What is Open Gate video, and why is it a big deal?

What is Open Gate video, and why is it a big deal?

Lumix has made Open Gate shooting a regular part of its video offerings, but what is it and why is it really useful, asks Damien Demolder

Quite a number of Lumix cameras offer their users the option to shoot Open Gate video. It’s still a remarkably uncommon feature in a mirrorless camera, though other manufacturers are just beginning to catch on, but Panasonic provides this mode in a whole host of models to allow maximum flexibility for video makers and to make their life very much easier during and after a shoot. The Lumix system has offered Open Gate shooting for a long time now, and it’s a feature you’ll find right across the range. So you don’t have to buy a top-end model to enjoy the considerable benefits.

Lumix cameras that offer Open Gate mode include:

Throughout history motion pictures have been recorded and shown in a wide range of aspect ratios, and still today we see video displayed in all sorts of shapes and orientations across our TVs, and even more so on different social media platforms and websites. Despite the variety of formats in which we need to show our videos, most camera manufacturers only allow video to be recorded in the 16:9 aspect ratio. That’s fine for showing on TV or on YouTube, for example, but it doesn’t always work for other platforms. Quite often too we need to create films that can be shown in both horizontal and vertical orientations, so we end up having to shoot the same content multiple times, with the camera turned through 90° to allow the subject the space and resolution needed. If your camera only shoots regular 16:9 and you need a film that can be shown on YouTube as well as in an Instagram Story, for example, you’ll have no choice but to shoot it twice – once horizontal and once upright.

Here you can see how recording from the full area of the sensor allows multiple crops to be made from the same clip. The centre image here shows what was recorded and the Frame Markers that indicate where the subject needs to be so that he will appear nicely framed in upright or and horizontal crops of the clip. The image on the left shows a 9:16 crop of that clip, while on the right you can see the 16:9 crop of the same clip. Open Gate allows us to shoot once and crop twice

The idea behind shooting Open Gate in Lumix cameras is that we only need record each clip once with the camera in the landscape orientation, as we can then crop the high-resolution footage to suit all the platforms on which we want to show it. This saves a whole lot of time, and also allows us extra flexibility once the shoot is over - sometimes, after the shoot, a client might announce they need to be able to show the video in an upright 9:16 frame that they hadn’t mentioned in the brief. If you have recorded your footage in the Open Gate format this won’t be a problem, as you’ll have all the resolution and frame space needed to make any crop you need.

What is Open Gate recording?

Open Gate settings use the full area of the sensor, in this case creating a 3:2 aspect ratio recording in 6K from the full frame Lumix S9. Cameras in the G series will create 4:3 aspect ratio recordings when used in Open Gate mode because they use a Micro Four Thirds sensor

While most cameras record video in a 16x9 area of the frame that crops sections from the top and bottom of the sensor, Open Gate mode records from the entire sensor area to give us a 3:2 picture area in a full frame camera or a 4:3 area in a Micro Four Thirds model. Of course we aren’t especially likely to display our films in either of those aspect ratios but both allow us to crop to a very wide range of popular aspect ratios in post-production while maintaining the sort of resolution you’d expect had you recorded separate clips in 4K. Open Gate mode uses very high resolutions, such as 6K recording, so when you crop a 9:16 segment from the centre to create an upright video, you still have resolution greater than 4K.

In the Lumix S series cameras 6K Open Gate mode gives us an image measuring 5952x3968 pixels, so when you shoot in landscape orientation you can still crop a 9:16 upright section that will measure 2232x3968 pixels. The advantage is that the 9:16 crop comes from the full 3968-pixel height of the sensor rather than from a 3840 x 2160-pixel standard 4K recording in 16:9, which would only allow a pixel height of 2160. Cropping from an Open Gate frame, our 9:16 film will be 2232 x 3968 pixels instead of 1215 x 2160 pixels, so it will contain much more detail.

Open Gate – shoot once and crop both ways

This shows how a single Open Gate video file can be cropped in multiple ways to suit a range of web and social media platforms. The file was recorded using the Lumix S5ll in the Open Gate 6K mode so the 3:2 original frame measures 5952 x 3968 pixels, which allows each of these crops to maintain a greater-than 4K resolution. We grade the original video once and then make the different crops before rendering

If you are making a video that you will want to show both in landscape orientation and as a vertical you will usually need to shoot it twice, once with the camera horizontal and once with the camera vertical. That way you’ll end up with 4K clips in either orientation. Your subject will need to remember their script twice and you’ll have to edit two films – the horizontal one and the vertical one.

But if your camera offers Open Gate recording you can record in the landscape orientation once and crop both 16:9 and 9:16 format videos from the same footage. The resolution of an Open Gate recording means that even when cropping an upright 9:16 image from your 6K landscape orientation recording you’ll end up with a 2232x3968 pixel image. That image will be bigger than the 2160x3840 pixels of the 4K image you would have got had you just turned the camera on its side and shot in a regular format. With this extra resolution you can crop in a bit more if you need to, or just scale the video down for even better image quality.
The idea though of the Open Gate format is that you can shoot a single clip and crop it multiple ways to fit vertical and horizontal frames, long and squat aspect ratios, without having to shoot the same scene lots of times and then have to edit together multiple films. You only need to shoot once, edit and grade once, but then you can crop that footage a number of different ways to suit all your output requirements.

Frame Markers on

The latest firmware allows up to three frame markers to be selected to display at the same time. In the settings menu, you’ll find the Frame Marker options in page 2 of the Monitor/Display section

Of course, when you are recording in an aspect ratio that won’t be the same as the final aspect ratio, you’ll need some guidelines on the screen to help you keep the subject in the area that will end up in the video whichever way it is cropped. To do this Lumix cameras have a collection of Frame Markers that we can lay over the screen to help us. You’ll find the Frame Markers in the Monitor/Display section of the Settings menu.

We are able to determine the colour of each marker individually so we can find a colour that will show up well in the scene we are shooting. We also have an extensive choice of aspect ratios to choose from, as well as a custom setting that allows us to create our own for particular projects

There is an enormous choice of aspect ratios we can use across the screen, as well as a collection of colours for the markers to make sure they stand out against whatever we are shooting. We can also create shading in the areas of the screen that we don’t think we’ll use, and alter the opacity of that shading to make the ‘dead’ areas more or less visible.

Firmware and Frame Markers

We also have a choice over how much the parts of the frame not being used are masked from view. In the centre image the mask was set to 75% to make the active areas really stand out. The position and size of the frame can also be altered

Ensure your camera is loaded with latest firmware as Panasonic is constantly upgrading the features its cameras offer. Recent updates allow multiple frame markers to be set at the same time. This allows us to see the areas we will use for both landscape and upright crops while we’re recording, or even have multiple upright or landscape crops showing simultaneously. The latest firmware allows up to three frame markers to be shown on your rear screen at the same time, to help composition when shooting for a range of different platforms. These frames can be shifted anywhere on the screen to create dynamic compositions in whichever aspect ratios you choose.

Frames can be moved around the screen according to where we expect the action to take place. When shooting for 16:9 and 9:16 crops it can sometimes be useful to reduce the height of the vertical frame, as shown above left, so we don’t end up with too much space above a subject’s head. Frames can be moved with the camera’s control wheels or simply by touching and dragging them – from the centre to move them and from a corner to change their size. As with regular compositions, we don’t always want the subject in the centre of the frame

As always, you can download the newest camera firmware from the Panasonic website at:
https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index.html and you’ll find guidance on updating here: https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-expert-advice-learn/lumix-expert-advice/how-to-update-the-firmware-of-your-lumix-camera.html

As well as the ability to use up to three frame markers at a time, the newest firmware for these Lumix cameras will also enable the MP4 Lite format. This format not only allows the recording of small video files that are easy to edit but they can also be transferred wirelessly to the Lumix Lab app for grading on your phone or tablet. These recordings will also be in Open Gate, but with a resolution of 3.8K that makes them ideal for direct upload to social media platforms.

More resolution for digital transitions

The table above shows the resolution advantage in shooting Open Gate over regular 4K 16:9 formats. These 3:2 and 4:3 modes deliver much more detail, but also much more flexibility for reframing in post-production. Even the small-file-size MP4 Lite format offers resolution advantages over normal cameras’ 4K formats.

The big advantage of shooting open gate is not only that you can easily crop different aspect ratios from the taller 3:2 or 4:3 footage, but also that the resolution of your cropped films will remain much higher than had you taken them from a standard 16:9 frame. Having this extra resolution in your recorded footage allows additional cropping in the edit should you need it, and gives us more options for re-framing the subject after the shoot is over. Digital pans and zooms are also much more possible while still maintaining a high-resolution end result. The table above demonstrates the difference shooting Open Gate makes to the pixel count of the footage you get to work with in post.

Here you can see the Rec Quality menus for the Lumix S1Rll in 24Hz mode (left) and 50Hz mode (right). The Lumix S1Rll offers extraordinary resolution for Open Gate shooters, whether you are shooting with the Cinema or Pal system frequency. Of course, the camera offers regular 6K Open Gate too

While many Lumix models will shoot 6K Open Gate as standard, the S1Rll and the S1ll offer users even more resolution – and in the case of the S1ll, higher frame rates for slow motion as well. With camera set to use the cinematic 24Hz System Frequency the Lumix S1Rll offers 8.1K Open Gate shooting, with a frame size of 8064 x 5376 (43MP) pixels and a potential 9:16 frame of 3024 x 5376 pixels. Such high resolution frames might seem unnecessary, but they give us enormous scope for digital zoom effects, cropping and reframing after the shoot is done. In the 50Hz PAL mode we get up to 7.2K 7200 x 4800 pixel Open Gate options.

When we want to combine Open Gate shooting with slow motion effects we can turn to the Lumix S1ll which will enable us to record up to 50p/60p in 5.1K. These 50/60p frame rates will allow us up to 2x slow motion, presuming we are running a 25/30p timeline. This is a pretty big deal, and a significant advance in Open Gate shooting for those who want to combine creative effects with the best visual quality.

Open Gate and the Lumix Lab app

These screen grabs from the Lumix Lab app show some of the reframing and cropping possibilities available when Open Gate MP4 (Lite) footage is imported from the camera. We can add LUTs and grade our clips, and then crop the same clip into multiple aspect ratios in the app for sharing directly from the phone

Lumix users with cameras capable of shooting in MP4 Lite can use the Lumix Lab app to crop and reframe their footage directly from the camera. Shooting in the MP4 (Lite) mode gives us a high resolution image that is compressed to make a much smaller video file that’s suitable for transferring wirelessly from the camera to your phone. Open Gate in the MOV format is usually 6K resolution with large file sizes, but while MP4 Lite Open Gate 3.8K still has more pixels than a normal camera’s 4K footage file sizes are greatly reduced to make them more portable and to allow direct uploading to social media channels without the use of a PC.
Once in Lumix Lab we have twelve cropping options available, including 5 in the upright format and one square. Once again, the extra height of the 3:2 and 4:3 frames over the 16:9 frame gives us more choices while maintaining good resolution.

Here I’ve made a series of crops from a 3:2 Open Gate recording to show the extra space we get when making a 9:16 upright crop from a 3:2 Open Gate image when compared to making the upright crop from a standard 16:9 recording. The image far right is the Open Gate original, and on far left you can see a 16:9 crop made from it. In the middle I’ve compared 9:16 crops made from the 16:9 image (centre left) and from the 3:2 Open Gate image (centre right). Note how much extra head room and space for the jacket there is in the 9:16 crop from the Open Gate image. Cropping from an upright frame from a 16:9 clip leaves us much more restricted

Borrow a Lumix camera for free

Most of the cameras mentioned in this article, as well as a wide range of lenses, are available to borrow from Panasonic for free. If you would like to try these Open Gate modes, or any other feature of these Lumix models, head to the Lumix Loan website. Cameras and lenses will be sent to your door at no cost to you, so you can test them yourself in the environments you like to shoot.