Advise on how to white balance with the HM100 at Night at DVinfo.net

Kajito Nagib · October 27th, 2009, 12:10 PM

I'm going to film the Halloween parade here in NYC this weekend and wanted some advice on how I should white balance. The event will be at night I will be standing in an area (next to the photographers and videographers) that's very well lit so I won't be using any onboard lights.
I will be using my JVC wide angle lens along with the Merlin.
Not sure which of the two presents I should use or if I should white balance. I'd like to figure
this out before i get there.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated it.

Donald Smith · October 27th, 2009, 04:33 PM

For night shooting, unless you are under specific lighting conditions, putting the camera on 3200k preset will work the best since, at night, the lights of the city are of many colors. I've found that 3200k present is the best balance to bring out all of those colors. White-balance for any one of them will throw off all the rest you may encounter.

Don Smith
NewsVideo.com

Steve Cottrell · October 28th, 2009, 04:00 AM

I would have to agree with Don, 3200k preset will be best. The only variations to this I can think of is (here in the UK) there are those yellow sodium discharge street lamps so I'll pop it down to 2300 and use orange filter on the toplight, or in areas lit by flourescent lighting, like spill from store lights, they tend to be a bit on the blue side, so I keep a 'half-blue' memory setting of about 4300k to warm things up a bit.

Go 3200 for the parade :-)

Kajito Nagib · October 28th, 2009, 10:36 PM

ok thanks will do.

Kajito Nagib · November 4th, 2009, 02:04 AM

ok so i took your advise and set it to 3200 preset. On board camera light was the Switronix TL-50 I had it on all the time but I stayed in an area that was well lit so it wasn't really needed. It started to pour when I pulled out the camera. My camera and the JVC wide angle lens got soaked. 15 minutes later the rain finally stop but at that point it was too late I had a hard time drying off the lens. Here's the video.

Alex Humphrey · November 4th, 2009, 09:04 AM

I love the shots, but they all have a green cast. Probably due to a nearby light that was inconsistant with most city lights. If you have time I would suggest to color correct. The good news is, it looks pretty consistant.

Something I've been thinking about recently and noted that more and more directors, such as Michale Mann's last few movies are using daylight white balance for night shots. His feeling was the reds and oranges of city lights give night shots that magical color we associate with night, and in the case of Halloween especially, the orange autum colors that you would have gotten might have been better. Come to think about it, this time of year day light white balance is around4,300k instead of 5,500k (150 miles north of San Francisco anyway at 3:00pm consitantly)

On the positive side, if you wanted to clean up the green cast (on my monitor at least) or go a little orange, you have plenty of leeway with this footage without too much work. So for getting footage you can play with the 3200k was a good choice.

Alex Humphrey · November 4th, 2009, 09:06 AM

hmm, just reread. you had an onboard light on all the time? I bet that was what is giving you the green cast. OK, no more posting for me until AFTER coffee!

Kajito Nagib · November 4th, 2009, 11:14 AM

i tried to color correct using magic bullet looks but rendering stops half way I got impatient and uploaded the video.
thanks for the advice and yeah i didn't really notice the green cast thanks for pointing that out to me i'll fix it and upload the video at some point.

October 27th, 2009, 12:10 PM	#1
Kajito Nagib Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 432	Advise on how to white balance with the HM100 at Night I'm going to film the Halloween parade here in NYC this weekend and wanted some advice on how I should white balance. The event will be at night I will be standing in an area (next to the photographers and videographers) that's very well lit so I won't be using any onboard lights. I will be using my JVC wide angle lens along with the Merlin. Not sure which of the two presents I should use or if I should white balance. I'd like to figure this out before i get there. Any advice will be greatly appreciated it. __________________ -kAj http://www.sweetproductionmedia.com/

October 28th, 2009, 10:36 PM	#4
Kajito Nagib Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 432	ok thanks will do. __________________ -kAj http://www.sweetproductionmedia.com/

November 4th, 2009, 02:04 AM	#5
Kajito Nagib Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 432	rainy parade ok so i took your advise and set it to 3200 preset. On board camera light was the Switronix TL-50 I had it on all the time but I stayed in an area that was well lit so it wasn't really needed. It started to pour when I pulled out the camera. My camera and the JVC wide angle lens got soaked. 15 minutes later the rain finally stop but at that point it was too late I had a hard time drying off the lens. Here's the video. New York's Village 36th Annual Halloween Parade on Vimeo __________________ -kAj http://www.sweetproductionmedia.com/

November 4th, 2009, 11:14 AM	#8
Kajito Nagib Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 432	i tried to color correct using magic bullet looks but rendering stops half way I got impatient and uploaded the video. thanks for the advice and yeah i didn't really notice the green cast thanks for pointing that out to me i'll fix it and upload the video at some point. __________________ -kAj http://www.sweetproductionmedia.com/

October 27th, 2009, 04:33 PM	#2
Donald Smith Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 73	For night shooting, unless you are under specific lighting conditions, putting the camera on 3200k preset will work the best since, at night, the lights of the city are of many colors. I've found that 3200k present is the best balance to bring out all of those colors. White-balance for any one of them will throw off all the rest you may encounter. Don Smith NewsVideo.com

October 28th, 2009, 04:00 AM	#3
Steve Cottrell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Oxford UK Posts: 110	I would have to agree with Don, 3200k preset will be best. The only variations to this I can think of is (here in the UK) there are those yellow sodium discharge street lamps so I'll pop it down to 2300 and use orange filter on the toplight, or in areas lit by flourescent lighting, like spill from store lights, they tend to be a bit on the blue side, so I keep a 'half-blue' memory setting of about 4300k to warm things up a bit. Go 3200 for the parade :-)

November 4th, 2009, 09:04 AM	#6
Alex Humphrey Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: california North and South Posts: 642	I love the shots, but they all have a green cast. Probably due to a nearby light that was inconsistant with most city lights. If you have time I would suggest to color correct. The good news is, it looks pretty consistant. Something I've been thinking about recently and noted that more and more directors, such as Michale Mann's last few movies are using daylight white balance for night shots. His feeling was the reds and oranges of city lights give night shots that magical color we associate with night, and in the case of Halloween especially, the orange autum colors that you would have gotten might have been better. Come to think about it, this time of year day light white balance is around4,300k instead of 5,500k (150 miles north of San Francisco anyway at 3:00pm consitantly) On the positive side, if you wanted to clean up the green cast (on my monitor at least) or go a little orange, you have plenty of leeway with this footage without too much work. So for getting footage you can play with the 3200k was a good choice.

November 4th, 2009, 09:06 AM	#7
Alex Humphrey Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: california North and South Posts: 642	hmm, just reread. you had an onboard light on all the time? I bet that was what is giving you the green cast. OK, no more posting for me until AFTER coffee!