A Beginner's Issues with Video Live View

Started by Aleks94, August 17, 2018, 12:05:45 PM

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Aleks94

Hello everyone,

First of all, many thanks to the creators of Magic Lantern for such an amazing software.

I'm a fine artist and I just want to warn everyone that I'm not a photographer or filmmaker by any stretch, having said that I have been photographing my own work for documentation for many years now and know how to use manual Canon settings to get the kind of photo I want. Recently, however, I decided I really want to move into video works and RAW footage just makes sense to me in terms of better quality of video on a budget. I'm enjoying fiddling with the software and am learning as much as I can before an upcoming video project, but a couple of things, I can't seem to resolve by myself.

1) My camera is a Canon 5D Mark III (with downgraded firmware), I have set the recording resolution in the ML menu to 1280x544 and aspect ratio to 2.35:1. On the canon settings, should I select the closest size to this resolution, as in 1280 x 50 ALL I? Is this the generally done thing - do you always want to match these?

2) My second question is re fps conflicts... I want to record one project at 50fps to be able to slow footage down, and another project, at 24. Do I make sure that the fps is suitable in the Canon menu, and then again in the ML menu? I cannot seem to find fps in the ML menu. Also, if I am recording at 50 fps, do I have to make sure that my shutter speed is greater than 1/50? Or does the video option override this need?

3) I am attaching an image for this query - my live view in video mode is teeny. This will make recording difficult in terms of composing the shot etc, can I make it bigger without zooming into it?

4) And this is a final thought - when I take pictures, I need to press the shutter button for a second longer or so than is intuitive and then always, two photos will be taken. I don't mind this too much, but is this normal? I don't think it was like this before I installed ML.

I would be hugely appreciative of any help from you wiser folk and thank you very much.






PaulHarwood856

Hello Aleks94,

    When recording slow motion, you need to stay at 1280 x 720 (not sure about ALL-I) in order to record all 50 frames.

    When recording 30 fps or below, you should stay at 1920 x 1080 (not sure about ALL-I). ALL-I takes up more space, and is in general better quality. I don't know if ALL-I matters with raw video though. Can someone answer this?

    Typically you should shoot at 1920 x 1080 (16:9), since the resolution isn't reduced. You can upscale the 720p 50fps footage to a 1080p timeline, and the quality will be better than 720p H.264 compressed.

You could shoot 50 fps at 720p, and use fps override for 24 fps, however when using fps override it is possible sound recording will stop during the recording. This isn't much of a problem if you're using an external recorder like a Zoom H5, since you can still link up the audio if some was recorded in the beginning of the clip, but when using a microphone plugged into the camera and you're relying on internal sound recording, this could be an issue.

   When recording 50 fps, your shutter should be 1/100. For 24 fps, your shutter should be 1/48 (or whichever shutter speed is closest to the 180 degree rule). Basically whatever your frame rate is, double it to find out the shutter speed.

    The reason your liveview is small is because you are shooting at 720p. This is correct framing. However, if you know what part of the image (top and bottom) won't be recorded, you can turn off Global Draw during raw recording. This is good because the CPU isn't as taxed while recording. So, you can have Global Draw on to see your framing, and then while recording you can see the entire image. You can also look into using an external monitor (it does have it's limitations from what I've read), or you can use a 2.5x Viewfinder and put it up to the screen, or get a magnetic frame to attach to the screen. This will help you see better what's being recording and what's in focus.

    I'm not sure about the shutter. Maybe you have a shutter button setting on that shouldn't be? Try looking in the Magic Lantern Menu as well as the Canon Menu. Try using a memory card that doesn't have Magic Lantern on it to see if you can replicate the issue.

    I hope this helps you out. Please post here if you have any more questions, concerns, or issues and I'll see if I can be of further assistance. Raw video is definitely worth it, so don't give up.

- Paul Harwood

   

Aleks94

Hi Paul.

Thank you so much for your exhaustive and detailed answer, I really appreciate it.

I was also unsure, does shooting in raw already constitute shooting in c log, or should I manually set contrast and saturation in the Canon menu picture style to replicate c log?

Otherwise, I hope you wouldn't mind if I private messaged you if I have some other issues? I promise not to spam you! You explain things very thoroughly.

Best,
Aleks

PaulHarwood856

Hey Aleks94,

    You're welcome! Raw is raw. No need to mess with Canon settings. I recommend using Cinelog-C with Adobe Camera Raw. I've had great results with this. I received your message, and sent you one a few minutes ago. Feel free to ask more questions. I'm here to help.

- Paul