Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Your human subject should stand at a determined distance from the camera,
which is mounted on the tripod directly in front of the human with the
lens at the eye level to the human. It would be helpful to have a measuring
implement like a ruler to help keep the distance between the lens and the
human subject consistent frame to frame.
You are going to travel with your camera and human subject from one
location to a second location. You might have the human start from the
front door of the house out to the mailbox, all the way around the block, or
from one side of the city to another. The distance is up to you. The greater
the distance, the more interesting the film can be. If you are traveling
long distances, then you could actually use a car to get from one frame
position to the next. The key element and critical aspect to watch is the
consistent relationship of the camera to the human subject. This is where
having a computer with frame-to-frame comparison capability can be very
helpful. Holding a laptop and controlling the camera and human placement
can be a lot for one person to handle, so you might consider having an
assistant who can hold your laptop like a portable table. If you cannot find
some help then you might not be able to support all those elements, and as
a result, you might have to judge the placement of your human subject by
other means. For example, you can turn on the internal grid in the camera's
viewfinder. Another simple means of reference can be to use a string or
measuring device to constantly gauge the distance between the subject
and the camera. I used a 24 mm lens on my camera and the subject stood
exactly an arm's length from the camera, so he put out his arm every frame
to keep his distance constant and I centered him up with the viewfinder grid.
Your registration and human placement might not be as tight as it would
be if you were comparing each new frame with the previous frame for
placement with Dragon. If you have a laptop and Dragon, then you might
consider using the “onionskin” option for the most effective human subject
placement and registration. I find that shooting one frame per move
elicits the best results at 30 fps but you can try 15 fps. If you shoot your
composition a little wider, then you can push in on your frames in postproduction
using After Effects, and you can use the tracking or stabilization feature to
line up the eyes frame to frame for a more rock solid registration.
ExErcisE Fig 1.B
A drawing of the subject defining the camera/subject constant relationship
(the length of his arm).
Search WWH ::
Custom Search