White balance for host in front of Apple cinema display

AdamT

Active member
He's gonna be sitting in a chair with an Apple G5 tower with a 30" Apple cinema display behind him in an edit suite. Monitor will have open FCP project filling entire screen. I think the monitor will give off a blue hue.

Any suggestion on how to white balance for this.
 
Why not leave the monitor off or even better, cut out a green screen matte and composite the FCP project into the monitor in post. You might end up with better results than dealing with a monitor...
 
Use daylight setting and white balance on someting white on the Apple screen

I wasn't aware you can set it on 2 WB settings at the same time? I know how to set WB, but where is the daylight setting? (HVX noob here).
 
Why not leave the monitor off or even better, cut out a green screen matte and composite the FCP project into the monitor in post. You might end up with better results than dealing with a monitor...

This would be the best way to go, but I've never shot green screen before, or composited it, so it might be a but risky this time. Where would I get the material to cut out?
 
This would be the best way to go, but I've never shot green screen before, or composited it, so it might be a but risky this time. Where would I get the material to cut out?
No need to cut out anything if the person doesn´t get between camera and ACD...
Just a simple corner pinning...

You change colortemperature with the button on the front of the HVX, if on "preset" well you´ll get the presets, if on a or b, push the button for manual WB...

PS I don´t know the ACDs, but a lot of monitors offer different colortemperature settings...
 
Last edited:
Green screen and compositing? All for a simple interview shot?

Don' complicate things unnecessarily.

Simply white balance the camera for the actual light you'll be using:

Zoom in on a white card or sheet of paper, set your white balance, then shoot your subject. The monitor will give off it's natural color temperature in the shot. It doesn't need to be compensated for.
 
Green screen and compositing? All for a simple interview shot?

Don' complicate things unnecessarily.

Simply white balance the camera for the actual light you'll be using:

Zoom in on a white card or sheet of paper, set your white balance, then shoot your subject. The monitor will give off it's natural color temperature in the shot. It doesn't need to be compensated for.

Yeah, and go handheld, don´t set up lights and use an oncamera mic - it´s just a stupid and probably pointless interview...
 
No need to cut out anything if the person doesn´t get between camera and ACD...
Just a simple corner pinning...

You change colortemperature with the button on the front of the HVX, if on "preset" well you´ll get the presets, if on a or b, push the button for manual WB...

PS I don´t know the ACDs, but a lot of monitors offer different colortemperature settings...

I would do corner pinning in a second, only that the subject will be in front of the monitor and then actually swivel in the chair to start using the computer.
 
I wasn't aware you can set it on 2 WB settings at the same time? I know how to set WB, but where is the daylight setting? (HVX noob here).

You set the camara to 5600k then white balance on something white on the screen , that way the screnn is fine and the person you light it with daylight lights
 
as spartacus says you could just lay video over that screen and size it accordingly. It could also be any color matte just make it a different color than what's in the scene. It's a pretty common thing to do and it will allow for corrections and such in post especially if you are shooting 24p or something. I'd say to do some experiements and see what works and compositing something out should be pretty easy especially if the person isn't in front of the screen at all. If they are, then greenscreening might be good.. and you might also get a good thing just turning on the monitor and doing some tests.
 
Ok first of all,
If you set the camera to 5600k you're using a preset which in and of itself defeats the custom white balance (setting the camera to A or B white balance and then pressing the white balance button)

If you shoot the monitor and wish to avoid the matte idea (which of the two methods is most efficient depends on whether you need to be more efficient during post or during shooting) here are a few tips:
You biggest problem wont be the color temperature of the monitor. By going into monitor calibration you can actually cheat the white balance setting of the apple display within OSX to have it match your lighting more. The issue you are going to have is having the monitor's light match that of your subject. LCD Monitors are backlit, and while they don't give out much light, they can be pretty bright when shooting straight at them. You also have to consider that the cinema display is relatively close to daylight so your best bet is to bring HMIs or Kino Flos that are daylight balanced to make everything match (or gel your tungstens). It should be relatively easy to shoot. If you decide to put a greenscreen inside the monitor make sure to have orange (or another contrasting color) dots on the corners of the monitor if you plan on paning or moving the camera at all.

Depending on the distance between your subject and the monitor, and other considerations for the composition (is there a window in shot?) I would say you'd be find with a pair of 4x4 Kinos with daylight tubes, and maybe a 200w Joker for a highlight? It really depends on the interview and the way you want your subject to look.
 
Back
Top