Everything about filmmaking

Harry Potter tutorial fix!!

2011-08-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

In my Harry potter tutorial, I forgot to explain a little part where I made the jagged look on the stroke. Here are all of the effects you need to use to create the same look:

NOTE: the red values have expressions on them To make an expression, just hold "ALT" on your keyboard while clicking the stopwatch. In your timeline, you will see a box to type in it. In the picture, the first "evolution" value had this expression: time*300. The last one had: time*200.

Quick tip: Easy DSLR handle

2011-08-20T22:41:00.000-04:00

Shooting handheld videos on a DSLR is quite a pain. But with very few pieces of harware, I was able to make a pretty good handle for my 7D. In fact, here are some pictures:

As you can see, I've only used two L shaped metal pieces and a bolt. It's so simple yet very effective. You can also use these metal pieces to create a top handle to shoot some low angle shots. I'm gonna try to improve my design and come up with other ideas!

4:4:4 codec with DSLR's!!

2011-08-15T15:33:00.000-04:00

DSLR's are awesome, but their codec is not the best to have. Fortunately, there is a converter called 5DtoRGB that converts your video with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling!

http://rarevision.com/5dtorgb/

If you don't know what chroma subsampling is, here is the explaination. In each pixels of a regular image, there are 2 values: a color value and a luminance value. Chroma subsampling is basically using the same color value for multiple pixels. For example: most HD camcorders these days record 4:2:0 videos. This means that there is only one color value for each 2x2 pixels squares. This is the case for all AVCHD cameras. On the other hand, some camcorders can record 4:2:2 videos, wich gives twice as many color informations. This is the case for all of the canon XF cameras and many pro models. On the higher end, there are even some cameras that record at 4:4:4, wich has no chroma subsampling whatsoever. This is very rare.

Of course using a video converter will not give the same quality as a pro camcorder that can do it natively, but it can be useful if you do greenscreen stuff and you have a low budget for example.
Oh and as a side note, a guy at the video store yesterday told me that you can get superior results using Adobe Media Encoder. Haven't tried this options yet, but I will soon and give you some feedback.

A re-birth!

2011-08-09T21:17:00.000-04:00

So, It's been a long time since I've posted here. But now I feel like ready! I've updated my youtube page and all that stuff, so i'm gonna post reagularly here! Stay tuned!

Lightsaber sound effects!

2011-01-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to some really kick ass lightsaber sounds!

Click here

This is what the download includes:

-activation
-small_clash
-big_clash
-body_hits
-composited_clash
-epi6_clash
-force_sounds
-Laser
-lock_clash
-multiple_clashes
-saber_hum
-saber_sequence
-saber_swing
-single_clash

It also includes a super high resolution lightsaber clash and and igniton flare.

Review: Ebay cheap shotgun microphone

2010-12-30T15:18:00.000-05:00

Without audio, you videos are nothing. That's why a good microphone is needed. Unfortunately, they can be very expensive.

Because I have a low budget, I'm always looking for cheap way to make better stuff. On Ebay, I bought a cheap shotgun microphone and now I'm gonna review it.

Out of the box
When you open the package, everything is well protected. The microphone itself is in a rubber-feeling plastic bag, surrounded by foam so it cannot be broken. the rest is not as protected as the microphone, but it's okay because it's not fragile.

How the microphone feels
When you hold it in your hands, it feel solid and durable. The outside enveloppe is made out of metal. It's very easy to unscrew the battery compartment. After almost a year and a half, the microphone doesn't have any scratches and still looks new.

Accessories
The first thing a I wanna talk about is the cable. It's really long, more than 20 feet. I has female XLR and a audio Jack ends. if you want to plug it into a minijack input, it also comes with an adapter. The windscreen that comes in the package can fall off fairly easily but if you don't move the mic around too much, it shoulds stay there. The hot shoe holder is good for quickly placing and locking the microphone, but it's not a shockmount so it will capture big bumps.

Audio quality
I found out that it's good for voiceover and as a handheld mic, but bad if you're more that 3-4 feet away from it. Here is a video where I used the mic to record my voice while I was filming:

In this example, I was about a foot away from the microphone, but I wasn't speaking loud. If you have a pretty loud voice, you can be farther away and still have clear sound. However, this microphone is pretty bad compared to the Rode VideoMic wich is 150$.

Conclusion: 3/5
Considering that you can have this microphone now for 20$, it is really good if it's your only solution. Keep in mind: most of the time it will be better than your built in microphone. On the other side, if you can invest some money, choose another one like the Rode VideoMic (150$) or the Rode NTG-1 (250$)

Links:

Rode VideoMic at B&H
Rode NTG-1 at B&H

3D candlestick in Blender

2010-12-30T00:16:00.000-05:00

Blender is so fun when it comes to recreate everyday-life objects. As an example, I tried, as a beginner, to recreate this candlestick in blender:

Note: The "arms" on the sides were not modeled due to my lack of skill and experience.

A first, I did the roundy top "head" and "neck". I replaced the swirling circular "rope" with a bunch of little ball because I wasn't able to figure out how to model it. Any tips would be helpful! I did those balls and the circles using the spin tool.

Doing the main body was a real pain. At first I did one vertical strip and multiplied it using the spin tool. After, I did one horizontal strip and multiplied it from top to bottom manually. Each time I had to spin it a little bit, changing the scale, thickness, etc. For the lower part I was just extruding and scaling a circle. I've also added a quick texture to make it look better.

This is the final version. Here I've added four feet and a better texture. A friend of mine said that it looks 95% real. And you, what do you think?

In the future I'm gonna do more Blender to I'm gonna keep you updated!

Welcome to my blog!

2010-12-29T23:37:00.000-05:00

Only a few days after christmas, I decided to create my own blog. Weird Idea! I've always been like this, doing strange things, this is what makes me awsome!

This blog is dedicated to everyone who loves everything about filmmaking, camcorders, visual effects, 3D animation, etc.

Anyways, If you have anything you would want me to talk about, or if you have anything to suggest, leave a comment or send me a message!

PS: Yes, I'm french canadian and I don't speak perfectly in english so, I hope you don't mind!