The following Top 10 Sony A7IV Menu Setup Tips will be covered in this Sony tutorial video:
Setting up a key to 'Gamma Disp. Assist Type' as a Key
Simplifying the display
Customizing your Favorite Menu
Customizing the recording button to change between Focuses
Set white balance as a Key
In this video, I show how you can get the best video settings using the Sony A7 IV. I show you how using 10 Bit 422, S-Log 3 and the SanDisk Extreme PRO memory card, you can get the best 4K image using the Sony camera. I also explain my DaVinci Resolve colour grading workflow, including using Maxon's using Red Giant software Magic Bullet Looks and Mojo. I also explain how using the Sony A7 IV Phantom LUTs from Joel Famularo, you can speed up your colour grading workflow.
In this blog post, I will share my steps to my post-production workflow using Sony DSLR footage in Final Cut Pro X; post-production is what occurs after the shooting of the video - the editing component.
I shot a video at High Park here in Toronto. I’ll be using this video as an example to explain my post-production workflow:
For this video, I shot the footage vertically, as opposed to horizontally, using my Sony A7II. This allows for the best quality in terms of shooting for Instagram Stories.
The critical point is to shoot/ use the gear for the format of the video you plan to deliver. So, in this case, because I was shooting for an Instagram Story, to get the best resolution, I shot with the camera vertically.
In terms of frame rate, I shot in two formats using my DSLR/ I used both 60 frames so that I could slow the footage in post, and 24 frames per second, recording in 4K.
I could have shot in a log profile (S-Log 2) to get the best most desired results in terms of dynamic range. However, because for my workflow, I’m working on simplicity and minimalism, I choose to bring just one camera, with one lens (my nifty fixity 1.8) and shot in the built-in standard settings for this shoot.
For my videos, I often start by giving a quick overall cut of my footage. I will use the Command ‘A’ to ‘select’ the clip in Final Cut and ‘B’ for the ‘blade tool’ to quickly edit the best shots. For me, this initial cut is focused on my ‘creative eye,’ as well as focusing on the story I want to tell. I try not to overthink this initial step and consider it more art than science.
After I have made this initial cut, I may then bring in music. I’ll pick a track on Epidemic Sound and will cut to the beat and rhythm of the song. This next part will focus on the story in terms of the sequence of clips and the overarching themes I uncover as I edit. Using my chosen song, I will often edit to a build-up or climax of the song. In short, I will structure the edit using the song, timing the cuts to the rhythm, beat and build-up/ climax of the song.
I have been focusing more on the pacing of my videos, so this is where I’ll spend the majority of my edit.
After I have made these two categories of edits, I mostly have the skeleton of my video, edited to the beat and rhythm of the song. I’ll then turn to colour grading my footage.
As mentioned, I often will shoot in a ‘flat profile,’ such as S-log 2, using the Sony Profiles. But for this example and video used at High Park, I decided to shoot the video in its original capture setting. This allowed for less colour correction.
I will then do an overall edit of the video, correcting the footage using Magic Bullets Colorista IV. I will focus on lowering the shadows and upping the mid-tones and sometimes the highlights, often utilizing an s-curve, allowing for a more excellent dynamic range. I may also touch up the colour temperature, exposure and highlights.
Once I have the bade colour correction, I will add a LUT using Magic Bullet Looks 4. A favour LUT I will apply is the Blockbuster Warm.
The LUT will often be too intense, so I will lower it considerably, often reducing it to between 10%-30%.
After this LUT treatment, I turn to Magic Bullet Mojo II. Mojo gives that Hollywood look, offering a beautiful teal look in the shadows and upping orange in the highlights. Mojo can be a bit strong as well, so I will switch it to the video section because I didn’t shoot the video in a flat format. I will also use the light preset as I find it offers a lighter treatment of Mojo to my footage. After this, I will go ahead and lessen the amount, hovering between 10-30% as well.
My final step is to apply a grain effect, using Magic Bullet Renoiser. There is a nice feature in this effect, to select either Image Vitamins or Compression Proofing.
I will then go into the edit a make minor adjustments to each clip, cutting up the adjustment layer.
Then, after I have made a base colour edit, and have the basic story down in the video, edited to the beat, I will focus on sound design.
I will go through each clip, adding sound to each clip.
For my High Park video, I added nature sounds - particularly bird sounds to all clips.
I then added a backpack sound, a bike sounds with a bell, a runner sound and a whoosh sound when transitioning from a tree, as examples of added sounds added to the footage.
A crucial step you can do is extend the sound before and after the clip, allowing you to transition to each clip.
A key feature I’m trying to incorporate is to tie my clips better together using logical sequencing.
So, for example, I may share a similar object or theme between clips. For instance, in the High Park video, I used similar scrubs to transition clips. In another shot, I added several shots of a bird, to tell a story; I also used the brightness of the sun, to both begin and end the sequence of the story.
I hope this video was helpful to give you some tips on your video editing workflow.
I’d encourage you to get creative if you enjoy photography and video.
Thank you for watching my video. Don’t forget to like this video and subscribe.
Does your footage look extremely grainy and horrible when you shoot at night or in low light? The first probably most significant reason for this is you’re using your cell phone. I can’t help you with this.
Cell phone cameras have small sensors typically. Because of this, your footage is going to suffer in low light. Sure Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro has some impressive low light video using their ‘Night Mode’ features, but still, you’re going to need a camera with a larger sensor to get decent low light video performance. But even if you are an amateur with a professional camera, there are certain tips you should follow to get the best overall low light video quality. Here are my top 7 tips to get much better video in low light:
As I mentioned, I'm a Sony Alpa shooter. Various cameras have different ‘picture profiles’ or ‘modes,’ you can shoot in. With the Sony A7RII, if I'm shooting at night or in low light conditions, I use the picture profile 2 (PP2). I once shot in S-log 2 at night (not to be confused with PP2), before I knew any better. I learned this process adds significantly more noise to an image degrading the quality.
PP2 compliments night time shooting as it helps get the best footage in the shadows and blacks. There’s an excellent video by the YouTube channel ‘Make. Art. Now.’ by independent filmmaker, Josh Yeo. He tests all the picture profiles in detail, ultimately setting on PP2 for the best low light performance. Josh recommends adjusting PP2 to get the best night-time results. The particular settings he uses to improve PP2 low-light performance is the following:
If you shoot with a lens with a lower aperture, like a 1.8 or lower, you're able to allow more light into the lens, making for a better overall image in the dark, with less noise and grain. By keeping your aperture lower during a darker shoot, you're able to rely less on upping your ISO, making for a cleaner image. Consider buying a prime with a low aperture. I use the 55mm f/1.8 ZEISS Prime lens on my Sony A7 RII, which is my 'go-to' lens for shooting in darker conditions.
As mentioned, light is key, especially when shooting at night. By using available light, your lens will allow for a better overall image. Even with a powerful mirrorless camera such as the Sony Alpha series, which is great in low light, your image will degrade without available light. Introducing noise will make your image will look grainy with many ugly artifacts. ISO, higher than like 3200 ISO, will produce a weaker and grainer image. So use light which is around you. It could be a street light, a light from a business sign or bring your own mobile light. Either way think light, especially when shooting in low light. It’s the greatest variable to getting a cinematic image.
I also once shot slow motion at night. Bad idea. The reason that it's generally a bad idea to shoot slow motion with a camera such as the Sony A7RII in low light is that when you’re shooting in something like 60fps you have to adjust your shutter speed as well (to 1/120). This cause less light to hit the sensor thus making for an overall grainer image. Your best bet is to shoot in 23fps, as you then are shooting with a shutter of 1/50. This will allow your sensor to get the most light and you will have to rely less on your ISO to make up the difference.
I use excellent software by Red Giant, Denoiser III. It allows you to, as the name implies, denoise your video in post. When you’re shooting at night or in low light, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll gather much more noise than if you were shooting in lighter conditions. I will usually denoise my footage in post if I’m shooting in low light. This isn’t always needed as much of our footage is being consumed on cellphones with a small screen. In other words, with smaller screens noise is harder to pick up. Nevertheless, in order to get the overall best image, I guggest using a denoise plugin.
After applying Denoiser III, I often turn to another Red Giant software, a plugin called ‘Renoiser,’ which, as you guessed it, allows you to create a layer of noise to the image. Denoising your footage often softens the image. You’re also getting a much more digital look, which isn’t always ideal. By adding some grain back to the video, you’re also adding some texture, a much-needed look for emulating a film or a cinematic look. I use the grain called ‘Compression Proofing’ in Renoiser, as it allows me to counter some of the compression which occurs on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. According to Stu Maschwitz, using ‘Compression Proofing’ as part of the Renoiser plugin by Red Giant, allows for a much more favourable upload to sites like Instagram.
Shooting video in 4K in darker conditions allows for more resolution and detail in the image. It is also going to allow you to punch into the picture (i.e. zoom into the image). When I shoot for Instagram, I’m often scaling my vertical footage 180%. By shooting 4K, the footage will have less overall noise, especially if I need to scale the footage in post. Take a look at the comparisons between 1080p footage and 4K footage in this YouTube video by Story & Heart.
With the Sony Full Frame Alpha Series Cameras, you can shoot in APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode. This allows you to get even better low light performance for your video, as demonstrated in this video by
Ideal Shooting Settings in Low Light:
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