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I feel like I'm not getting the best out of my camera

A

Artin

I think I may be doing something wrong in the conversion or rendering of my footage, I'm looking for some help with this. Wasn't sure to put this in here or in the cameras forum but this problem seems like it happens in post production.

I shoot with a Canon 60D, always shoot at 1920x1080 24fps, I usually use a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L-Lens or a 30mm f1.4 Sigma lens, but I feel like the quality in the end is never as good as the footage I see online, using a similar set up.

For what I've done so far, I've used Sony Vegas but I'm going to be using Adobe Premiere from now on, if that helps.
 
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First question I have - what sort of Codecs do you have installed?
Is it a Vanilla machine or have you added something like the K-Lite Codec Pack?

I ask because I remember on my first paid project I stayed up all night because no matter what I did, none of my rendering was coming out right. Turns out that particular install of K-Lite had screwed with some setting somewhere.

Also, walk us through how you go from taking the footage off to editing it and your usual export settings.
 
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josh-ozirigpro said:
First question I have - what sort of Codecs do you have installed?
Is it a Vanilla machine or have you added something like the K-Lite Codec Pack?

I ask because I remember on my first paid project I stayed up all night because no matter what I did, none of my rendering was coming out right. Turns out that particular install of K-Lite had screwed with some setting somewhere.

Also, walk us through how you go from taking the footage off to editing it and your usual export settings.
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I haven't added any codecs.

First I import my footage onto my computer from my memory card, then I convert with MPEG Streamclip. I use the Apple motion JPEG A compression settings at 100% quality.

As for my render settings, I render out to .wmv format, 1080p, 24 fps, all quality settings at "Best" or 100. That was using sony vegas on my PC though. For my future projects I'm going to be using a Adobe Premiere on a Mac.
 
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Without seeing any footage, it's difficult to comment. However, based on previous similar questions, and more importantly -- based on what is just normally one of the most major hurdles of beginning filmmaking, my first guess is that your main problem is lighting. Just a guess.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Without seeing any footage, it's difficult to comment. However, based on previous similar questions, and more importantly -- based on what is just normally one of the most major hurdles of beginning filmmaking, my first guess is that your main problem is lighting. Just a guess.
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I use a couple lights for most of my shoots, and if I don't it's usually already pretty well lit.
 
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brianluce said:
If you're converting source files to MJPEG that could be the culprit right there. Do some tests, play the native files and see how they look.
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That would be my first guess too.

Artin said:
I use a couple lights for most of my shoots, and if I don't it's usually already pretty well lit.
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Illuminated does not equal lit. Learning how to shape and control light will make your image look more cinematic - having enough light for an exposure is a requirement, not an end result. The Lowel EDU website is a good place to start learning how to light.
 
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harmonica44 said:
What kind of lights? What's the problem exactly, with the look?
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I mainly just want to know what a better workflow would be, the difference between the footage I get and the footage after conversion/rendering is really drastic and I don't know enough about this to figure out better render/conversion settings.
 
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Just a thought too, you're recording in Manual mode, 1/50 or 1/60 shutter speed and at ISOs of 160, 320 or 640 right? If you're in auto, running a non-180 shutter speed or at a high ISO it is probably destroying your image.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
Just a thought too, you're recording in Manual mode, 1/50 or 1/60 shutter speed and at ISOs of 160, 320 or 640 right? If you're in auto, running a non-180 shutter speed or at a high ISO it is probably destroying your image.
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yeah i always try to keep the ISO as low as possible and the shutter speed in that area.
 
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