Questions about ML; New to video and ML in particular (Canon 5d3)

Started by scottwilkes, November 27, 2017, 02:36:58 AM

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scottwilkes

To start off with please excuse the narrative and the clearly noob questions.  Yes, I have searched, but cannot find my answers.  I also am NOT a video person.  I have only done stills to this point, so this will be an adventure.

My father plays the piano beautifully.  But, he is in his mid-70's and eventually, that music won't be there any more.  So, I would like to make a recording of him playing.  I would like to get in TOTAL, about 2 hours worth of usable time.  I have two Canon 5D3s and a Canon HD (forget the model, but it is new and records HD) camcorder.  I have two Tascam DR-10SG microphones for the 5D3s and a Tascam DR-40 standalone stereo recorder.  I plan to put one 5D3 near the keyboard end, zoomed in on his hands playing.  The second 5D3 will also be tripod mounted and will be positioned also at the keyboard end, but with a wider angle lens to capture him.  I plan to roam with the video camera.  It will be a real challenge, but I plan to put all of this together in Adobe Premiere Pro and try to get 5.1 audio out (if possible using only what I have set up).  The two Tascam DR-10SGs will be pointed directly at the strings and the standalone DR-40 will be tripod mounted at the far end of the piano.  My questions are:

1) I am using 32GB CF (CF cards are Lexar 1066x) and SD cards in the 5D3 and 64 GB SD cards in the camcorder.  While I want the best video I can get, I can't have him stop every 12 minutes because my card is full due to recording video in raw format.  What other formats (H.264?) are available and how will that affect the overall video quality?

2) If I use H.264, I understand I am limited to a 4GB max on the card.  I also understand that ML will auto-restart, but that I will lose several seconds while that occurs.  That is really not an option.  So, is there a way around the 30 minute limit or do I need to plan to take breaks every 30 minutes or so?

3) Does anybody have any experience in doing this type of recording?  This is very important to me that I get it right the first time, so any and all advice is appreciated.

I hope that the members of this forum take these questions in the manner they are intended.  It is not my intent to repeat existing questions or have people repeat answers.  But, having never done anything remotely like this, I could use all of the advice that could be given.

Thank you all for your time in advance.

Scott

scottwilkes

Can nobody provide any support, here?  I realize that I am new to this forum and most likely, the answers to my questions are buried somewhere within it, but I have not been successful in finding it.  My 5D3s are running 1.2.3 firmware with the appropriate ML.  If anyone has any advice on what my settings in the 5D3s need to be to record this, I would really appreciate your time.

scottwilkes

So, clearly I am not asking the right questions.  I need to setup two 5D3s on tripods and just let them record.  I would like to get the best recording possible, which is probably raw, but I found on here (and now cannot) that raw is limited on a 32GB CF card to about 12 minutes.  So, let me try to ask this another way:

1) How do I record his recital that may run over 30 minutes at any given time?  I am recording audio separately, so that is not an issue.

2) Would larger CF cards, just for this project be appropriate?  Since I can't find that recording time spreadsheet anymore, how big of a card do I need to be able to record 30+ minutes in raw format?

3) I would consider an external HDMI capture device, but not sure which one would give me "raw" throughput to the computer.  Does anyone have suggestions?

I realize that capturing 30+ minutes of video is unusual, but it is a piano recital that I plan to edit together pieces from his hands on the keyboard (one 5D3), to him 3/4 profile (2nd 5D3), to roaming with an HD Vixia HF G30 camcorder.

I have searched and searched, but simply cannot find what I am looking for.  So, any and all help/feedback is appreciated.

Scott

Walter Schulz

1) 29:59 limit not applied to RAW/MLV recordings.
2) Do the math;
http://rawcalculator.bitballoon.com/calculator_desktop
http://rbrune.github.io/mlraw/ (experimental builds (=compression) not supported)
3) Use local search machine or google. For Google use
<search string(s)> site:www.magiclantern.fm/forum
e.g.:
Click!

Or in short: Get some decent video cameras (rent or buy) and don't step into workaround galore.

dfort

Quote from: Walter Schulz on December 04, 2017, 06:51:48 PM
Or in short: Get some decent video cameras (rent or buy) and don't step into workaround galore.

Best advice yet. Magic Lantern is amazing but not the best tool to use in every situation.

joeray

Scott,
     I've shot 100's of 2 hour concerts with my 5DMK3 in Raw.  First, rent yourself 4 256GB CF 1066 cards.  Each one will give you 40 minutes of shooting.  Have your dad  pause for 30 seconds when he gets close to playing for 40 minutes.  Take your time and shut the camera off to remove CF card. Once you have a new card in the camera, and it's working, nod to your dad to start.  If you want to only get two CF 256GB cards, then as your recording on card 2, transfer the data in card one to a hard drive.  Check to make sure you have good video and then re-format the card to be used again.  Don't use an SD card as it will look odd compared to Raw video shot on a CF card.  I hope this helps... Also, get a separate recorder and record the audio separately from the video.  You can use the scratch audio on the video to line up your Soundboard audio to the video.  I suggest you shoot at 23.XX and record audio at 24 bit 192 or 96 sampling.  This should be a wonderful experience for you and your dad.  If I lived near you, I'd offer to come over and help but I live on the Kenai River in Alaska...  Merry Christmas..  Joe Ray

scottwilkes

Quote from: joeray on December 06, 2017, 01:03:50 PM
Scott,
     I've shot 100's of 2 hour concerts with my 5DMK3 in Raw.  First, rent yourself 4 256GB CF 1066 cards.  Each one will give you 40 minutes of shooting.  Have your dad  pause for 30 seconds when he gets close to playing for 40 minutes.  Take your time and shut the camera off to remove CF card. Once you have a new card in the camera, and it's working, nod to your dad to start.  If you want to only get two CF 256GB cards, then as your recording on card 2, transfer the data in card one to a hard drive.  Check to make sure you have good video and then re-format the card to be used again.  Don't use an SD card as it will look odd compared to Raw video shot on a CF card.  I hope this helps... Also, get a separate recorder and record the audio separately from the video.  You can use the scratch audio on the video to line up your Soundboard audio to the video.  I suggest you shoot at 23.XX and record audio at 24 bit 192 or 96 sampling.  This should be a wonderful experience for you and your dad.  If I lived near you, I'd offer to come over and help but I live on the Kenai River in Alaska...  Merry Christmas..  Joe Ray

Joe Ray -

Thank you for taking the time to respond!  I appreciate it!  If renting 256GB cards is prohibitively expensive (I have already spent several hundred dollars on this project), then would H.264 look acceptable on my existing 32GB cards?  I already have separate microphones to record the audio and plan to record it again in camera so that I can align it in Premiere.  One other thought that I had, again, not shooting in raw, would be to use the HDMI out and capture this directly to a laptop.  I have a Hauppauge Colossus 2 in my desktop computer, but was looking at something external with a USB interface that could do the same thing.  Will the 5D3 output HDMI in video format if no cards are present?  That is, would I still be limited to the 30 minutes of record time?  I realize that additional HD video cameras are probably the right answer, but again, renting them is expensive.  My father is willing to do this, but it will be over the course of several days.  There is no way that I can get him to sit still for a minimum of two hours for this effort.  So, I'm thinking about doing this over the holidays (or even later), but it may mean doing it across several weekends.  And thanks for the offer to come over and help!  Your response alone was helpful enough.  Merry Christmas!  Scott