I'm doing a major production (for me) which involves filming with four cameras which are all effectively the same...though obviously from different angles. I've locked the focus and aperture down etc but I've come across an interesting thing, which I'll show by the two photos below. They are screen shots from video from the same camera, with lights etc all identical. Yet one video is considerablly more golden/brighter (right image - as though you can't tell!) and is out of sync with all the other videos from all the other cameras - and with video from the same camera from other film sessions (left image). I don't know why there is a difference with this one camera during this one filming session, But I would like to bring the odd video in line with all the others colour wise. It seems to be a 'global' difference.

Any suggestions on how to go about this? I'm using Vegas 10 Pro

Thanks

Renton

which cameras to start with?

you locked focus / aper. but did you white balance them all - and prior to that made sure none of the 'internal' camera settings were on (eg. saturation, knee, etc.,)

Looks like automatic white balance at play.

If it is auto white balance, I could only be that I may have switched this camera on before the green screen lights - though I don't think I did that. Otherwise there is no reason for any difference in the white balance as everything is identical between shoots. AWB in such situations shouldn't change - should it?

If it is a WB issue, is there any way to globally adjust WB to bring the clips into line colour wise?

Well, it was simply an observation based on what it looks like based on what I've seen auto WB do in similar situations.

But whether it's a WB issue or not, the footage is what it is once it's been shot, so there's no special fix based on WB.

A general WB adjustment in the color correcter has to do with the eyedropper buttons to the lower left of each color wheel. Start with the wheel on the right, click on the eyedropper button, click on something that's supposed to be bright white. Go to the middle wheel, click on the eyedropper, and then click on something that's supposed to be medium white or nearto. Go to the wheel on the left, click on the eyedropper, and then click on something black.

This doesn't mean it will match the other footage, though; chances are some tweaking of all the footage will be necessary, and *exact* matches between clips may not happen.

And if this is going to be chromakey footage, I'd work on the color matching *after* you pull the key.

AWB can change for too many reasons to list, that's why it's always best to manually WB however the real question is can it be fixed? The answer is yes. Vegas has some of the best CC tools around.
Set both clips on the timeline, take a snapshot of the good one, (not a freeze frame, a snapshot to the clip board) move the cursor to the one you want to fix, split the preview screen (icon over the preview screen) open up the CC FX and have at it. I'll try to get you some settings shortly, I'm rendering a peice right now but the fact is it can be done.

Thanks so much guys.

It is sooo long since I did white balance or exposure adjustments that I have forgotten how to do them!!!

I remembered seeing a thread/comments/recommendation about a plugin from:

FBmn Software - White Balance plug-in for Sony Vegas Pro 10 (http://www.fbmn-software.com/)

...so am checking them out...

Will look at it all tonight...

Here's some info-Hope it helps

Great job Don, they look identical!

Thanks but actually the gamma of the lower one could stand to be dropped a tiny bit but I'm just being super critical and the image is still a tiny touch off but frankly for 2 minutes spent on it I'm pretty happy with it.
Thanks for the kind words

Thanks so much Don, Much appreciated.

I haven't had time to do it yet - hardly sat down at the computer yesterday...

One thought I had is that while the brighter image was out of sync with all the others, it seemed to have more...hmmm...'vibracy' than others and have wondered about tweaking the others, even though they look quite good. I guess there is no requirement to simply use the images as they come off the camera. Will give it some thought.

Thanks again...

Sony did a great color correction webinar today. Obviously its too late to watch it live now but they do upload their webinars about two weeks afterwards. Bookmark this page and watch out for it:

Sony Creative Software - Training and Support (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/training)

You could balance the rogue footage quite easily using a combination of the Color Corrector Filter and split screen (to compare one with another) whilst dipping into the Video Scopes. Don't worry its much easier than it sounds :-)

Pete

As a note for the future, automatic white balance is dangerous for green screen and worse for blue screen.

Obviously its too late to watch it live now

I wonder what their policy is on people who watched and recorded it sharing it with people who missed it.

It was a great webinar. I knew most of what it said, but I finally learned what the Secondary Color Correction filter does. Very useful, and I have been missing on something like that while it has been there already!

They will be posting the Webinar on their sites as they have others. He mentioned it in the Webinar. It was a good primer on color correction techniques, and the explanation of the Secondary Color Corrector helped a lot. I notice he goes to brightness and contrast as his first correction. I like to go right to Levels, which I think give you more control over adjustment.

I notice he goes to brightness and contrast as his first correction. I like to go right to Levels, which I think give you more control over adjustment.

I had the impression he wanted to start at the bottom, with a very simple quickie tool, then build up to better and more powerful tools. And since he works for Sony, he probably did not want to imply that any of their tools might not be useful. :)

I wonder why it always takes them weeks to post the archived webinars. It took me a couple of hours to make my own MP4 from my recording. And it only took me so long because Vegas could not read the audio from the MXF format, so I had to first export the sound to WAV files, and then Vegas took two and a half hours to render it. I have just finished watching it the second time.

As a note for the future, automatic white balance is dangerous for green screen and worse for blue screen.Why is that?

I wonder why it always takes them weeks to post the archived webinars. It took me a couple of hours to make my own MP4 from my recording. And it only took me so long because Vegas could not read the audio from the MXF format, so I had to first export the sound to WAV files, and then Vegas took two and a half hours to render it. I have just finished watching it the second time.

Wouldnt be putting it up anywhere would you Adam?
"Cough,"
https://www.yousendit.com/

Wouldnt be putting it up anywhere would you Adam?

That is why I was asking about their policy. I would not want to violate Sony’s copyright.

As a note for the future, automatic white balance is dangerous for green screen and worse for blue screen.

Why is that?

Because in automatic, a camera's white balance changes. Cams vary in how much of the image they sample for auto WB, to include as much as the whole image.

If the white balance changes when people move, or walk out, or walk in, or turn their head, the color of green in the recording is going to change with the WB. Which makes the key inconsistent... which can lead to lots of "fix it in post" that takes many extra hours and likely won't be of the quality one could achieve more easily with better shooting.

I tend to hit the curves first.

I generally hit the three color wheels first, then adjust with the curves.

Because in automatic, a camera's white balance changes. Cams vary in how much of the image they sample for auto WB, to include as much as the whole image.

If the white balance changes when people move, or walk out, or walk in, or turn their head, the color of green in the recording is going to change with the WB. Which makes the key inconsistent... which can lead to lots of "fix it in post" that takes many extra hours and likely won't be of the quality one could achieve more easily with better shooting.I've had the WB shift on another shoot - because a lady picked up a sheet of white paper and waved it around while she spoke. In my present shooting - with me as the presenter - I'm pretty static so there is little to no change.

Never the less I agree - I should lock the WB down as well...

We'll I've been playing around with the colour changes in my clips using the colour corrector and curves, and even though I say so myself, have got things pretty good.

Thanks Peter for the link to the Webinar. I down loaded it and went through it. Good stuff.
Used the three colour wheels first - lows > highs > mids, then curves. Didn't use the Brightness and Contrast - didn't need to...

The last bit of filming I did - I have about 10 more like this to do - I manual'ed the WB which had one shot really good so used that as my standard for all the others, something like 22 in all. By the time I got to the last one I had it down to a fine art...

David Jimerson said: "And if this is going to be chromakey footage, I'd work on the color matching *after* you pull the key."

Why would you do this? Because the green could throw the eye out when doing the colour correction?

I'm going to be adding a lot of of other stuff to the time line eventually, which I imagine will slow the computer down considerable. Would it be advisable to render out the colour correction so that that is not having to be done, along with everything else, in the later part of the post production?

If I was to do this, would it be best to 'pull the key' - without putting the replacement image in place - before rendering?

I would like to remove as much that consumes computing power as possible, before I start adding all the other stuff to these basic clips.

RE quality of key. Obviously I'm wanting my key to be as good a possible (doesn't everyone?). Originally I was thinking of putting a light background behind, however it seems light backgrounds will accentuate any residual green fringe so that may not be a good idea. If the background image can reduce attention to any fringe that would be good. Any thoughts on this question of backgrounds minimising 'fringe'?

Because the green could throw the eye out when doing the colour correction?

<... snip ...>

Originally I was thinking of putting a light background behind, however it seems light backgrounds will accentuate any residual green fringe so that may not be a good idea.

Regarding the first question, most likely the opposite: Because color grading might throw the key.

Regarding backgrounds, if lighting the backs of your actors does not separate them enough from the green reflecting from the background, increase their distance from the screen. If you cannot or if that is not enough, light their backs with just a bit of magenta light. Magenta is the complementary color to green, so they cancel each other. Of course, you need to do that while producing the footage, not while you’re editing it.