Chapter Thirteen: Movie-Mode-Specific Menus

ShootMovie1

Figure 13-1. The ShootMovie1 tab

Rotate the Live View shooting/movie shooting switch, and you’ll notice that the Live View Shooting tab’s icon on the menu bar is replaced with the Movie Shooting icon.

AF Method

Having selected the ShootMovie1 tab, select AF Method and then press SET. Choose one of the three parameters and press SET.

Figure 13-2. Selecting the AF Method option

Figure 13-3. Choosing an AF Method setting

In FlexiZoneAF, the image sensor is used for focusing. A white-bordered rectangle will appear in the center of the screen, and it will function as the AF point. You can use the Multi-controller to position that AF point rectangle where you want to focus (pressing the SET button returns the AF point to the center of the screen). Now, when you press the Shutter button halfway, the camera attempts to focus. If it’s successful, the white border on the rectangle turns green; otherwise it turns orange. With a green border on the AF point, press the Start/Stop button to begin recording the movie.

You can also use the Face Detection Live Mode for shooting video in the same way you used it for still photos. Press the Shutter button halfway; if the border of the segmented square turns green, press the Start/Stop button to begin recording the movie. If the border of that segmented square turns orange, focus could not be achieved; resolve that problem and try again. Again, a face may not be recognized as a face if it is very small or very large, too bright or too dark, if it is turned away from the camera, or if the head is tilted to the horizontal or diagonal plane.

The third option for AF Method is Quick Mode. The Instruction Manual states that if this setting is selected, it is switched to FlexiZoneAF during movie shooting.

Silent LV Shoot.

Figure 13-4. Selecting the Silent LV Shoot. option

Figure 13-5. Choosing a Silent LV Shoot. setting

This menu option actually applies to Live View shooting, not to movie shooting. It would presumably apply when you use the camera to capture a still photo while shooting a movie.

Metering Timer

Figure 13-6. Selecting the Metering Timer option

Figure 13-7. Choosing a Metering Timer setting

When shooting a movie, you can press the AE Lock button to lock the exposure; this lock is not released until you press the AE Lock button again. Assuming you use the AE Lock button to meter the view before starting to record a movie, this option defines the amount of time that the exposure setting is displayed at the bottom of the LCD Monitor.

ShootMovie2

Figure 13-8. The ShootMovie2 tab

Grid Display

Figure 13-9. Selecting the Grid Display option

Figure 13-10. Choosing a Grid Display setting

Though having grid lines superimposed on the image of your subject can make for a cluttered LCD Monitor, they can certainly help in leveling the camera vertically or horizontally, or both. I’m not wild about the 3x3+Diag setting; it really does start to overpower the LCD Monitor.

Movie Rec. Size

Figure 13-11. Selecting the Movie Rec. Size option

Figure 13-12. Choosing A Movie Rec. Size setting

The Movie Rec. Size option gives you access to all the movie recording sizes supported by the camera. There are three factors to consider:

• Image size, which can be 1920 × 1080, 1280 × 720, or 640 × 480. At 1920 × 1080, recording is Full High-Definition, and the aspect ratio is 16:9 (wide screen). At 1280 × 720, the recording quality drops to High Definition with an aspect ratio of 16:9. At 640 × 480, recording quality drops further to Standard Definition, and the aspect ratio is 4:3 (standard nearly square screen).

• Frame rate, which can be 60 frames per second (fps), 30 fps, or 24 fps, if the Video System option in the Set Up3 menu is set to NTSC. If the Video System option is set to PAL, the frame rate can be 50 fps, 25 fps, or 24 fps. In either video system, available frame rates are dependent on the choice of image size.

• Compression rate, which can be High (IPB) or Low (ALL-I). Using IPB as the compression rate will cause multiple frames to be compressed at a time, producing smaller file sizes, which in turn allow for longer recording. The ALL-I setting will compress each frame individually, so the file sizes are larger, but editing of the final recording is much easier.

Sound Recording

In most cases, movies are recorded along with ambient sound. However, if there is reason not to capture that sound, select the Sound Recording option, press SET, select the Disable setting, press SET, then press MENU.

Figure 13-13. Selecting the Sound Recording option

Figure 13-14. Selecting the Rec. Level option

If you intend to record sound, either through the built-in monaural microphone or through an optional external stereo microphone, you can choose the Auto setting or (if you’re knowledgeable about sound recording) the Manual setting. With the Manual setting, you will have access to the Rec. Level setting, which is grayed out for the Auto setting. The objective in sound recording, regardless of the setting chosen, is to have your loudest sounds reach about –12 on the level meters at the bottom of the screen. If sounds are detected that are between –12 and zero, a yellow rectangle is posted at that level for about three seconds to advise you that sound recording is approaching distortion. If the sound level reaches zero on a level meter, a red rectangle is posted there for three seconds, indicating that distortion has occurred.

If you are shooting in an area with significant wind, the built-in microphone may record wind noise, causing some loss of quality. To help reduce the extent of this kind of problem, set the Wind Filter option to Enable. Be aware that with Wind Filter set to Enable, you will lose some low bass sounds.

If you anticipate sudden, loud sounds, you will probably want to enable the Attenuator option.

Time Code

A time code is recorded automatically, and is expressed in terms of hours:minutes:seconds:frames. It is used to synchronize the movie with its soundtrack, but most users encounter it during editing.

Count Up

Figure 13-15. The Time Code option and Count Up settings

Once you have selected the Time Code option on the ShootMovie2 menu, you’ll see that there are actually five items that can be specified. The first is the Count Up setting, which can be set to Rec Run or Free Run. With Rec Run, the time code counts up only when the camera is recording a movie, but Free Run continues to advance its count even if the camera is not recording a movie. The Free Run option becomes important when several cameras are involved, in order to have a single time reference when editing.

Start Time Setting

Figure 13-16. Selecting the Start Time Setting option

Figure 13-17. Choosing a Start Time Setting setting

The Start Time Setting item has three available settings:

• Manual Input Setting lets you set the hour, minute, seconds, and frames to whatever values you feel are appropriate.

• Reset resets the time set by Manual Input Setting or by Set To Camera Time to all zeros (00:00:00:00).

• Set To Camera Time will set the hour, minute, and seconds to match the camera’s internal clock, and frames will be set to zero.

Movie Rec Count

The Movie Rec Count setting identifies what to display on the movie-shooting screen. If you choose Rec Time, you should expect to see the elapsed time for this recording displayed, but if Time Code is selected, the display should be the time code. Note that the frame count is not displayed on the movie-shooting screen during recording, or on the playback screen, but it is captured with the movie to facilitate editing.

Figure 13-18. Selecting the Movie Rec Count option

Figure 13-19. Choosing a Movie Rec Count setting

Movie Play Count

Figure 13-20. Selecting the Movie Play Count option

Figure 13-21. Choosing a Movie Play Count setting

The Movie Play Count setting controls what is displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen during playback of the movie. Rec Time will cause the playback time to be displayed as minutes and seconds. The Time Code choice will cause the time code to be displayed during the playback of a movie as hours:minutes:seconds:frames.

Drop Frame

Though we talk in terms of 30 fps or 60 fps, in reality the recording is done at 29.97 fps or 59.94 fps. The problem that introduces is that the time code’s frame count causes a discrepancy between the actual time and the time code. When you select the Enable setting for Drop Frame, the camera can automatically correct this by judiciously skipping some time code numbers. If Disable is selected for Drop Frame, no correction is made.

Figure 13-22. Selecting the Drop Frame option

Figure 13-23. Choosing a Drop Frame setting

Video Snapshot

Do not confuse a video snapshot with a still photo. A video snapshot is a video, albeit a very brief one.

Figure 13-24. Selecting the Video Snapshot option

Figure 13-25. Choosing a Video Snapshot setting

This relatively new feature allows you to grab several short movie sequences, each being two, four, or eight seconds in length. Each can be stored in an album, and an entire album can be selected for playback. All snapshots in an album must be the same length. Canon’s ImageBrowser EX software also provides a feature called EOS Video Snapshot Task, which lets you edit a snapshot album.