We have enjoyed utilizing the Canon 7D since its release. For photography it is definitely an upgrade from the 30/40/50D series. For video it is very simple to use and comes with several HD settings.

In our quest to master DSLR video production and editing, we recently decided to take a day off and shoot something fun and creative in order to further the Canon 7D video experiment.

In this Identity Building Blog article we will cover the production hurdles, editing workflow, and identity building takeaway.

About this Canon 7D video project

On the morning of the shoot the details were still a bit sketchy as to exactly what we were going to be doing that day. We had two fantastic actress / models willing to help us out and lend their time. While we were trying to determine a theme / story line, Kesha’s “Take It Off” came on the radio and gave us the inspiration we needed to get started.

After we left the house our production adventure took us to Derry, PA for most of the shots including the dilapidated building, train tracks, and gazebo. Afterwards we ventured to Irwin, PA to conclude at Irwin Playground and Little Knights Kingdom (after stopping for a quick doughnut at Dunkin’ Doughnuts on Rt. 30.

Production with the Canon 7D

File Size & Settings:

For this shoot I decided to go with the Canon 7D HD video setting of 1280 x 720 at 60 frames per second. The shoot actually concluded when we filled up one 8GB card. The total length of footage on the card was 22 minutes plus 10-12 medium RAW images.

Lenses:

Except for one shot that featured the Vivitar Fish-Eye lens the entire video was shot on the Sigma 35mm 1.4f lens.

Support:

All the tripod shots were shot using our Manfrotto / Bogen 501 video tripod. Everything else was handheld.

Other Accessories:

LCDVF (LCD Viewfinder). This little unit is great especially when the sun is bright outside. It allows you to look at your viewfinder as if you’re looking through a video eye-piece. It also indirectly creates the third point of contact with the camera helping to stabilize it just a little bit more.

Review:

I was really surprised how ‘usable’ the handheld shots were. However I would say it would not have worked out as well with a longer lens. The 35mm Sigma 1.4f lens is a small, lightweight lens and kept the overall camera very light and easy to use. Because of its lightweight I was able to hold the body with one hand and keep another on the focus ring.

Editing workflow with the Canon 7D

Conversion:

One drawback with the editing workflow is that the Canon 7D formats the video with the H.264 codec. While this codec is fantastic because it keeps the file sizes small white retaining very high quality, its not an editable format that works with Final Cut Pro.

Recently our editor downloaded MPEG Streamclip which allowed us to copy the files from the CF card to the computer while converting the files to any desired Final Cut Pro preset. This is great because it brings the copying and converting process into one step. For this project I converted the footage to Apple Pro-Res 422 LT 1280 x 720 60 frames.

Cinema Tools:

After the video was edited in FCP it was then sent to Cinema Tools to give the video a 24p look and give the footage a better timeframe in case we wanted to slow-motion any of the footage.

To do this we simply exported the sequence (File > Export > Quicktime Movie) and then opened the file from within Cinema Tools. The video was ‘conformed’ to 24p (23.98).

This was interesting because the result was a video that was slowed down to approximately 35% of its original speed. So we were left with a 9-10 minute slowed down version.

Conforming the video seemed instantaneous for a 4 minute video.

Compressor:

In order to get the video back to its original time frame it had to go through compressor. After creating an Apple Pro Res preset, we simply had to reset the timing in the settings menu to match the original timing on the sequence still in FCP.

The only problem with this was that my original timeline in FCP was based off 60 frames per second and the new video was time coded in 24 frames per second. The video created by compressor was roughly one second off from the video in FCP. I simply had to reduce the speed from 100% to somewhere around 99.501%

This compression took roughly 20 minutes.

Magic Bullet Looks:

To give the final video its film quality contrast and tone I utilized Magic Bullet’s Look Suite and used the ‘Blockbuster’ preset (with a vignette effect) with a mix of 75%.

Review:

• The workflow wasn’t terribly difficult although a few kinks need to be worked out when making sure presets are being used with the proper time code to avoid the time code issue when running through Compressor.
• Copying / Converting the digital footage took around 20-25 minutes for 22 minutes worth of footage. While this wasn’t awful it certainly isn’t an improvement from the traditional 1:1 ratio of uploading a tape.
• MPEG Streamclip converted all the individual video files into one large file. We will have to check and see if there is a preference for this or whether something was left unchecked in the process. Though it wasn’t a huge deal it would’ve made editing a little easier with the individual cilps.
• If I had to do it all over again I would lose the vignette effect added in Magic Bullet. It’s distracting at times but the final YouTube video quality is far from what the original file was. The data rate was at 2500KB/s and I think the little vignette artifacts are pulling too much information from frame to frame and reducing the overall quality of the video.

Identity Building Blog Takeaway of the Canon 7D video mode

As we continue to watch new video releases – whether it be commercials or music videos – it’s obvious that the field of professional video production is embracing the emergence of DSLR video production. This type of production offers something new that stimulates the eyes. The ability to swap out lenses and capture low depth of field is bringing the Hollywood style to independent projects. The major hurdle will be camera stabilization and audio recording. We look forward to future Canon 7D experiments so keep watching.