Blare Film's Arizona location: Video Production Phoenix ...read more

Is it possible to capture High Dynamic Range Imaging  (HDRI or HDR) with a video camera?    HDR techniques have been used by photographers to reproduce an image with greater dynamic range of luminosity than can be achieved by standard digital photographic techniques.      Dynamic Range is the ratio of light to dark in a photograph.  Normally when taking a picture you have to set your exposure to one f-stop. Anything far above that stop will appear very bright sometimes blown out, and something to far below that stop will look too dark. Basically you lose detail in areas that are too bright or too dark.   In a common HDR photographic technique three pictures are take at three different exposures (3 F-Stops), and blended together with editing software that highlight the best part of the picture.  Your final picture will look like something closer to what your eyes see, rather then what the camera sees.   HDR in video started with tone mapped HDR time-lapse videos, essentially a sequence of still photographs in quick succession. Canon SLR camera now allow you to set you timer and multiple exposure setting, thus generating multiple stills that you can string together in a HDR time-lapse.  Great effects, however, is this true HDR video?  Not really! Enter Red’s Scarlet and Epic Cameras along with its HDRx mode, which lets you film two adjacent exposures in order to give you real-time HDR moving images.  This solves one of the hardest shots in terms of dynamic range, which is shooting in a dark interior with an opening to a bright exterior.  With this function you can set your primary exposure (A frame) for your interior shot.  The secondary exposure (X Frame) should be set for highlight protection and uses an adjustable shutter speed that is 2-6 stops faster thus allowing you to get detail in the exterior shot.  Both frames are then recorded as separate tracks within the same R3D file. What you get is two video streams that can be either used separately, or combined to create a higher dynamic range image than any film stock could deliver. Other cameras are beginning to emerge but there is no denying that Red is a pioneer in the HDR Video world. The following Hyper-Lapse TV commercial uses HDR clips from both the Canon Mark III and the RED Epic.  In most cases three distinct frames from the Canon were shot at different shutter speeds whereas some are faux HDR where we processed them at 3 different ISO’s. All the RED HDR footage is done by a proprietary process utilizing HDR-X. http://blarevideo.com/videoportfolio/tv-commercial-automotive/   http://sandiego-videoproduction.com http://www.blarefilms.com http://www.blarevideo.net ...read more

htt    Whether you are considering your options for you next TV Commercial, Music Video, or Corporate video you owe it to yourself to explore the 4k camera options.  Everyone would like the best quality. However, budgets can limit it.  Many might be surprised to find out the cost that goes with the 4k cameras is not that prohibitive. It is definitely true, especially now with newer, better, and less expensive cameras coming on the market. A warning, just because you have one of the 4k cameras, it does not mean the final product is going to be substantially better. Lenses, lighting, and your camera operator all determine the quality of the final piece. You must have the proper gear and crew to realize the quality increase. With that said, here are some benefits to going with a 4k camera.     First, what is 4k? The actual term is Ultra High Definition (Ultra HD) as oppose to just High Definition (HD). A typical HD Camera shoots in 1920 X 1080 pixels (or close to it). The Red Scarlet, a popular Ultra HD camera, shoots in 4096 x 2160 pixels. To sum it up, an Ultra HD Camera gives you 4 times the pixel output of an HD Camera, which means it is far more detailed and produces a sharper image. As another point of reference, the now almost completely irrelevant Standard Definition (SD) Cameras shoot at a resolution of 720 X 480 pixels.   Plainly put, Ultra HD is better than regular HD, much like HD was better than SD. This makes it easier to conclude that you will see major quality improvements. Here are other reasons to consider 4k:  Future proofing your content – The future is here with Ultra HD TVs already on the market. They are currently a little pricy, but you can expect prices to come down and more options to come on the market. Ultra HD players are currently being developed (no standard like Blu-ray), while YouTube and Netflix are already capable of streaming Ultra HD content. Expect broadcaster to follow suit. Even 4k smart phones are being developed like the Samsung Galaxy S5.  Reframing – Since most of the final video projects get down converted to HD, you'll have a greater ability to zoom in, crop, and manipulate your footage without degrading the quality. If you want the final video in 4k, you lose the value of this method, unless you are shooting with a camera that has a resolution equal to or greater than 5k.  Color Grading Made Easier – When cameras record highly compressed images in camera that often comes with the drawbacks of clipped highlights, crushed shadows and what is considered a "baked-in" look. Once the footage gets to post production, this can mean big problems. With 4k+ RAW files, you can make your own color choices from the source data, instead of trying to change colors that are baked into a .mov file. This can lead to much better results. Green Screen Keying - With four times the data, your keying software should have an easier time differentiating the green pixels you want to key from the precise edge of the talent. It also makes mismatches between background and subject more obvious and motion tracking easier. There's a reason why chroma key shots are often done with UHD or higher cameras even if the rest of a movie is captured on a different (lower resolution) format.  There are more benefits I can bring up about 4k, but there are also some negatives such as price, storage, and the need to upgrade equipment to support it. Capacity and processing speed has doubled approximately every two years since the publication of Moore’s Law in 1965, some argue that it doubles faster. This means that technologies will always chase each other and that a data stream that may seem very difficult to handle today may be a smooth, simple process tomorrow. Overall, if you want to give your video, movie, or commercial a longer shelf life or you just want to keep up with the quality output of your competitors, then waiting to upgrade is not an option. Ultra HD Productions LA Ultra HD Productions San Diego Ultra HD Productions Las Vegas ...read more