color examples I made very minor curves/wheels adjustments but NO masks or hue adjustments. On S Log 3 I made specific hue adjustments to her skin tone in Resolve. And thanks. Video examples are coming. I did some yesterday I'll post them soon.

Brother, apologies if what I wrote sounded accusatory - That was not my intention. Perhaps I should have phrased it differently. I was simply suggesting that it is just as valid to investigate assumptions that we've never questioned before as it is to leave them be. That is what I was attempting to illustrate with the "opposite ends of the spectrum" example of Catholicism and Atheism.

You're presupposing that an inability to know what world we "live" in, and a willingness to question it, means that he will conduct himself with any less meaning than you. Take for example a Catholic and an Athiest: a worshipping catholic will likely view this life as a time to honor God through every action, a time to follow God's plan. This gives that person immense meaning and a calling to do good. On the other hand, many Athiests, seeing this time on earth as our only time, with no afterlife or greater power, will choose to make the most of every second still breathing. This includes treating others with respect because this is their only time, too. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, same result in action. So, why can't someone question this reality without being labeled ignorant? If people never questioned anything, we'd be no different than chimpanzees.

Haven't had much time at all to go through all the new combinations, or play around with the grades, but the new profiles are really nice! I think I'll be using "Pro Log S" A LOT, and for anything that needs a quick turnaround the new "Pro Color XR" profile is night and day more useable than any other profile (including Pro Color 2 IMHO). This is just my take after using it today on my FS5. Still need to dive into the grade to see how everything handles. More to come but wanted to share this. Didn't take much time "fixing" anything - wanted to show how easy these new profiles are:

Me when I go to someone's house with all the "improvement" settings turned up to 11:

Will do

I've got a camera test this weekend with a model already set between the FS5 10 bit and 5D3 ML raw... I'd be happy to add pro color's 2 & 3 to the examples if you'd like