After reading about the Neat Video video noise reduction plugin on another thread I wondered how many other plugins people find useful not found in MEP.
It might be nice to have a thread which lists such plugins on one thread as newbies like me probably haven't even considered expanding what is possible with additional help within MEP.
Thank you.
Hi
My go to's are:
An additional useful 'plugin' is a shuttle/jog dial 😂 - in my case the ShuttleXpress
HTH
JohnEB
HTH
Jeff
Ditto what John EB and Jeff stated, except that I don't have Vitascene or ReSpeedr.
I bought the entire Pixelan Pro Ultra Bundle, seemed to be more cost-effective. I don't use them all that much as I keep starting projects and not finishing them. Like I mentioned in the other thread, I use SpiceMaster Pro mostly, but also transitions from 3D Sixpack - the page turners mostly. I have collages of may images that use the page turners to go from one image to the next. See my tutorials on SpiceMaster to get an idea. Also, I use FilmTouch 2.0 Pro often for colour grading. There are hundreds of presets with images, grouped by type. They can all be tweaked with the built-in tools. This is much faster than mucking around with the brightness/contrast/gamma and colour tools in VPX. The only problem is that the interface is not linked with the instruments in VPX, so I can't see the results on the instruments until exiting the plugin. However, for MEP, this is a big step up.
I bought the Contour ShuttlePro V2. I like having all of the buttons and the scrubber wheels, especially the single-frame movement.
Of course, we have access to many NewBlue and HitFilm plugins, some of which are quite useful. I have ColorFast2, but have not mastered it; I prefer Pixelan FilmTouch, mainly because of the images with the presets (and there are many more presets).
Another add-on, if you like the 3D titles in MEP and want to modify more than the text, is Xara 3D Maker 7, which actually comes with MEPP but does not open the interface as it does in VPX. You can purchase it on the Magix site. I got a full version with a HumbleBundle for a dollar, so I can use it with MEP or as a standalone.
And, of course, there is Xara Photo & Graphics Designer or Xara Designer Pro X which is integrated with MEP and VPX to create static or animated graphical overlays and masks. See my tutorials. One could have obtained either of these with a HumbleBundle last year for next to nothing. Xara can also become the external photo editor rather than Photo Designer 7. I use PaintShop Pro for this. And, I have PaintShop Pro as the bitmap editor with Xara.
For audio, I use Magix Audio & Music Lab Premium as the external audio editor. I also use it as a standalone for recording from vinyl and cassettes and the sound from my Super 8 Sound films. There is a spectral cleaner that is excellent for removing some unwanted abrupt sounds, and it has all or most of the eFX effects. This has just been replaced by a newly named Sound Forge Audio Cleaning Lab. See this. I cannot recommend Video Sound Cleaning Lab as I find it's a downgrade from Music Editor 3 which comes with MEPP/VPX.
Outside of MEP/VPX, there is BluffTitler. Amazing program, but with a steep learning curve if you want to create or make major modifications to the templates. There are many templates that come with the program, by effect type. You can also buy pre-made template packs and then modify them. In the 8mm film that I am doing, I used BT templates with a few modifications for introducing my nephew as a baby, then some Birthdays and a couple of Christmases. They make nice intro/transitions to new topics.
Finally, I use Vasco da Gama Pro, as many of my videos are about travel, many to foreign places.
John CB
Thank you all for your input. I was hoping more people had more to add but maybe it just shows how good MEP is at meeting most of our demands.
One area I was hoping to get additional information on was colour grading. I confess this eludes me so far and I find it hard to even begin to know where to start and for what effect.
For now, I'm finding even the basics of video recording hard to achieve, such as getting stable video when moving around (bouncing affect through walking and 'jellow' wobble from frame tilt angles) and particularly when panning. Sometimes panning is smooth and other times I get jittering frames. I'm sure there is a relationship between frame speed and exposure times vs. speed of pan, as there is with reducing flickering with artificial lighting. Things that are really impossible to correct in post editing if you don't get it right in camera.
As I'm mainly interested in shooting event video, this is particularly hard to do on the fly, as when the light changes, to keep exposure times the same. Often the use of some ND filter is required to keep other recording parameters the same (ISO, shutter speed) for consistency of output quality.
So I understand the idea of GIGO and try to reduce that as much as possible, but is there anything that can be done in post to negate any of the above problems? Are there any plugins that could help?
Hi
. . . . getting stable video when moving around . . . .
Depending on the 'moving around' method, the most important aspect is to provide a stable platform for the camera, in addition to having a camera with good active image stabilisation, ie
The latter are becoming very popular with prices dropping and the newer models being very capable - I have seen a lot of wedding videographers using them.
Which you use depends on the camera and your budget, however cheap is not good, eg I have a 'budget' steady cam, and it has a few issues, a heavy camera can unbalance it and the 'ball mount' is not as good as a gimbal and does not 'roll' smoothly - it is difficult to get the friction setting correct.
I now use it as a portable tripod and on the rare occasion as a shoulder mount - have to be careful with that one as it looks like I am holding a gun to my shoulder from some angles.
For travelling I use a Manfrotto travel tripod with a fluid head (most important) and a monopod, depending my mode of travel at least one of them is with me.
HTH
John EB
I certainly don't have a pro budget for video John, so I make do with what I have.
Basically, that's one recently acquired Osmo Pocket, 4k miniature video recorder with built in gimbals, and a D500 camera capable of 4k. I have an x-axis stabilizer for the Osmo Pocket, which with a careful walking technique (Still acquiring) gives me my stable-ish mobile footage. I've had that less than eight weeks so still getting used to its capabilities. I also have a glide-cam for the D500, which as you say is hard to control, especially when outside in any environment that has more than a hint of a breeze to it. The D500s sound is remarkably good when I connect my Rhode video pro mic to it but it lacks any form of image stabilization. Mainly it stays on a tripod with a fluid video head and is good for varied closeup and wide angled shots without having to change lenses. The inbuilt mic of the Osmo Pocket is just about good enough for a background ambiance track and has a set focal length but it is remarkably good in low light situations.
Although I mainly stick to photography and most of the work is for charitable trusts, I'm finding myself being asked if I shoot video more often. Hence the need to get better at video shooting and the purchase of MEP.
Both cameras have 20MP sensors and both have similar frame rates and file formats for shooting. I have the benefit of variable apertures using the DSLR and lenses, and the Osmo Pocket adds slow-motion and time-lapse / motion-lapse along with surprisingly better low light capabilities than the DSLR.
Therefore mixing and matching camera output within MEP is reasonably easy and fairly easy to come to grips with, although the addtional strain it has put on my aging computer has been a sad thing to behold.
Putting all that aside, MEP has made all of this more possible than I would have dreamed of this time last year. The basic suite of plugins that came with the Premium edition and the ability to save processing power while editing has been a godsend. The additional rendering times I can put up with, but really if anyone has any ideas about how to get into colour grading and what I should be looking for would be appreciated.
Would the shot match plugin be of any use with that?
Hi Ray,
Colour Grading - is a black art, mastered by BlackMagix (Resolve). Here is a link to a tutorial that I am wading through:
You have MEPP, I believe. In VPX, we have instruments that help, however, figuring out what you are looking at and what to do is a whole other thing.
I mentioned Pixelan FilmTouch 2 which I use, but there is also New Blue ColorFast 2 available as a plugin for MEPP/VPX. Here are some screen shots of the tools available and the last one is with one of the instruments, RGB Parade, turned on.
The manual is at:
https://newbluefx.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/211614986-How-to-use-ColorFast-2
John EB mentioned in one post about Colour Correction by the Numbers. Here is an article about that
http://geraldbakker.nl/psnumbers/color-correction-pt1.html
I haven't figured that out yet.
Here is another interesting link:
read:http://members.chello.at/nagiller/vdub/tutorial/tutorial.html
We have gradation curves in VPX, I haven't figured out how to use them properly.
I just went through an 8mm project, and with all of the tools and scopes available, I'm not happy with the results - too bright, some is oversaturated. Of course, the source material was difficult to work with, but I need a better understanding of what I'm doing.
I have calibrated my 2 HP monitors, and the hue of the Windows logo looks quite different to me between the 2 monitors. But, one has to calibrate the monitors. Then, what looked reasonable on my computer, did not look the same on my TV.
We should start a thread on colour correction and grading.
John CB
Wow, that Osmo looks a good contender for replacing camera and a separate active stabiliser, would love to see some footage from it and compare it to my Sony sportscam.
. . . . Would the shot match plugin be of any use with that? . . . .
Shot match is as good as the reference image/video, when you get a good reference image it works well, see the images here.
HTH
John EB
Thank you so much for all those links, they are very much appreciated. I will be looking over those again and again I suspect and take weeks if not months to absorb them.
I've calibrated both my monitors for stills work and not sure if I'll have to set up another profile for video yet. Early days I suspect John. At the same time I suspect a lot of any work I do will be undone by other people looking at any footage worked on and uploaded to the net by which browser they use and their own colour profiles of their own monitors.
Any work done on film that has been shot possibly over a period of years is a tough thing to try to do. I don't envy your task.
I have also found it almost impossible to get two monitors to look the same even though I sit between the two of mine, both angled in towards me. One way I check is to use a photo editing program which reads out the RGB values of any portion of the screen I place my mouse pointer over. If I use something like a colour chart across the screen it's relatively easy to check the values are the same. At least at the point the software is getting information to the screen. Then, using something like a spider monkey calibration tool to read off the luminosity and contrast of the screen. I don't think anyone can every get both monitors 100% the same so I stick to using just one monitor for judging what I'm seeing. I think even tilting my head changes what I see. As for getting it to look the same on a TV....Good luck with that. I get close to getting the same results but it was a lot of messing with a TV that happens to have a lot of adjustment to the colour pallet. Even then, changing from one TV channel to another shows up how much difference there is in individual broacasters standards, so trying to get the same results at home is at best next to impossible (for me at least).
I have a basement workroom with only artificial light to work by so at least my working environment never changes.
On a personal level, I doubt my own colour vision is good enough to get consistent results but at least I can try to make things look like they go together or were shot around the same time.
I would love to see a thread on colour grading or a tutorial. I do understand the 'black art' part of it. It took me long enough to get used to adjusting raw stills.
The Osmo Pocket has a few flaws. It's not a wonder camera but it is a great camera for the price. I think I will need to get a few ND filters for it as it has a fixed aperture so I can keep the exposure times of each frame for a given ISO the same for differing lighting conditions. As an additional tool for what I do it's quite usable. It also does reasonable 3x3 panoramas as well as shoot DNG stills. Its also quick to set up.
As I say, I'm fairly new to video anyway so I think what I've produced so far with the Osmo Pocket is not as good as I expect to get it by the end of the year. It you want to look at my pathic attempts so far, here are two links entirely shot with the Osmo Pocket including the stills.
and
You can see the sort of problems I'm coming to terms with and trying to get better at.
Unfortunately, although both were mainly shot in 4k, Flickr at present reduces all content to 1080p and I don't know how they re-code it but it really drops some of the quality out of the videos. Really those videos are just test runs. For me getting used to frame rates and exposure times as well as practicing silly walks ready for the festival season and finding out what does and what does not work to get smoother looking footage.
However, my son who is currently using a Go-Pro Hero Black has just bought himself an Osmo Pocket as well, as it handles lower light much better than his Hero Black and stabilizes backgrounds much better on the move. He's more of a blogger than me and has been impressed with the output from the Pocket.
Here is the type of thing I do try to do but this was shot on the DSLR only.
My hope is that with the addition of the Osmo Pocket I'll be able to get more than one angle of a scene to switch to from time to time and have more clips with camera movement to them where needed. It also tracks quite well so can be set up in a static position and left (assuming I can secure it while away from it). There are (when available) additional add on parts such as a wireless transmitter to use a phone as a remote control.
That coupled with the editing power of MEP, I'm hoping will advance my skill set. At that point I may try to have my own Youtube channel so as to show the videos at a higher resolution.
Hi Ray
The issue with the stabilisation that you can see ie the bobbing up / down is not fixable, I have had similar issues with my video cameras over the years.
If you look at the video below - the distant objects ie mountains are stabilised, however the closer objects, ie the drops of water on the cable car window, which are not the 'focus' of the stabilisation, bob up/down.
The slow roll you can see is the cable car swinging in the wind.
You can see the same bobbing effect in your videos.
HTH
John EB
Hi John.
If you mean not fixable in post-production, I was sadly beginning to come to the same conclusion, hence trying out various walking methods and adding an x-axis stabilizer, which also needs some adjustment and somewhat fiddly holding to get the best results from. That in itself is one more thing to get used to. Basically, it's a swinging arm that's ball-raced and adjustably tensioned by a coil spring, similar to a car suspension system.
It's also a bit flimsy. I would have preferred it was made of a stiffer material. There are more expensive units out there but they are for much heavier cameras and need a body harness. A bit over the top for my needs :-). I've had to add some spare glide-cam weights just to get this one balanced.
The problem with it has been that the whole setup is top heavy causing a horizontal wobble when in use, and if used underslung (The handles can be rotated or changed around) needs lifting to too high a point to be comfortable to hold onto for longer than a few minutes. It's also adding weight to what was a very easy and stealthy camera to carry around. With the added bulk it is neither stealthy or light. On the plus side, it allows my phone to act as a screen when mounted to the rear of the unit, which gives additional information on its screen, is easier to see the framing than using the cameras screen, and has easily read exposure warnings as well as easier control over the gimbal on both axis.
Compared to my first efforts, the results of those videos are much better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
I know from photography that the more you get right when you take the image, the less you have to do in post-production. The problem was, I didn't realise how much more careful you had to be. Also, it's a lot of work for just one person.
Hi Ray,
Just to add to the difficulties, don't forget the sound. Capturing good sound is better than trying to fix it in post.
John EB posted some pictures of his dead cats:
I need to get or make some for my GoPro and Sony wireless clip-on mic, and for my DSLR because when I'm outside I don't usually use the external mic that has a dead cat (which I will now put in my camera bag).
John CB
Hi John.
I have two microphones I use outside, a Rhode Pro video mic and a stereo shotgun mic with adaptable pickup patterns from wide to hyper cardioid, both of which have isolation mounts complete with their furry friends. The last video soundtrack I posted above was recorded using the Rhode mic with just my DSLR, including the air raid siren and spitfire while at the event. The two days were very windy. Look closely at a few of the clips and you will see dust being blown around. The music was coming from the UK Glenn Miller band on the stage that can be seen in some of the clips and taken during the performers line dance that's predominant at the end. It's a little off 'phase wise' due to being off axis at the side of the sound stage. I'm awaiting the release of the Dji mic adapter for the Osmo Pocket before using much of it's output sound-wise as none of the normal mic adapters work. The one thing about the Osmo Pocket is it is very fussy as to what it will connect to. On the plus side, it's amps seem very quiet and relatively distortion free. It's just the very small built-in mics that let it down. The DSLR has it's own sound problems and picks up lens motor noise more than wind problems. The Osmo Pocket when quiet enough, picks up my breathing but surprisingly little if any handling noise.
For monitoring mixes, I have a bi-amped, A class 450 watt RMS Tannoy Reveal 5.1 surround system and Cubase for more complex sound work, which so far hasn't been employed for video but stuck to MEPs own mixer.
One thing I hate about other blog videos is hearing room acoustics when people do demonstrations but I suppose for some that can't be helped. I suppose it comes from when I was a sound engineer doing TV and radio commercials in the 70s.
Hi Ray
. . . . it's a swinging arm that's ball-raced and adjustably tensioned by a coil spring, similar to a car suspension system. . . . .
The steady does look a bit 'flexible', is there any drag setting or fluid damping on it?
. . . . hate about other blog videos is hearing room acoustics when people do demonstrations . . . .
Me to, with one particular vlogger I superscribe to it sounds like it is constantly raining on a tin roof!
John EB
Hi John.
The spring tension is adjustable. There is surprisingly no damper, but if there was one it would have to be very slight for such relatively light loads. When I was considering making my own I had planned on putting in a radio controlled car damper with a light spring and oil at an angle between the two beam supports. Even then, I now think it would be too much. Combined with a good 'Ninja' or 'Crab' walk it does work reasonably well. Trying to keep a relative height from the ground has turned out to be much harder than I first thought :-). It is extremely good at getting you down stairs smoothly, and a lot easier to handle than a glide-cam. Also, a lot quicker to set up. This one was meant for the original Osmo which is much larger and heavier. If it were made of carbon fiber it would be much stiffer and lighter. I would have paid extra for that. But for what it is, it is much better than not having one.
Hi Ray
. . . . Combined with a good 'Ninja' or 'Crab' walk it does work reasonably well . . .
I bet you get some funny looks from people not in the know 😂
A good tip I forgot to mention - take a cup of tea/coffee and hold it approximately in front of your navel, then try walking. Move the position of the cup around until you find the sweet spot where there is very little movement in the liquid. Once you have it, it is very easy to walk quickly, even up stairs, and not spill a drop.
This is where you should hold the camera if it is practical, there is little movement and the arm act as a kind of loaded/damped suspension arm.
It also has the advantage that if people are in the shot and close to you their proportions are approximately correct. If the camera is too high you get longer bodies/short legs, if too low the reverse and maybe arrested! You often see the camera is too high in some pictures from 'red carpet events'.
Pity about the damping, the problem using a RC car damper is that they do not have the range you need, effective damping occurs in a narrow range of adjustment - tried it long ago when looking designing my own.
Mass is what you need for effective damping - that is why the body harness types are so good, heavy camera, battery pack and monitor all attached and several weights at the bottom of the arm as well to balance/eliminate camera movement
HTH
John EB
Hi Ray
. . . . Combined with a good 'Ninja' or 'Crab' walk it does work reasonably well . . .
I bet you get some funny looks from people not in the know 😂
Haven't yet had the chance to find out yet John 😇
A good tip I forgot to mention - take a cup of tea/coffee and hold it approximately in front of your navel, then try walking. Move the position of the cup around until you find the sweet spot where there is very little movement in the liquid. Once you have it, it is very easy to walk quickly, even up stairs, and not spill a drop.
Interesting observation. I've always had the ability to walk and climb stairs and ladders with full cups of tea. My sweet spot is actually nearer chest hieght.but with the camera is also closer to being lower than waist level as well. This could be why I find it so tiring to hold for more than a few minutes.
This is where you should hold the camera if it is practical, there is little movement and the arm act as a kind of loaded/damped suspension arm.
It also has the advantage that if people are in the shot and close to you their proportions are approximately correct. If the camera is too high you get longer bodies/short legs, if too low the reverse and maybe arrested! You often see the camera is too high in some pictures from 'red carpet events'.
Unless the gimbal is tilted it always points straight ahead. but I take your point. This applies to photography as well. It's also one disadvantage of not having a zoom facility on the lens.which is fixed at an eighty degree viewing angle.Not the widest out there.
Pity about the damping, the problem using a RC car damper is that they do not have the range you need, effective damping occurs in a narrow range of adjustment - tried it long ago when looking designing my own.
Depends on the design. If you took a formula 1 approach to shock use you can get longer movement from a shorter shock absorber using a stiffer spring. I've just thought of that on reflection. Not sure how easy it would be to do but should be possible. There have aslo been model two spring setups in the past. I will try to investigate further when I have nothing better to do.
Mass is what you need for effective damping - that is why the body harness types are so good, heavy camera, battery pack and monitor all attached and several weights at the bottom of the arm as well to balance/eliminate camera movement.
I totally agree but isn't that is why body harnesses are used. So as to releave the wearer of the weight on the arms and distribute it to the legs?
Plus it would look totally silly on such a small camera 😆
I still haven't given up totally yet of doing my own design but it's a hard thing to get my head around and working out how much force to be applied may mean a lot of buying of what may be useless components. Ball races are cheap, Carbon fibre is cheap if not difficult to work with. Springs are impossible to order to get the correct strength needed unless I was better at math. I'm reasonable at scratch model building, so should not in theory be that dificult to do the basics and I have a working model to take some references from.
How hard could it be? 😟
HTH
John EB
Ps. How do you break up these conversations so as they are easier to follow? Sorry for underlaying everything.
Hi
I would have thought that dampers would be the opposite of what was needed. The idea is have the joints in the arm as free as possible to avoid putting any force into the camera platform so that it continues in a straight line as the arm reacts to the movement of your body.
I have serviced professional Steadicam arms over the years and they do not have damping and do have needle roller trunion and thrust bearings. As you have stated though the camera mass is your friend (not a problem with cine cameras and 1000ft of 35mm stock!) so adding some weight to the camera platform may help.
Peter
Hi Peter. I will bow to your superior experience and thank you for your input.
My thoughts came purely from when filming from my car. It's silky smooth then, even when on quite lumpy roads with potholes. Again, I lot of mass involved I guess 😃.
I have recently seen a counter balance method involving a pully system from Sweden. Looked quite effective if not large.
Hi Ray
As you can see I have reformatted your post - in this case I highlighted the sections that required unquoting and clicked the Unquote button 4th from left above.
Added:
. . . . counter balance method involving a pully system from Sweden . . . .
I saw one of these in use at a show at the NEC last year - the guy was getting a lot of funny looks, and having seen it in action I was not impressed.
HTH
John EB
Hi Ray
As you can see I have reformatted your post - in this case I highlighted the sections that required unquoting and clicked the Unquote button 4th from left above.
I found it. Thanks, John.
Added:
. . . . counter balance method involving a pully system from Sweden . . . .
I saw one of these in use at a show at the NEC last year - the guy was getting a lot of funny looks, and having seen it in action I was not impressed.
I've now seen three of these harnesses at work during the events I attended last year. I've also seen the footage they help produce, which is quite smooth. At the price of around £270 for the harness but not the cradle, it's between Pro and Enthusiast prices. For anyone on a tight budget and a heavy camera it's possibly a reasonable alternative, looks aside.
My glide-cam is OK for indoor work with the DSLR but not so useful outside.
John EB