Messages

271

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Filming Rocket Testing - settings advice welcome.

« on: October 05, 2021, 01:24:18 PM »

I dont really know what you mean by remote Trigger Mod, but you can just connect a really long BNC / SDI Cable to the BNC Port on the Camera and Connect an Trigger to the other end, which would give a very easy setup. Longest Standard BNC Cable i was able to find from an very quick search was 100 Meters, which would be something like 328 feet in length if my math is correct.
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 https://www.ebay.de/itm/383383664906?hash=item594372790a:g:6~AAAOSwb0BeKC9V
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 These are still reasonably affordable, but if you still need longer range, there are very inexpensive BNC-Inline Couplers available, which will allow you to Chain up Individual BNC-Cables to for example make two 100m ones into an 200m long one (656 feet).
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 https://www.ebay.de/itm/312062518509?hash=item48a86024ed:g:5-kAAOxySoJTU-zy
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 The Connector is obviously a weak-Point if in rough use or exposed to the Elements, but for casual use without rain and things like that, that would probably be about the Cheapest.
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 If you want longer than 100m Cable length, there are SDI-Cables available (which basically are just BNC Cables that are rated to carry a specific amount of Data for Video Signals), up to 200m (656 Feet) Standard, and you can get even longer Custom made ones, but they cost a bit more. Would be well worth the extra cost if in rough use at least for me, and if i actually needed the Additional Range.  .
 https://www.ebay.de/itm/153083772536?hash=item23a480fe78:g:tJAAAOSwWDRbOgxg
 .
 I at this point assume you know how to attach a Trigger button to an BNC Cable and said cable to the Camera, and also own some kind of such a trigger. If not, let me know, then i can also give info on where to get one or how to build one.
 .
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 For the Shutter speed / Shutter angle thing mklinger was talking about, i absolutely agree. Set your Framerate and Resolution, then Set aperture on your lens and your shutter angle for whatever exposure / brightness you want.
 the Shortest Exposure of 1µs on the Chronos is plenty short and will give a very dark image. at 1µs and Shorter you get into territory of Exposure Time where they capture close-Up Footage of Nukes, so i doubt your Rockets would be THAT bright. If you still manage to overexpose on such short Exposure times, close down your Aperture a lot and make sure you use 0dB analog Gain and 0dB Digital Gain. Would be very surprised if you still needed ND Filters on top of that, but if you do, use them.
 .
 To actually figure out the Correct settings, i would advise you to do at least two tests before shooting anything critical. I dont know how expensive or difficult it is to redo your tests, but for Stuff like Explosions that cant be redone and have no known reference to base settings of off, they usually do some Scaled down tests, like here:
 .
 https://youtu.be/ThLtMhiak-Q?t=100
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 In that case they already about knew that it would be very bright, set the camera to their best Estimate, did the Small-Scale test, adjusted Exposure (and then still overexposed a bit on the Actual Shot). Very similar like they also did it with the Footage of those First Nukes and things like that.
 In general, especially if you never did anything like this before and are not familiar with how the Camera behaves in situations like that, try to underexpose quite a bit, its most of the times Brighter than you think (also, while recovering Shadows or heavily boosting the Exposure in Editng reduces Image Quality on the Chronos Cameras quite a bit, its still better than overexposing, because at that point all information on the Overexposed areas is just completely gone and pure White. so you would want to rather underexpose than overexpose in that situation) from every time i shot stuff with big Fires / Explosions/ Reflections. Do at least two tests to be sure, if no previous general Brightness level to compare to is known, so you dont waste an important shot (that maybe cant be redone).
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 #EDIT# forgot to put the Link and the Screenshot for the 200m SDI-Cable

272

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Footage feedback

« on: October 04, 2021, 07:42:03 AM »

So about the Framerate / Save File Framerate:
 I need to explain this a bit more into detail, will be hard to understand otherwise.
 First, forget anything related to Playback-Speed or how slow your footage looks, and imagine a very fast Sports DLSR taking a lot of single Images. The Chronos is nothing else than just that, but way faster basically. Lets now imagine that camera captures a Resolution of 1000x1000 Pixels and is able to capture 1000 Frames Per Second (fps).
 The Object said camera is capturing, is a very small object, moving at an constant speed, and will move from the Left border of the Frame to the Right border of the Frame in exactly 1 Second, While covering exactly the area of 1 Pixel.
 In that situation, the Camera should capture exactly 1000 frames of the Object in frame over the course of that 1 Second time, and in every frame the Pixel / Object Should advance one Pixel to the Right.
 This still does not tell you anything about how fast it will look when played back, right now it is just 1000 actual single Images Sitting in Memory of the Camera before Saving.
 To help understand Recording framerate, lets now assume, the Same Camera is able to capture 2000 or just 500 Frames Per Second on the Same Settings.
 In the Same Situation as Before, it will now capture 2000 or 500 Single Images of the Object in Frame. for the 2000fps Scenario, we would now have more temporal Detail, meaning every frame will now only advance the object 1/2 Pixel in distance, while for the 500fps Shot we would only get an image on every next Pixel and miss every odd Pixel, which means we miss out on possibly a lot of Information.
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 Now, if we in Theory had an monitor able to display 2000 actual Frames Per seconds, and we would play each of the Three Sequences of Single Images back at the Same Rate They where Recorded at, every one of the Clips would still play for exactly 1 Second while showing every recorded Frame in order, or what we call "real time" Playback.
 So Recording Framerate still doesnt tell us the full story about how slow or fast the Final Clip looks.
 If we play back the 1000 Frames from the 1000 fps one at a Rate of 25 Frames in one Second, it would take 40 Seconds to display all of the Recorded Frames.
 If We Play those same 1000 Frames back at a rate of 60 Frames in one Second (60fps), it would only take 16 Seconds to display all of the Recorded Frames in correct order.
 We can obviously also take those 1000 same Frames and Play them Back at lets say 10fps, which would take 100 Seconds to display all Frames.
 10fps however will look VERY Choppy and at that point becomes very noticeable a fast Slideshow of single Images rather than "Smooth" Video.
 .
 Whatever is accepted or perceived as "smooth" Framerate is very Subjective. The general Rule is something like 24~25fps as the Lowest thing the majority of people will perceive as Fluid Motion and at 60 fps and above the absolute vast Majority of People will not be able to tell the Difference how many Frames per Seconds are displayed, unless very Fast moving stuff is shown (mouse Pointer on High Frame-Rate Monitors and such).
 So what framerate to use is to a big part up to Preference and also up to where you want to display it after shooting. Does not make a lot of sense for example, if you shoot highspeed for a Movie which will be Played back at 24 or 30fps in the End Anyways, to Edit your Highspeed-Camera shots in 60fps, you are just wasting Frames/ Slower Playback speed at that point.
 As Explained with the Example above, Playback framerate is what in the End determines the Relative Playback speed compared to Real Time. for example 40 times Slower than Real Time Playback with the 1000fps Recording Framerate and Playback at 25fps. If you now Play the Same Clip back at 50fps, it becomes 20 times Slower than Real Time Playback speed, but the Footage isnt suddenly 500fps or something, it still was Shot at 1000fps. It just plays faster and in theory smoother, if your Monitor and Eyes even notice the Difference.
 .
 A thing to watch out for however, is that if you save for example in 60fps, and your Video Editor is set to 30fps, your video will still play back at 60fps speed and most Editing software will just "throw away" all the Other half of Frames. This is usually done, because you want your audio synchronous to your video, and so priority is not on displaying every frame here, but to preserve the "correct" Playback Speed. Most video Editors will allow you to adjust speed of such clips to play slower, and like in this case show all the Frames (in this Case 0,5x Playback Speed of the File), but you have to know/ remember that and do that every time.
 Thats why i would highly recommend to already set the Correct Framerate in Camera (The Framerate at which your final Edited Videos will be exported/ saved at ) which you later use for Editing, so you dont have to think about it later. For me it is 25fps, because that is what i export about 95%++ of all my Videos at anyways.
 .
 Hope this explained that a little bit, and didnt just cause even more confusion.
 .  .
 Regards Correct Settings, i Set that Bit Per Pixel for h.264 Output to 8.00 because i just assumed that it was bit depth, and i didnt want do deal with editing 10 or 12 bit, when i save in compressed Formats, but now i am not too sure anymore after reading your reply and looking at that link. Really not sure what the Correct setting is for that one, i just put 8.00 which worked well for me until now. Maybe look in the Manual online, if there is something about it (its actually well written and has a lot of good info in it, i am usually, like now, just to lazy to look it up).
 I usually go for 60MBpS if saving h.264, as its just the highest Bitrate you can get compressed, and should deliver the best Image Quality in .mp4 (If you want even Higher Image Quality use DNG Format, but this requires a lot more Editing an knowledge to use and get good results. For Basic Output, h.264/ .mp4 is still Ok).
 .
 Shutter angel obviously depends on a lot of different things, but for the Traditional Cinematic Motion Blur, somewhere around 180° Shutter Angle is usually a good Setting.
 Framerate and Resolution can be set to whatever you want within the Technical Limits of the Camera, but 1000fps@ 1920x1080 is the Maximum Framerate you can get at the Highest Resolution of this camera, so unless you want your final Footage to look even Slower, this is usually also a good Setting.

273

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Missing Backfocus screw

« on: September 30, 2021, 10:49:12 AM »

Glad to be able to help you out!
 For a quick fix i assume Aluminum of the Same Size should also work, but shouldnt be used long term. Brass is the correct and appropriate Material to use there.
 Wish you the best luck with that "repair" /replacement!

274

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Footage feedback

« on: September 29, 2021, 09:51:05 AM »

FWIW, both the Chronos 1.4 and 2.1 use a global shutter sensor, so "rolling shutter" is not a possible artifact with these cameras.

Yes. Thats the other thing i was wondering. Apart from the Fact, that i couldnt see anything looking like rolling shutter, its literally not possible to get rolling shutter effects on an Camera like this (unless you seriously abuse it in some elaborate ways to do exactly just that, but talking about normal operation).
 Might look a bit choppy in playback, but that is most likely Editing, if there is any Stuttering in that footage, and its not just my PC or my eyes playing tricks on me.
 Could happen when saving footage as H.264 in 60fps, then putting it into an 24fps Timeline and the Video Editor will possibly skip some Frames in uneven Intervals, making the Playback weird and not really as smooth as could be, if you dont change playback speed to match 24fps (or just save 24fps in-camera already, if that is what you usually use for the final Video).
 Could also be the Lack of motion blur from shooting some really short shutterspeeds, will sometimes also lead to "choppy" Footage with fast movement, if that is What Md. Tauhidul Azam means when he talks about "rolling shutter"?
 Can Provide Examples and elaborate on that topic, if needed, let me know.
 .
 Only things i could think of from off the top of my head right now at least.

275

Chronos User Discussion / Re: SSD Cage for Chronos 1.4/2.1-HD - 3D-printable

« on: September 28, 2021, 11:09:04 AM »

Are you using an eSATAp cable?
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATAp

276

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Chronos 2.1 rig or cage

« on: September 27, 2021, 07:17:22 AM »

I just compared Dimensions of the Two cameras, and they seem to match surprisingly well on Paper from a brief look at it.
 BMPCC 4K Website says, its WxHxD 7"x3,8"x3,4" which is 177,8mm x 96,5mm x 86,4mm.
 The Chronos 2.1 Mechanical Drawing says, it is WxHxD  155mm x 96mm x 67,25mm.
 So from that alone, anything that will fit an BMPCC 4K should also have room to fit an 2.1 in it (unless i got my math wrong or missing something obvious).
 .
 BUT, the BMPCC 4K is some kind of tilted forward Shape, and most Images i found from an Quick Image Search for "tilta BMPCC rig" show Cages, which most likely will either block the Power Button, Trigger Button, SD-Card Slot; and/ or the HDMI Out or other I/O on the Side of the Camera. Also watch out for Ventilation, some of the Cages might as well block considerable amounts of Ventilation Area and the Battery compartment.
 .
 So as a Summary, would sure be worth a Try because the Physical Size is very similar, but watch out that whatever Cage/ rig you end up going with wont block any IO / Buttons/ Slots on the Camera you might want to use later. I am personally not aware of any cage that is currently for sale, which would be a known good fit for a Chronos Camera, thats why i started to build myself a custom one (work in Progress; see: https://forum.krontech.ca/index.php?topic=683.0) for my personal needs.
 If you find one that actually fits well, i would also be interested to know!

277

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Footage feedback

« on: September 27, 2021, 06:56:39 AM »

Hi,I can see the Red Flickering in the Fruits Clip, but cant figure out where there would be any Rolling Shutter Effects in this Footage, watched both multiple times, even Frame by Frame, cant see that. Can you point out exactly where that supposed Rolling Shutter Effect should be?
 .
 In regards to the Red Flickering, that might just be normal Digital Noise. Can you provide some Frame from that shot in DNG or a Framegrab from the .mp4 File, cause it seems like the Image was possibly pushed/ boosted quite a bit in editing, which can cause that with this camera. The Very dark Parts of Footage from the 2.1 have always been somewhat noisy, newer Firmware upgrades improved that a lot, but it is still there. (btw. which firmware Version was this shot on? 0.7.0?) So i generally would recommend to not boost the Shadows and Dark Areas of the Footage too far, or else things like this can become very visible in some Lighting Situations.
 Solutions for that would be to just expose a bit brighter, if the Image allows for that without blowing out the Highlights elsewhere in the Frame (in that shot there seems to be room for more Exposure without overexposing anything), or to figure out a way to light that Shot in a way that the overall contrast of the Image is reduced (less Dynamic Range to capture for the Camera, meaning more room to expose Brighter and have less dark areas in the Frame).
 At least that is what i think this is, someone Correct me if i am wrong.

278

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Playing back high-speed video

« on: September 26, 2021, 11:17:45 AM »

Well, somewhat obviously yes, they are all trying to somehow make money/ have to make money from their Product.
 There is Software like Blender, which will also do a decent bit of Video Editing (no RAW Processing sadly, also very steep Learning Curve), and that is Based on Community Donations on their Website and has a sizeable following, thats why it is (and hopefully stays) free to use with all its Features.
 About any other Software that has some kind of payed Version will try to make you get the Payed version usually.
 Adobe CC (and the older versions, if you can still find them anywhere) also has a test Period of like a Month, where you can use the Software for free, but you already have to set up an account and give them Your Bank Data to even get access to the Free Test Version, and you have to remember to unsubscribe from their Service, otherwise they will charge you Monthly Costs, as soon as said month is over.
 Resolve has a Free version, which has very specific Limitations, and if you are Serious about it, they want to make you upgrade to the "Studio Version" of Resolve with those Limitations, which of course costs Money.
 Apple has Final Cut, which some People Prefer over Adobe Software and such, but will only run on Apple Hardware, for which you will pay "Apple-Tax".
 .
 Sadly this is the case. Havent really looked into free Video Editing Software as much the few last years, but back when i did, those free, simple Video Editors either had some kind of Advertisements somewhere in them, or came from Questionable Websites (usually with Adware/ Malware somewhere probably...?).
 Most other Software that isnt based on Donations or something like that usually will not be free or at least not free to use forever sadly....

279

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Missing Backfocus screw

« on: September 22, 2021, 07:02:09 AM »

Took me some Time to find mine, because i havent used it in ages, but here is a Picture from mine with some Measurements.
 The Wormscrew a standard M4x6mm Flat end Wormscrew, the Brass rod is 23,5mm long and 3mm Diameter, just Straight untouched Stock, ends seem to be Roughly ground. You should be able to make that Part easily on your own with basic measuring tools and Files / a Metal saw / sandpaper.
 Mine is from an 2.1, but should be identical, from what i know. Length should not be too critical (maybe down to a Millimeter or something).

280

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Can somebody please confirm this is the 2.1 hd charger

« on: September 13, 2021, 06:28:36 AM »

Yes, i also have the same one.
 BTW. those old Standard Laptop Chargers/ Power Supplies will also work, if you have one of those on hand. They are usually 19V and used to come with the Same Plug. Newer Laptops now have a lot of different connectors, but the Same one like on the 2.1 was used on a bunch of Brands for a while.
 This is the original one, but if you ever have to use anything else, just make sure it is 17-20V, can deliver 40W of power or more and has an 5.5/2.5mm barrel jack, positive tip. Anything with those Ratings will work, if you happen to not have the Original one on hand for some reason.

281

Chronos User Discussion / Re: Post Chronos 2.1 clips here!

« on: September 09, 2021, 01:24:11 PM »

"Wet Dog"
 From my First Shots on 0.7.0 Software.  Shot at 400fps; 357° Shutter and 6dB Digital Gain; Aperture must have been somewhere between f/1.2 and f/0.9?

282

Software Dev / Re: Get recording start/finish timestamp via api

« on: September 08, 2021, 09:42:00 AM »

I have no idea about how the API works, but from what i know, the Filename will be the Timestamp whenever the Save was Started, not the Recording.

283

Software Dev / Re: Chronos V0.7.0 Full Release

« on: September 08, 2021, 08:30:29 AM »

No Problem at all, i myself am German and English is also not my native / first language. By now its not as bad as it used to be, but i even have problems expressing my thoughts in German Language at times, English is way worse, so i absolutely feel you in that one.
 .
 As far as the 1.4 / Software goes, i am like 200% sure they did test it to at least some extent on there, and if there where Major Issues / drawbacks from any Changes Made, i am also sure those would have been looked at (if noticed by whoever did whatever amount of testing on there..., Keep that in mind!) and solved in other ways.
 .
 If there are Issues with the 1.4 and 0.7.0, can you post examples/ give more Specific details about those?
 .
 I also noticed quite a bunch of Settings on 0.7.0, which will cause issues or worse Performance than Previous Releases, but dont want to post like 10 Single Posts about those, so i will put those Here, whenever i got time to do enough testing, that i can say [these Settings] cause [that] for sure, and can Provide Examples. Otherwise i think, i would just cause a ton of work for People at Krontech, which then would try to figure out however i managed to get so bad Footage in the First place. So i will try to provide documentation and also try to figure out a Pattern for when / what is going on (Gain/ Exposure Time Settings, will post later about that).
 .
 Would be interested myself also to see a Comparison on the 1.4, if you have any Footage on hand to share. Pretty sure That the Same goes for The Guys at Krontech.

284

Software Dev / Re: Chronos V0.7.0 Full Release

« on: September 08, 2021, 07:50:20 AM »

Didnt completely follow the last bit of conversation here, so sorry if i misread / misunderstand something, but from what i seen, the  1.4 had pretty decent Image Quality from rather Early on, and while it is still by far not a bad camera in any way, i would think that most people would mainly use the 1.4 for Higher framerates or general Highspeed Use. Anyone serious about High End Image Quality would want to use an 2.1, as even the 1080p FullHD Resolution the 2.1 Shoots is pretty much the Lowest Resolution that is still considered worth shooting for Entertainment/ Advertising/ ect. (4k is by now about Standard in mid to High end Consumer Cameras, 6K and 8K are coming... I personally still use mostly 1080p anyways, and Shoot 4K casually) today, with 720p HD being barely accepted as "high Quality" still. That in turn means that anyone using an 2.1 probably also is way more serious about getting High Quality Footage out of there. Given that there is also way less complaints about the 1.4 Image Quality to be heard, i guess the Focus of Development has become the 2.1 Image Quality. On the 1.4, as already has been said, you wouldnt really have much reason to upgrade anyways, if you just want to get Highspeed Footage of [whatever], and i assume most 1.4 Users wouldnt Upgrade camera Software regularly, but on the 2.1 there was also the Issue with the first batch of Sensors not being quite Perfect, so they behave Weird in some Situations and such. Causing Lines, Reduced Dynamic Range, Blacks Randomly cutting out completely in some Areas of the 2.1 Sensors and a lot of other things.
 .
 A good bit of all those Image Quality Improvements are still workarounds / fixes for those Problems that caused, not sure how the Current Batch of Sensors is Quality wise, but the first batch, of which i got one, was fairly bad. By now (from what i can tell so far from my rather limited amount of testing i did until now), with 6.0 and 7.0 Software, these Problems of the 2.1 Sensors have mostly been fixed, and you can get quite good footage from them in most Situations.
 .
 I dont own an 1.4 or have access to one, so i cant tell how these Improvements would affect one, but for the 2.1 these Fixes/ changes/ Improvements where Absolutely needed. Still not perfect, but way better than 5.1 and anything pre 5.1 (for most settings at least. Low Framerate stuff on the 2.1 is still best on Build 0.5.037.). With current versions, i can at least shoot Something without some Insane Lighting Setup and still needing to run heavy Denoising and other extreme Processing to get Presentable Footage.
 .
 Otherwise, anyone owning or using an 1.4 can and should still Post about any Issues here and i am sure they will be fixed sooner or later, but the 2.1 Sensor just seems to have an order of magnitude more Problems In terms of Image Quality, then the 1.4 Sensor ever had.

285

Software Dev / Re: Chronos V0.7.0 Full Release

« on: September 06, 2021, 02:00:16 PM »

if anyone has a bunch of spare time, there is also a bunch of unstable 0.7.x Releases from before the Official 0.7.0 Stable Release:
 http://debian.krontech.ca/builds/
 Maybe one of them is different in terms of color. Whoever feels the need to or has the Time To do so, can also test them/ play around with them.
 Still havent looked at them, as i so far didnt even have time to propperly test the Stable Release, but downloaded and Archived them, as they probably will be gone sooner or later (as the 5.1 Unstable is long gone now), just in case they are usefull/ better for some resolution/ Setting i might need/ want at some point in the Future.
 So might be a good idea to download for anyone who wants to do some testing at some point, as long as they are still there.