Picture Profile Recipes

[Mark Joseph]

I have invested about 6 hours staring down side-by-side calibrating EX1R and Z5P cameras and have arrived at point where I very happy with the two cameras closely matching on colour. Even with the Z5P running -6dB it's still more noise than 1/2" @ -3dB but that is to be expected and I was looking closely @42" screens.

My testing was hardly scientific - both cameras 1080i mode, component analogue HD into two 42" Sony Bravias. Both displays to neutral with sharpness down - I reversed the cables mid-test a couple of times to be sure the subtle differences I observed weren't the monitors - to my surprise the subtle differences were reflected afterwards so the display were pretty consistent for consumer items.

Baseline was the EX1R set-up based on the BBC profile with some very slight changes from Alister Chapman profile suggestions, I just grabbed colourful items within reach and aspects resembling skin tone - phone snap:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5029/...db34837381.jpg
IMAG0073 by cudex, on Flickr

Spent some time matching the green-screen in background - I figured it represented foliage and grass for outdoor shoots so persevered with it. I finally nailed it but only after doubling up a correction on green phase on Z5P.


HVR Z5P

White preset 5600

Gamma ITU709
Black Gamma
range : Middle
Level 0
Knee auto
max pt 90%
sensitivity middle
color mode
type ITU709 MTX
L 2
color depth
R -2
M-7
Y-2
color correction
color revision
mem sel 1&2
Mem 1 col
phase 20
range 14
sat 10
mem 1 revision
R gain +8
B gain -1
mem 2 col same as mem 1
mem 2 rev
R gain +15
B gain -15


EX1R picture profile “BBC5600” based on BBC recommended settings for video (if setting isn;t specified it using default value)

Matrix ON
Select Standard

White preset 5600

Detail ON
Freq 0
Crispening -45
H/V ratio 0
White limiter 0
Black limiter 0
V DTL creation Y
Knee APT level 0

Skin tone detail OFF

Knee ON
Auto OFF
Point 87
Slope +50
Gamma STD3

[Michael B. McGee]

so, as the title suggests i am shooting my first green screen job this Friday. its just a basic interview with our subject in front of the screen. so, i was wondering what 's a good PP for this type of shot. i'm aware of the normal concerns such as using the lowest gain, -3db, and turning Detail off to pull a clean matte. what else makes for a good clean composite?

thanks in advance,
Mike

[Vincent Oliver]

I would suggest shooting in a progressive mode for a cleaner matte. A lot will also depend on which software you're using for creating the mask. After Effects comes with an excellent plug-in called Keylight.

[Michael B. McGee]

anybody know of a good Film Noir look PP?

[Jim Rogalski]

Hi Bill,

Would it be possible to post your attachment as an excel or word file? I'm not yet at the stage on the learning curve where I'm storing PPs on my card. :)

[Jim Rogalski]

Bill cont'd....
That would be the attachment from post No. 120 in this thread......

[Jack Zhang]

Hey all,

I'm currently really trying to figure out the Detail menu on my EX1R and how to cancel out Sony's notorious over-sharpening of the image and at the same time preserve enough detail to justify the resolution of the sensor and reduce sensor noise.

Currently, I run this:

Detail Level: -10
Frequency: +8
Crispening: +20

The rest is Doug Jensen's PP.

Attached is what that looks like in HQ 35mbps. Gain was -3db. I'll be shooting 100mbps nanoFlash Long GOP down the line, hence why I'm asking about noise reduction.

Now, of particular concern are the thin branches in the trees. Looking at the screenshot, did I overcompensate and unsharpen too much? or is it fine as is? I'm trying to be somewhat subtle about cancelling out the Sony oversharpening.

[Les Wilson]

Another thread about crispening:
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...upression.html

-3db lowers your dynamic range.

[Alister Chapman]

I have an in depth look at crispening here:

Picture Profiles – Crispening _ How to clean up your image. | XDCAM-USER.COM

Jack, you might want to try crisping at -60 and then look at your branches again. You will get a little more noise, but subtle details will be a little sharper.

[Jack Zhang]

My biggest concern is once I do receive my nanoFlash, more noise is captured via the better codec. This is why I want to reduce it but at the same time still have enough detail leftover to make the image superior to something like the NX5 or my HV30. I chose -3db specifically to catch less noise and currently, it shows even in 35mbps.

I've now set Crispening to 10 since I thought 20 was too strong. I still get detail loss, but it isn't as noticeable as 20.

[Alister Chapman]

Mark: There are some serious issues with your PP as detailed below. Even at 0db you will not reach peak white at the combination of knee point 87 and slope +50 is restricting your peak output level. If you use the histogram you will see that peak output never gets all the way to the right, in fact it's quite some way from peak output. At most you don't want the slope at more than +10 with the knee at 87. If you then add -3d to that combination your in even more trouble, reducing peak white even more.

You need to be very careful when using -3db gain as it reduces both dynamic range and on the EX cameras, peak recording level. If you have access to a waveform monitor you can adjust the gamma gain to compensate for the reduce peak white level, but by the time you have done that you only get about a 1.5 to 2 db noise decrease at the expense of a half stop (3db) reduction in dynamic range.

Ultimately, any changes to gamma, crisping, detail or the use of negative gain will only bring very small differences in the noise performance. You will never make a dramatic difference, only perhaps small improvements.

Whatever you do, especially anything that alters the gamma curves or knee you do need to check your output levels with a waveform monitor or at the very minimum the histogram.

[Annen James]

Is my attached sheet still correct?

[Mark G. Helm]

I was wondering whether anyone could reccomend a picture profile for shooting in a fully lit green screen studio environment shooting one full length person to camera.(with autocue, mirror and snood)

I have a brand new EX1R and am also new to having so much flexability so could do with some help if at all possible. At present I'm using Doug Jensons pp, which I'm happy with but keen to understand if there are any more specific profiles available for this type of shoot.

Many thanks
Mark

ps I have read through all 40 pages on this thread and there's some great info but nothing specific to my requirements, I have also scoured the web to no avail.

[Alister Chapman]

If you have control over your lighting then Std gamma 3, manual knee with knee point at 85 and shoot progressive for the best key would be the way I would go. I would also consider turning the camera through 90 degrees so the actor uses more of the now vertical frame.

[Jack Zhang]

Just gonna ask this for the new PMW-200 owners:

What would be the equivalent of the "High Sat" matrix on the EX1R for the 200?