Corel PaintShop Pro X9

[clark77494]

Has anyone used Corel PaintShop Pro X9? It seems to have the same tools as photoshop at a fraction of the price. It also came with software called "Fast Flick" which you can make movies with your photos. When I get back from Thanksgiving I will make a movie for the Wrights Crossing house.

[clark77494]

Here is the First Movie I made with Corel Fast Flick of my Rental House. Will probably tweak it over the weekend.

https://youtu.be/rN4ITyRacEc

Clark,

[Waddizzle]

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@clark77494 wrote:

Here is the First Movie I made with Corel Fast Flick of my Rental House. Will probably tweak it over the weekend.

https://youtu.be/rN4ITyRacEc

Clark,

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My only critique in the shots you took relate to camera setup and camera angles.  Compare the vertical lines of the walls in your shots to the vertical lines in the outdoor shots by the professional photographer you mentioned in your previous post. 

Getting those vertical lines nice and straight [rectililnear] comes from leveling the camera.  You can get it very close with handheld shots.  But, it takes a tripod to get it consistently perfect.  By carefully positioning the elevation of the camera relative to the floor and ceiling, and leveling the camera so that it is not angled slightly upwards or downwards, you can get nearly perfectly square looking rooms. 

Of course, it is not always possible to shoot with a leveled camera for all shots.  Sometimes the shot of the house from the street may mean shooting slightly uphill, which will usually distort the lines of the house.  A tilt-shift lens is able to correct for those types of shots.  They're expensive, though.  I wouldn't buy a T-S lens if I were not using a full frame camera body, because an APS-C body would limit the angle-of-view out of the lens too much, wasting its' real value.

[clark77494]

Waddizzle,

I tend to point the camera downward for the indoor shots and uphill for the front of the house. The tripod has a leveling bubble (Which I did not use, and will start using). What height should I set the tripod at? On some of the shots inside I cranked up the tripod to 6 feet. I noticed the vertical lines showing up at an angle on the video.

Clark,

[Waddizzle]

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@clark77494 wrote:

Waddizzle,

I tend to point the camera downward for the indoor shots and uphill for the front of the house. The tripod has a leveling bubble (Which I did not use, and will start using). What height should I set the tripod at? On some of the shots inside I cranked up the tripod to 6 feet. I noticed the vertical lines showing up at an angle on the video.

Clark,

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The leveling bubbles on tripods are frequently not very accurate, not mention hard to see when you're reaching down to adjust the legs.  Ditto for most levels built into some tripod heads.  You frequently cannot see the level and adjust the legs at the same time.  For most bullseye bubbles, you need to be looking straight down at the level, not at an angle.

The inexpensive hot-shoe bubble that John posted is easy to see as you make adjustments to the tripod head.  You can setup your tripod legs in a position that best stabilizes the tripod, without having to worry about destabilizing by trying to level it.  The hot-shoe bubbles allow you to fairly accurately level out a static camera.  Now, just don't try to pan with it, which you will rarely do shooting real estate photos, anyway.

I like to take panorama shots, so leveling a static camera is insufficient.  Because just as soon as you start panning the head, the camera will begin tilting because the head itself isn't level and pointing straight upwards.  You need some means to level the tripod head itself, which is exactly what a leveling base adapter does..  Even then, you would still need to level the camera, but all of my tripod heads have bullseye bubble levels in the quick-release clamp.  So, I level clamp by adjusting the head, and I'm good to go.

As far as how high above the floor you should have the camera, that is purely a judgement call based upon the content of the shot.  I suppose for many shots in plain and simple rooms, you may want to simply be equidistant from floor and ceiling.  For some shots you may want to capture a feature of the room, and draw the eye towards it.

[clark77494]

Waddizzle,

Just found the Hot Shoe Bubble on Amazon. It fits into the external flash connector in the camera. Only $11.00. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BMTJQB6/#

Someone had told me the level of the camera on the tripod should be around 4 feet. The next project is to shoot my house. Practice makes perfect. 4 feet seems a bit low. 

Clark,

[Waddizzle]

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@clark77494 wrote:

Waddizzle,

Just found the Hot Shoe Bubble on Amazon. It fits into the external flash connector in the camera. Only $11.00. 

[deleted link]

Someone had told me the level of the camera on the tripod should be around 4 feet. The next project is to shoot my house. Practice makes perfect. 4 feet seems a bit low. 

Clark,

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Actually, four feet would put you exactly midway between floor and an eight foot ceiling.  Place image sensor at four feet.