I'd like to know what kind of effect this is??

Hello,

i'd like to know what kind of effect this is, time 1:00 and 1:03. Something with zooming in and zooming out?



grtz.

Mogadisko

The effect goes by various names; Quick Zoom or Jump Zoom. Some people call it a Crash Zoom, but I don't think that's the accurate terminology as that would be more of a quick Rack Focus. What you're seeing in your video are quick jumps in the normally slow steady zoom, while the subject remains in perfect sharp focus the entire time. This is generally a camera trick performed at the time the footage is shot. You need to zoom in as tight as you can & make sure your focus is razor sharp. Then zoom back out & from there crank the zoom ring quickly while you're shooting. You'd probably need a clip on handle to that zoom ring to make the movement quick & controlled. Obviously the move is impossible with electronic zooms which use servo motors to zoom in & out in a gentle glide. They just can't move quick enough to make the effect, unless you are speeding ramping your footage up in post. Your video here hasn't done that because we can see the performers moving, speaking, etc, in real time.

There is one way you could try to fake this in post. You'd have to film your scene in higher resolution than your final output, then zoom in rapidly in post. If you're filming in 1080p & your output is 720, then you can jump zoom in about 25% without too much loss of visual quality. Anything more than that you'll see pixelation. Of course you can increase the numbers if you have access to shoot on 2k or 4k. Clearly the easiest solution is to do the trick in the camera, for which you need the manual zoom lens.

Thank you very much!!!! TrixTrax9000
For giving me so much information!

Grts,

Mogadisko

if you don't mind, i have another question about the same video.. Do you know how to fix the border or frame? I mean like.. you see the top and bottom are different, with pictures i think? Can you tell me, how can i fix that?

Grtz.

Mogadisko

TrixTrax9000 if you don't mind, i have another question about the same video.. Do you know how to fix the border or frame? I mean like.. you see the top and bottom are different, with pictures i think? Can you tell me, how can i fix that?

Grtz.

Mogadisko

Had to look at the video again to understand what you meant, I think I know now. You're referring to the cropped letter box effect the main video is appearing in, while there is a still image behind it, which we see a small amount of above & below our video.

There are many split screen templates you can get for FCPX, I suspect that's what they're using because of the white borders top & bottom. I just upgraded to Mavericks & haven't got FCPX installed on this machine yet, so I can't play around adjusting frames. Perhaps someone will chime in with specifics, but I'm certain the effect's not too difficult. Perhaps you could send a polite request to Ben, he teaches these programs.

How I think I would do it is as follows; In FCPX you crop the frame of your main video using a Letter Box template. Many of these have variable parameters so you can squish the frame even more to your liking. Then you add your other frame behind it. You might have to add a mask to your main video's frame size so the background image doesn't show thru. You can trim a couple extra pixels to make sure the white border isn't compromised.

I like the effect, but I think it would be much better if the upper & lower images were actually moving, instead of a still image. Perhaps in slow motion so as to not be too distracting. With this video, for instance, I like the lower image of the stone slabs, not sure if that upper red image is part of it or not, it might be the same room. An inexpensive way to up the value would have been to wave a spotlight around inside the room with the camera rolling, just bouncing it off the walls, floor & ceiling. It might look better if the actual beam doesn't enter the shot, so all we get is bounce & fill, a bit more subtle, but it's always moving. Film it at a high frame rate then load it into your timeline & change the speed to slow motion. Match the length with your main video. Also, I would have tweaked the color in that top & bottom frame a bit too, so the frame is a bit darker, just as they have done. This gives a slight vignette effect, drawing the attention of the viewer in towards the main attraction.