H1 & DSC Chart Calibration

[Daniel Patton]

Paolo Ciccone of DVInfo.net has done a fantastic job of both "tweaking" and sharing his color settings and Scene File (custom preset) for the JVC HD100, for reference - http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration.html ).

Has anyone in the Canon community done anything like this for the H1 custom presets? If so could we get these settings added to the custom preset thread/sticky?

Thanks in advance!!

[John Benton]

Dan,
check the sticky at the top of the Main H1 page "called custom preset download lib"

[Daniel Patton]

Sorry John,

But maybe I should have repeated my title in the body of my post, I'm looking for a preset DSC color chart matched for the H1 to be added to the sticky thread.

If you check out the link I provided it has the details.

If this preset has been done and I just missed it then please let me know.

Thanks!

[Nick Hiltgen]

If it hasn't been done by the time my camera gets back in town I'll build one.

[John Benton]

Whoops,
Sorry Daniel - Didn't realize the full question

[Daniel Epstein]

If Nick does this then the settings will apply more to the light source he uses to light the chart than whether similar charts with different cameras will match up perfectly.

[Daniel Patton]

Originally Posted by Nick Hiltgen

If it hasn't been done by the time my camera gets back in town I'll build one.

Nick, thanks a ton for looking into it when you get a chance. I think it would be a good thing for the Canon H1 community in general. The DSC chart scene file has been a real asset, and was well accepted by the JVC / HD100 users.


John, no worries! I appreciate the time you took and trying to point me in the right direction, it never hurts to restate the title of a post in the messege body.


Daniel, although I understand that factors like lighting, WB, and variations in each unique H1 camera could alter the users results to some degree or another. But if Nick follows the guidelines / procedures for proper DSC chart calibration with the H1, those of us without a chart have at least a better "jump off point" for getting more color latitude from our cameras. I'm sure some H1 owners prefer to get the desired "look" in camera (hence all the great unique presets), while others like myself prefer to shoot with as much latitude as possible and having the most flexibility to do our grading in post. I'm more than a little curious just how far off we really are. Even if Canon has done a good job of sending the cameras out with a solid factory preset, like most cameras on the market it can still usually be refined.

Regardless, any additional feedback is still appreciated on this topic. This forum has been one of the best sounding boards that I have seen for discussions specifically of this nature. My hats off to Chris for supporting this place. Thanks man.

Peace!!

[Nick Hiltgen]

Have my camera, chart, and even a light meter. But when I try to use FCP's live waveform/vector function it doesn't work in HD. Anyone know of a mac/compatable waveform/vector? Otherwise I'll have to wait a bit longer.

[Daniel Patton]

Hey Nick,

A friend of mine sent me a freeware one for HD on the Mac not too long ago, I'll look it up when I get back into the office and shoot you a link.

Thanks!

[Nick Hiltgen]

Rock on, Thanks dude.

[Nick Hiltgen]

Daniel, found a thing called "scopebox" which looks as though it may work. It's a demo so hopefully it does everything I need but I'll give that one a shot and get back to you.

[Nick Hiltgen]

Argh,

So scope box is not HDV compatable yet. Which means I can only monitor the DV out of the camera which I think may not really be worth it. (I'm hestiant to monitor off of firewire anyhow) Is there another program that you know of daniel?

[Daniel Patton]

Sorry for the slow reply Nick, I have been at home with a cold so I have not been to the office to check on that utility. And agreed, as DV via the firewire it's not worth the trouble.

However, I looked again on Paolo's site to see what he used as a wfm and vector scope...
Quoting directly, "I connected the camera to a laptop running DVRack with the HD pack. This is to get a calibrated monitor with WFM and Vectorscope".
Without an actual wfm and vector scope, running a software based version as Paolo did via firewire is better than nothing I suppose, so don't be too hesitant Nick if we find something that works through HDV on the Mac. ;)

I only wish we lived closer to one another. I could get literally everything we would need here (minus the chart), but I have no personal experience calibrating to a DSC chart and don't trust myself not to screw it up. That said, I would try anything... with some experienced assistance on hand.

Neither JVC or Canon supplies a full color space preset/scene file as a starting point. To cover their @$$ they could provide a disclaimer stating that it's going to differ on each unique camera and as so should be adjusted. Too big a can of worms I guess.

Peace!

[Nick Hiltgen]

YO daniel,

I'm going to talk to some of the local rental houses and see if they'd be willing to do a free promotional loaner of a vectorscope waveform. If not maybe I cna have one shipped in from L.A. or something. I really want to start getting the most out of these cameras and even more so want to fin out what the relative asa of one (with a calibrated scene file) would be.

Otherwise, maybe during a long weekend I'll drive my chart up to knoxville. (I'm in atlanta now)

[Daniel Patton]

Anytime Nick!

Would love to have you come visit. We have a perfect small studio setup here for testing, I'm pretty sure I can get the vectorscope waveform from our local rental house for testing. You bring the chart and I'll supply the cold beer. ;)