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Art Cards?

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(@prayersonfire)
Posts: 1
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Does anyone know how to successfully film art cards using super 8mm format?

 
Posted : 17/02/2004 1:22 pm
(@focuspuller)
Posts: 80
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Assuming you don't want anything fancy... just a full screen shot of the card? This is like painting... prep work is key. You're gonna wanna come up with some way of changing out cards so that nothing else changes: not the lighting, the camera position, focus, tilt or pan. The less you have to change, the less likely you'll be to make a mistake, and the more similar they'll all look (if that's what you want).

Typically you shoot down on them, using gravity to hold them in place and keep them flat (although some people like to shoot through glass to keep them perfectly flat (don't use any old glass, either... a lot of glass has a green tint and will tint your art) but look, avoid glass if you can. It's likely to give you reflections and other issues you don't want to deal with.

So, set up your art on a wall. Make some sort of jig so you don't have to level it to camera every time. You just want to shoot a bit, change the art, and shoot a bit more. Spend a lot of time on the first piece lining it up. Make sure that the height of the camera is in the center of the height of the art (if you have a two foot high piece of art, and the bottom of the art is 3 feet off the floor, the camera height should be 4 feet). This will prevent keystoning -- an apparent convergence of the sides of the art relative to the sides of the frame. Now make sure the art is level to the floor with a spirit level, and make sure the camera is also. Measure from the sides of the art to the center of the camera lens. The distance from both sides of the art should be equal (within 1/16" or a millimeter or two). This will ensure that all parts of the art are centered in the frame. This will take a while. Be patient. Get it right. It is very easy for people to notice crooked art, and it will bug them.

After you're all set up, the rest is easy. Get two lights, positioned at a 45 degree angle to the art, on either side of the camera. Turn one on and aim it at the far side of the art (the camera left light should be aimed at the camera-right side of the art). Turn that one off and do the same with the other light. Turn them both on and meter (incident) the light at the art. Adjust the lights for any (any!) hot spots. If you have a lot of difference of the readings between the sides of your art and the center, then your lights are probably too close to your art. Move your lights back double the distance they are now, and try again. When your art is evenly lit, give it a good eyeball through the lens and make sure you don't have any reflections or hot spots.

Take a final incident reading of the art with the ball pointed at the lens. Set this stop on your camera and shoot shoot shoot.

"On a good gate, that's a wrap."

"On a good gate, that's a wrap."

 
Posted : 17/02/2004 10:24 pm
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