white blance.

[Steve McClean]

What would you guys say is the best and most professional way to white balance without a standard white balance card?

Any tips or suggestions?

Do you want to have all your lights on then do the white balance?

All I ever do is click the AWB acouple of times tell I think it looks right....but this can't be the way to do it.


thanks


steve

[Jim Carswell]

Set your scene as if you are about to roll camera (all lights on). From the camera's shooting position place a white card in the middle of the scene area. Black balance and than white balance.
Jim

[David Saraceno]

Jim, I believe he asking how to accomplish this without the card.

[Jeff Anderson]

White undershirt works in a pinch. Faded blue jeans make a nice "warm card" if you have nothing else. Something that is definitely white though is best for an honest white balance.

[Jim Carswell]

It doesn't have to be a white card. Preferably yes. But it can be a styrofoam cup, white sneakers...anything.
Jim

[scorsesefan]

outside, there's always a nice white van...

[Jim Carswell]

clouds...

[Steve McClean]

Hey, thanks for the help, I didn't know you could just do that(white tee-shirt,clouds...etc.) and it would still be professional.


thanks

steve

[TedRR]

Consider a white balance as painting your camera.
I can take a white balance off my white Ford Expedition and get different results. If I use the hood that reflects up at the sky, I will neutralize the blues and get a warmer look.
If I want a warmer look inside, we leave off the key or fill light, balance and then add back the light.
If I want a cooler look we can balance with orange gel spilling very slightly on the white card.

In our totally green studio if we are getting too much green spill I will tilt the white card towards the floor and do the WB. This doesn't hurt our ability to key, but will minimize subtle spill on blond hair or light clothing.

Over the years I've learned how to see color in white and use that to paint for any look we need to achieve.
Practice using a monitor and in no time you will be able to paint the camera even in a run and gun situation which we all have to do from time to time.
Best of luck.

[John Froton]

I carry a letter sized piece of white posterboard that works well but I've found myself using peoples shirts, or whatever is white, to get the white balance looking good to my eye. It's worked well for me.

Typically, white balancing doesn't have to be exactly accurate as degrees of warm and cool might be wanted effects. However, you might want to check for color accuracy by looking at several varying colored subjects trhrough your viewfinder or monitor just to be sure that you're not off balance too much from an original color that you want to maintain.

Keeping a consistant white balance throughout a sequence of scenes is a real challenge that you want to be aware of.

[Coldpizza]

Expodisk!!!
I think the original question was about a professional way to white balance i.e. consistent, reliable and of better quality. I know it sounds crazy what could possibly be the difference in quality between white balance techniques. But there is and a major one, T-shirts and clouds can be good if there is nothing ells. But neither can be replicated to achieve a similar look and there for can not be a reliable white balance, would never use them on a big and or paid job. Also wether shooting Varicam, 500 or 200 makes you look like an amateur...

Best white balance that I have found is the Expodisk such a simple yet effective idea. It essentially turns your camera into an incident meter balancing out all wavelengths that hit your lens from the frame your shooting as it is composed and lit. As oppose to a traditional white balance from a white sheet of paper or warm card that gives your camera a reading of the wavelengths that are a combination of your light source and white balance surface.
Here is a comparison of the 2, top one is Expodisk bottom one White balanced off the whit paper in the shot:
http://http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/24954/1211601831.jpg

The paper white balance gave a vectorscope reading of: a cluster tending yellow at 37%, a cluster tending blue at 13%, and a cluster tending red at 86%. The Expodisk white balance gave a reading of a cluster tending yellow green at 26% a cluster tending blue at 21% and a cluster tending 5 degree closer to red at 86%.

Compose and light your frame then place the Expodisk over the lens white side in and white balance. If you want to color the white balance just place the required gel in-front of the disk. No need to hold up anything in front of the lens simple, easy and quick. Only thing to be aware of is that it is hard to use it in very dark places, then again we are talking about light capturing devices. Even so if you need to shoot in a low light situation use a preset or increase a neutral light source for the white balance then drop it back down to what it needs to be. I normally switch between preset and the white balance just done to see which one works better.

[lando]

anybody else use the expodisk? thoughts? I'm thinkin about picking one up myself.

[Bob Gruen]

If you can't afford anything else, get a single piece of white sturdyboard and quarter it. keep 2 in your camera kit so when one gets blemished / mangled you can switch to a new one.

The advice to use different things is poor advice in my opinion. This is what leads to having to do inconsistent color correction in post. Use the same repeatable object each time and your footage will be light consistent.

The question arises "What if I don't have my camera kit?". Well that's just unprofessional. If you have your camera then you should have it's kit...

Bob

[valladao65]

Hey ColdPizza,

Im curious about the pics you posted. The bottom picture is white balanced off the paper, yet the paper is still yellow-ish. Are you sure the white balance took correctly? If I got a result like that in the field, I think I'd redo it as it looks very yellow.
I'd love to hear from others using the Epodisk as well. This site is great for finding tools to make your work look better.

Thanks,
Mike

[Douglas Villalba]

Hey, thanks for the help, I didn't know you could just do that(white tee-shirt,clouds...etc.) and it would still be professional.


thanks

steve
Not professional

White balance can be tricky as in pics above.

When ever possible use presets. In bright sun light use the daylight setttins(5600k). It doesn't make any sence to use a cloud.
Inside is usually tungsten so use the inside setiing (3200k) and if it doesn't look good in the VF then white balance with something white just get closer to true WB. If you can't find anything white then zoom out press the WB and that should also do it.

[Coldpizza]

Hey ColdPizza,

Im curious about the pics you posted. The bottom picture is white balanced off the paper, yet the paper is still yellow-ish. Are you sure the white balance took correctly? If I got a result like that in the field, I think I'd redo it as it looks very yellow.
I'd love to hear from others using the Epodisk as well. This site is great for finding tools to make your work look better.

Thanks,
Mike

True it does look a bit yellowish this shot was taken in my lounge there is a big double glass door on the far wall facing the couch. It was a very sunny day so a lot of sun light was spilling in. By filling the frame with the paper which was in fact reflecting a mixture of majority sunlight mixed with the tungsten light bulbs inside. The resulting white balance rendered the white paper slightly yellowish. Also why there was such a high yellow percentage in the vectorscope reading. Which is where the Expodisk has its advantage as it would not have been effected by the "purer" sun light. But only by the wavelengths of light reflected back from the color of the objects in the frame.
Presets are good when there is no other consistently reliable white balancing method or specific look requirement.