Hi.

I worked on a second version of my configuration for the HD100. The second article is focused on the Gamma, knee and black stretch settings and measurement of the latitude of the camera. I believe this final configuration has both accurate color representation and wider latitude of my previous attempt and will give you a robust signal to use in post.

The detailed article is at http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration-2.html.

Enjoy!

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Paolo
http://www.paolociccone.com

Paulo,

That's a great article... scientific, yet easy to understand.

You have come to the same conclusions that I have found in practice lately.
I have also recently been using a knee setting of 90% in controlled situations and lowering it to 85% or 80% when needed (subject backlit by bright sky/window.) I still tend to use black stretch 2 or 3 most of the time because I prefer to have shadow detail I can darken in post, rather than no shadow detail at all.

Paulo,

That's a great article... scientific, yet easy to understand.


Thanks Tim.
It's quite interesting that the CineLike gamma has a very visible shift in latitude compared to the standard gamma. There is practically no documentation in the JVC book and you really have to shoot controlled tests in order to verify it.
That article from Panasonic was really an eye opener.

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Paolo

Tim,

Shouldn't this be a sticky thread? It is so helpfull that I am afraid it will be lost!

Luis

Great stuff Paolo. One thing about the scene file though, it is oversaturated in Red, Magenta and Yellow (to me). Here's where my vector lines up. (http://www.salatar.com/users/stephenlnoe/browsable/rymoversaturate.png) I find that the blues are lost and the reds are blown out. Are you seeing oversaturation on the hot side of the color wheel compared to the cool side?

Great stuff Paolo.


Thanks!

One thing about the scene file though, it is oversaturated in Red, Magenta and Yellow (to me). Here's where my vector lines up. (http://www.salatar.com/users/stephenlnoe/browsable/rymoversaturate.png) I find that the blues are lost and the reds are blown out. Are you seeing oversaturation on the hot side of the color wheel compared to the cool side?

Well, this scene is heavily overexposed in order to observe the effect of the knee function, looking at the chart in the monitor you will not see pleasant colors. Once you have the settings dialed in your camera, with correct exposure you should see very good colors, generally richer than the factory settings but definitely accurate.

Also keep in mind that you should dial the gain in your VScope in order to get the DSC colors in the boxes. The DSC colors will not fall in the Yellow or Red boxes without increasing the gain. This is by design.

In any event, don't judge the colors based on the knee testing clip, that's a bad example and it's there just to demostrate the effect of that circuit on the highlights.

Cheers.
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Paolo

It is so helpfull that I am afraid it will be lost!


Thank you for the appreciation Luis.

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Paolo

I dont have vectorscopes and charts and stuff but on my cam it seems pretty oversaturated as a whole when using these settings. I have to actually turn the color gain down as much as -3 before it looks right to me. There may be quite a bit of variation from cam to cam. But again, I am just eyeballing it.

I dont have vectorscopes and charts and stuff but on my cam it seems pretty oversaturated as a whole when using these settings. I have to actually turn the color gain down as much as -3 before it looks right to me. There may be quite a bit of variation from cam to cam. But again, I am just eyeballing it.

Ian, are you watching the scene on a monitor/lcd... Have you checked white balance? Anyway, it could be that different cameras have slightly different offsets in the color matrix but it should be pretty subtle. The response from my camera is very close to reality with the result on calibrated monitor a little less saturated than what I see in the LCD

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Paolo

It's been pointed out to me that I didn't say what color matrix I used: CineLike or Standard. It's Standard, I updated the pages to make it clear.

--
Paolo
http://www.paolociccone.com

Paolo,

Very nice settings. Thanks for your hard work. I have been trying to establish a setting that is almost Technicolor like for my film this summer, and this may be it.

I shot some interiors today and they were vibrant. I look forward to doing some exteriors this weekend.

If we use your settings on the project I will credit you as you asked on your website.

Thanks,

Tom Chaney

www.tomchaney.com

Paolo,

Very nice settings. Thanks for your hard work.

You're very welcome Tom. I saw your post mentioning the need for a "Technicolor" look and I was going to to suggest it. Glad you like the configuration, good luck with your project.

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Paolo

Hi,
Im a new user of the HD100. Out of the box the settings look drab, but following this thread, and using the latest settings you made nailed the best settings IMHO for this amazing camera!

Thank you Paolo for sharing this valuable information.
Our next projects require rich saturation of colors while maintaining filmic qualities in contrast and gamma. Your settings are perfect.
We will be doing tourism promotional videos for several Islands in Asia and I will credit your contribution in our work.

More power to you and God bless.

Ted

Hi,
Thank you Paolo for sharing this valuable information.
Our next projects require rich saturation of colors while maintaining filmic qualities in contrast and gamma. Your settings are perfect.
We will be doing tourism promotional videos for several Islands in Asia and I will credit your contribution in our work.


Thank you Ted, glad you found my config good for you.
BTW, I'm now in LA where we are shooting (Lance B and Tip and yours truly tagging along :)) an instructional video using 3 HD100 all set with the "TrueColor" config and everything looked great. I would post frame grabs but I don't think I have the license to do it yet. I'll ask if we can do it.

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Paolo

Paolo, Tim, Stephen, et al... I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to give you guys a big THANKS for all your contributions to the greater community. It's been a while since I've posted, but since picking up the HD100U, I've been avidly reading. All of you are the best examples of a sharing and giving community! Lovin' it! THANK YOU!

Paolo, Tim, Stephen, et al... I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to give you guys a big THANKS

You're very welcome. I'm glad that you have found my little contribution useful.

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Paolo

Hi Paolo,

By using your scene file the colors are much better to be used in post after shooting!
To my personal taste. I have changed one setting back to zero, the black level which was set to -2. Because I was missing some dark grey levels during shooting. Black stretch was not helping to get them in.
Was there a specific reason why you have put that level to -2?

Thanks again for sharing your scene settings.

Marc Colemont

Hi Paolo,
Was there a specific reason why you have put that level to -2?

Thanks again for sharing your scene settings.


You're very welcome Marc, I'm glad it's of help for you. If you look at the WFM charts in part 1 of my article you'll see a black chip inthe middle of the monitor. That is the cavity black chip in the middle of the DSC chart. I just tried to move that to the 0 IRE mark, where it should be. If you get crushed blacks even with the Black Stretch at 3 it could be that our two cameras are different enough to treat black slighly differently. The only way to know is to use the same chart on a WFM and see where the black chip gets positioned.

Take care.

Indeed I don't have a DSC chart at the moment. It's on my list. Then we could make a good comparison.

Paolo,

Another happy customer here, thank you very much for all of your findings / settings. I have been using the DSC matched settings since you first posted them, our camera has been producing imazing results. It's a far better look over the factory settings IMHO.

However, I also had to adjust the black level back to zero, as did Marc Colemont. It just was not getting enough of the grey areas and crushed the blacks a little too much for my taste. And more so as an editor, I like the control to crush the blacks when and where needed in post.

Regardless, good job Paolo and thanks again.

It looks like I too will have to raise my black level to 0.
My blacks are crushed and mid tones fall off into black to soon.

Other than that, the colors look well balanced. Thanks Paolo.

Another happy customer here, thank you very much for all of your findings / settings. I have been using the DSC matched settings since you first posted them, our camera has been producing imazing results. It's a far better look over the factory settings IMHO.

However, I also had to adjust the black level back to zero, as did Marc Colemont. It just was not getting enough of the grey areas and crushed the blacks a little too much for my taste. And more so as an editor, I like the control to crush the blacks when and where needed in post.

Regardless, good job Paolo and thanks again.

Hi Daniel.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll check the black level results soon. I'm looking at some footage I shot today of a subject with dark grey suit and it look OK to me but I do like a more contrasted image :). Regardless, I'll do some more measurements and see what is the difference with the black at -2 or at 0.

I appreciate all the feedback as these articles were really meant to stimulate discussion and compare results so, this is all good :) and I'm glad that the colors have improved for you too. This is a gorgeous camera, it just need to be tweaked right :)

Paolo,

I have been using your settings and I find them very nice on some interiors that I have done, however I have to agree with the comments above about the blacks when shooting exteriors.

They appear to be almost too dark.

Should I just pull the black level to 0?

Thanks again for all of your hard work, and help.

It is greatly appreciated.

Tom Chaney

For me I usually adjust the blacks anyway given the scene I'm trying to capture. Its the first tweak I make when trying to set the mood with the camera. Whats's been helpful to me is assigning my user buttons to black stretch 1, 2 and black compress. Its a handy little trick that I find myself using a lot. Its easy and fast.
I've been using Paolo's setup(or slight variation) for about a month now and everything I've shot looks incredible. I hardly CC during the edit.
Thanks again Paolo.

I just received my camera back with new firmware, update kit and recalibration for some slight SSE. In the weekend I will do a test again with the black at 0 or -2. To see if it has changed after the calibration.

Marc,

Let us know how your camera works after the upgrade.
thanks

Whats's been helpful to me is assigning my user buttons to black stretch 1, 2 and black compress. Its a handy little trick that I find myself using a lot. Its easy and fast.
I've been using Paolo's setup(or slight variation) for about a month now and everything I've shot looks incredible. I hardly CC during the edit.
Thanks again Paolo.

You're welcome Council, glad it works for you. I use the user buttons too, assigned with Stretch 1 to 3.

Paolo,

I have been using your settings and I find them very nice on some interiors that I have done, however I have to agree with the comments above about the blacks when shooting exteriors.

They appear to be almost too dark.

Should I just pull the black level to 0?

Thanks again for all of your hard work, and help.

It is greatly appreciated.

Tom Chaney


Tom, are checking the clips on your PC/Mac screen or on a monitor? Anyway, experiment with teh black level. I use my config with the black level at -2 with the stretch at 1 or 3 depending on the scene.
Thank you for the feedback.

Paolo,

I have been using your settings and I find them very nice on some interiors that I have done, however I have to agree with the comments above about the blacks when shooting exteriors.
They appear to be almost too dark.
Tom Chaney

Hey Tom - what kind of experiments have you done so far? I just got the IDX battery, so I have been limited in what I could test. Any surprises, pleasant or otherwise?

John

evilgeniusentertainment.com

Hey John and Paolo,

I'm working on a feature film that is about 4 guys banding together again to make a sequel to a B-movie they made ten years ago.

The four guys all grew up together and we see them as kids peppered throughout the movie, and the kids are "re-making" scenes from their favorite movies, Rocky, Star Wars, Raiders, Godfather, etc.

We don't start production until the summer, but we've been shooting some of the stuff with the kids.

Paolo's settings are giving me the happy, "Technicolor" look that I want for the project and the only surprise is how Dog gone good this camera is. It is truly like shooting film (only cheaper - and easier)!

Paolo I have a 42" HiDef Plasma that I have been viewing the footage on, and then I have been editing on a MAC based system. I also have a smaller HiDef monitor that I use when dumping to my computer.

I sure hope that I didn't sound like I was complaining earlier, your settings are excellent, but I think that I am going to pull the black in a little.

PS. John, let me know if you need a hand - or me with my camera as a second operator.

Thanks again,

Tom

The four guys all grew up together and we see them as kids peppered throughout the movie, and the kids are "re-making" scenes from their favorite movies, Rocky, Star Wars, Raiders, Godfather, etc.
Tom
One hell of a coincidence. I was thinking of the same idea (as a personal project). Instead, using very distinctive movie color schemes. English Patient, Gone with the Wind, Psycho, Dr. Zhivago etc.

Cool stuff...

olo I have a 42" HiDef Plasma that I have been viewing the footage on, and then I have been editing on a MAC based system. I also have a smaller HiDef monitor that I use when dumping to my computer.

I sure hope that I didn't sound like I was complaining earlier, your settings are excellent, but I think that I am going to pull the black in a little.


I didn't take it all as "complaining" :), I was just trying to be sure that we considered all options. I use a Mac too and I found the colors of the powerbook to be much darker than the ones of a calibrated monitor. PCs are off too.

Glad the colors work for you, your project sound fun and interesting.

I've got a combination of Cinema display with a separate LCD with a full screen canvas, an HD LCD and a Hi-res CRT in our main room.
I've tweaked our own "universal" setting over time that uses Paolo's color with a -1 Master Black and +2 Stretch in Cine Gamma (all other Parameters similar to Tim's Wide setting) and found it to be a great default, that you can open up with + gamma, or crush/stretch as necessary, but it's a great start.

I sure hope that I didn't sound like I was complaining earlier, your settings are excellent, but I think that I am going to pull the black in a little.

PS. John, let me know if you need a hand - or me with my camera as a second operator.
Thanks again,
Tom

Tom - same to you my friend - if you need anything/help, just let me know. We start shooting in about 2 weeks...

John

evilgeniusentertainment.com

PS - Thanks again Paolo for all the great effort you put in - and of course your willingness to share it w/ us!