Breaking eggs with the Spark + Reality check

Spark Series
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Hi Pixboomers!

More testings from my kitchen in Sweden :slight_smile: I hope you find it useful. Camera settings and details at the end of the clip.

I am posting this to keep expectations at a realistic level, based on real-world experience from backer #124. :slight_smile:

ALSO: Do not judge the YouTube clip above. Watched it on your iPhone? Temporarily bad internet connection? YouTube gave you 720p instead of 4K?? Just making sure! :slight_smile: Download the ProRes clip instead, link below.

Learnings about the Pixboom Spark, after 48 hours:

  • Nailing exposure is critical, it’s your best friend. Do not underexpose or overexpose, check your waveform before shooting. You need to be more thorough with this camera than with your other cameras.

  • Keep it at ISO 400 if possible.

  • STRONG LED-lights are needed if you wanna do indoor/studio stuff. We’re talking 600-1200 W. Several of them.

  • File sizes are HUGE!!! You need to have X amount of terabytes available on your computer. I had 2+ SSD internal TB available on my Mac Studio (with a total 8 TB available). I ran out. I deleted the stuff from the Spark I wasn’t gonna use. Still, I am 2 TB down. Just for test clips! 

  • Exporting the clips in the native/‘as shot’ setting to ProRes 422 LT in the Pixboom Cine software is the best way to go. You can try HQ, but honestly I do not think it’s necessary.

  • Do your color adjusments, grading, denoising and sharpening to the ProRes clips in whatever software you use.

I am going to use this camera in lots of different scenarios. I will share in this forum when I have something new to show. Outside on a sunny day will be the easiest. But, I’m looking at the best deals on how to get as much light as possible, with acceptable CRI/TLCI numbers for light quality, for the cheapest possible price. And by ‘cheap’, I have realised that I am looking at around a 5,000 dollar price tag, haha… 2 x 600W or 1 x 1200W LED lights.

I already have 2x120W and 2x300W LED lights from Aputure. Those lights, with diffusion, only work if you put them really, really close to what you’re shooting, and you have a pretty fast lens so that you can shoot at around f2 at ISO 400. That’s how much light you need! (see attached BTS pics below)

Here is a WeTransfer link if you want to download the ProRes 422 LT version of the edited clip above. The two original files are over 100 GB in total, and I tried to be really quick from hitting record to breaking the egg to stop recording. I can share those upon request, but it’s really, really large file sizes.

https://we.tl/t-BJCypydWU2DA3yTL

Sharing some learnings based on life experience:

Overall, this camera reminds me of a Hasselblad (2015-ish) or RED camera, if you have any experience with those. But, MUCH, MUCH better!

Let me explain…

Operating this camera requires that a lot of things (and COSTS) around it are in place, if you want to get the most out of it. But, IF you have all the requirements in place, you get rewarded with the best possible quality in that specific area of photography/videography. But, it does not come quick, easy or cheap!

This is just based on my own experience from 25+ years, but I’m thinking that maybe this is useful to someone with less experience and ‘too high hopes’ with the Spark.

Because, that was me, when I bought my first Hasselblad in 2015 for a crapload of money… The disappointment was beyond words, because I did not know what I was getting myself into, having to spend tons of money on stuff AROUND the camera itself to be able to work with it!

I learned the hard way that high-end cameras require a high-end operator. The Pixboom Spark is a high-end slow motion camera, 100%! And it requires a high-end operator to get the most out of it. So do not blame the camera, if you get bad results at your first try with this camera, because it is more demanding than any Canon, Sony or Nikon camera you have ever used.

You need to understand this. Otherwise, you will become ‘that guy’, posting lots of crap in forums based on your disappointment, when the real problem is that YOU did not do you research properly, and that it involves A LOT of money from your end. (and Yes, I was that guy, 10+ years ago…) 

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6 Likes
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I’d disagree with this part: “Exporting the clips in the native/‘as shot’ setting to ProRes 422 LT in the Pixboom Cine software is the best way to go. You can try HQ, but honestly I do not think it’s necessary.”

Exporting to ProRes bakes in their Rec709 transform, which clips highlights very aggressively. This also gives you a lot less flexibility in color grading.

If you export in DNG, you get access to the log profile where the highlight information is better retained and you can color grade it how you like and choose where you want to roll your highlights off.

Just my thoughts on that aspect. If/when they let us transcode or record ProRes with a log profile, I’d probably skip the DNG option at that point and use ProRes instead 

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I’m interested to see what dng export gives you over the raw controls within the Pixboom Cine app. Do you tweak the image n the app before DNG export or does the DNG contain all information and you can tweak that in Resolve or similar? Are you able to post any comparison?

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Ah, cool, thanks! Didn’t think of that. I have experimented with a few different flavors of RAW from other cameras, for example Canon C70, C80 and Black Magic Pocket. But, I kind of always go back to ProRes or XF-AVC, it’s just more convenient for what I do.

Would you say that the difference in highlight information/dynamic range is signifcant between DNG and ProRes from the Pixboom Spark? I feel that for my needs, the ProRes files worked just fine, given that I nailed the exposure when shooting. But I will absolutely try exporting to DNG and compare.

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I don’t have any footage saved that I’m able to share since the projects haven’t been released yet, but there are a couple good examples of what you can do with the DNG vs baked in 709 (see links below). You don’t need to tweak any settings in the Pixboom Cine software if exporting the DNGs, as you can adjust things in Resolve.

My first samples - #14 by BKA88

Davinci Processing, Send over your tips and tricks

One thing to keep in mind is that the Spark is advertised as having 13 stops of dynamic range. Even if it’s a little less than that, Rec709 typically compresses your dynamic range down to 6 stops or so (the original range was only 5 stops from 0-100% before adding up to 109%), so the baked in 709 is tossing out some dynamic range that you might want when tweaking the image.

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Thanks a lot for that info! I just made another post where I tried the DNG workflow. I’ve never done it before and work primarily in Premiere, so a bit o new stuff to learn. But pretty easy I must say. Definitely more wiggle room in the highlights and shows this way.