Community Discussions
Explore the latest discussions and community conversations related to this domain.
mbd: Camera 0 encountered a fatal error while opening: Camera encountered a fatal error - Google Pixel Community
Main Post: mbd: Camera 0 encountered a fatal error while opening: Camera encountered a fatal error - Google Pixel Community
Apple's Final Cut Camera 2.0 to Support ProRes RAW and Genlock | MacRumors Forums
Main Post: Apple's Final Cut Camera 2.0 to Support ProRes RAW and Genlock | MacRumors Forums
Questions to go from 0 to Camera Assistant
Main Post:
Greetings Camera Assistants,
So here is the deal: I am a complete and utter n00b at Camera and yet I have decided that it is 100% the right career for me to pursue. Like many during the pandemic, I “soul searched” about my career choice and am eager to make a switch. The years I could have spent in this industry/in camera department are lost to feeling intimidated and insecure. Well, this is my first step in deconstructing that insecurity- being willing to look like an idiot by asking basic, amateur questions.
I live in the NYC area and have been working in other departments in the film industry here and there (nothing since before Covid!). Not having made many connections in the camera department thus far, I decided to post my questions here to see if anyone had the patience to answer.
Some of my questions have variable/hypothetical answers and I understand that. Hopefully I can get a wide enough range of answers to assemble an approximation of what to expect. I want to work in the camera department and work my way up to 2nd AC, 1st AC but not necessarily DP. My intention is to stay in the NYC area for my career. Just to give you insight, I am such a novice at camera that I am still grasping the core concepts of resolution, frame rate, etc. I am generally good at teaching myself things and I am not here to ask overly technical questions, but industry ones. I apologize in advance at how broad these questions are but I constantly get hung up on "where to start" so bear with me.
The three main areas of inquiry are:
1) What do I need to know?
a) What core knowledge, concepts, and skills should I be able to grasp to be an asset even starting out as an unpaid intern/assistant?
b) What core knowledge, concepts, and skills should I be able to grasp to get a paid entry level camera assistant job (after accruing some unpaid credits to obtain experience, of course)
c) How much can I expect to earn at the camera department entry level in the NYC area? I know how variable this is! It depends on how much I work, whether they are commercial shoots or low budget indie features, etc. Understanding those variables, if anyone who is currently working in the camera dept in NYC could give me some basic, generic expectations for this it would be greatly appreciated:
i) What is the current day rate for entry level camera assistant around NYC?
ii) How often are you able to work if you are trying to work "full time"? (I know this can be variable depending on your networking and slow seasons, etc)
iii) When (if any) are the really dry spells for finding work?
v) Whatever position you work in camera department, what have you been able to earn (annually) not accounting for the pandemic?
2) What do I need to have?
Simply, what kind of "kit" will I be expected to have (and know what to do with) at an entry level position? I am talking about basics here, not cameras. tape, markers, etc.
3) How do I need to act?
Though I have been on set before, I need insight into the "settiquette" of the department. Any tips or advice here is appreciated. I am neurodivergent but I very much present as neurotypical, which puts me in awkward social situations a lot when I can't "read the room." As weird as it sounds, I feel more confident when I know where the boundaries are and what is expected of me overall in that type of professional environment, etc.
Thank you to anyone willing to answer some of these questions. And thank you for having this reddit group as a resource!
Top Comment: Its good that you have some set experience, as knowing your way around the set is probably the most important thing when starting out. I went to film school and got a brief understanding of how sets work, then when I moved to CA I basically just said I was a 1st AC and faked it till I made it, starting out on lower budget things (I refused to work for free) and eventually made my way up to larger commercials and narrative projects. Luckily, if you are intending to start as a 2nd AC, you honestly don't need to know a ton technical wise to be in the camera Dept. You'll need basic organizational skills and note taking ability. You'll be in charge of keeping things clean, watching and changing batteries when they are low, transporting lenses to your 1st during lens changes, slating, marks, and camera notes (among other things). Some 1sts ACs will have you help on some technical sides (changing settings if they are away from camera, setting up wireless video and monitors, etc), but any 1st who's worth working with will understand if you don't know how to do something and will take the time to explain to you how to do certain aspects of your job. Take the time on your own to research and learn other ways (though being on set is the best way). Check out the Camera Assistants Manual already linked here along with https://www.theblackandblue.com . Call up some local rental houses and ask if you can get in there to play with equipment and pick their minds on how things work. If they aren't busy, they'll be down to help you out. As for wages and slow times, I can only tell you what its like in CA. I'm pretty busy most of the year, but around the holidays and for a little but in June its always slow. I work a decent amount of the year, but I also believe that work shouldn't rule my life, so Im not afraid to turn down a job if I need a mental/physical break and to recharge. I have however, built up a decent network and know I'm not screwing myself over by saying No. When you're starting out, its hard to turn down work because it could lead to the next big thing. Saying that, starting out is hard and you won't earn a lot of money. expect the first 3 years to be rough economically as you'll be building your network and working on terrible low budget projects. Sometimes its about luck, but eventually you'll get good at reading who you're working for and you'll be able to tell if they're going places or not, and the hopes is they will take you with them. I personally refused to work for free, many may advocate differently as its the best way to gain experience quickly, but I value my time and believe I should be paid for my work, even if its only $50 a day. As for settiquette, when youre first starting out, basically just stay out of the way hahah. You'll learn quickly where you can be when and if/when you should speak up (unless its safety concerns, then never be afraid to say something or refuse to do something if you feel unsafe). I've built relationships with a lot of DPs and know when I can speak up and say something about a shot or framing or if we missed picking up something, but if its my first time working with someone, I need to stay a little quieter to feel out how they work and if its the right time to say something. Also, this may feel weird, but don't be too eager. An example would be when taking camera notes, don't rush straight in and start measuring the camera height, tilt, camera settings, etc, right when it lands, because until the first shot is in the can, it could change at any time. And if it does, not only did you waste your time, you probably got slightly in the way of your Op and AC who are working around the camera. Wait until the first shot is rolled then quickly grab the notes you need. That also applies to slating. Don't stand in the way waiting to throw the slate in front of the lens. Have it near by ready to grab, but I cant stand it when my 2nd is on the set and keeps raising the slate into frame before we've finished checking everything. Most of what you'll learn if trial by fire, and expect to mess up. But if your 1st or DP screams at you for a silly mistake, they aren't worth working for in the long run. People need to remember, that while we are working, its not really a "job." We're making movies and we should have fun doing it.
Camera teleporting to world 0 position during render (UE5)
Main Post:
When using the movie render queue, if I override the Anti Aliasing and set the Temporal Sample Count to anything higher than 1, my camera teleports to the world 0 position during the render and back to it's original position, resulting in a render that is a 50/50 blend of those two images.
The camera is not keyframed, it still happens with newly created cameras and level sequences.
Top Comment: Do you have the right camera selected (in camera cuts, not tracking) in your level sequence?
Amateur help! Camera view "0" stuck in ortho mode, tried F5 to switch to perspective, but it's stuck
Main Post: Amateur help! Camera view "0" stuck in ortho mode, tried F5 to switch to perspective, but it's stuck
Top Comment: If anybody sees this, I fixed it buy copying the camera's loc/rot/scale object coords, deleted it, and made a new camera and punched in those coords
I revamped the Yakuza 0 Free Camera Tool and now it supports cutscenes, so you can freely move around to get a better view angle of your favorite scene! (Link in the comments)
Main Post: I revamped the Yakuza 0 Free Camera Tool and now it supports cutscenes, so you can freely move around to get a better view angle of your favorite scene! (Link in the comments)
Top Comment:
So I posted here a free camera tool for the Yakuza 0 previously, but this one is way better, since the movement is more natural (where you look, you move), and it also supports cutscenes. You can get better pictures of your favorite scene, or use it in freeroam, it will work either way.
Right now I'm working on a "pause" action, so you can get a better control of the scene without losing the moment.
Here's the source: https://github.com/etra0/yakuza-freecam
search for it in releases.
Camera not working on usb 3.0 : elgato
Main Post: Camera not working on usb 3.0 : elgato