Setup for face scan

[wesclei]

Hi Guys,
I am planing to setup a face scan system here in Brazil, the main goal is vfx and television(realtime like in games).
I would like to start with 16 canon T5i with the canon ef 50mm 1.4 lens, and then start to add more cameras as necessary.
what i would like to hear from you is :

1- is the canon t5i a good choice?
2-what about the kit 18-55mm lens that come with the cam? is it a good start point? i want to use the lens canon ef 50mm 1.4 prime as the recomendations but will depend of the budget size.
3- what kind of hardware for the usb hubs and triggers? for the trigger i am planing to use the NDC relay controller for the 16 cams...
4-for the cameras control i will use the smartshooter, the documentation says that is possible to fire mult cams using the software, has someone tried it?
5- Do i really need the PRO version of PS? i mean, to me the standard version seems to work fine for my goal.

by the way, i am a 3d artist, character modeling. and if you guys wants to know my work you can go in my gallery http://www.artstation.com/artist/wesclei there are some personal works .

i really appreciate your help here , thanks.

Wesclei

[mala]

1- t5i/700d is ok but the 100d/SL1 is cheaper
2- kit lens is ok but prime lens is better,rather than the f1.4 most people use the f1.8 50mm this cheaper and very good !
3- the NDC relay controllers are interesting but maybe a bit overkill to trigger cameras as the camera trigger current and voltage is actually very low
4- smart shooter is a good choice , but triggering via USB is not a good idea because it does not trigger all cameras at the same exact time.
5- there is a lot you can do with the standard version of PS, I would say if you are starting out then you do not need the Pro version.

Hope that helps 
mala

Ps **Forum mods** It really is time that we had a FAQ section pinned at the top of this forum section to make it much easier for new users ....and the rest of us!

[meshmixup]

Hi very nice works.

Have you seen this link? The simple way to do wired triggering,
http://www.breezesys.com/MultiCamera/release.htm

[wesclei]

mala,
thanks a lot for your help, i am doing some changes in my plan, actually i have the canon 50mm 1.8 in my cam, i love this lens, specially the ratio quality vs. price. what brands do you suggest for the triggers / hubs /etc..?

meshmixup
thanks dude, and yes i have read the breeze links, actually i got the ndc triggers from there. I was thinking to use the breeze software to control the cameras, but it is a little expensive, since i need 1 license per camera.... "Purchase DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera software online for $129 USD x number of cameras"... about the solution, to be honest i am not a "eletronic" expert , but some guys here know how to build the trigger... i am still thinking about a remote trigger like pocket wizard...

thanks guys

[mala]

Hi wesclei,

I can only give a biased answer to your question regarding triggers..... my signature below "Esper" may explain why

Cheers,
mala

[wesclei]

Wawawawaw, i am sorry Mala, i am a fool...

thankkkkks

[wesclei]

Hi guys, long time since last post here.

I have good news, i got the first 10 cams for my face scan setup. at this point i have a wireless trigger system, using a ship radio trigger, its working fine. i am using the canon t5i , and its pretty good, however there is a problem with the external trigger system of the t5i, every time i plug the trigger cable, i cant change the parameters of the cameras, even smartshooter cant change the camera settings, i am still able to download the photos to my laptop, but if i wante to change things like, aperture, shutter speed, iso etc... i have to unplug all the trigger cables from te 10 cameras, this is crazy... does Someone here had this problem with other camera model???

[Lambo]

Hi wesclei, I use the software smartshooter for synchronizing the cameras, downloading the pictures, changing settings, etc. But I trigger the cameras with the cheaper Yongnuo triggers and they have been really good so far. I have a 63 camera rig and there has been only 2 triggers that failed but since they are so cheap, it is still totally worth it.
I sometimes have an issue that sounds almost like yours. I use Nikon D5100 cameras and sometimes I can not trigger 1 of the cameras or see the live view and the only way to solve it is to disconnect the wireless trigger and reconnect it.
Hope this helps a bit...
Leo

[wesclei]

Hi, Lambo,
Actually the problem was the cable conector... a wrong wiring inside the conector was freezing my auto focus and i was loosing the quick menu from the camera, this way smart shooter couldn't change the camera settings.
by the way, the Yongnuo trigger that you mentioned can trigger cameras and flashes syncronized??? could you tell me the model that you are using? i am having problem to sync the cameras and flashes together..

thanks

[Lambo]

Hi wesclei, the Yongnuo remote can trigger cameras and flashes if you want. But the way I do it (that was learned through this forum) is to trigger the cameras only and you set them to shoot at 1/10 sec and there is 1 designated camera that is set to second curtain sync and that one has a remote that sends the signal to the flashes (I use the AlienBee flashes)
that way by the time the camera sends the signal to the flashes, all the other cameras have their shutter opened and they all capture correctly.
This works pretty good even if you have some normal lights in the scene before the flashes fire but will give you some shadows if you are trying to capture really fast movement like moving head with hair or something like that. For that to work correctly, you have to dim the lights as much as possible (something that will create a little uncomfortable sudden light in the persons eyes)
Let me know if you have any other questions...
Leo

[wesclei]

Hi Lambo, thanks for the great informations. i have tried this technique before, but using a cable from one camera controlling  the flash , whats happened was i got this camera syncronized with the flash, but all the others i can see the second curtain in the half of picture, i mean, half of my other pics are black. i tried with different speeds even more slowly and the result is crazy, sometimes its seems to work and sometimes not.

if i understood, you are using a second tranceiver in one of your cameras that triggers the flashes, may be in a second channel. is that right?

at this point i am using a very cheap tranceiver from greika. i am planning to buy the shuttercell from esper design. but for now what i have is it, 10 cameras t5i, 2 flahses 200 smartshooter on a mac, and the greika tranceiver, everything is working fine i can download the images i can control my cameras, just the flahses are off. i did a test using a speedlite attached to a camera, triggering by "light" the other 2, its work fine untill the speed 1/40... but that is not reliable i believe... i want something really solid.
i saw this PocketWizard Plus III Transceiver http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/844969-REG/PocketWizard_801_130_Plus_III_Transceiver_Radio.html may be i can use one to trigger the shuttercell, and one in each flash to trigger them... what do you think?

thanks

[Lambo]

That is strange that you get the black portions? I know that Canons are a little more unreliable for synchronizing than the Nikons but this seems excessive.
I use the normal Yongnuo receiver connected to the "flash trigger" camera and then connect the AlienBee transceiver on the hotshoe to dens the signal to 1 flash and the other flashes are set to salves so they fire automatically as soon as the first flash starts to fire.
You shouldn't have to buy so much stuff to make the flashes and the cameras sync correctly?
Leo

[wesclei]

Hi Lambo, i gonna try a bit more and see if i can figure out whats happening... at this point i have only one transmiter, and all the receivers...
when you say flahses set to slaves, do you mean triggered by the photocell?

thanks

[Lambo]

Yes, most of the Studio flashes have the "slave" optical system that triggers automatically when a first flash goes off.
Leo

[wesclei]

yes, this solution worked really good when i tried it with the speedlite flash attached to one camera, then everything works just fine.  i think this is a good idea since i have the speedlite, but i still believe that it is not reliable... need to test it more....thanks again dude.

Wesclei