Canon XL H1 picture sharpness and vivid colors

Marty Hudzik · April 17th, 2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Sanders

Good advice Marty. Turning off the presets that crush black should really help.

Robert,
I should follow my own advice more often since I know that ideally I should be acquiring my footage more flat in camera and color grading it in post. But I do like lowering the pedestal and crushing the blacks as it make the colors pop more. So, when you shot your film, did you set the camera to record a flat neutral image and do all grading in post? I am guessing the footage you grabbed in the studio via the SDI was easier to color grade than the HDV footage but I was just wondering.

Marty

Robert Sanders · April 17th, 2009, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Hudzik

Robert,
I should follow my own advice more often since I know that ideally I should be acquiring my footage more flat in camera and color grading it in post. But I do like lowering the pedestal and crushing the blacks as it make the colors pop more. So, when you shot your film, did you set the camera to record a flat neutral image and do all grading in post? I am guessing the footage you grabbed in the studio via the SDI was easier to color grade than the HDV footage but I was just wondering.

Marty

No black crush at all. We did have two presets we tweaked. CinemaGamma and stuff like that was all turned on. We added a touch more blue to the color matrix. We left the pedestal at neutral. All black levels were dialed in during post.

The SDI footage does grade very nicely. It would've been nice if the H1 had a 10-bit output as we did the whole show stem to stern in ProRes. However, I must say that the HDV footage that was cut into the SDI footage graded very well too and at the end of the day I don't think anyone can spot what was SDI and what was HDV. Even on a huge movie theater screen.

Dil Singh · May 18th, 2009, 09:59 AM

Hello Folks,

I am back with another question. How do I do white balance adjustment in the low lighting condition? Or is it even necessary? If I use my expo disk to do a white balance, because of the low light, all camera lens sees is dark and unable to adjust white balance. Expo Disk does really a good job on setting white balance when there is plenty of light.

Thanks to everyone in advance.

Patrick Byers · May 18th, 2009, 07:38 PM

I'm with Mark on this one. I use the "olegwarm" almost exclusively. (I used it for a wedding this weekend.) In some low-light indoor shots it doesn't work so well. But for natural light and outdoor "magic light" times-- fantastic. Great saturation. Rich film look. Give it a try.

Dil Singh · May 19th, 2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Byers

I'm with Mark on this one. I use the "olegwarm" almost exclusively. (I used it for a wedding this weekend.) In some low-light indoor shots it doesn't work so well. But for natural light and outdoor "magic light" times-- fantastic. Great saturation. Rich film look. Give it a try.

Thanks Patric for the info.
What do you recommend for the white balance adjustment in low lighting condition?

Patrick Byers · May 19th, 2009, 06:11 PM

Dil, we're already over my pay grade here, so take this for what it's worth... I keep the WB on auto in low-light situations. Don't know if that's the way it should be done. I'll look to see if someone more knowledgeable weighs in. Good luck!

May 18th, 2009, 07:38 PM	#19
Patrick Byers Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dripping Springs, TX Posts: 40	OlegWarm is the bomb. I'm with Mark on this one. I use the "olegwarm" almost exclusively. (I used it for a wedding this weekend.) In some low-light indoor shots it doesn't work so well. But for natural light and outdoor "magic light" times-- fantastic. Great saturation. Rich film look. Give it a try.

May 18th, 2009, 09:59 AM	#18
Dil Singh New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: California Posts: 16	Hello Folks, I am back with another question. How do I do white balance adjustment in the low lighting condition? Or is it even necessary? If I use my expo disk to do a white balance, because of the low light, all camera lens sees is dark and unable to adjust white balance. Expo Disk does really a good job on setting white balance when there is plenty of light. Thanks to everyone in advance.

May 19th, 2009, 06:11 PM	#21
Patrick Byers Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dripping Springs, TX Posts: 40	Dil, we're already over my pay grade here, so take this for what it's worth... I keep the WB on auto in low-light situations. Don't know if that's the way it should be done. I'll look to see if someone more knowledgeable weighs in. Good luck!