Optimum Strategies for Shooting Stills and HD Video Simultaneously during Photoshoot?

[majordslr]

Greetings all,

I have been shooting photography and video for some time, and I am enrolled in a summer-school class where we are to come up with a brief business plan for our future photography/videography ventures.

Well, I am going to build a brand around shooting stills and video simultaneously, and I was wondeirng if anyone might have any recommendations as how best shoot hd video and stills at the same time throughout the shoot. Who are the leaders in this field?

Do any of you mount two cameras together (Such as a video camera and dslr), or set up dedicated video cameras or still cameras DSLRs on tripods? What brackets/systems/methods do you use for mounting stills and video cameras, and/or shooting stills and video together at the same time?

And of course, I will also be including a section on audio in my business plan, so any tips would rock!

Just looking for some ideas! & if I use your original idea, I'll be more than happy to provide you a reference!

Thanks in advance for the advice and insights! I will look forward to sharing the final plan with y'all.

MD :)

[Red Tie Photography]

Ive thought about this a little, and in order to do it well, the only way I could think about doing it is having a photographer and a videographer. They are both full time gigs, and both take a lot of editing time and skill. The only way I could possibly do it is having 2 shooters.

[proimages]

Funny, building just the rig you described..at least the testing phase is coming up the list. Maybe I can do some of your prototyping etc?

For timelapses I'm shooting two cameras pretty often. Now days all the big boys are shooting stereo HD for sports etc..at x games I was locking down video and shooting stills a lot, but wanted to do both and that's where the idea started.

the rig can be used, in many ways. Will it replace two shooters no way..more coverage from a given location absolutely! When your shooting a once in a lifetime jump etc..you roll everything you got!

Biggest Issue I can see is focusing two cameras and that's really only with tele setups..
and still cams. I should mention, the rig I'm working on is at the end of a jib arm or used remotely.

cheers
Darrin

[majordslr]

Funny, building just the rig you described..at least the testing phase is coming up the list. Maybe I can do some of your prototyping etc?

For timelapses I'm shooting two cameras pretty often. Now days all the big boys are shooting stereo HD for sports etc..at x games I was locking down video and shooting stills a lot, but wanted to do both and that's where the idea started.

the rig can be used, in many ways. Will it replace two shooters no way..more coverage from a given location absolutely! When your shooting a once in a lifetime jump etc..you roll everything you got!

Biggest Issue I can see is focusing two cameras and that's really only with tele setups..
and still cams. I should mention, the rig I'm working on is at the end of a jib arm or used remotely.

cheers
Darrin

Awesome! Thanks! Would love to see some pics of the rig if you have any! As well as video/stills captured with it!

Thanks! :)

[proimages]

I would love to post the rig shots, but not a great idea..at this point..sure some teasers will be up soon. This is part of a product line I'm developing. With any luck I'm bolting up a camera today. More $$ more $$ more $$ prototyping stuff is so fun..: )

here's a HD clip that was done with two cameras..
march 19th supermoon..
http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/1806397/supermoon-over-freeway.html

another test run(single cam)
http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/2285439/pedlow-skate-park-motion-time-lapse.html

hopefully in the next two weeks off for a road test of completed motion control system!!

cheers
Darrin

[majordslr]

Funny, building just the rig you described..at least the testing phase is coming up the list. Maybe I can do some of your prototyping etc?

For timelapses I'm shooting two cameras pretty often. Now days all the big boys are shooting stereo HD for sports etc..at x games I was locking down video and shooting stills a lot, but wanted to do both and that's where the idea started.

the rig can be used, in many ways. Will it replace two shooters no way..more coverage from a given location absolutely! When your shooting a once in a lifetime jump etc..you roll everything you got!

Biggest Issue I can see is focusing two cameras and that's really only with tele setups..
and still cams. I should mention, the rig I'm working on is at the end of a jib arm or used remotely.

cheers
Darrin

I would love to post the rig shots, but not a great idea..at this point..sure some teasers will be up soon. This is part of a product line I'm developing. With any luck I'm bolting up a camera today. More $$ more $$ more $$ prototyping stuff is so fun..: )

here's a HD clip that was done with two cameras..
march 19th supermoon..
http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/1806397/supermoon-over-freeway.html

another test run(single cam)
http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/2285439/pedlow-skate-park-motion-time-lapse.html

hopefully in the next two weeks off for a road test of completed motion control system!!

cheers
Darrin

cool! thanks man! found this--is it anything similar to the following?

This guy seems to be shooting stills & video at the same time in a cool way:

War Photog Blends Video, Stills for New Combat Views | Danger Room | Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/annaliza-savage/)

Ziv Koren is a world-renown combat photographer whose coverage of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict has vaulted him to international acclaim. Now, he’s helping invent a whole new visual aesthetic that digitally combines still photos with moving images, seamlessly.

Koren has spent years shooting for titles, including Time Magazine, the New York Times, and Paris Match. His photograph of the aftermath of a suicide bombing of an Israeli bus was selected by the World Press Photo Organisation in 2000 as one of the most important photos in the last 45 years. But when film director Solo Avital asked Koren to be the subject of the documentary, "More than 1000 Words," the photographer found his work started to expand beyond the still, frozen frame.

In order to film Koren on the West Bank, Gaza and other hot zones, the filmmakers devised a small "finger camera" to mount on Koren¹s lens. Avital says it was the only way to get close to Koren without attracting too much attention.
But the result is that you can see Koren’s subjects as he does — through his lens. And that gives much more information, about both the photographer and the photographed.

He is showing it is possible! And i a war zone during combat!

:)

Anybody else see anything like this out there? The more I think about it, the more I am excited about potentialities.

[proimages]

cool! thanks man! found this--is it anything similar to

Anybody else see anything like this out there? The more I think about it, the more I am excited about potentialities.

Likewise!! that gets the wheels spinning!!..the conture camera would be perfect for that setup. Play video on your iphone..

My rig is a modular multi use camera platform/solution..bolt up a dozen cameras for all I care.. controlling a bunch of cams is the next level.

sports and motion control two different worlds..imagine a solution for both. : )

cheers
Darrin

[majordslr]

found another method here @ DIY photography!

http://www.diyphotography.net/a-diy-9shooter-shooting-stills-video-simultaneously-audio-too


As the canon HFS 200 (which I use, and other newer canons) has the new amazing dynamic image stabilization, the 9shooter bracket system makes even more sense, as any shake has been replaced by smooth transitions! I have shot about ten shoots with the HFS 200, and have yet to edit and upload the video, but it rocks!

While the video produced with this system may be inferior to a video taken by a dedicated videographer, it is often better than having no video recording at all.

Here are some ideas of possible uses for the 45surf 9shooter system:

1) Shooting swimsuit models! (or any models for that matter) the model's time is valuable and hard drives and SD cards are cheap! let the video track your every shot throughout a 2 hour shoot, and you will have lots of cool video! more than enough for a two minute or ten minute video!

2) Shooting weddings -- Imagine shooting a two hour wedding, and then being able to offer your clients a ten minute wedding video set to Beethoven, tracking the entire wedding from all the best angles. Yes I know many people say that for weddings you want to shoot a lot of portrait shots, so go ahead and rotate the camera! Sure the video will be sideways, but you can discard a lot footage out of a two hour shoot and still have an awesome ten minute video which would add a lot of value, or hey--use some sideways video to make people laugh. Or crop portrait shots in post from the landscapes -- if you shoot with the 5d they will still be huge. And I am working on a portrait-orientation mount.

3) Shooting sports/ action/ track meets/surfers! I also use the 9 shooter with a monopod with the 9 shooter oriented in the S configuration to shoot surfers. using a canon 7d with a zoom and an HFS200 zoomed in full on the distant surfer, one can shoot continuous stills of the surfer, and the HFS200 naturally tracks them! in fact, in this case, the canon 7d acts as a natural spotting scope for the canon HFS100 / HFS 200 which don't have optical viewfinders. so it's actually easier to shoot video! just think of your canon 7d & zoom as a $2,000 spotting scope. for your $1,000 HFS 200. :) Will upload the footage soon!

4) Photojournalism: If you are covering an event, why not leave the video running the whole time you are shooting stills?

5) Documentaries: These days the DSLRs shoot video too, so one could go into an interview armed with the power to shoot both stills and two sources of video simultaneously, benefiting from the better audio controls of the canon HFS 10/HFS 200. And too, the HN40 audio system and other mics could be mounted on the nine shooter.

6) Travel: If you're traveling around Paris for a few hours, why not concentrate on getting both awesome video and photography? Now and then you can stop photographing and focus on the videoing only, and vice versa, as the occasion warrants.

7) Real Estate Photography: Imagine if you became the photographer in your community known for shooting both video and photography of all the homes! Real Estate Agents would love you! And with just a bit more time, you could increase revenues.

8) Paparazzi: Imagine how much better TMZ/Perez Hilton/E! would be if all their photographers/videographers had nine shooters! (I actually never go by these sites, but know some people who do, out here in LA)

9) Audio! A camera shutter makes a lot of noise, so why not mount a remote mic close to the action--perhaps on the bride or groom at a wedding or on the speaker at a lecture--with the radio receiver mounted on your 9shooter and plugged into your camera or audio recorder.

10) Everything! So often in the visual arts the moment happens once and is gone forever. Now you have a better way of immortalizing it in both stills and videos. Mount lights, monitors, mics, flashes, receivers, recorders, and more! The 9shooter keeps your flash bracket free, and/or too, it could be mounted atop your camera.





http://45surf.smugmug.com/45surf-business-arts-mba/45surf-business-arts-mba/9shooter-riches-money-business/canon-eos-7d-45usrf-bikini/1044406454_Q3fGx-L.jpg (http://45surf.smugmug.com/45surf-business-arts-mba/45surf-business-arts-mba/9shooter-riches-money-business/14155351_iw6A8#1044406454_Q3fGx-A-LB)

cool!

they call it "9shooting" @ http://9shooter.com :)

[Nightstalker]

I think that the PJ work he is doing is miles away from what would be expected in a Wedding video.

Just think of all the times when you hold your camera down to direct the B&G or a group or just move location to get a better shot - or change lenses or change camera settings - maintaining composition would be impossible.

I'm afraid I'm another in the 2 shooters minimum camp.

[majordslr]

I think that the PJ work he is doing is miles away from what would be expected in a Wedding video.

Just think of all the times when you hold your camera down to direct the B&G or a group or just move location to get a better shot - or change lenses or change camera settings - maintaining composition would be impossible.

I'm afraid I'm another in the 2 shooters minimum camp.

Well I think that the general philosophy of "9shooting" is that after a three hour shoot you will have enough cool footage for a few one to five-minute videos. And such is the exact length of videos that are highly valuable to marketers on social media.

3 hours of video after a 3 hour shoot will be a lot of value to play with/edit down, and upload to facebook/youtube/flickr/smugmug in lengths of 1 minute-5 minute videos. :)
As youtube is a bigger search engine than yahoo, so it's important to get clips up there!

6 hours of v

[proimages]

I'm more focused on shooting stable video and firing stills when crucial moments occur.
Looking for hi res stills. RAW etc..while shooting RED or HD with remote follow focusing, pan and tilt.

I still think you need 2nd shooters and other view points depends what your covering!
I went to one event with four boats going at once..each lane could have 3-4 cams plus boat cams to do it right ( live mix etc..). Becomes a where's the budget project real fast..?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12F8AdzwYI8

more motion tests here: http://www.youtube.com/user/musicgroups#p/a/u/0/w5M5NTJOzKQ

cheers
Darrin

[majordslr]

Just came across this which is commentary on a NYT photojournalist Doug Mills shooting stills and video at the same time:

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/shooting-twice-at-once/ (Shooting Twice, at Once)

When shooting stills and video simultaneously, Doug Mills, a staff photographer in the Washington bureau of The New York Times, has tried a creative trick or two. He once strapped the video camera around his neck, using his stomach to hold it in place. The results, he said, were “freewheeling and dangling and very difficult to work with.”

On Wednesday, he put his newest idea to work: a double-decker arrangement that almost looks as if his camera is wearing another camera as a hat.

& here's a rebuttal of sorts:

http://blog.9shooter.com/2011/07/top-10-reasons-why-9shooter-bracket-is.html

Top 10 reasons why the 9shooter bracket beats Doug Mills' method for shooting photographic stills and video simultaneously.
When it comes to shooting stills and video simultaneously, the 9shooting method fostered by the 9shooter bracket is superior to the method recently used by Doug Mills of the New York Times, pictured below. Long story short,

1. The 9shooter comes with the powerful dynamic image stabilization in the HD video, afforded by the hd camcorders
2. The 9shooter bracket leaves plenty of room for one to easily mount a shotgun mic or a wireless receiver, thusly transferring the sound capture away from the "click-clicking" of the shutter. Please see a Sennheiser wireless receiver and a shotgun mic mounted in the 9shooter photos below.
3. The 9shooter is more ergonomically comfortable/balanced.
4. The 9shooter is better balanced relative to the gripping point on the stills camera, as the center of mass is below the gripping point, resulting in less torque on the wrist, and more short and long-term comfortability.
5. The 9shooter is lighter, as the typical HD video camera or camcorder is far lighter than a DSLR.
6. The 9shooter allows for easier monitoring of the HD video screen on the camcorder, as all one must do is glance down with their left eye.
7. The 9shooter allows for easier relative adjustments of angles between the two cameras to be made by reaching below the stills camera and center of mass, instead of above it.
8. The 9shooter saves the flash shoe from possible damage.
9. The 9shooter leaves the flash shoe free, allowing a flash to sit in the flash shoe, thusly providing invaluable flash/fill light.
10. The 9shooter allows for far easier zooming on the video camera, as all one must do is reach down and hit the zoom lever which is located at the rear top of the camcorder. (instead of having to reach up above and out front to the lens of the DSLR, as one must in doug's configuration)
11. The 9shooter allows for far more flexibility and countless configurations--a "tinker toys" of bracket customizability, reaching below and above cameras as needed (as seen below).

Here is Doug Mills' setup for shooting stills & video @ the same time.


DESCRIPTION
Doug Mills/The New York Times
The top camera shoots video, the bottom shoots stills.
Shooting Twice, at Once http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/shooting-twice-at-once/
Here is the all-around better 9shooter setup, which will also come with a free 45SURF t-shirt:

(note the sennheiser wireless receiver which is easily mounted on the 9shooter bracket!)
[/INDENT]

Thoughts? Opinions?