XF100 and 300 paired in low-light recital

[Tim Bakland]

Any improvement?

XF300 and 100 paired (brightened/corrected) on Vimeo

Remember, vimeo's compression ain't helpin' it!

[Charles W. Hull]

Originally Posted by Tim Bakland

Any improvement?

Yep, much better. And the two cameras do look good working together.

[Richard Peddington]

Originally Posted by Tim Bakland

Any improvement?

XF300 and 100 paired (brightened/corrected) on Vimeo

Remember, vimeo's compression ain't helpin' it!

Hey Tim,

As a shooter/editor, in my experience, when brightening up scenes in post due to low light, along with brightness/contrast/gamma, you need to work a bit with the saturation. Generally speaking when you brighten up a clip, adding a bit of saturation helps too. Especially when trying to match 2 angles. But it looks amazing! Using the XF300 definitely helps with color correction because of the 35mb/4:4:2 color space.

[Tim Bakland]

Good! Yeah, I'll try nudging up the saturation, too, and will keep that in mind moving forward.

If you were to have lit this seen (imagining that you had had the time and the client wanted it, etc.), which lights from your arsenal would you use?

Note: very, very little space to work with. The crowd was packed into this small chapel nave. Also, the ambience was fairly austere -- no big productions or lights that were obvious would have worked. Even my two cameras being there felt a bit anachronistic.

But, being that as it may: which lights would you use to brighten things a bit while being unobtrusive in this live audience/non-studio setting?

[Richard Peddington]

If it were me and the client did not mind *minimal* lighting, I would have used 1 of these http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284758-REG/Lowel_P2_10CE_Pro_Light_Tungsten_Focus_Flood.html. It's an adjustable light that has a dial you can use to focus the light from wide to spot(accent). It has barn doors so you can direct the light towards the action without bothering the audience. This light is good for situations like this because you can zero in on the action without putting too much emphasis on the background.

Good idea to keep lighting minimal if anything at all in a church. You still want your footage to have that subtle "candlelight" look.

[Doug Bailey]

Hi Tim,
Very nice work and a big improvement! I've learned a lot from reading your thread, thanks for sharing.

Richard I see a warning on the B&H site:
WARNING: This is a "European Voltage" product and CANNOT be used in the USA. It is designed for use overseas.

Looks like a great lighting answer, is there a workaround for the US?

Regards,
Doug.

[Tim Bakland]

Originally Posted by Richard Peddington

If it were me and the client did not mind *minimal* lighting, I would have used 1 of these Lowel Pro-Light Tungsten Focus Flood Light (230VAC) P2-10CE B&H. It's an adjustable light that has a dial you can use to focus the light from wide to spot(accent). It has barn doors so you can direct the light towards the action without bothering the audience. This light is good for situations like this because you can zero in on the action without putting too much emphasis on the background.

Good idea to keep lighting minimal if anything at all in a church. You still want your footage to have that subtle "candlelight" look.

Or this version for the US, right? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284755-REG/Lowel_P2_10_Pro_Light_Focus_Flood_Light.html

[Richard Peddington]

Haha yes, that's the one... great light! It's amazing for videographers who have a more low-key approach. I have 3 of them in my collection.

[Bill Weaver]

Perfect light for highlighting specifics would be a 100w dido.

They flood surprisingly well. I have lit stages by cross-lighting with them, using them to fill a bit, and add some key light at the same time. The rheostats help tweak them until they are hardly noticeable by both audience and subjects....

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I second Bill's idea of using Dedolights. Never travel without them.
You could easily have picked out the vocalist with one.

[Mark Dobson]

You are wanting to lighten up your footage in FCP7. There are lots of ways to do this but this tutorial should get you going in the right direction.

>http://vimeo.com/21484772<

However whilst choosing your composite mode - try using Screen and then adjusting the degree of exposure using the opacity slider on the top clip in the timeline.

I wouldn't bother with Magic Bullet Looks unless you have it and want to create a 'look'.

Incidently if you do have Magic Bullet Looks it has loads of exposure compensation tools.

Because you shot these clips with the xf300, with 50mbs and 4:2:2, you should be able to fix this problem easily.

Sometimes its just not on to start setting up video lights and you have to work with what's available.

Ha - since i started typing this reply it looks like you have already resolved this problem.

[Oren Arieli]

Not sure about your editing platform, but this might be helpful: YouTube - Adobe Premiere Fast Color Correction Tutorial
It's a 4 minute tutorial I created to help brighten images in Premiere Pro using the fast color corrector, along with some basics on the waveform monitor.