Film Film Making and Digital Creativity

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Also if there's any topics any wants me or anyone else to cover and write a bit about. I'm thinking of doing one on life of a freelancer.
 

olesmyhero

Emmy Moses
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
23,968
Location
4000+ miles west of old trafford
@olesmyhero @The Boy don't forget to share your work.
On a shoot this week. Will try to get some links later.
Also if there's any topics any wants me or anyone else to cover and write a bit about. I'm thinking of doing one on life of a freelancer.
The freelance life is great. I’ve only ever been freelance, never worked full time for a company and I’m pretty sure I’d make a terrible employee. Took me a few years to figure how to be productive when I don’t have any work lined up but eventually got there.
 

Dirty Schwein

Has a 'Best of Britney Spears' album
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
31,667
Location
Miracle World
Supports
Luton Town
On a shoot this week. Will try to get some links later.

The freelance life is great. I’ve only ever been freelance, never worked full time for a company and I’m pretty sure I’d make a terrible employee. Took me a few years to figure how to be productive when I don’t have any work lined up but eventually got there.
Isn't the I-33 (or whatever) tax starting April going to affect you?
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
Blackmagic's pocket 4k is a fantastic go between. What it can do for the cost is incredibly impressive.
:eek::eek::eek:

Just saw some samples on YouTube. I'll definitely be picking one up once I figure out how what add ons I need to get great sound to accompany the video.
 

Woodzy

Full Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
14,697
Location
Cardiff
Seeing a lot of calls for houdini recently. Rebellion have opened a huge film studio in Didcot to make stuff with their ip (dredd, 2000ad and various games) looking for houdini users. What company do you work for.
There aren’t a huge amount of Houdini artists out there really, relative other CGi artists, so I’m in a pretty unique position. Its popularity is growing though and good to see there being more demand for it.

I really should look at jumping the nest because I can definitely get a better position with my skill set. I think I’m just sold on the convenience of working locally and eventually, the idea working from home.

I wont say the name of the studio I work for here because I’m weird like that, but I’m happy to me message it to you. Very small studio but growing real fast, and just released our first animated short film.
 

Dirty Schwein

Has a 'Best of Britney Spears' album
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
31,667
Location
Miracle World
Supports
Luton Town
What’s that tax?
Sorry I meant IR-35.

But not all companies will abide by it but it's fecked for freelancers that really on companies that will abide by it.

It mainly affects freelancers that operate as a limited company to pay lower tax... Like I used to.

Starts in April.
 

olesmyhero

Emmy Moses
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
23,968
Location
4000+ miles west of old trafford
Sorry I meant IR-35.

But not all companies will abide by it but it's fecked for freelancers that really on companies that will abide by it.

It mainly affects freelancers that operate as a limited company to pay lower tax... Like I used to.

Starts in April.
Ah, I live in the US not UK. Taxes here heavily favor businesses, not so much individuals, which is why I tell everyone I know to become a company not just yourself.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
On a shoot this week. Will try to get some links later.

The freelance life is great. I’ve only ever been freelance, never worked full time for a company and I’m pretty sure I’d make a terrible employee. Took me a few years to figure how to be productive when I don’t have any work lined up but eventually got there.
I'll definitely want to hear about how your productive when you don't have any work lined up. It's something I still struggle with. I do have family so they take up some of that time but other wise I'm terrible for it.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
:eek::eek::eek:

Just saw some samples on YouTube. I'll definitely be picking one up once I figure out how what add ons I need to get great sound to accompany the video.
I can run you through a set up. It's a cinema camera that can have a lot of addons. A better battery system is needed. As it's a mft lens it's compatible with so many adaptors. As for sound depends what you want if your just after ambient then a rode video mic Pro will do. If you want more pro stuff though for interviews and the like then that's a whole world of possible options.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
There aren’t a huge amount of Houdini artists out there really, relative other CGi artists, so I’m in a pretty unique position. Its popularity is growing though and good to see there being more demand for it.

I really should look at jumping the nest because I can definitely get a better position with my skill set. I think I’m just sold on the convenience of working locally and eventually, the idea working from home.

I wont say the name of the studio I work for here because I’m weird like that, but I’m happy to me message it to you. Very small studio but growing real fast, and just released our first animated short film.
Get messaging. I'm in Herefordshire so not to far from the area.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
I can run you through a set up. It's a cinema camera that can have a lot of addons. A better battery system is needed. As it's a mft lens it's compatible with so many adaptors. As for sound depends what you want if your just after ambient then a rode video mic Pro will do. If you want more pro stuff though for interviews and the like then that's a whole world of possible options.
On lenses - how does this work then ? Would i need to buy seperate lenses like I did when I had a DSLR or something else ?
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
On lenses - how does this work then ? Would i need to buy seperate lenses like I did when I had a DSLR or something else ?
Yup. It's an micro four third system so it's a smaller sensor size than 35mm. You can get native glass for it, but as its a mft mount that means it can take adaptors for pretty much any lens system out there. Mft itself is also great. The Raid for instance was shot on a mft camera which was nowhere near as good as the bmpcc4k. There's also speedbooster adaptors that will change the focal size to make it super 35 or full frame so you can use ef, nikon, even high end pl mount cinema glass.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
Yup. It's an micro four third system so it's a smaller sensor size than 35mm. You can get native glass for it, but as its a mft mount that means it can take adaptors for pretty much any lens system out there. Mft itself is also great. The Raid for instance was shot on a mft camera which was nowhere near as good as the bmpcc4k. There's also speedbooster adaptors that will change the focal size to make it super 35 or full frame so you can use ef, nikon, even high end pl mount cinema glass.
Cool..... I'm trying to figure out the cost of the camera, a basic lens, and whatever else I will need to get started. One youtube guy said it would be about @$2500 or so.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Cool..... I'm trying to figure out the cost of the camera, a basic lens, and whatever else I will need to get started. One youtube guy said it would be about @$2500 or so.
Depends what you want it for don't forget there's a lot of great second hand lenses as well as vintage that you can pick up fairly cheap.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Great...thanks for the info.
OK so here's a basic starters build with the bmpcc4k I would get. Lenses are something you will have to learn and invest in more than the camera as time goes on. I'm not touching lights, or full audio gear just going to keep it to the core system. This is by no means the best options but is enough to get anyone started.
Blackmagic Pocket 4k: $1,294.00
Smart Rig cage, with Cable Clamp and ssd holder: $123.00
Samsung 500gb t5 ssd: $94.98
Battery Plate $43.00
NPf970 Batteries x 2 with charger:$49.99
cheap video mic: $53.99
cheap video tripod: $79.99
7artisans 50mm f1.8 mft lens: $79.99

Total: $1,818.94

As I said not the best but a solid start I personally would spend extra on the lenses and audio but if you're learning there's nothing better than getting it in your hands and practicing. All this of course means you have to have at least a fairly good gaming level pc to work with the footage. You do though get the incredible davinci resolve with it for free which is now a complete post production solution and gives you the same colour grading software thats used in 90% of hollywood level films.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
OK so here's a basic starters build with the bmpcc4k I would get. Lenses are something you will have to learn and invest in more than the camera as time goes on. I'm not touching lights, or full audio gear just going to keep it to the core system. This is by no means the best options but is enough to get anyone started.
Blackmagic Pocket 4k: $1,294.00
Smart Rig cage, with Cable Clamp and ssd holder: $123.00
Samsung 500gb t5 ssd: $94.98
Battery Plate $43.00
NPf970 Batteries x 2 with charger:$49.99
cheap video mic: $53.99
cheap video tripod: $79.99
7artisans 50mm f1.8 mft lens: $79.99

Total: $1,818.94

As I said not the best but a solid start I personally would spend extra on the lenses and audio but if you're learning there's nothing better than getting it in your hands and practicing. All this of course means you have to have at least a fairly good gaming level pc to work with the footage. You do though get the incredible davinci resolve with it for free which is now a complete post production solution and gives you the same colour grading software thats used in 90% of hollywood level films.
Thanks.

$80 for a lens seems incredibly cheap (I spent over 1k on a single lens for my Cannon 5D a few years back)

Im going to have to research lenses more as I’m a bit out of touch with the new ones.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Thanks.

$80 for a lens seems incredibly cheap (I spent over 1k on a single lens for my Cannon 5D a few years back)

Im going to have to research lenses more as I’m a bit out of touch with the new ones.
Oh it's incredibly cheap, not the best either, but it will do a job. You're much better getting superior lenses. Canons, Zeiss's Sigmas etc but with that setup I would expect any semi competent video maker to make something great and professional. I do a workshop with filmmakers where I limit them to a standard setups ( one frame rate, one ISO, one codec). a tripod and one lens ( If I'm feeling really nasty I'll only let them edit in camera)A lot of them hate it and struggle, but once they get over it it helps them a lot. Having all the toys in the world can help but relying on your ability is best.

Did you keep the lens from the 5D? I always tell people to invest in lenses and not cameras. I've used many different types of camera but my lens set I still have stuff from over 10 years ago.
 

George Owen

LEAVE THE SFW THREAD ALONE!!1!
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
15,805
Location
Gold Coast, Australia
I had the Zhiyun Smooth 4. It was ok but many software issues calibrating to the Filmic Pro app I was using.

DJ Osmo is supposed to be decent.
I've used the DJI osmo. Not that different from the Zhiyun and a pretty simple to use gimbal. Anyway here's a vid guide.
Thanks. Yep, that's probably the one I'm gonna get. Maybe my Zhiyun was defective because it wasn't as easy as plug and play. It was just moving around with life on his own.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Thanks. Yep, that's probably the one I'm gonna get. Maybe my Zhiyun was defective because it wasn't as easy as plug and play. It was just moving around with life on his own.
Gimbals shouldn't really be plug and play. I know with phones its a bit different but you're always best balancing them.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
Oh it's incredibly cheap, not the best either, but it will do a job. You're much better getting superior lenses. Canons, Zeiss's Sigmas etc but with that setup I would expect any semi competent video maker to make something great and professional. I do a workshop with filmmakers where I limit them to a standard setups ( one frame rate, one ISO, one codec). a tripod and one lens ( If I'm feeling really nasty I'll only let them edit in camera)A lot of them hate it and struggle, but once they get over it it helps them a lot. Having all the toys in the world can help but relying on your ability is best.

Did you keep the lens from the 5D? I always tell people to invest in lenses and not cameras. I've used many different types of camera but my lens set I still have stuff from over 10 years ago.
I actually sold my 5D to my old man, lenses and all.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
See if you can get the lenses back
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Full frame lenses work with the Blackmagic ?
You can get an ef speedbooster to take it to either apsc (super 35mm) or one that will take it to nearly full frame.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
129,965
Location
Hollywood CA
You can get an ef speedbooster to take it to either apsc (super 35mm) or one that will take it to nearly full frame.
Just noticed there is a 6k version of the BM as well. Would there be a noticeable change in quality to upgrade from 4 to 6 ?
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Just noticed there is a 6k version of the BM as well. Would there be a noticeable change in quality to upgrade from 4 to 6 ?
There is a difference but the nightmare is the file sizes and having a machine powerful enough to edit it. It's basically the difference between a 20mp camera and a 8.8mp, now that sounds a lot but there is a point where pixel counts starts getting pointless. For instance 4k is imax, most films in cinema were projected at 2k You will see a bit more sharpness but on you're 60 inch tv if you're more than 5ft away you will only ever see it in hd anyway. On mobiles you never see much more than 720p regardless of the pixel count. The most popular high end cinema camera is the Arri Alexa and it still to this day doesn't do true 4k ( the new LF version does ). I've not purchased a camera in years. I rent or hire a DP. If I had to buy one for myself it would be the pocket 4k.

Roger Deakins shot Skyfall on the old Alexa which only had a 2.7k image at the time, he just got them to upscale it in post for the 4k release.
 

Dirty Schwein

Has a 'Best of Britney Spears' album
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
31,667
Location
Miracle World
Supports
Luton Town
Holy shit! My short script has just made the semi-finals of the Killer Shorts contest. Not holding my breath but if by some miracle it gets top 3 (announced in middle March), the script will get sent around talent agencies like Paradigm (they represent James Wan - my hero!) and Grey Matter Productions (made Lights Out)!

Excited. Now preparing to have my hopes crushed in a month or so...
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
Holy shit! My short script has just made the semi-finals of the Killer Shorts contest. Not holding my breath but if by some miracle it gets top 3 (announced in middle March), the script will get sent around talent agencies like Paradigm (they represent James Wan - my hero!) and Grey Matter Productions (made Lights Out)!

Excited. Now preparing to have my hopes crushed in a month or so...
Dude, well done. Send me a copy of the script will ya. Always like a good read.
 

Gambit

Desperately wants to be a Muppet
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,996
@Gambit i still, or I should say that my wife still
has the canvas print that you kindly prepped for us years ago. Thanks again
Wow. How long ago was that? Actually just made me really proud. Most of the stuff I made tends to vanish after a year (promos, flyers etc) .
 

golden_blunder

Site admin. Manchester United fan
Staff
Joined
Jun 1, 2000
Messages
119,440
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Wow. How long ago was that? Actually just made me really proud. Most of the stuff I made tends to vanish after a year (promos, flyers etc) .
Jeeze easily 8 years ago. It’s hanging on one our walls. That pet passed away a good few years ago now so it’s nice to have
 

jderbyshire

Has anybody seen my fleshlight?
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
4,175
OK so here's a basic starters build with the bmpcc4k I would get. Lenses are something you will have to learn and invest in more than the camera as time goes on. I'm not touching lights, or full audio gear just going to keep it to the core system. This is by no means the best options but is enough to get anyone started.
Blackmagic Pocket 4k: $1,294.00
Smart Rig cage, with Cable Clamp and ssd holder: $123.00
Samsung 500gb t5 ssd: $94.98
Battery Plate $43.00
NPf970 Batteries x 2 with charger:$49.99
cheap video mic: $53.99
cheap video tripod: $79.99
7artisans 50mm f1.8 mft lens: $79.99

Total: $1,818.94

As I said not the best but a solid start I personally would spend extra on the lenses and audio but if you're learning there's nothing better than getting it in your hands and practicing. All this of course means you have to have at least a fairly good gaming level pc to work with the footage. You do though get the incredible davinci resolve with it for free which is now a complete post production solution and gives you the same colour grading software thats used in 90% of hollywood level films.
I had been looking for this thread for ages, finally found it again when I was searching 'bmpcc4k' on here.

Can I ask you a couple of questions about this camera?

I've been writing scripts since I was a kid, made a few short films in my teens - I'm now in my early 30s and I've finally decided feck it, I'm gonna make a feature film on a low budget. I wrote the script last year, an idea that I'd had for years. My best friend who's helping me produce, recommended the bmpcc4k, and having seen hundreds of videos on vimeo/ youtube and now you're raving about it - I'm definitely gonna shoot my film on this camera.

But I have a couple of questions about the lenses:

Does the camera need an adapter/speedbooster for every lens you put on it?

and also:

Is there a noticeable difference in image quality between prime lenses and zoom lenses? My untrained eye can't really tell the difference. But I've read prime lenses better in low-light? My instinct is to go with a zoom lens like the sigma 18-35mm so I have some options in terms of focal length, which I guess is going to be cheaper than getting a few prime lenses?

I would be very grateful for any advice you have.