Slow Motion

Hello all,

I'm pretty new here. Can anyone make a recommendation regarding slow motion video

I'm using a Sony HVR-V1U which can record @240 fps but it comes at the cost of reduced resolution definitely not suitable for upload here.

Is the slow motion effect done in software?

It can be done in After Effects or just about any editor. The problem is software slow motion creates extra frames on the fly which reduces the quality of the video.
I've played with Slow motion in After Effects using the Twixtor plugin. It looks pretty cool. But at the cost of quality and artifacts.

So bottom line to answer your question, for your own videos its fine.
For stock, only use a camera that can shoot slow motion.
The Canon 7D and a few others can shoot 720HD at 60fps.

Also, most sites specifically require any video uploaded as slow motion to be acquired in camera and not software.

Jake

Slow motion can be done in several software programs. Just to name a few Vegas Pro 11, Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5 and Edius 6 all of these do a really good job without loss of quality.

Thank you.

I do have Sony Vegas Pro. Any idea if supported in version 9? I'm assuming this just involves a stretching of clip in time line or is there a separate plug-in required?

Yes, in Sony Vegas Pro 9 you press the control key ( I think) or the alt key. Anyway, one of the keys will let you stretch the video to add frames and make it slow motion.
Of course Sony does the worst job in the finished video.
After Effects does the best job using frame blending if you have it.

Jason, are you saying that having software add frames that don't exist does not make the finished video loose quality? Not so sure about that.

There is a definite loss of quality using these listed softwares. Also there is an extent even in the high end softwares where it will become stop motion looking if stretched to much. Twixtor is the best at it I have ever seen, and it can only go so far also. If Twixtor is stretched to far you will see warping and weirdness. Real high end high speed cameras can cost several thousand dollars. Your best bet for low end would be something like a 7d at 60p combined with a slight further stretch with Twixtor and AE 5. Just my two cents, others may disagree.

Also, don't stretch using two softwares. It messes everything up. For example don't use AE time stretch with Twixtor. It will bug out.

In Sony Vegas from version 8 (first version I have used over the years) all the way to the current version there are really nifty ways to do get "clean" slow motion. However, you need to make sure that some of your settings are correct:
1. Under Edit->Preferences - make sure you have all the setting correct for final output. Hence, if it is originally interlaced footage say from a Sony A1U at 1440 but you want the final to be 1920i, then make sure it is set here first. Sony automatically will make the adjustments for you on the m2t footage.
2. If you take a clip and grab the end of it on the timeline while holding down your control key, it will "stretch" the clip to 400% or quarter speed. You can also additionally to that activate an "event velocity" under: Insert -> Video Envelopes -> Event Velocity - You can now take this down to say 25% speed and now have an 800% slow down. Depending on the focus or sharpness of your original clip - you can do this and get some sweet results.

I have also done it by rendering it twice or in two steps using just the "stretch" function. Either way, the result is the same, but with one more step. Pretty cool actually. The key is the very first thing - setting the project prefs! If you want to see some samples of such slo-mo stuff (most of these shots are from a Sony A1U):

Part II of slow motion - I also have been known to use After Effects - you might want to do some experimenting with "Time Warp" as well as Layer->Time Stretch and change the speed by entering a larger percentage value (gt 100%) for slower or smaller percentage (lt 100%) value for faster. AE by default does do a wonderful job on this provided again that your imagery is sharp and clean. Also, and again, make sure you comp settings match the original footage, particularly on the frame rates!

I'll give that a try... thank you

I've also heard great things about "twixtor" plug in for Vegas as well.