Got my Warm Cards today! at DVinfo.net

John Locke · March 2nd, 2003, 05:49 AM

I know there has already been a debate over whether these cards are necessary...some people say all you need to do is put a gel over a white board to achieve the same effect.

But having the set in hand, all I can say is that I'm glad I bought it. The set includes a handy case that'll slide nicely into a production bag... has two sets of cards, one mini set with a neck strap, and a large set connected on a little chain so they won't get loose and disappear...a pen and pen holder with "Shot Notes" stationery... and all the cards are coated with tough plastic. All in all, it's a nice, durable, well-organized, compact kit.

And the most important thing is...they do make a nice warm image.

Andrew Petrie · March 2nd, 2003, 09:31 AM

I've had my warm cards for 5 months now. Handy little things. The pen they give you is junk though, but I wasn't expecting staionary anyways :) I also opted for the green card.

Dylan Couper · March 2nd, 2003, 10:32 AM

What sizes are the large and small cards?

Rob Lohman · March 2nd, 2003, 12:48 PM

Can you put some photos online, John? Or e-mail them to me?

Thanks!

John Locke · March 2nd, 2003, 06:05 PM

Dylan,

The large set is 15X23 cm (sorry, don't have a ruler with inches) and the small set is 9X14 cm. I got the Warm Cards Plus set, so it includes "Warm" in degrees of .5, 1, 2, and 3. And also a "Minus Green" card for fluorescent lighting.

Rob,

You can see photos of the set and of the results at the Warm Cards web site. Check it out and if you want more detail than those photos provide, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you some examples.

Simon Plissi · March 2nd, 2003, 06:41 PM

Unfortunately the example photos on their site are obviously stock photos they've just colour corrected to approximate what the effect of the cards would be. Pretty lame, yet I still like the idea of what they do and how the product looks. So I may try my own version and if that becomes tedious just buy the Warm Cards.

John Locke · March 2nd, 2003, 07:05 PM

Simon and Rob,

I'll try to whip up some examples and post them somewhere this week.

Simon Plissi · March 3rd, 2003, 08:23 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by John Locke : Simon and Rob,

I'll try to whip up some examples and post them somewhere this week. -->>>

That's good of you.

John Locke · March 3rd, 2003, 08:51 AM

No problem, Simon. Wednesday, I'll shoot the same subject using the in-camera white balance settings and also each card...then I'll post them side-by-side for a comparison.

Check back in a couple of days.

Wayne Orr · March 3rd, 2003, 10:14 AM

<<Wednesday, I'll shoot the same subject using the in-camera white balance settings and also each card.>>

John, it would be nice if that subject is a caucasion in a blue or white shirt. A color chart would be great.

John Locke · March 5th, 2003, 02:27 AM

Wayne and Simon,

One of the other wranglers, Adrian, stopped by today to help out and we shot two sets of tests. One is an outdoor overcast set, and the other is an indoor natural light test (shot by a window). Both of these will naturally be bluer than a bright sunny day, so I'd rather hold off on posting the results until we get a sunny day test set shot, too. Unfortunately, there's no sunshine today and probably not tomorrow.

So, hold off for a couple of days. Results coming soon.

John Locke · March 9th, 2003, 10:29 PM

Okay...test results are up. Click here to check them out.

(By the way...meet one of the wranglers, Adrian, in his screen debut!)

Jay Gladwell · March 10th, 2003, 06:13 AM

Far better samples than those on Warm Cards' own web site. The ones on the site appear to be the same photo "warmed" with an app like PhotoShop.

Simon Plissi · March 10th, 2003, 06:14 AM

Thanks John, very interesting. Warm card 3 reminds me a bit of Kodachrome Super8, the nice orange look. ;-)

1/2 & 1 look to be the most useful, I do like the look of these. But what is going on with the contrast? All the shots with the warm cards have reduced the contrast slightly. It can't be just due to the natural light changing as they are reduced on all locations. Or is it?

John Locke · March 10th, 2003, 06:36 AM

Thanks, Jay. Odd that they would do that, isn't it?

Simon, the thing that I think is most interesting to me is how the number 2 warm card consistently alters the hue slightly (more yellow). When you look at the cards themselves, they seem to be the same shade of blue but progressively darker. Obviously, number 2 is a bit off.

Sorry about the poor contrast. I have three preset actions I've made for PhotoShop to increase contrast, brighten a bit to account for the different gamma between Macs and PCs, and sharpen using unsharp mask. Each preset does all three in varying strengths. I just guesstimated which preset to use for each image (obviously overdoing it on some)...not really worrying about the image quality. Usually I'd have to fiddle with it after using the action, but in this case I just wanted to see the difference in hue.

March 2nd, 2003, 05:49 AM	#1
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Got my Warm Cards today! I know there has already been a debate over whether these cards are necessary...some people say all you need to do is put a gel over a white board to achieve the same effect. But having the set in hand, all I can say is that I'm glad I bought it. The set includes a handy case that'll slide nicely into a production bag... has two sets of cards, one mini set with a neck strap, and a large set connected on a little chain so they won't get loose and disappear...a pen and pen holder with "Shot Notes" stationery... and all the cards are coated with tough plastic. All in all, it's a nice, durable, well-organized, compact kit. And the most important thing is...they do make a nice warm image. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 2nd, 2003, 09:31 AM	#2
Andrew Petrie Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 484	I've had my warm cards for 5 months now. Handy little things. The pen they give you is junk though, but I wasn't expecting staionary anyways :) I also opted for the green card. __________________ Andrew \| Canon XL1s, ME66, Vinten Vision 3, GlideCam V16 (for sale!)

March 2nd, 2003, 10:32 AM	#3
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	What sizes are the large and small cards? __________________ Need to rent camera gear in Vancouver BC? Check me out at camerarentalsvancouver.com

March 2nd, 2003, 12:48 PM	#4
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Can you put some photos online, John? Or e-mail them to me? Thanks! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 2nd, 2003, 06:05 PM	#5
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Dylan, The large set is 15X23 cm (sorry, don't have a ruler with inches) and the small set is 9X14 cm. I got the Warm Cards Plus set, so it includes "Warm" in degrees of .5, 1, 2, and 3. And also a "Minus Green" card for fluorescent lighting. Rob, You can see photos of the set and of the results at the Warm Cards web site. Check it out and if you want more detail than those photos provide, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you some examples. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 2nd, 2003, 06:41 PM	#6
Simon Plissi Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 105	Unfortunately the example photos on their site are obviously stock photos they've just colour corrected to approximate what the effect of the cards would be. Pretty lame, yet I still like the idea of what they do and how the product looks. So I may try my own version and if that becomes tedious just buy the Warm Cards.

March 2nd, 2003, 07:05 PM	#7
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Simon and Rob, I'll try to whip up some examples and post them somewhere this week. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 3rd, 2003, 08:23 AM	#8
Simon Plissi Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 105	<<<-- Originally posted by John Locke : Simon and Rob, I'll try to whip up some examples and post them somewhere this week. -->>> That's good of you.

March 3rd, 2003, 08:51 AM	#9
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	No problem, Simon. Wednesday, I'll shoot the same subject using the in-camera white balance settings and also each card...then I'll post them side-by-side for a comparison. Check back in a couple of days. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 3rd, 2003, 10:14 AM	#10
Wayne Orr Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Northridge Ca Posts: 734	<<Wednesday, I'll shoot the same subject using the in-camera white balance settings and also each card.>> John, it would be nice if that subject is a caucasion in a blue or white shirt. A color chart would be great. __________________ Wayne If it was easy, they'd get a relative to do it.

March 5th, 2003, 02:27 AM	#11
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Wayne and Simon, One of the other wranglers, Adrian, stopped by today to help out and we shot two sets of tests. One is an outdoor overcast set, and the other is an indoor natural light test (shot by a window). Both of these will naturally be bluer than a bright sunny day, so I'd rather hold off on posting the results until we get a sunny day test set shot, too. Unfortunately, there's no sunshine today and probably not tomorrow. So, hold off for a couple of days. Results coming soon. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 9th, 2003, 10:29 PM	#12
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Okay...test results are up. Click here to check them out. (By the way...meet one of the wranglers, Adrian, in his screen debut!) __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

March 10th, 2003, 06:13 AM	#13
Jay Gladwell Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,244	Far better samples than those on Warm Cards' own web site. The ones on the site appear to be the same photo "warmed" with an app like PhotoShop.

March 10th, 2003, 06:14 AM	#14
Simon Plissi Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 105	Thanks John, very interesting. Warm card 3 reminds me a bit of Kodachrome Super8, the nice orange look. ;-) 1/2 & 1 look to be the most useful, I do like the look of these. But what is going on with the contrast? All the shots with the warm cards have reduced the contrast slightly. It can't be just due to the natural light changing as they are reduced on all locations. Or is it?

March 10th, 2003, 06:36 AM	#15
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Thanks, Jay. Odd that they would do that, isn't it? Simon, the thing that I think is most interesting to me is how the number 2 warm card consistently alters the hue slightly (more yellow). When you look at the cards themselves, they seem to be the same shade of blue but progressively darker. Obviously, number 2 is a bit off. Sorry about the poor contrast. I have three preset actions I've made for PhotoShop to increase contrast, brighten a bit to account for the different gamma between Macs and PCs, and sharpen using unsharp mask. Each preset does all three in varying strengths. I just guesstimated which preset to use for each image (obviously overdoing it on some)...not really worrying about the image quality. Usually I'd have to fiddle with it after using the action, but in this case I just wanted to see the difference in hue. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com