White balance indoors at DVinfo.net

Greg Fiske · December 21st, 2010, 04:38 PM

How is everyone dealing with tungsten lighting? If I use custom balance with an expodisc or preset and it gets too cool. If I move things +2 to the amber side, it still doesn't look good. Do you just get close enough and adjust in post? I had one shot that the color was too far off to correct in post, no matter what I did.

Jon Fairhurst · December 21st, 2010, 05:34 PM

I generally use the Tungsten preset and adjust in post. The preset might not be perfect, but it's repeatable from shot to shot. I think it's okay to do a color balance once for a given indoor location, but it's risky to balance for every setup. Let's say you get splash from a yellow wall in a given setup. I don't want to have that one shot go blue. I'd rather have the yellow splash show up naturally in the shot.

In the end, I should be able to do a master color correction and then only make minor changes from shot to shot within a scene/location.

When we first got the 5D two years ago, we did a shoot in the snow in which we re-balanced with an expodisc on every shot. (Yes, from the perspective of the talent.) Though we shot quickly, the sun and clouds were moving. Different angles reflected different trees and buildings No two shots had the same color. I think we might have been better off balancing less often and only when we felt that the light had made a significant change.

Chris Barcellos · December 21st, 2010, 07:27 PM

i'm with Jon. I use the preset closest to my shooting situation, and figure to adjust if necessary in post.

Jon Fairhurst · December 21st, 2010, 08:37 PM

If you know your lights, you can dial in the color temp, if the default setting isn't quite right.

David W. Jones · December 22nd, 2010, 08:23 AM

I'm a little old fashion in that I still use meters that everyone else has stopped using.
My Minolta color meter & light meter quickly tell me everything I need to know before I ever get any other gear out of the truck.

All the Best!

Dave

Peer Landa · December 22nd, 2010, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Fiske

How is everyone dealing with tungsten lighting? If I use custom balance with an expodisc or preset and it gets too cool. If I move things +2 to the amber side, it still doesn't look good. Do you just get close enough and adjust in post?

I use a whitedisk and then tweak it in post. By the way, all my shoots nowadays are industrial indoor tungsten gigs -- very easy to do (but boring).

-- peer

December 21st, 2010, 04:38 PM	#1
Greg Fiske Major Player Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Santa Ana, CA Posts: 499	White balance indoors How is everyone dealing with tungsten lighting? If I use custom balance with an expodisc or preset and it gets too cool. If I move things +2 to the amber side, it still doesn't look good. Do you just get close enough and adjust in post? I had one shot that the color was too far off to correct in post, no matter what I did.

December 21st, 2010, 05:34 PM	#2
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	I generally use the Tungsten preset and adjust in post. The preset might not be perfect, but it's repeatable from shot to shot. I think it's okay to do a color balance once for a given indoor location, but it's risky to balance for every setup. Let's say you get splash from a yellow wall in a given setup. I don't want to have that one shot go blue. I'd rather have the yellow splash show up naturally in the shot. In the end, I should be able to do a master color correction and then only make minor changes from shot to shot within a scene/location. When we first got the 5D two years ago, we did a shoot in the snow in which we re-balanced with an expodisc on every shot. (Yes, from the perspective of the talent.) Though we shot quickly, the sun and clouds were moving. Different angles reflected different trees and buildings No two shots had the same color. I think we might have been better off balancing less often and only when we felt that the light had made a significant change. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

December 21st, 2010, 07:27 PM	#3
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	i'm with Jon. I use the preset closest to my shooting situation, and figure to adjust if necessary in post. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

December 21st, 2010, 08:37 PM	#4
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	If you know your lights, you can dial in the color temp, if the default setting isn't quite right. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

December 22nd, 2010, 08:23 AM	#5
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	I'm a little old fashion in that I still use meters that everyone else has stopped using. My Minolta color meter & light meter quickly tell me everything I need to know before I ever get any other gear out of the truck. All the Best! Dave __________________ David W. Jones www.joneshdfilms.com