I have good settings on my ca, I just don't know why they are good

[Carlito Sanchaz]

I have been shooting vid for a few years and have always been good about setting up my camera and lighting... as well as deep camera settings. This is because I read a lot and mimic what I read. Saddly I don't fully understand why the settings are good.

Example I have my new JVC HM700U with some of the settings as follows:
sharpness -4
master black -1
black toe normal
knee 85%
white clip 108%
gamma standard
RGB levels all normal
color gain +3

While I'm sure these settings could be debated - they are all acceptable.
I'm very pleased with the images I'm getting.
The bad part is I don't know a dang thing about knee, black toe, white clip, gamma, master......... Shutter is also a key item I don't fully understand - and I'm unsure of how to set it.
I want to learn about these settings and how they work together. Is there any thread here on this forum? I've searched but haven't found a chart or breakdown....

Thanks a lot
Carlito

[Carlito Sanchaz]

Bummer.
I am thinking I am not the only one who dowsn't know these things or my questions are so stupid no one will answer : )

Oh well. I'll continue to look

[Dean Sensui]

If it "looks good" then give it some careful thought and figure out what makes it appealing to you. Tonal scale? Edge quality? Color saturation?

What's your idea of "good" and how does the image quality fit your personal concept?

Once you understand what you like, you'll know how to attain what you want. Hope this helps.

[Chris Soucy]

It is/ was not a stupid question, there is no such thing unless it's "How do you change a light bulb" from a 40 year old!.

Getting the answer is the problem, and I don't have a good answer to that, I'm afraid.

People with that knowledge are few and far between, and, as this is primarilly an amateur site, a rarely spotted luxury.

Much to my dismay, I have no other source to direct you to for an answer, heck, I would like to know too!

You are hardly alone however, this question has come up with monotonous regularity over the last three years and gone pretty well unanswered for all that time.

Part of the problem is that camera manufacturers, with an eye on the "Pro" market, are cramming "prosumer" camera's with all these wonderfull gizmo's that would have the average BBC/ NBC/ ABC etc camera man going, "Yeah, so what, why wouldn't it have it", when the camera is actually designed for the amateur market, 99.99999% of whom don't have the foggiest what in the hell they do.

If, indeed, anyone out there knows where a completely, comprehensive introduction to all this stuff is to be had, speak up, because it's becoming more and more of an issue as this gear finds it's way into amateurs hands.


CS