A tip on custom settings....

Tony Davies-Patrick · May 17th, 2006, 01:56 AM

For anyone interested, here are my most used settings for wildlife outdoor/nature type work:

'Globetrotter' XL2 settings:

Gamma - Cine
Knee - Middle
Black - Press
Color Matrix - Cine
Color Gain +3
Color phase 0
R Gain +2
G Gain - Middle
B Gain - Middle
Sharpen +2
Coring - Middle
Set up Level - middle
Master Ped -middle
NR - Off

Leo Wauters · May 18th, 2006, 01:19 PM

Last week I shot my first project with my new XL2 (after using XL1 for 6 years): a holy communion. I used the standard setting and notice that the picture is indeed a bit flat. Next weekend I have to shoot another one and I am not confident enough to play with the custom settings. Shall I use the "wedding" preset? Or can I just change only a few settings?

Ash Greyson · May 18th, 2006, 02:46 PM

Post a grab on the look you want and I will post the pre-set to get that look... The main things that make the picture milky are the setup level and master pedestal, try turning those down a bit.

ash =o)

Scott Di Lalla · May 18th, 2006, 04:07 PM

ash what is the best way to post a grab on this forum. Can we just paste it in a post or do we have to link it??

Devon Lyon · July 6th, 2006, 01:59 PM

Ash:

Do you have a good custom preset when shooting in 30P at night or in very low light? My main interest is as little to no noise as possible in the blacks (dark areas).

Would love to see your settings. Thanks!

Jay Gladwell · July 7th, 2006, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ash Greyson

I dont have time to go thru every potential setting (maybe someday soon)...

The number of preset possibilities with the XL2 is 10,604,499,373. That's ten billion, six hundred four million, four hundred ninety-nine thousand, three hundred seventy three possible picture adjustments!

That does not take into account the variables of gamma, color matrix, knee, black, NR, and vert. detail.

You'd better get busy, times'a wastin'.

;o)

Jeff Lanctot · July 7th, 2006, 12:06 PM

I think it's awfully nice of Ash to offer create presets for others, but personally I think it'd be cooler if people posted settings they've come up with for <whatever the situation> and asked the community for feedback or ways that it could be improved. Not trying to be judgemental, just thinking about the whole 'give a man a fish...' thing.

Regards,

~J

Ash Greyson · July 7th, 2006, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devon Lyon

Ash:

Do you have a good custom preset when shooting in 30P at night or in very low light? My main interest is as little to no noise as possible in the blacks (dark areas).

Would love to see your settings. Thanks!

There is a low light setting floatin around, I am on a remote shoot so I dont have access to my stuff at home. Main thing when you have to gain up in low light is to boost the saturation a little, turn UP the coring, turn down the sharpness and turn the NR on LOW (high usually ghosts too much). You can control the blacks in several ways with the MP and setup level as well as the black level settings.

ash =o)

Devon Lyon · July 9th, 2006, 09:37 AM

Thanks Ash, your input, again, if very helpful. I will search for the low light settings again.

Eniola Akintoye · July 13th, 2006, 09:56 AM

Ash,
Did you get my PM?
In case you did not, could you or anyone here please tell me why after using the BlueBarn software to change the custom presets and all of that, I then turned the knob of my xl2 back to Manual, it seems the cam. is not picking any of those custom presets.
I am trying to imitate Devon's low light and all of that but I am getting this darkish color and whenever I turned the knob to Ext. control, the camcorder gives me this crips colorful view based on the presets Ash and you other guys provided?

What am I not clicking?

Tom York · July 14th, 2006, 12:20 PM

Hi Everyone,

I have a couple question about presets for the XL2. I hope it doesnt sound too stupid but.....Should I white balance for each shot before applying a certain preset or would that basically change the settings of the preset? Also the same for using warm cards....I would assume that the preset might do the warming for me but Im sure there would be instances that I would want to warm. I will experiment this weekend but thought an answer from you guys would set me down the right path. Thanks for all your help.

Tom

Josh Bass · July 14th, 2006, 01:30 PM

That's not a stupid question. . .I'm actually interested in knowing the same thing.

I know that when the rental house I used to hang out at would set up their cameras to chip charts, the idea was that you were supposed to use the preset for 3200 and 5600, 'cause white balancing would undo all the work of the setup. Then again, we're talking about cameras with much more intricate and sophisticated adjustment posssibilities than the XL2.

Maybe balance with the custom presets turned off (on the camera's factory settings), and then apply them? Sorry if that's the same thing you meant/said.

Tom York · July 14th, 2006, 02:48 PM

Hi Josh,

Yes thats kind of what I was trying to figure out. I run a Mac so I have to input these presets manually and wouldnt want all that effort to go to waste if I did the white balance/warm balance wrong. I am going to shoot some test footage this weekend to find out, but I figured if someone like Ash could answer this question for me then I can cross that off my ever growing list of things to do. LOL.

Tom

Josh Bass · July 14th, 2006, 03:07 PM

It's not really wasted time. . .you just go back to the preset after white balancing, if that's what you're supposed to do. You don't have to reenter the settings every time you turn the preset off.

Hunter Sandison · July 14th, 2006, 05:16 PM

Hey Tom,
I too have a Mac and I can't even get the preset files to open so I can read them . Can I ask you how you did it?

May 17th, 2006, 01:56 AM	#46
Tony Davies-Patrick Trustee Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Worldwide Posts: 1,589	For anyone interested, here are my most used settings for wildlife outdoor/nature type work: 'Globetrotter' XL2 settings: Gamma - Cine Knee - Middle Black - Press Color Matrix - Cine Color Gain +3 Color phase 0 R Gain +2 G Gain - Middle B Gain - Middle Sharpen +2 Coring - Middle Set up Level - middle Master Ped -middle NR - Off __________________ www.WILDCARP.com www.NIKON.me.uk

May 18th, 2006, 04:07 PM	#49
Scott Di Lalla Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 49	ash what is the best way to post a grab on this forum. Can we just paste it in a post or do we have to link it?? __________________ S. di Lalla http://www.choppertown.net

July 6th, 2006, 01:59 PM	#50
Devon Lyon Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 213	Question for Ash Ash: Do you have a good custom preset when shooting in 30P at night or in very low light? My main interest is as little to no noise as possible in the blacks (dark areas). Would love to see your settings. Thanks! __________________ Lyon Films www.LyonFilms.com;

July 7th, 2006, 12:06 PM	#52
Jeff Lanctot Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 27	I think it's awfully nice of Ash to offer create presets for others, but personally I think it'd be cooler if people posted settings they've come up with for <whatever the situation> and asked the community for feedback or ways that it could be improved. Not trying to be judgemental, just thinking about the whole 'give a man a fish...' thing. Regards, ~J __________________ www.FilmEthic.com - NextGen Indie Filmmaking Tutorials and Articles for Today's Filmmakers

July 9th, 2006, 09:37 AM	#54
Devon Lyon Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 213	Thanks Ash, your input, again, if very helpful. I will search for the low light settings again. __________________ Lyon Films www.LyonFilms.com;

May 18th, 2006, 01:19 PM	#47
Leo Wauters Tourist Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 4	Last week I shot my first project with my new XL2 (after using XL1 for 6 years): a holy communion. I used the standard setting and notice that the picture is indeed a bit flat. Next weekend I have to shoot another one and I am not confident enough to play with the custom settings. Shall I use the "wedding" preset? Or can I just change only a few settings?

May 18th, 2006, 02:46 PM	#48
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	Post a grab on the look you want and I will post the pre-set to get that look... The main things that make the picture milky are the setup level and master pedestal, try turning those down a bit. ash =o)

July 13th, 2006, 09:56 AM	#55
Eniola Akintoye Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Duluth GA Posts: 238	Ash, Did you get my PM? In case you did not, could you or anyone here please tell me why after using the BlueBarn software to change the custom presets and all of that, I then turned the knob of my xl2 back to Manual, it seems the cam. is not picking any of those custom presets. I am trying to imitate Devon's low light and all of that but I am getting this darkish color and whenever I turned the knob to Ext. control, the camcorder gives me this crips colorful view based on the presets Ash and you other guys provided? What am I not clicking?

July 14th, 2006, 12:20 PM	#56
Tom York New Boot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 20	Hi Everyone, I have a couple question about presets for the XL2. I hope it doesnt sound too stupid but.....Should I white balance for each shot before applying a certain preset or would that basically change the settings of the preset? Also the same for using warm cards....I would assume that the preset might do the warming for me but Im sure there would be instances that I would want to warm. I will experiment this weekend but thought an answer from you guys would set me down the right path. Thanks for all your help. Tom

July 14th, 2006, 01:30 PM	#57
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	That's not a stupid question. . .I'm actually interested in knowing the same thing. I know that when the rental house I used to hang out at would set up their cameras to chip charts, the idea was that you were supposed to use the preset for 3200 and 5600, 'cause white balancing would undo all the work of the setup. Then again, we're talking about cameras with much more intricate and sophisticated adjustment posssibilities than the XL2. Maybe balance with the custom presets turned off (on the camera's factory settings), and then apply them? Sorry if that's the same thing you meant/said. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

July 14th, 2006, 02:48 PM	#58
Tom York New Boot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 20	Hi Josh, Yes thats kind of what I was trying to figure out. I run a Mac so I have to input these presets manually and wouldnt want all that effort to go to waste if I did the white balance/warm balance wrong. I am going to shoot some test footage this weekend to find out, but I figured if someone like Ash could answer this question for me then I can cross that off my ever growing list of things to do. LOL. Tom

July 14th, 2006, 03:07 PM	#59
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	It's not really wasted time. . .you just go back to the preset after white balancing, if that's what you're supposed to do. You don't have to reenter the settings every time you turn the preset off. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

July 14th, 2006, 05:16 PM	#60
Hunter Sandison New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 21	Hey Tom, I too have a Mac and I can't even get the preset files to open so I can read them . Can I ask you how you did it?