Continuing with the free ways to combat flicker in timelapse, slow motion video and regular video we now turn to Virtual Dub and the Deflicker Filter for the app created by Donald Graft.
Virtual Dub is a GNU Public License distributed application for Windows in 32bit and 64bit versions. The Deflicker plugin only works in 32bit mode so stay with the Virtual Dub distribution in 32 bit only.
Flicker is the “F” word of the slow motion video world. It can ruin shots or make them distracting enough to fail in conveying the message to the viewer. It is hard to detect while recording and even with tools to minimize it on set it can still show up later as faint throbbing light.
There are however a few solutions that can take care of the flicker of a vast majority of affected shots after the recording has been made. There is no do it all Swiss army knife for fixing flicker on a shot; no real 100% foolproof plugin or method to get rid of it exists. However a few solutions come very close and that means great news for people on an inexpensive light budget.
What had been just a rumor just a few months ago before the release of the Hero 4 Black now its a reality. The camera will regain the feature of 240fps at 720p which it was rumored and lost at launch. All rumors speculated that this frame rate would be included but was scrapped at the last minute. Be it stability or heat concerns, the extra slow motion spec is now going to be brought to life by a firmware update.
Full Firmware Specs:
Warning: The parent company of FPS cameras “The Slow Motion Camera Company Ltd.” went out of business and entered liquidation proceedings. No further development of cameras is expected. More information here on Google Search!
We had a few questions for Graham Rowan the creator of the fps1000 that our readers had requested answers to. We got a status update on development and some interesting tidbits!
The Monochrome version of the edgertronic high speed camera is now $200 USD cheaper due to a price cut based on higher than expected sales for the model. From an initial $5,695.00 to a now $5,495.00 – This puts it in parity with the color version of the hardware. The Monochrome version is more sensitive to light and it is a better fit for resolution and light constrained needs. Many scientific applications work well with monochrome cameras as the Bayer pattern is scrapped for a full resolution black and white raw image that preserves the full linear res.
Edgertronic Quote “The monochrome camera has been selling very well in the industrial, scientific and research markets. Due to it’s strong sales, we’ve been able to negotiate a better price on the monochrome sensor and pass the savings on to you. So, now both color and monochrome are available for $5495 (shipping and options are extra of course).”
Last year’s CES star camcorder marvels were the W850 and the V750 from Panasonic. Both cameras were capable of 1080p at 120fps progressive with a 240p interpolation mode that looked pretty good with low motion and high shutter speed.
This year we get the replacements in the line the HC-VX870 retails for $899US and the HC-VX970 will be $999US. Both shoot 4k video yes… let me say that again… both shoot 4k! They are carbon copies of themselves with one differentiating feature. The VX970 has an integrated selfie picture in picture camera attached to the flip screen. This is the same feature the W850 introduced last year. The VX870 has no selfie camera but allows a phone to connect and feed the secondary image to record in tandem. It is kind of gimmicky but for filming parents wanting to film their reaction when their toddlers take their first steps it can be a pretty priceless feature.