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Well let's say that being in an art school you have complete freedom to be on the experimental side.

Now that being said, the idea here is to treat video as more of an abstract painting. "Filming memories" was the idea, as you rarely have sharp clear memories of things, trying to get a feel of the place more than an accurate image of it.
The experiment turned out to be rather successful as my classmates remembered many places and events upon watching the video. I can understand it seems a bit out of place though.

Does it makes more sense now? I guess it is a bit far fetched.

Hey guys,

Upon doing some research with the two new players in the full frame world, I came upon the GH3. Now fair enough this is a completely different league. But then again D600 and 6D are two completely different cameras if you ask me. Seeing that big hit of the GH2 (although I completely missed it), people (fanboys?) ranting about sharper image and the 2nd handness being a better option (if there's no shutter the camera technically has a higher lifespan right?). I'm left clueless.

Anyone handled a smaller sensor before (like the GH2)? Many say it's sharper with no aliasing or moire issues but there's something bugging me about a 2x crop and 16MP. Maybe the megapixel marketing war had an influence on my judgement.

Realistically if the stills are equal, the video as good as it's said to be (although I find the colours a bit harsh) and the sensor size not a problem. The absence of shutter could be a great pro (silent, no shutter life, smaller body..)

Information is scarce and it is a  wide topic. So I figured I'd bring the question up here, see what your thoughts are
talking video AND stills as both should be considered in a purchase.

So technically it shouldn't be hard to re-use that data. Creating extra info file for photos could be a clutter to some but it could simply be turned on/off.

It would be especially useful for video in my opinion. When you need to re shoot something but had a different shot/settings in between. Could save quite a hassle every now a then.
I also like the idea of taking a few pics, and simply to choosing the one you like most to get the settings, it would gladly see that in my workflow.


Anyways, the idea is out there now. 

How about adding ML metadata on pics/videos?

By that I mean adding all the settings of camera+ML to a specific shot. And upon looking at the pics/video a "get settings" button would be assigned.

That way you could easily take a few  test shots and go back to settings you like most when comparing them. Could even be used as quick pre-sets for video (jumping back and forth from two fps can be tedious).

The data could be stored in a METADATA folder in the DCIM folder, and maybe implementing a auto-delete of the files when there is no matching pic/video.

Could it be done? What do you guys think?

A nice feat would be to swipe U/D/L/R for iso, sound, aperture, WB...

A way to implement settings that aren't easily available through the knobs in liveview. (I don't know how easy it is fiddle with the settings on this camera but this could be a solution)

Maybe designing a touch menu for ML, Android/IOS style

Is the autofocus really slow then?

Hey guys

Here's a little video I made while on a trip in Digne (south of France, near Italy's border) with art school. It's a little on the "artsy" side but I figured it might interest some.

All shot on the 550D with 50mm f1.8 and my 35-80mm macro modded.

Magic lantern was a great help while shooting, playing with framerate and all. Only thing I didn't use much was Focus Peak (yes the blur is on purpose^^).

Sadly enough I did not have my recorder with me so I decided to work without sound. I'm pretty happy with the result even though it may not appeal to all.

Any feedback would be great

PS: Now everyone with a canon camera in my class is using ML lantern and they all think you guys did a great job of it!

seems like the autofocus is a bit on the slow side...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4nzXeqkpOE&feature=plcp

Still is one interesting camera though.

if you want I can try to make the video instructions.

That would be great!
Software as much as shooting those. I don't see any tripod when I look down??

That seems like a pretty nice setup indeed! The good point of DIY is also that it is completely personalized to your needs like you said.

Personally I'm going to go for the frugal camera stabilizer(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZtlSVgG1h8&feature=plcp), my tripod is too cheap to hold something like this. So it'll be handheld for me. It's nice to see DIYs on the forum though ^^

I think shorter intervals would benefit yeah. It feels a tad skippy, could timelapse really shine when it's smooth.

Hey folks!

I decided to try to start a new animation project, this time without using a computer to control the camera when shooting the frames.

Before anything let me say that I Just finished building the set and this little video's purpose is simply to test my set and tweak it. But for something done in 5 minutes, 30 frames, and windows movie maker I'm pretty happy with result.

Here's the features I used:
LCDsensor Remote, without it animation wouldn't be possible. It really is one sweet feature and has sped up the workflow by incredible amount of time, especially with this set, since I'm working in a very dark room, it's nice not to have a computer glaring in your eyes or having to look for buttons in the dark. And of course not covering my computer or camera in play dough.
Focus peak, Zebras, Histogram. I used those rather quickly this time but they're definitely a great help.
Custom overlays will also come in very handy to map where the different lights will be behind that curtain of black dough.

I'll be posting updates on my progress here for those interested.

A big thanks to the magic lantern team for making stop animation portable!

What a wonderful video, I really like it. I love the effect in the movement and the rhythm of the machines. A tad overexposed sometimes but it adds an interesting appeal to it. What's the name of the music used?

I sure am glad to see the 550D can do that! Was colour correcting hard? I've never done any myself, one of the many things I have to learn...

I bought my 550D and will be happy with it for a while. (and any future purchase will probably depend on it's ML compatibility)

  But I have a friend who recently purchased a 1100D, I didn't tell him about ML yet as there is no stable port. I think enabling ML for lower end cameras would greatly help newcomers, art students, and others. Especially since those cameras lack most features (newer camera have audio levelling and other nice features already).

   Of course why focusing on old hardware that is to be abandoned by canon and the user eventually can be questioned. I just think that lower end cameras aren't only used by people without skill but also by people without money. The 1100D port is on it's way already, so maybe the EOS M, 5DmkIII  or 650D next.
   They all use the same processor, so I see those being part of a new generation of ML. But maybe I'm foreseeing too much without actual knowledge ^^

Bump?

+1

This would be a very handy feature indeed!

You forgot one thing.

It doesn't take photos

What will be really interesting too is the reaction of Canon and the others to such a camera. Will the next DSLR have raw footage?

Pretty amazing indeed.

The only drawback seems to be it's fps that is fairly limited at the moment. Nothing ML couldn't fix though

As reasonable as 100€ may be for such a lens, 35€ was already pushing it for me (purchased my 550D and 50mm recently, leaving a big hole where my bank account used to be).

Once at the shop though I decided to go for it! The lens was in good condition and 15€ less that ebay prices. It's a mrk3 for those who wonder. Got rid of that pesky front element and glue gunned a filter in it's place to give it more of a "moded" touch.



So far I'm loving it! Not that I had the occasion to play with the real stuff. It's more than enough to begin with, and will be a great plus to have for next year in art college. Here's two snapshots I took





In my opinion it's worth every single penny. Thank you everyone for the input, that 70-210mm will be probably be next on my list. I'll just make myself one of those and I'll be all set for macro
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/dubstylzh20/5941916698/sizes/l/

Thanks for the input :]

As tempting as those other lenses are, they're far beyond my little student budget ^^ Indeed 80mm is not much of a zoom and loosing the aperture is pretty weak. Having a macro option would be nice though.

I'll head to the shop and try it and see, I'll keep in mind that it's main point would be macro then. I must say i'm really fond of those macro shots from the link

Every now and then I go to second hand shop, like anyone I guess. But today I found a canon 35-80mm (no idea it's a I, II, or III) for 40€ which is less than the average ebay price in France.

After some research the reviews are really contradictory, and I'm left once again clueless. Which is why I'm turning to you guys

So far I have the 18-55 kit lens, a nifty-fifty (goes without saying) and a fisheye adapter for fun.

I hope to find this lens kind as balance between my two lens, with a zoom that actually is one (can't say that 55 zooms in much). I'm also interested the macro possibilities when removing the front element. Now I am very fond of blur and wide aperture in general, which doesn't seem to be this lens' strong point. But one has to keep an open mind and try new things. And covering a higher range should come in handy.
I shoot mainly street photography and stop motion. But want to be able to have an all purpose lens (I felt rather useless at a concert when with a 55mm...)

So if anyone has played with it before, please let me know your thoughts on it. That macro hack has some pretty neat effects I could see fit in some Artsy video stuff.

Well that sure is good to hear.

I'm still in the process of making the set and all at the moment but I'll make to prepare a full report after testing.
I'll also see if the ML features extend to the computer (focus peak, iso 25...)

To be continued

Glad to hear the idea is making its way.

Of course using silent picture would be best on a higher end camera but once turned into video I don't know if it would make a big difference for projects done on the go (besides HD 422 pics are 5000x3000 or something right?). And the option of not killing my camera in a few months by doing animation is nice (art student budget). Fair enough some quality would be lost in the process but not for professionals with high end cameras and it would still offer an extra feature to people with lower end cameras, and the option of using the shutter for super nice results remains.

All the options needed to ease stop animation are already here, like sensor remote, ghost image if tripod get knocked, silent picture to save shutter count. And I just realised you can already take silent pictures using the sensor remote.

It all comes down to:
-An Onion skin option that could fit in the ghost image sub-menu (automated use of the last frame, possibility to tweak the opacity would be awesome)
-422 support in for overlay, to save shutter life without having to sacrifice the onion skin feature

Fair enough I don't know anything about the 422 format so I don't know how hard this would be, but either ways, being able to see/delete 422 pictures from the camera would be a great plus not only to animators.

Fps override could work but there  is no telling of how long it takes to set up a frame before taking a shot and using override would result in too much time lost hunting useless frames down. We're talking 500-2000 frames in one afternoon here, which also why silent picture is nearly vital.

Well like i said the idea is not having to touch the camera at all. It can get pretty messy when you animate clay, the ideal stop motion setup without a computer would be:

-Using the sensor to take silent pictures.
-Automated use of last picture as ghost image for onion skin
-422 support in preview and ghost image

That way one could animate anywhere without the need of a computer while still enjoying great features and wearing out the camera. The two first have more to do with tweaks. As for the last one, it's not vital but stop motion can be pretty heavy on the shutter. Full 422 support would be great.

Magic lantern 2.4 animator's edition

Hello everyone!

Wondering about compatibility between ML and Dragon stopmotion got me to think ghost image could be improved and used as onion skin, allowing me (and others... probably... ^^) to animate on the go while enjoying this great vital feature.

It would (just) have to be automated in order to use the last picture taken instead of a selected one. And would make ML a powerful tool for animators.

Let me know what you guys think.

Now this may be a little off topic but no point in opening a new topic for a small question. Can ghost image use those 422 images? Because if I could setup a workflow with onion skin and no shutter abuse, without the need of carrying my laptop to school or even to press a trigger/button/key (animating weird stuff can make your hands dirty!)
It would be a dream come true 

Good evening to all!

I have been doing stop motion for quite a while now but took a break from it when my old camera got stolen. Being now a proud owner of the mighty 550D the urge of animating lifeless objects came back to me.
Now Dragon Stop motion is an awesome piece of software that allows some control over the camera (live view, shutter, and it even takes "silent pictures" if I remember right...), and provides good animation tools to work the pictures along with the awesome onion skin.

Now that I am using magic lantern I dare not to plug my camera to the software, without knowing the outcome. I heard things here and there about remotes that messed up things and all. Fair enough with silent picture and using the sensor as a trigger animating is possible while being easy on the shutter count but it would be nice to still have access to Dragon's features. Ghost image could recover a moved tripod, but would have to be improved/automated to be used as onion skin.

So if anyone has tried before or could throw in a word, I'd appreciate it
Would a simple ML bypass be safe? (never had problems using Dragon on a 550D without ML)
How does the ML scripts affects what the camera sends to the computer?
Since Dragon takes control of some features of the camera, would it take over ML, work along it, and make my camera explode from such a duel?

Wouldn't want my precious to get hurt in the process ^^