Miniature painting video advice please

Raptor Mike

Raptor Mike

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Mike
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Hi folks.
I do a lot of miniature (Warhammer) painting, and want to start tutorials for YouTube. There are quite a few that do it at the moment and I've shared some links below to give you an idea of what I mean.

I'm having two main issues, lens closeness and computer capability.

Lens closeness
I'm using a Canon RP with a Canon 85mm 1.8. The lens is outstanding but I can't focus closely which means cropping in post. As I understand it the way around it is to record in 4k and crop to 1080. The issue is keeping the subject in the area of the frame to crop in later whereas if I could get closer I could see if the subject is in frame (I use my phone with Canon Connect as a monitor) and film in FHD rather than 4k making the next issue less of a problem. So which lens (out of full frame or R lenses) would you recommend for this?

Computer Capability
I've been doing the video editing on Photoshop which although adequate for my needs at the moment is running at a very low fps on playback while editing (around 7ish fps). My PC is about 10years old and is maxed out at 16gb, which I understand is the minimum recommended for video. Is there a way to improve the performance without buying a new PC?

Here's the specs from Speccy:

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 655K @ 3.20GHz 35 °C
Clarkdale 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Acer Predator G5900 (CPU 1) 59 °C
Graphics
IPS235 (1920x1080@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (Gigabyte) 30 °C
Storage
465GB Western Digital WDC WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 (SATA (SSD)) 31 °C
1863GB Western Digital WDC WD2003FZEX-00Z4SA0 (SATA ) 35 °C
59GB SDXC Card (USB )
Optical Drives
ATAPI DVD A DH16ABSH
Audio
High Definition Audio Device

Below is the Youtubers links for examples and some of the stuff I've painted to give you an idea.
I have a lot of the kit, lights, camera, reasonable painting skill, I just need to iron out these issues. Thanks in advance (y)

 

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If you record in 4k you can crop to anywhere within the frame, it does not have to be in the centre so framing won't be so much of an issue, you just need to make sure it is in focus.

I would personally look at a macro lens, if you have an adapter then the ef 100mm macro is quite highly regarded. At a stretch, you could get some extenders, I have a set and can use them between the adapter and the ef glass with success. They do a rf set that would work on your 85mm that would get you much closer... https://www.amazon.co.uk/JJC-Extens...223XTX4/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B08223XTX4&psc=1

Do you have any continuous lighting? You will need to up the aperture to get a reasonable depth of field, so will need lots of light. You can see in some of the videos listed the camera hunting for focus because the depth of field is so narrow at macro distances. You need to make sure the light is consistent with the ambient light (in colour) and to each other if you use multiple lights. You also need to be sure they don't flicker, you can usually test this with a phone in camera mode, point it where the light is shining.

Computer wise I would imagine photoshop is probably not the most efficient (memory wise) for video editing and would suggest using an actual video editing app. I use premier pro as part of the adobe suite, but there is a cost that for a hobby may not be great. I am sure there are free apps but don't know which would be best on a pc.

Audio wise, a cheap Lav mic would be better than the onboard camera mic, may be worth looking at, it will make a big difference to the end results.

Sorry if it is basic info, not sure what your video journey has taken you and what you already know.

T
 
There are three common methods by which you can focus closer. In (rough) order of cost these are...
  1. Fit a close up lens to the filter thread of your lens.
  2. Fit extension tubes between the lens and the body.
  3. Replace the current lens with a macro lens.
Have you tried any of these previously?
 
Tdes said:
If you record in 4k you can crop to anywhere within the frame, it does not have to be in the centre so framing won't be so much of an issue, you just need to make sure it is in focus.

I would personally look at a macro lens, if you have an adapter then the ef 100mm macro is quite highly regarded. At a stretch, you could get some extenders, I have a set and can use them between the adapter and the ef glass with success. They do a rf set that would work on your 85mm that would get you much closer... https://www.amazon.co.uk/JJC-Extens...223XTX4/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B08223XTX4&psc=1

Do you have any continuous lighting? You will need to up the aperture to get a reasonable depth of field, so will need lots of light. You can see in some of the videos listed the camera hunting for focus because the depth of field is so narrow at macro distances. You need to make sure the light is consistent with the ambient light (in colour) and to each other if you use multiple lights. You also need to be sure they don't flicker, you can usually test this with a phone in camera mode, point it where the light is shining.

Computer wise I would imagine photoshop is probably not the most efficient (memory wise) for video editing and would suggest using an actual video editing app. I use premier pro as part of the adobe suite, but there is a cost that for a hobby may not be great. I am sure there are free apps but don't know which would be best on a pc.

Audio wise, a cheap Lav mic would be better than the onboard camera mic, may be worth looking at, it will make a big difference to the end results.

Sorry if it is basic info, not sure what your video journey has taken you and what you already know.

T
Click to expand...

Thank you

My worry with cropping is that even though I can crop anywhere in the frame I'd want to stay in the same area of that frame throughout so I can crop the whole scene at once and I can't see a boarder to stay within, if that makes sense.

I've been looking at extension tubes but have seen they greatly reduce the focus range so if you move a cm one way or the other the subject falls out of focus. As I understand it they also limit the range of you aperture (I've been filming at f8), so I don't know if they cause more issues.

I have good lighting for painting anyway but if I defuse it it's not strong enough so am having to shoot at around iso 800 which isn't ideal so is defiantly something I would need to address if I start doing this properly.

Basic is good, I can do photography but am a proper noob when it comes to video lol
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
There are three common methods by which you can focus closer. In (rough) order of cost these are...
  1. Fit a close up lens to the filter thread of your lens.
  2. Fit extension tubes between the lens and the body.
  3. Replace the current lens with a macro lens.
Have you tried any of these previously?
Click to expand...
Admittedly no. As mentioned above I don't know how much extensions would help as I understand they can cause dof and focus range issues. What do you mean by close up lens?
 
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