EXI Low Light Noise at DVinfo.net

Roger Dowling · August 1st, 2008, 07:43 PM

Can someone please help.
After shooting a small clip in Horror style. I have noticed that in some shots there is evident noise in the dark shadow areas. I lit the subject and exposed for the skin tones that have come up well.
I am not gifted in the tech area so have my EXI set in PP. Matrox on Standard, White offset off, Detail On Frequency +44, Crispening +25, Skin Tone Detail on Level -80, Gamma Cine 2, Black -5, Black Gamma +10,
Daylight shooting is fantastic, but I feel I have not quite got the best out of my EXI for interior night or low light.
Can anyone please help.

Kevin Shaw · August 1st, 2008, 10:38 PM

Try limiting the gain to ~6-9 db if you haven't already done so.

Roger Dowling · August 2nd, 2008, 12:03 AM

Thanks Kevin, I should have mentioned that I was not using any gain.
I was also checking the output through the SDI output onto a 17" Panasonic HD monitor.
The pictures looked very clean, I know that this output is uncompressed 4.2.2, so I am asuming that my settings in the PP may not be the best for low light.

Robert Young · August 2nd, 2008, 01:26 AM

I am certainly no expert in these settings, but my understanding is that Cine2 is a "broadcast safe" version of Cine1 (whites are limited). I normally use Cine1 for bright, sunny day, colorful outdoor shots. It has amazing latitude, but requires a lot of light. Mid grey is set for around 37%- so the exposure curve is trying hard to see detail in the darks. Cine4 is the brightest cine setting with mid grey @ 50%. I find that it works well in overcast & lower light settings. It will tend to crush the darks a bit, but may reduce the noise you are seeing in the shadows. Other alternatives are the STD Gammas. Std1 is bright and contrasty with crushed blacks. STD3 is kind of the middle of the road "normal" setting. You can select HiSat to punch it up a bit.
It all depends on the "look" you are after. Frankly, all of these numbers & curves data are a bit theoretical for me. The best way that I find what I like is to shoot the same scene on several settings and evaluate the results on an HD monitor in post, or even just plug the camera into an HDTV.
The sticky thread on Picture Profile Settings at the top of this forum has lots of very solid info. IMO it's worth reading all 20+ pages.

Piotr Wozniacki · August 2nd, 2008, 01:31 AM

Low light noise is not necessarily attributable to gain - see here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....27&postcount=3

Of course, the above is more about in-door shooting, but the general rules apply. Either give enough luma to low-mids by stretching blacks with Cine4, or get rid of them (along with the noise) by compressing blacks with Cine1 or Cine3.

Cine2 is indeed very safe, but a bit too washed-out, IMO.

Roger Dowling · August 2nd, 2008, 08:00 AM

Thanks Robert & Piotr, I have spent some time reading the threads on PP's at top of this thread.
Thanks it is very helpful.

August 1st, 2008, 07:43 PM	#1
Roger Dowling New Boot Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Adelaide South Australia Posts: 9	EXI Low Light Noise Can someone please help. After shooting a small clip in Horror style. I have noticed that in some shots there is evident noise in the dark shadow areas. I lit the subject and exposed for the skin tones that have come up well. I am not gifted in the tech area so have my EXI set in PP. Matrox on Standard, White offset off, Detail On Frequency +44, Crispening +25, Skin Tone Detail on Level -80, Gamma Cine 2, Black -5, Black Gamma +10, Daylight shooting is fantastic, but I feel I have not quite got the best out of my EXI for interior night or low light. Can anyone please help.

August 2nd, 2008, 01:26 AM	#4
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	I am certainly no expert in these settings, but my understanding is that Cine2 is a "broadcast safe" version of Cine1 (whites are limited). I normally use Cine1 for bright, sunny day, colorful outdoor shots. It has amazing latitude, but requires a lot of light. Mid grey is set for around 37%- so the exposure curve is trying hard to see detail in the darks. Cine4 is the brightest cine setting with mid grey @ 50%. I find that it works well in overcast & lower light settings. It will tend to crush the darks a bit, but may reduce the noise you are seeing in the shadows. Other alternatives are the STD Gammas. Std1 is bright and contrasty with crushed blacks. STD3 is kind of the middle of the road "normal" setting. You can select HiSat to punch it up a bit. It all depends on the "look" you are after. Frankly, all of these numbers & curves data are a bit theoretical for me. The best way that I find what I like is to shoot the same scene on several settings and evaluate the results on an HD monitor in post, or even just plug the camera into an HDTV. The sticky thread on Picture Profile Settings at the top of this forum has lots of very solid info. IMO it's worth reading all 20+ pages. __________________ Bob

August 2nd, 2008, 01:31 AM	#5
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Low light noise is not necessarily attributable to gain - see here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....27&postcount=3 Of course, the above is more about in-door shooting, but the general rules apply. Either give enough luma to low-mids by stretching blacks with Cine4, or get rid of them (along with the noise) by compressing blacks with Cine1 or Cine3. Cine2 is indeed very safe, but a bit too washed-out, IMO. __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive Last edited by Piotr Wozniacki; August 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 PM.

August 1st, 2008, 10:38 PM	#2
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	Try limiting the gain to ~6-9 db if you haven't already done so.

August 2nd, 2008, 12:03 AM	#3
Roger Dowling New Boot Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Adelaide South Australia Posts: 9	Thanks Kevin, I should have mentioned that I was not using any gain. I was also checking the output through the SDI output onto a 17" Panasonic HD monitor. The pictures looked very clean, I know that this output is uncompressed 4.2.2, so I am asuming that my settings in the PP may not be the best for low light.

August 2nd, 2008, 08:00 AM	#6
Roger Dowling New Boot Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Adelaide South Australia Posts: 9	Thanks Robert & Piotr, I have spent some time reading the threads on PP's at top of this thread. Thanks it is very helpful.