Digital Capture

In the days of yore, there was video for TV and 35mm film for feature films. Period. Those days are gone forever. Video is still used for TV, but now it’s HD. And for feature films, there is still film, but now there is a long list of video and digital capture options that are being used in movie production today, and more coming every year.

There is even a new term for this the data-centric workflow which encapsulates the all-digital workflow from digital capture to disk to post-production to projection.
In this chapter we will sort out the various digital media and how they relate to visual effects composting for feature films

Photographing a feature film with a digital camera is now being referred to as “capture” instead of photographing or filming since there is no film involved. There are three classes of digital cameras that might be used to capture a movie and its visual effects elements: HD Video Cameras: some high-end HD video cameras such as the Sony Cine Alta and Sony 950 can capture 4:4:4 video at 1920 × 1080 and have been used on some feature films. Some have log data options.

Digital Cinema Cameras: these are very high-resolution cameras designed specifically for feature film work and the data-\centric workflow using log data. Examples are the Pavilion Genesis and the Thomson Viper.

The RED: this, of course, is the premier digital cinema camera and stands to become the dominant camera for film making. It is extremely high resolution with an outstanding dynamic range and uses standard 35mm film lenses. And the quality of the captured image has a major impact on its suitability for visual effects. Too often inexperienced production crews use equipment that is not suitable or is even maladjusted for visual effects