Saturday, August 15, 2009

Stills from videos and slow motion playback

The previous video that I uploaded in Vimeo was not converted well and only parts of the video shows clearly. This is not really the fault of Vimeo since I uploaded it at the full resolution of 1920x1080, 60p while the recommended resolution is only 1280x720. So for this week I uploaded another super macro video shot on flowers, this time at the more modest 30p, 1920x1080 which Vimeo could handle before.


Here is the link to the latest video on Vimeo.


The Sanyo marketing department has been highlighting the Xacti series as a dual camera implying that the still photos are as good as the videos. The HD2000 will produce still photos of up to 12M resolution but they somehow do not look that striking to my untrained eyes.

Anyway, lately I discovered that I can get very good stills by capturing the frames from a video, even though that they are just 2M resolution, taken from 1920x1080 mode videos. (These are good "capture the moment" for me, just for casual viewing but maybe not good enough for professional photographers! They would be using dedicated cameras or DSLR's anyway.) Thus there is no need to be distracted to snap photos while recording your video, you can get your stills from the video itself. From my playing around so far, I found that the best stills can be taken from the video shot at the highest resolution of 1920x1080, 60p and 30p. Those shot at 60i will yield shots that are ghosted for moving subjects and those with panning actions. Of course those taken in bright sunlight will fare better as well.

Here are some examples.

The first two below are taken from videos shot at 60p.




The next two below are from video taken at 30i. The first picture shows ghosting of moving flag and the second shows ghosting while panning.



These two below are from videos taken at 30p. Note the pigeons freezed in mid-flight.



I found that the best way to choose the still shots to be captured is to view your videos in slow motion playback. Didn't know that there is such a mode since this is not highlighted in the manual. Here's how.
1. Select and play your video.
2. Move joystick up to pause the video.
3. Move joystick right for about 1 second to start slow motion playback.
4. At the point you want to capture the still, move joystick up to pause the video.
5. Press the white camera button to capture the still shot. You'll be ask if you want it in 16:9 or in 4:3 ratio.
6. Press the SET button to capture the shot.
7. While paused, you can also move the joystick right to forward select frame by frame.
The slow motion playback moves at about 1/4 speed and it is best for videos shot at 60p where the playback is very smooth. Those shot at 30i and 30p is not as smooth and there is ghosting or shadows for those shot at 30i for moving subjects or panning, maybe because of the interlacing. These ghosting is very apparent when viewing on the LCD screen but when viewed on a HDTV, this is not so apparent. Don't know why so maybe the experts out there can give an explanation.
Happy capturing your stills.
Ronald Kwok

8 comments:

  1. Ron,
    How did you resolve the issues with choppy playback on PC? Did you upgrade your PC? Convert file type? I'm having this trouble with the HD files, especially the large ones.
    thanks.
    Susan R

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi susan, I did not upgrade my PC so I just avoided the problem by shooting in either Full HD (60i) or Full SQ (30p) mode and not the highest Full HR (60p) mode. My PC and laptop only had problem playing back the 60p videos but yours may differ; you can try out all the different resolutions to see which ones are having problem in the playback on the PC. The playback software will also play a part.

    Anyway, I believe the better quality in the highest 60p mode is only apparent for fast moving subjects or unless you are a perfectionist! But if you intend to do a lot of video editing on the PC, then it would be better to upgrade your PC. Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hai, i just bought a sanyo hd2000..
    my problem is, i can't seem to play the videos that i have recorded in my laptop correctly. when i clicked at the video, it took ages to play, and when it is played, it is played in slow-motion but the sound is normal. what is wrong with it? i always used gom player to play videos and this problem never occurred to me before. i tried with all the resolutions, and it is just the same. i also tried real player and winamp, still no luck.

    can u plz help me?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi aina, tahniah on your new HD2000.
    Do you have problem playing your videos on the camcorder itself? If not, I presume your videos are using the highest resolution of 60p or Full HR and most player will have problems playing them. And also your laptop must be quite powerful as even normal desktop cannot handle these videos. Try use the Nero ShowTime (part of Nero Essentials) that came with your HD2000 to play your videos. In my laptop, it can handle all the videos except those at 60p. The easiest way is to get one of those HD Media Player to watch your videos on HDTV to show off to your friends! See my latest post. Hope it helps.

    ReplyDelete
  5. cheers for the help! i can play my videos now after i installed the nero8. however, there were few videos that are a bit jerky when played and they arent even Full HR. maybe i need to upgrade my RAM coz my l.top is full with editing softwares.. hehe.. thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi aina, glad to be of help. Yes, you should add more RAM since every bit helps to run your video better. Maybe you can shoot at Full SQ as it is not so taxing on your laptop for playback. Selamat bervideo, ya!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Ronald
    I'm curious that my integrated graphic card with 256 MB of shared memory and 2*500mb ram at the motherboard will be enough to play the full hd 60p videos. I ordered at this week the FH1, hope to receive it next week. Could you help me with your answer?
    László, Hungary

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Laszlo,
    I think you should put in as much RAM as possible in your motherboard, this will help. Also the processor power and video software i.e. the media player you have will play a part. Do share how your PC cope with playing the 60p file. Good luck, cheers.

    ReplyDelete