$1000 Budget for first film. Need suggestions.

[mmntech]

I'm working on a film that I've spent about $450 on so far for a college project. Then again, I get my equipment free with my hefty tuition.

Start small with short films. Maybe limit yourself to 10-15 minutes max.

For a camera, I would suggest going with something DV based. I use DVCAM. It encodes 16:9 SD video at 25mbps. Produces a vary high quality shot. MiniDV tapes are vary inexpensive, as little as $4 a piece for an hour of footage. The cameras themselves go for about $250 for a decent consumer one.

DV is great because it works with everything. It's easy to transcode and drops directly into programs like Final Cut and Premier Pro. MPEG not so much.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that you do need a Firewire connection though.

 

[Coldkilla]

Looks awesome! Crazy how it adds up...you're lucky you're getting it all right off the bat, I piecemealed it over a few years to get the kit I have now, haha. As far as the mic goes, I wouldn't bother getting a mic until you can get the full kit with the shockmount and fuzzy sock - just do the DIY boom pole with one of your Shure mics and a mic clip until you can afford the real thing. You'll be amazed at how hard it is to get clean sound, lol. Drives me absolutely bonkers (mainly because I don't have great audio equipment right now, haha). So snag the kit with the mic/pole/shockmount/windsock as a kit when you can afford to do so.

One piece of advice - really really nail down your workflow before you begin. This is the #1 killer of this hobby I've seen - people spend THOUSANDS on equipment, but get stopped in their tracks because they don't have a clear picture of what to do AFTER they've shot the material, so it becomes a barrier, so they do it less and less and eventually quit. Download some sample T2i files online and play with them in your editing package. Develop your own workflow - importing, transcoding, archiving, color correcting, editing, exporting, etc. Once you know what to do, it's cake, but again - I'm serious here - do it BEFORE you get your toys so that you don't get into the quitting pattern.

Also, I'm super jealous

I agree completely. In my previous 'video game' films, I've planned them all way in advance. My last/current one could have been finished in less than a week - but lack of planning has dragged this film out over the course of two months. I've lost patience with it, and hardly see myself finishing this disaster anytime soon. So yes I completely agree

Though I've got Sony Vegas, I'm beginning to learn Adobe Premiere. I'm unsure as to start my first project on the new software or the one I've used for a long time. Chances are I'll stick to what I know, for now lol.

 

[Kaido]

I agree completely. In my previous 'video game' films, I've planned them all way in advance. My last/current one could have been finished in less than a week - but lack of planning has dragged this film out over the course of two months. I've lost patience with it, and hardly see myself finishing this disaster anytime soon. So yes I completely agree

Though I've got Sony Vegas, I'm beginning to learn Adobe Premiere. I'm unsure as to start my first project on the new software or the one I've used for a long time. Chances are I'll stick to what I know, for now lol.

Yeah, I tend to lose interest if I have to do TOO much thinking. Making editing decisions is one thing, but if I have to learn how transcode, figure out program features, etc., that's a lot of brainpower and it gets tiring. So by nailing down a basic workflow, you're not fighting the program to get it to do what you want - you know the basics of where to go and can follow a path. It's a big job in and of itself to figure out a real workflow, but it's totally worth it because then you can just jump in and get from start to finish without having to fight the system.

It builds up to be a burden and drains your motivation, because everytime you think about your project, all you see is all that stuff you've gotta figure out just to be able to do the work you wanna do. And it's tricky stuff to figure out in the middle of a project and can just go so, so frustrating. I've seen people spend $1,000+ on new gear and go from super excited to never-wanna-touch-it-again within a matter of weeks because they weren't *really* willing to spend some time figuring out their workflow, lol. It's sad. Glad to hear you have some good software at your disposal...that always makes things more fun

 

[Coldkilla]

Hypothetically, say I have an additional $300 on top of my previous post listing. Do I:

A. Purchase the $799 T2i (With no lens), and buy a $400 lens?
B. Purchase some lighting equipment?

Assuming I have the $900 worth of audio equipment, it might be worth it to go the light route. However, I know that too, is expensive. The few mentioned lighting options posted here will be most helpful, however with $300 I'm just wondering how I could best utilize all of the different types of light (Fill, key, back, etc), with what little cash I would have. This is all hypothetical, I'm trying to see what my options are if I can convince my aunt to loan me some money.


Also, could you tell me what kind of off-brand batteries I should be looking at? I believe 996GT2 recommended Sterlingtek, but I'm unable to locate anything for the T2i. These batteries I'm finding are anywhere between $6 and $12 shipped, kinda fishy if you ask me.

 

[finbarqs]

been reading a lot on the Cinema5D forums, and one thing that people who are serious about filming is an anamorphic lens. I believe they have screw mounts for these to latch in front of your lens, which makes focusing impossible. But then again, I've heard they've actually got an anamorphic lens adapter for the EF mount...

 

[Kaido]

been reading a lot on the Cinema5D forums, and one thing that people who are serious about filming is an anamorphic lens. I believe they have screw mounts for these to latch in front of your lens, which makes focusing impossible. But then again, I've heard they've actually got an anamorphic lens adapter for the EF mount...

Eh, anamorphic is just a type of look (via a lens) - if it fits your story, great, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're a "serious" filmmaker. Just another tool in the toolbox Although, on the subject - check out the crazy PL Mounts for dSLR's from Hot Rod camera!

http://www.hotrodcameras.com/products/lens-mount-kits/pl-mount-and-mods/

 

[Kaido]

Hypothetically, say I have an additional $300 on top of my previous post listing. Do I:

A. Purchase the $799 T2i (With no lens), and buy a $400 lens?
B. Purchase some lighting equipment?

Assuming I have the $900 worth of audio equipment, it might be worth it to go the light route. However, I know that too, is expensive. The few mentioned lighting options posted here will be most helpful, however with $300 I'm just wondering how I could best utilize all of the different types of light (Fill, key, back, etc), with what little cash I would have. This is all hypothetical, I'm trying to see what my options are if I can convince my aunt to loan me some money.


Also, could you tell me what kind of off-brand batteries I should be looking at? I believe 996GT2 recommended Sterlingtek, but I'm unable to locate anything for the T2i. These batteries I'm finding are anywhere between $6 and $12 shipped, kinda fishy if you ask me.

You can get some nice 3-point starter lighting kits for around $300. You might also want to look at a green-screen kit (green screen & stand plus screen lighting) if you want to do chromakeying (removing the background). Green screening is pretty fun stuff:

http://www.vimeo.com/9609160

As far as lenses go, if you really want to get into video, buy prime lenses. Prime lenses are fast and cheap. Zoom lenses are slow and expensive. An f/2.8 70-200 is $1900. By contrast, a 50mm f/1.8 is $99. You can buy a lot of nice primes for the price of one zoom that isn't even as fast. There's more to the lens argument, but that gives you a starting point. You can get even crazier and get a 50mm f/1.4 or even an f/1.2. Oh, and if you need a starting point for understanding shutter/iso/etc., check out this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-...9058223&sr=8-1

As far as batteries go, I haven't seen a difference. I've tried everything from Sterlingtek to cheap China knockoffs. They're all pretty much the same - you get a year or two of usable life out of them, then they start tanking no matter what the brand is. I just buy a bunch of the cheap stuff

 

[Coldkilla]

Alright cool. I think I might take the lighting route as thats the main thing that seems to be lacking at this point.

I'm just a bit confused on what 'kind' of lighting I'll need, soft/hard etc, 3 lights only?

I do have After Effects and just started learning it at the beginning of the semester a few weeks ago so maybe a greenscreen'd be cool but I'm no expert at it (yet).

 

[Kaido]

Alright cool. I think I might take the lighting route as thats the main thing that seems to be lacking at this point.

I'm just a bit confused on what 'kind' of lighting I'll need, soft/hard etc, 3 lights only?

I do have After Effects and just started learning it at the beginning of the semester a few weeks ago so maybe a greenscreen'd be cool but I'm no expert at it (yet).

Unlike cameras & microphones, there's not really a one-size-fits-all kind of lighting kit. I'd recommend getting a basic 3-point lighting setup to start with. Every situation requires different lighting. With a camera, you can get away with a zoom lens or something like a 35mm and 85mm lens for closeup shots and far-off shots, but with lighting, it more depends on what you're going for. 3-point lighting kits are great for lighting interviews or portraits. But, is that the look you want in your video? In *every* scene? You can use everything from Christmas lights to Chinese paper laterns for different lighting effects, plus gels (for color), gobos (for lighting patterns), etc. Here's a basic overview of lighting:

http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/detail.asp?sid=60

That's not to say 3-point lighting is bad - in fact, it's used ALL the time. And it's a great way to start out because you can use 1 light, 2 lights, or 3 lights. And as the video above points out, you not only need to light the actors, but also the scene. Honestly, I shoot outdoors a lot haha. I don't have a heavy-duty lighting kit currently and most of the time it's easier to shoot outdoors, although I do have a variety of cheapo solutions for indoors (home depot reflective bowl-shaped work lamps, chinese laterns, etc.). Lighting is a whole area on it's own, but it's also probably the most important thing to your picture because at the base level, your camera is simply a light sensor - the more and better light you have access to, the better your image will be and the more you can play with your exposure.

Here is a decent starter kit for $170:

http://www.adorama.com/SVKT1500U.htm...ctor+1500+watt

For video lighting, you want at least 500 watts per light, preferably controllable. This isn't the world's greatest kit, but it is super cheap for a decent lighting solution and will be miles better than room lights. If you want to add in a starter green-screen setup, go on fleabay and search for "10x20 CHROMAKEY GREEN BACKDROP SCREEN 800w STUDIO KIT". There's a seller who sells a green backdrop, backdrop stand, and 800w lighting kit (even lighting for green screen is SUPER important) for $129. Again this is all sort of cheap beginner crap, but it's waaaaay better than nothing and will let you have a lot of fun for not much money. You'll quickly learn that $170 for a lighting kit and $130 for a green screen kit is peanuts in terms of real video equipment, haha.

 

[Coldkilla]

Thanks so much Kaido, you've been most helpful. I started making some purchases today (The camera, memory card, batteries) and will look more into those links/video you posted.

*Super excited*

 

[Kaido]

Thanks so much Kaido, you've been most helpful. I started making some purchases today (The camera, memory card, batteries) and will look more into those links/video you posted.

*Super excited*

No problem...have fun! I'd recommend setting aside some cash every month to put into your camera toy fund - it's a pretty endless hobby, and if you don't have a little scratch fund you'll drive yourself nuts (and poor) There's always new crap to buy, haha. I use ING and SmartyPig for savings (that way it's not handy for me to spend on bills, lol). There's lenses, batteries, memory cards, microphones, booms, windscreens, lighting, dollies, skaters, jibs, glidetracks, all kinds of things to blow your money on.

We should have some kind of monthly video thread here on AT. A lot of us have fun camera gear, it'd be fun to do a theme or something every month to shoot & share on!

 

[finbarqs]

does canon have a anamorphic lens mount? I've read isocrama is the way to go... do they have an EF mount to fit an isocrama?

 

[doubleminus]

I'm a newbie who has been following this thread. It sounds like the T2i is the way to go for very high-quality, flashy shooting!

My question: What about capacity? How fast are you going to be filling 8gb SD cards? What are other downsides?

I admit that I'd never really heard of people shooting lots of video with SLR cameras...neat idea. Makes sense.

 

[AkumaX]

I'm a newbie who has been following this thread. It sounds like the T2i is the way to go for very high-quality, flashy shooting!

My question: What about capacity? How fast are you going to be filling 8gb SD cards? What are other downsides?

I admit that I'd never really heard of people shooting lots of video with SLR cameras...neat idea. Makes sense.

The 7D brought out a new perspective on shooting video with a DSLR (http://philipbloom.co.uk/dslr-films/dublins-people-canon-7d-24p-native/). This video got so popular, even Saturday Night Live used the 7D to film their intro. Not sure why D90 wasn't as popular (MJPEG?), and T1i's video quality leaves much to be desired (along w/ the laughable 1080p @ 20fps).

The T2i has both 1080p @ 24/30fps, and 720p @ 60fps, and performs similarly in video to the 7D below ISO 1600. Worth the $900 savings?

 

[Kaido]

I'm a newbie who has been following this thread. It sounds like the T2i is the way to go for very high-quality, flashy shooting!

My question: What about capacity? How fast are you going to be filling 8gb SD cards? What are other downsides?

I admit that I'd never really heard of people shooting lots of video with SLR cameras...neat idea. Makes sense.

4GB = 12 minutes. Due to the FAT32 formatting limitation on the cards, you can't shoot a clip longer than 12 minutes. So an 8GB card is 24 minutes (in two 12-minute segments). Not really good for your kid's dance recital, but pretty good for shooting a home movie in small clip segments.

Other downsides - no real autofocus. Onboard audio has AGC (auto-gain control), which adjusts the audio by itself, which really isn't that good for capturing good, clean, even-levelled audio. Upsides - 1080p, crystal-clear video, nice blurry backgrounds with the right lens/focus, compact & small so you don't look like you're trying to lug a camera around.

 

[Kaido]

The 7D brought out a new perspective on shooting video with a DSLR (http://philipbloom.co.uk/dslr-films/dublins-people-canon-7d-24p-native/). This video got so popular, even Saturday Night Live used the 7D to film their intro. Not sure why D90 wasn't as popular (MJPEG?), and T1i's video quality leaves much to be desired (along w/ the laughable 1080p @ 20fps).

The T2i has both 1080p @ 24/30fps, and 720p @ 60fps, and performs similarly in video to the 7D below ISO 1600. Worth the $900 savings?

The D90 records 800p in a crappy format. It compresses it down to 720p, so then you have to re-up it to 800p and re-shrink it using something that doesn't look like Youtube encoded it. It's a real pain. Plus no manual controls for video. My wife has a D90; I was SUPER excited when we first got it (for the video aspect - she's a photographer), but now that *real* toys are out, I'm like meh.

If you're mainly doing video, I would get a T2i. Throw that $900 savings into a 17-40 and an 85mm 1.8.

 

[Kaido]

does canon have a anamorphic lens mount? I've read isocrama is the way to go... do they have an EF mount to fit an isocrama?

Not that I'm aware of. Personally I'm a big fan of anamorphic though - RED actually has some anamorphic lenses coming out for their monster cameras. Pretty sweet, hope to see more films done with it

 

[Coldkilla]

Wellp I got the camera yesterday, but it shows a lot of 'lagging'/'Studdering' when put the video onto my PC. However I dont think the video itself is corrupt, its gotta be something else. Some examples of when the problem is evidentt, and not evident.

Evident:
1. When RAW video is taken from the camera and put onto desktop and played. - Very evident.
2. When RAW video is put into Sony Vegas video editor. - MUCH more evident.

Not Evident:
1. When RAW video is put onto Youtube. - Problem is gone 100% (See links below)
2. When RAW video is rendered in Sony Vegas (Encoded w/ 8mbps 1080p 30fps). - Problem is gone 100%.
3. When viewing through the LCD screen on the camera itself. - Problem is not there.
The problem seems to be with my PC and not the camera.

Some facts:
1. Video is taken in 30FPS.
2. Video is in 1080P.
3. Typically, video in Sony Vegas usually plays smooth after a few previews, however it is impossible to make this video appear smooth in the program using the RAW 1080p camera footage.

Video(s):
1. RAW video uploaded directly to youtube. (Notice no studdering) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6yi8ieBiA
2. RAW video that I see (Camera pointed at my monitor showing exactly what I see). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrZsRIZati8
3. RAW video that Vegas sees. (Camera pointed at my monitor showing exactly what I see). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ0j2DrWTUc

I don't think I can film anything until this issue is resolved... I dunno what to do
-720p does the same thing.

 

[alfa147x]

I think you need to convert the raw video to something more workable. Wait for Kaido to come online he'll have something for you

 

[gsellis]

Question on the XLR recorder: Is there a way to sync it up to the Camera so both begin to record at the same time (& stop at the same time)?

Now you know why they use clapper boards ... a visual queue and audio marker at the beginning to do a sync.

BTW, if you buy some stuff, go with B&H vs a vendor on Amazon. You are dealing with a pro outfit that is probably the best online vendor on the planet (when they are open - closed for Passover this week).

Edit - Nevermind... you just posted that you got it.

 

[gsellis]

Your lag in viewing RAW at 1080p and in Vegas are the joy of editing. My editor can get 1080i HDV (M2V) to play seamlessly because it uses DirectX to process the video. Vegas has some OpenGL acceleration from what other editors have said, but I don't know a thing about setting it up. The reason the posted videos don't stutter is that they are set to a compression ratio tuned for a display. This is where you get into the whole 3 volumes on an editor, the correct video card, a hardware accelerator, etc.

 

[Coldkilla]

Interesting. Well darn that sucks lol. I mean it even happens in 720p, I thought that at least would be lag free but I suppose not. I downloaded a few 200MB HD .MOV movie trailers about an hour ago to see if they lagged as bad as this and they didn't lag at all...

As far as the camera itself, I have a LOT to learn yet. I've got about $1300 to spare for accessories aside from the camera and I'm starting to have second thoughts on the lighting/audio. My tripod is 'ok' but it isn't great.. I don't have a slider, a view finder for filming on a bright and sunny day, you name it I'm missing it. I'm starting to think it might be a better idea to get these essentials first and then work my way up from there rather than purchasing a bunch of expensive audio/lighting equipment when the shot to begin with is messed up.. *sigh* I dunno. I don't even know what type of films I should start trying to work on because of these constraints.

I probably should revamp the entire OP lol, all of this is getting a little messy :X

 

[gsellis]

In a spectacular sense of timing Gary just posted this.

http://www.webvideoguys.com/DSLR-Article.html

 

[theblackbox]

did anyone ask or did you say what kind of film you are planning on making.
all this dslr talk is great if you want to hang out on forums like hv20 and post test footage of foilage and your backyard.
is it an action film? if you plan on shooting action, you will regret it if you put everything into one camera. multiple camera angles and shots beat one shot, and multiple retakes to get other angles. filming conversations with one camera, hope you have some patience, unless you are doing it all from one angle.
going to use a dslr with a steadicam? hope you have set focus and don't move from it, otherwise you are going to have a lot of footage where the focus is questionable.
if you are shooting static things, or set shots, the dslr can't be beat, you'll get great results, but if things are moving, and you don't have your skills down pushing or pulling focus, you're in for a mess.
audio is a big part of the factor, but video is just as important. you wouldn't use one mic, why would you use one camera?
while i like the H4n, i really love the H2n. by itself, it records better, can be hidden practically anywhere, is smaller and has better battery life. it doesn't have xlr or some of the other features, but it's nice being able to record quad in a conversation without any other mics, it has less noise then the h4, and costs less, a lot less.

all in all, it depends on what you want to shoot. if it's some art house stuff or trees and bushes blowing in the wind to show off rack focus, then go dslr. if you want to do anything more like film, you'd be better shooting with more then one camera.

 

[theblackbox]

"I don't even know what type of films I should start trying to work on because of these constraints. "

you should never let your equipment limit you, your equipment should compliment your project.