Capture 720P HD With Any LiveView Capable Canon Camera
In this post I will run through a quick tutorial on how to shoot HD video on any non-video recording Canon SLR, such as the canon 40D, Canon 450D or any other Canon camera that features LiveView.
Motivation
I was thinking the other day how I could explore and expand my creativity as a photographer, and it popped into my head that I should shoot a short film of sorts. So I approached two friends of mine who are musicians, and asked them if they wanted to get involved. My idea was to create a short documentary/interview which explored the musical lives of unsigned music artists, and how they view music and its importance in their lives.
Being a photographer means you are already set up to shoot good videos. Use of lighting, composition etc all helped me here, and my pre-existing equipment I often use for indoor photography really helped me here.
EOS Camera Movie Record
The only thing missing was a video camera. I do own a Canon 40D, but it is not capable of recording video. This is where EOS Camera Movie Record comes in. EOS_movrec (which stands for EOS Camera Movie Record) was a program I stumbled upon when I searched on youtube for Canon 40D video hacks, as I had heard of this being done before. I found this as a great little hack that allows me to shoot HD quality video without using a 5 or 7D, however your camera needs to have the liveview function built-in.
What this software does, is use the camera’s liveview mode to capture what the camera sees. In order to use it, the camera must be tethered to a computer (I used a mac in this case, but mov rec also supports windows), and you must have the EOS utility previously installed.
The program is fairly simple to use,when started it has one main window that has all the settings on the top. You can control some of the camera settings, like white balance and shooting mode. You can also control some video settings like FPS and if to show the captured movie while filming.
The program then records the live preview directly to the desktop . Tip: click the ‘O’ button on the right hand side to bring up the preferences, and change the buffer size from the default 1mb to something much larger (I chose 500mb, the max) otherwise you get very laggy video!
It’s really simple to use, once the camera has been recognized (this may take a few tries), you press write, and it will start recording.
For this video, my camera was tethered to my Macbook Pro using the standard USB cable that came with my Canon 40D, and placed on my tripod.
Reusing Still Equipment for Video
I used two 40X60cm PhotoSel softboxes with daylight bulbs as the sole lighting for the video, and the microphone was a behringer condenser microphone connected to another macbook pro, recording directly through music production program logic.
Below you can see a photo of the setup (you can see the laptop on bottom right).
An obvious issue with recording video this way, is that you have no sound directly through the camera, so syncing had to be done in Final Cut Pro, which took a good while as I used trial and error to sync them up. What I should have done is use a marker, such as a clap, however ill try this next time round.
The clips are stored wherever you choose (generally the desktop) as uncompressed AVI files, and then I just cut it up on Final Cut Pro. The audio was recorded through a condenser mic via logic, and then everything matched up in Final Cut Pro.
Getting 720p HD video from a Canon 40D is fantastic! This program is a great money saver, and is open source.
Here is the movie once all the editing was completed (and a short behind the scenes that helps to understand the entire EOS HD concept right after).
About the Author: Peter Arboine is a photographer based in London, UK. He specializes in landscape, nature and portrait photography. You can learn more about him at his site or explore his flickr stream. you can follow him on Twitter here.
Special good Karma to the developers behind EOS mov rec: Chernov Aleksey, Uterr, Golubinsky Yury, Lukyanenko Vlad and Emel'yanov Denis
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Comments
Mind = Blown.
Mind = Blown.
Manual focusing only?
Manual focusing only?
Video Recording with a canon 40d
yep, only manual focusing can be used via this method
manual focusing ISN'T a
manual focusing ISN'T a matter. despite being something useful, I think is well known that you have to focus manually
impressive post. can't wait to tray on my 40D
It DOES allow to focus from
It DOES allow to focus from the computer, if the switch of the lens is on auto, obviously...
a very nice program. but videos really do have a very large size...(57secs = 300Mb!) also in avi, I'd prefer another format, but it's an awesome program ant the developers have done it nicelly!
i agree, it is a fantastic
i agree, it is a fantastic program and the large video size is huge, but if it gives me optimum quality i'm all for it :)
You can always use a
You can always use a conversion program to change file formats. In fact, you can even do that yourself! Yes, pun intended.
And just like with RAW files, you pay for space. It's good to have big (read: full quality) files to send into your editing software. You would then output something lossy and in a smaller file size.
thats what i did, i exported
thats what i did, i exported as final cut MOV, then transcoded to mp4 for upload
yeah, I know GAC. but I don't
yeah, I know GAC. but I don't like *.avi too much. I've used FCP, Premiere/AE/Encore etc.. and *.avi its one of the most troublesome I've found. But I mean, if you can take a 30' fullHD video on a 5MKII that theoretically is less than 4Gb, with high quality, isn't it possible to do it with other formats rather than this?
Peter, your video is awesome, and sync was impressive.
Video thru Live View
I took this shot using some of the steps above.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/faf1967/4729516800/
Neat software
Saw this article via Petapixel and downloaded the program and made a short using a 1D Mark III
This is some fun stuff.
Nice...
I have been a bit sceptical of HD on a DSLR - what are we getting it at the expense of? However I'm very gradually begining to see the positives, and this software would help me there. I have a 450D, have downloaded the software but left my camera at home! Damn. Have to wait all day before I can play with it now!
How
Each time I open eos_movrec, the program fails *showing a loading signal*
any know how can i fix this?
BJ do you have the eos
BJ do you have the eos utility installed?
Yes, it came with my 40D and
Yes, it came with my 40D and I just installed it to my macbook pro version 10.6
Camera not connected/supported
I'm having the same problem. I have the software installed on my MacBook along with EOS Utility but whenever I try and connect my camera it says it's not supported/connected. Any idea how to fix this?
If the Canon EOS utility is
If the Canon EOS utility is running, you'll probably get an error… at least I did when I tried. If the utility auto-runs when you connect your camera, quit it before trying to open the EOS_movrec.
thats strange, try contacting
thats strange, try contacting the developers, see if they could help you with it
I remember finding a similar
I remember finding a similar tool a few years back that allowed the same thing. I do believe it was developed by this one Russian guy. The app worked fantastically, except that the output from the 450D was a barely usable clip. It was an odd approx. 855x540 format at a variable fps. Mostly around 25fps. It would also skip frames making audio syncronization impossible.
Is this the same app and has it been improved? Or it it just that the 450D isn't that good for recording?
Thanks for the buffer tip
Excellent little program and I have been using it regularly with my 40D. The major down fall for me has been the lack of real FPS that always has been around 18-22 fps.
But increasing the buffer size really works and gives little bit smoother output.
Sometimes shooting video without showing the captured footage increases fps little bit. Or just use the output in the camera.
How to build EOS_Mov_Rec on a Mac
Sorry about posting a dev related question, but I would like to play with this on my Mac, but not sure how to build the app on my mac :-(
Any help or pointers would be appreciated !
Thanks.
LMJ
your best bet would be to
your best bet would be to contact the developers.. just google the program and their site should come up
Untethered
Awesome, thanks for this writeup with photos. Really helpful. I've been thinking about doing this with my 40D for a few months now but haven't found an easy to follow guide that I felt comfortable following.
I was under the impression that there was some way to do this untethered, though. Am I mistaken?
any danger of overheading the sensor here?
it does say in the instruction manual that you shouldn't use live preview for more than 30 sec or so or you can damage your sensor. Apparently a little thermometer warning comes up if it starts to get too hot. Does anyone have any concerns about frying their sensors?
Wireless video with 40D
This is amazing! I'm wondering if this would be capable with the DIY wireless trigger system that was mentioned a while back. Using something like this, could you possibly have the computer close range, while recording 720p?
if you look at the specs for
if you look at the specs for your little wireless USB transmitter thingy...
"Certified Wireless USB 1.0 compliant"
no way USB 1.0 (12Mbps) would be able to handle 720p, only USB 2.0 (480Mbps) will work.
Once thing you can do with this
picture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/faf1967/4729516800/
software
http://sourceforge.net/projects/eos-movrec/
more instructions
http://sweiller.free.fr/Canon40D/Canon40D-webcam.htm
tut for registax5- stacking software
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epoqR0zytic
This is awesome. But is there
This is awesome. But is there anyway to film without the usb? That would be more awesome if there was. If anyone can find one that would be awesome.
huge thanks to author of this
huge thanks to author of this article!
having fun with th new software shooting with my 1000D.
thanks once again!
no problem at all!
no problem at all, i was glad that i could share this with the community
Great Video
And considering how you shot it, it's even better. Besides the video itself, the mic caught my attention. I've been in the market for a low-cost mic. Did you have to do a lot of post work on that Behringer's output or is what's in the video pretty much it?
hi thomas
there was little or no post work on the microphone, just some gain adjustment, but that was pretty much it, look around for the behringer c30 or something like that, its a 30-40 pound microphone which ive heard is great! thanks for viewing the video!
i have a 500D and when i
i have a 500D and when i start to have remote live view shooting, it gives me a poor result as the video is kind of lag. i follow the instruction in http://www.123canon.co.cc/2009/11/using-remote-live-view-function-in-eos.html to film in remote live view. can this sopftware use in my 500D? thanks
this software should help, as
this software should help, as ive said in the tutorial, increasing the buffer to the maximum would get rid of the lag... good luck!
Footage taken with a 40D
Here's some footage I took with my 40D! This works great, thanks for the info.
http://www.vimeo.com/14732576
Frame Rates
Hey! Awesome stuff, I downloaded the app for Mac and it works great. Wondering what you did with the avi files after recording to get the final you ended up with. Just import directly into Final Cut? Or is there any kind of frame rate conversion before hand? My computer records pretty steadily at 22fps. From my knowledge, most US videos play at 29.95 or 30 fps. Does Final Cut do the conversion for you or do you have to create a project that corresponds to the frame rate in EOS Movie Record? Just wondering, your final video looks really great. Thanks for any help.
Saving Files
It seems like this will only save the file if I do it RIGHT after I stop recording...or am I doing something wrong?
Nikon version
I am wondering if there is a Nikon Equivalent to this program. Would be great to play with for sure.
Great stuff, already try it
Great stuff, already try it with incredible results. Just one thing: do someone know how to reduce the noise? My clips are very noisy compared to this and other i fount on the web.
Thanks in advance!
try playing with the options
try playing with the options and the buffer.
Sensor and Recording Time
There is a lot of talk online regarding damage of the sensor if it is left on for too long. A previous post suggested the canon manual says do not leave it on for more than 30 seconds. Has anyone had any issues with this? I noticed mine (1000D) Stops recording automatically after 18 minutes. A message saying: "Program stopped to save you device." appears. I assume this is regarding the sensor. Anyone else worried or had any experience with this?
Although it isnt safe to keep
Although it isnt safe to keep the sensor exposed for that long... i was able to shoot a 5 minute or so interview continuously without problems...
could this work witha sony
could this work witha sony alpha 500 ?? ;DD please i need help
frame per second
can we somehow increase the FPS? Like about 1000 fps? i love slowmotion. and by the way, i use canon 50D :)
unfortunately is impossible
unfortunately is impossible to set the fps using that apps. Even the new 60d can shot max at 60fps, that are a lot. For 1000 fps you need something like a phantom cam.... check also twixtor if you're using after effect!
720P and FPS?
I downloaded and recorded and am excited but when I look at the test shot, it says its only 1024x680 resolution, is there a manual fix?
Also I can't seem to change the FPS and wanders between 22 and 21 by itself. Am I missing something here?
720P and FPS?
yeah it will wander around slightly. you arent able to fix the FPS i'm afraid, but make sure you set your buffer to max, otherwise you will encounter lag.
too good to be true?
when I happened upon this link, I was so amazed that I might be able to do video with my XSi but like some others have mentioned, the concerns of frying my sensor worries me..
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