XL2 Presets for a film look
- Thread starter avery
- Start date
Hi Avery,
Here are my presets. They are tweaked for film look, and I use them with very little post production to get an amazing images:
(from previous post)
Here are the reasons for doing as little in Post as possible:
1. Images in DV and HDV lose substantial color detail and fixing/tweaking in Post means that you have little to work with - give it a try - you'll do lots of crying in your sleep. Color correct at the lens/WB, before you hit the DV codec.
2. Post is great if you have a big budget, but everything you can fix in production will save many hours and cost in Post. And you will actually see what it is going to look like - important for lighting setup and visualization.
After my last film, I have spent many hours tweaking and testing. You can get the most stunning images from an XL2 if you do the following:
1. Color balance your shots properly. I use my own warming cards that goes with my Post/Grading procedures.
2. Setup a custom preset as below.
3. Light it well (and meter correctly).
CUSTOM PRESET VALUES:
Gamma: Cine
Knee: Low
Black: Press (I know you lose detail - do it anyway - you will see the results)
Color Matrix: Cine
Color Gain: None
Color Phase: None
R Gain: None
G Gain: None
B Gain: None
V Detail: Normal
Sharpness: Normal (30%) (0 - 100% = range)
Coring: 75% (Less noise)
Setup Level: 0%
Master PED: 0%
NR:Off
Also do the following:
Gain = 0
Shutter = 1/50 (1/48 NTSC)
Iris/Fstop = As required (Low = less DOF)
WB = Manual (While Balance correctly - very important - can use compensation)
LENS:
OIS: Off (except if handheld)
Focus: Manual (Use Marks / ZR1000 for exact racking focus - works very nice - clicks)
ND: Use ND filters to control Shutter/Gain/Iris for outside.
Outside vistas and long shots = Iris Small (High F-stop) = long DOF
Use Wide Angle converter for establishing shots.
Light well to compensate for DOF (1/3inch CCD) and you don't need a Mini35, etc
I also use a Light meter which is very important. I meter, determine my ND, Fstop and set it on the camera. This way you have very little problems.
I have a sequence in which I do all the above, because if you mix them up, your results are different.
Here are my presets. They are tweaked for film look, and I use them with very little post production to get an amazing images:
(from previous post)
Here are the reasons for doing as little in Post as possible:
1. Images in DV and HDV lose substantial color detail and fixing/tweaking in Post means that you have little to work with - give it a try - you'll do lots of crying in your sleep. Color correct at the lens/WB, before you hit the DV codec.
2. Post is great if you have a big budget, but everything you can fix in production will save many hours and cost in Post. And you will actually see what it is going to look like - important for lighting setup and visualization.
After my last film, I have spent many hours tweaking and testing. You can get the most stunning images from an XL2 if you do the following:
1. Color balance your shots properly. I use my own warming cards that goes with my Post/Grading procedures.
2. Setup a custom preset as below.
3. Light it well (and meter correctly).
CUSTOM PRESET VALUES:
Gamma: Cine
Knee: Low
Black: Press (I know you lose detail - do it anyway - you will see the results)
Color Matrix: Cine
Color Gain: None
Color Phase: None
R Gain: None
G Gain: None
B Gain: None
V Detail: Normal
Sharpness: Normal (30%) (0 - 100% = range)
Coring: 75% (Less noise)
Setup Level: 0%
Master PED: 0%
NR:Off
Also do the following:
Gain = 0
Shutter = 1/50 (1/48 NTSC)
Iris/Fstop = As required (Low = less DOF)
WB = Manual (While Balance correctly - very important - can use compensation)
LENS:
OIS: Off (except if handheld)
Focus: Manual (Use Marks / ZR1000 for exact racking focus - works very nice - clicks)
ND: Use ND filters to control Shutter/Gain/Iris for outside.
Outside vistas and long shots = Iris Small (High F-stop) = long DOF
Use Wide Angle converter for establishing shots.
Light well to compensate for DOF (1/3inch CCD) and you don't need a Mini35, etc
I also use a Light meter which is very important. I meter, determine my ND, Fstop and set it on the camera. This way you have very little problems.
I have a sequence in which I do all the above, because if you mix them up, your results are different.
Last edited:
Nemesis_Enforcer
Member
Do you have any screencaps to show the standard setting compared to your setting?
Nemesis_Enforcer
Member
thanks
Nemesis_Enforcer
Member
I can see a difference. I'll have to experiment with some of my upcoming projects. Thanks for posting the screencaps.
fuzzylogic34
Member
Im guessing there are no additional lighting in your shots right?
Not sure what you mean. The top 2 are home shots. The bottom two are studio shots (lighting setup).
StanleyCalumjj
New member
I tend to Crush the blacks in post as to not loose colour information in recording, however the sometimes I switch between a basic preset and cinematic preset so I can make choices accordingly in shoot 
wvfilmmaker
New member
I only see two pictures