I like it really sharp, but sometimes I over do it.
Someone asked me how I get my videos to look so sharp so I created this video that compares the different setting you can use both in camera and in post processing.
For me I like to set it to 3 out of 7 in my T2i 550D because that way I don’t have to sharpen at post which slows my rendering times down. The post processing was done with the Sony Vegas Sharpen effect.
Some people are asking where I got the t-shirt, here is the link to the geeky photography t-shirt I am wearing.
Music is my Kevin MacLeod.
Thanks for the comparisons on the sharpness settings. You’re doing a great job going through the T2i with a fine tooth comb in your tutorials! I have yet to test some of these on my 7D. Oh, by the way, I just subscribed to your newsletter last Friday.
Dave,
The way I understand it, the idea behind minimizing sharpness in-camera is to reduce the effect of aliasing on your footage. Starting out soft allows more freedom in post to sharpen when necessary. And post-sharpening will not highlight any aliasing near as much as an in-camera setting. Bringing sharpness down is one part of setting up a “flat” image that is more malleable in post.
Of course, if you’re focusing more on tutorials than narrative work, it makes less sense to worry about that. And you’re right, it does increase render time pretty substantially.
-Nick
@Nick I will have to test out the idea that lower sharpness in camera helps reduce the moire aliasing.
Thanks for this Test.
Also I prefer to put my camera on level 5 and don’t post process sharpness under Sony Vegas HD.
@Laurent I checked out your Flickr page, very nice stuff!
Yes , shoot soft and add sharpness if you need , so the contrast has much better dynamic range.
Your tutorials are very nice Dave , go on .
Dave, another thing to consider regarding sharpness is the ‘sweetspot’ of the lens. The EF 50mm f1.8 is a its sharpest at f5.6, while the kit lens (18-55mm IS) is sharpest at f8. Of course, aperture is an ‘in camera’ setting.
In this blog they talk about taking the sharpness all the way down to 0 in the camera.
http://prolost.com/blog/2009/8/3/flatten-your-5d.html
@Evan I read that one before, in fact I have another video coming out in a few hours that demos this.
I’d recommend people watch the macroblocking on Dave’s tshirt throughout. Applying the sharpness in post significantly increases the blockiness with each point increase.
Wow, the correction in post seems to only affect your forehead. I am watching this on a laptop, so I can’t see well, but the spots seem to get bigger and bigger.
looks funny.
Honestly, I just shoot at zero in camera shaprness added. Then I add some in post.
I find it really weird that every video you look like you are a different skin tone. Do you get a tan and then lose it between every video? xD
but seriously, I think that it’d look better if from one point on, you look at the color and lighting and stuff of that video, and then try and make every other one after that point look almost exactly the same. It would have a certain …finesse… a je ne sais quoi to it, and it would look way more professional.