Camera Settings

[lwgray]

Is there a list of standard camera settings?

I've got a Sony Ex1 XDCam and I'm trying to figure out what the best setting is for it. Any ideas?

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

If you go to FILE -> SET FILM/FRAME SIZE you'll get a bunch of standard camera settings. Otherwise you need to find out the diagonal width in CM of the recording media and enter that into a user defined film/frame size along with your aspect ratio...

But most cameras fit one of the existing settings.

[lwgray]

Diagonal width... bit of a mystery what that might be to me.

It's a pretty wide angle lens but I can't work out what it's equivalent to. Anyone know?

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

You might want to try and see if it's equivalent to the Pro Video 1/2" CCD which is what it sounds like. You can do a zoom test and see what the angle of view is at a given focal length and see if it matches what FrameForge is calculating...

[lwgray]

That sounds like a plan. Thanks.

[lwgray]

Having played around wth this a bit more I'm pretty sure the Full HD setting is the one for the XDCAM EX1.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

That also sounds quite likely. Sorry you're having to narrow in on it in this fashion but I looked at Sony's site and unfortunately--as you have gethered--they haven't given us the information needed to answer it from a technical point of view.

But if you do a quick test and the angle of view matches up for a given focal length, then you are set. Please do keep us informed as to your final conclusion as other people may need this info later...

[VidE]

I wanted to add that with HDV, 1/3" chips are common too. The problem is that it's not only an issue of chip size, but the fact that the sensors are rectangular, not square, so that 1440 imagers will expand to a 1920 pixel image, makes the math even weirder.

I guess the FrameForge guys are not up much on this stuff? Time to hit the forums.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

It's not that we aren't "much up on the stuff" it's that there are too many different video / HD cameras on the market for us to keep track of all of them. Especially as the specs are often described comparing apples to oranges--some give 35mm equivalency values comparing them to 35mm still cameras while other compare them to 35mm motion picture cameras in Academy Format, while others give physical chip size but not the size of the recording area and so on---which can make it a real job to track down what the true parameters for a given camera is.

Now we give you the capability within FrameForge 3D Studio to set it up to accurately mimic ANY camera, but much as we'd like to have it come 100% complete with presets for all cameras, we're a small company and simply don't have the manpower to do all the research.

[VidE]

Didn't mean to be rude... For video, 1/3", 1/2", and 2/3" chips are very common, only the lens lengths really change from model to model. Though I do grant that there are i.e. 1/3" chips that are both 4x3 and 16x9. I did this by hand a few years ago, try it again and see how it works.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

No, I didn't take it as rude; I just wanted to clarify to anyone reading the thread--particularly potential new buyers--that the issue wasn't that we didn't care or weren't up with modern technology but that while it' not possible for us to have presets for every camera the program is capable of being configured for every camera by the end user.

By the way, under Video Pro, I believe we do have presets for switchable chips.

[fyonteck]

Is there a final answer to this? I have an EX3 which I set to HD Full Aperture under Film/Video frame size. Are my focal lengths and angle of view settings going to be accurate? Sony's website is no help as it gives focal lengths for the lens and "35mm equivalent" focal lengths. No angle of view is provided and the "35mm equivalents" are meaningless unless you know which standards of 35mm they are referring to.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

When they give 35mm equivalents they're usually talking STILL cameras, and we have a discussion about that here that might clarify things somewhat if you do the appropriate translations.