Weird Skin Tones from the GH4?

Larry Secrest · July 24th, 2016, 08:48 AM

I'm waiting for a manual balance grey card and I'm going to play by setting the kelvin manually.
But I'm not pleased with the skin tones in general.
I do agree with this: joe12south | Why Cine-D sucks

Noa Put · July 24th, 2016, 09:53 AM

Below film was shot in cine-d but with the gh4 with apparently quite some post processing in Davinci to make it look good (not my film).
I personally prefer to shoot natural now with my panasonics and get it right in camera.

Larry Secrest · July 24th, 2016, 10:01 AM

Noa, I think you're right!

I used to know that clip, but forgot about it, yes,beautifully shot and obviously way enough as far as quality to tell a urban story. Way above what the guys who shot Tangerine achieved with those damn iphones.
Would you mind testing this setting in your GH4?

NATURAL

Contrast -2
Sharpness 0
NR -5
Saturation -2

Curious about what you think

Larry Secrest · July 24th, 2016, 10:03 AM

i.dynamic: off
i.resolution: off

Noa Put · July 24th, 2016, 10:13 AM

Here is the grading process for that film

Larry Secrest · July 24th, 2016, 02:04 PM

Noa,
Thanks a lot, this is invaluable.
The woman's face came out better than the guy's, I think, but very good job.
Now, I wonder if something similar could have been achieved with the Natural setting? As I understand the Cinelike D setting gives more DR, but in this particular video I don't see the DR very challenging. Most of the work was done in coloring, so I bet there was no need to use Cinelike D? Or am I wrong?

Noa Put · July 24th, 2016, 03:20 PM

You can read about the reasoning behind choosing cine-d on his blog: GH4 Guerrilla Filmmaking: Case Study | Sherif Mokbel | BLOG

Larry Secrest · July 24th, 2016, 05:40 PM

Great!
Of course we'll never know, since the same piece would have to be re-shot with different setting, but as he mentions in his paragraph TOO FLAT IS BAD, I believe he wouldn't have had to denoise so much if he had chosen NATURAL instead of CINELIKE D.
He had to work hard in post to recover the faces and skin tones, but I do not see in his piece why Cinelike D was justified as far as DR. I mean he says he had to work hard to make them look more human! Jesus! So I guess he went that way for no good reasons. I pull my hat to the guy, but I would say he did an amazing job despite using Cinelike D not because. I'd say his skills as an editor saved him.

Noa Put · July 25th, 2016, 12:50 AM

The reason he had to denoise was because he raised the master pedestal to +15, he would have been better of experimenting with idynamic.

July 24th, 2016, 08:48 AM	#16
Larry Secrest Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 404	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? I'm waiting for a manual balance grey card and I'm going to play by setting the kelvin manually. But I'm not pleased with the skin tones in general. I do agree with this: joe12south \| Why Cine-D sucks

July 24th, 2016, 09:53 AM	#17
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? Below film was shot in cine-d but with the gh4 with apparently quite some post processing in Davinci to make it look good (not my film). I personally prefer to shoot natural now with my panasonics and get it right in camera. Without You on Vimeo

July 24th, 2016, 10:01 AM	#18
Larry Secrest Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 404	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? Noa, I think you're right! I used to know that clip, but forgot about it, yes,beautifully shot and obviously way enough as far as quality to tell a urban story. Way above what the guys who shot Tangerine achieved with those damn iphones. Would you mind testing this setting in your GH4? NATURAL Contrast -2 Sharpness 0 NR -5 Saturation -2 Curious about what you think

July 24th, 2016, 10:03 AM	#19
Larry Secrest Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 404	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? i.dynamic: off i.resolution: off

July 24th, 2016, 10:13 AM	#20
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? Here is the grading process for that film GH4: Grading Process on Vimeo

July 24th, 2016, 02:04 PM	#21
Larry Secrest Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 404	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? Noa, Thanks a lot, this is invaluable. The woman's face came out better than the guy's, I think, but very good job. Now, I wonder if something similar could have been achieved with the Natural setting? As I understand the Cinelike D setting gives more DR, but in this particular video I don't see the DR very challenging. Most of the work was done in coloring, so I bet there was no need to use Cinelike D? Or am I wrong?

July 24th, 2016, 03:20 PM	#22
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? You can read about the reasoning behind choosing cine-d on his blog: GH4 Guerrilla Filmmaking: Case Study \| Sherif Mokbel \| BLOG

July 24th, 2016, 05:40 PM	#23
Larry Secrest Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 404	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? Great! Of course we'll never know, since the same piece would have to be re-shot with different setting, but as he mentions in his paragraph TOO FLAT IS BAD, I believe he wouldn't have had to denoise so much if he had chosen NATURAL instead of CINELIKE D. He had to work hard in post to recover the faces and skin tones, but I do not see in his piece why Cinelike D was justified as far as DR. I mean he says he had to work hard to make them look more human! Jesus! So I guess he went that way for no good reasons. I pull my hat to the guy, but I would say he did an amazing job despite using Cinelike D not because. I'd say his skills as an editor saved him.

July 25th, 2016, 12:50 AM	#24
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Weird Skin Tones from the GH4? The reason he had to denoise was because he raised the master pedestal to +15, he would have been better of experimenting with idynamic.