Hi farss

Slow motion key able shots

I wanna shoot 25p,now for fast motion 50i is better right?{ I am asking } But 25p is higher resolution right, no depth of field stuff just infinity focus so what shutter speeds would be best, or will that affect the focus

We will try some early morning shots and see how that pans out


We want to set up 2 cams at 2 points and the trainer at another, perfect triangle. Shoot the same shot from both sides without getting the other video guy in the shot
In post production stretch the shot in Vegas double time, add Boris optical flow 100 FPS add motion stabiliser as we are not using any tripods
Expt 2 fig rigs so we can follow the flight path.

The test run was ok [more crap than ok] but the birds fly so fast while I am shooting at one spot these guys are on the other side
[Unfortunately drugging the birds is out or tying weights to them is a no go. something about limited stock ,pity ]

So the final shot would be the bird coming in slowing right down ¼ speed 1st camera and cut to 2nd cam same flight morph those 2 together as bird flies away ½ speed and lands on trainer
Its for a bird show ad. 30 sec .

thanks
Rory

Yeah, difficult stuff indeed.
For slow mo to state the obvious the higher the fps you shoot at the better. For this kind of subject you'd probably want 150fps minimum, that seems to be the standard for sports work and I bet these birds move faster than that. Obviously you don't have that budget so...

Increase shutter speed by the amount you intend to slomo.
Yes 50i is better than 25p, EX1's 60p might be your best bet in the affordable camera range. Beyond that cameras get really expensive.

To keep the talent in the frame I'm thinking long lens from a distance and very good tripod / head. That reduces your panning rate. The bird probably follows much the same path every time, creatures of habit and all that, so with a camera on sticks you can train yourself to do the move. You might get lucky and get the shot(s) in a few takes. Fig rig doesn't sound the way to go to me, too tiring and hard to train yourself to make the move.

ps. All the above isn't from experience. There's a forum for wildlife shooters at DVInfo, you might get better answers from the guys who've done it than me.

Bob.

thanks farrs

i will try get some insight from DVInfo

Rory

One learned skill that could help (with practice and aspirin) is to keep both your viewfinder and non-viewfinder eyes open. You can learn to control which one is dominant. The idea is that when the action gets out of frame you can still see where it went and get your framing back. Can't remember where I picked up this idea but it's not something I'm making up.

I've tried it, it helps, but it's not so easy at first.

get out and shoot tests. fast shutter should probably help to get crisper frames - you say you want to key out the sky? This might actually be a point against the interlacing, while the need for slomo might be a case in favor of it.

Crap is a medium of expression for birds. We have a Cockatoo and Amazon parrot in the office and they're very creative with their crap. Don't piss them off and you'll be okay.

Rob

One learned skill that could help (with practice and aspirin) is to keep both your viewfinder and non-viewfinder eyes open. You can learn to control which one is dominant. The idea is that when the action gets out of frame you can still see where it went and get your framing back. Can't remember where I picked up this idea but it's not something I'm making up.I second this recommendation. In my case, I learned it shooting skeet (don't worry, they didn't feel a thing).