Help needed - Film underwater

[David-A89]

Hello !

My name is David and I started to capture videos in Cozumel in January. Please find a short video here:
I used a Xiaomi Yi 4k camera with a red filter from Magic-Filter.de.

Unfortunately, the videos captured as not as good as I hoped in terms of colors for and "smooth feeling".

I used 4k and 30 FPS settings with all the rest "auto".

Could you please give me some advice? Like what settings to use (resolution, FPS, white balance etc). I also read somewhere that using the red filter + the white balance in "Auto" mode is counterproductive but knowing anything, I don't know what to think.

Please help!

Thank you very much,
David

 

[runsongas]

you can try warp stabilizer in premiere to fix the shake a bit, but you will probably be left with portions that still wont be very stable. same with the light balance and some color correction.

it looks like you aren't that shallow, so it might be time to get a tray and some video lights.

 

[David-A89]

So you suggest to do post-editing if I understand correctly?

The thing is, I'm not very wealthy so buying a tray or lights is a bit out of question for me at the moment...

Do you have any suggestion in regards to the settings (resolution, FPS, white balance etc)?
Thanks

 

[runsongas]

you can shoot raw and fix in post, but there are limits to what can be done

 

[Cali_diver]

It just looks like you need to practice. Make sure you master your buoyancy so that you control your movements with breathing and not arm movements, since every time you have to adjust it will affect your video. Buying a tray(or making a DIY tray) with 2 handles will help you with your stability. It stops the jerking and quick panning. Hold it in front with both hands and move your body slowly. While I am not familiar with your camera it also looks like you might have it on a very wide (superwide) setting. This causes the weird warping on the edges and is not necessary for reef fish etc.

 

[David-A89]

Thank you runsongas. I downloaded lightworks. I looked for a good edition video software (free). Will try with that.

Hi Cali Diver. Thank you for the advice. It's true it was my first dive since 18 months and my buoyancy control was pretty poor. I checked the wide settings and it's set to "wide".

Regarding the video settings (resolution, FPS, white balance etc), can someone please help me? Thank you

 

[Cali_diver]

This is what I would use for a Go-Pro: 60 fps (30 in deeper water), 4k (2.7k for better stabilization), image stabilization on hyper smooth, wide(as opposed to super wide) FOV, WB Auto

 

[diversteve]

This may sound harsh but you get what you pay for. A cheaper gopro clone does not perform as well.
GoPro Knockoff (Yi 4K) not such a good deal underwater.

As someone mentioned, you need to work on your trim. Try to remember that you're filming while pursuing a subject. I could tell every time you kicked in your video - some motiion is almost normal but yours was excessive. A trav would help also - with a camera that small - it's more suscptible to buffering in the water column so contrary to on-land use - you want to make it bigger so there's more resistance thru the water - it will help smooth out your pans. Some years ago one of the conventional video mfr's came out with the predecessor to the action cams - a housing maker actually put a fin on the housing - it looked funny but it worked.

Also what happens when you drop the camera? Does it float up, down, or stay neutal. If it's positive - every time you relax your wrist it noticeably jerks upward I shoot housed video - my rig is just marginally heavy. (use a coiled lanyard if you try this) it has just the slightest resistence in the water.

Your video was dark and green if that was deep it should have been blue. at some depth its almost better to remve the red filter and live with it being blue, on my rig I flip the filter out below about 80 ft in sunny conditions.

Why are you shooting in 4k? Can you edit in 4K? have a TV capable of displaying it? Drop down to 2..7K or less - an HDTV can only display 1080P - anything more adds to the jerkiness as the camera tries to resolve resolution you can't see.

Also 60fps is broadcast standard, 30 will be jerkier by default with artifacting when you move fast.

Slow down, anticipate where the fish is going and let it come to you. You seemed to be chasing it instead of panning as it went by. Sometimes you just have to let them go and focus on the next thing to come along.

It takes time, I've been shooting some sort of u/w video since 2001 - HD a few years after that. Get your rrim right - it will make a big difference. I loaned my camera to a DM once and his video was rock solid since he could just about isolate his hand movements from his body. Way better than me. I also throw away probably 1/2 of what I shoot in post - I wear my computer on the same wrist that holds the camera so every time I check it I either pause the video or you see the jerk in the raw footage.

 

[diversteve]

You don't need to spend big money on a tray initially if you're handy. I've seen some made out of a strip of plastic, two pieces of PVC pipe for handles and the right size screw that fits the tripod mount on your camera. Couldn't have been $20.

Nicer ones will have the right mount on top of the handles for lights and look a little slicker but it's the same basic idea - get more mass in the water and two hands on it for stability when you can.

 

[Dan]

Get your buoyancy done the minute you’re near the sea bottom to stabilize yourself. Don’t move around too fast.

Here is a good thread to read up: DIY GoPro Tray

And this: