I like what I see in the flip out screen, but...

ccroo

ccroo

Well-known member
I like what I see in the flip out screen -- high contrast, colorful and bright. I also have a calibrated-to-color-bars NTSC monitor and things look dull and flat and colorless.

Is this normal?

I know the flip screen was originally designed to look snappy so people who picked up a camcorder would be tempted to buy it.

Here's my question:

If it can look a way on like on the flip screen can't I duplicate that look for a television or for the web using color correction tools in my NLE?

Raoul
 
Don't judge color and contrast by just the LCD, if you have it, then use your calibrated monitor. In fact, once you get your monitor properly set up with bars, adjust the LCD (and EVF if you want) to match the characteristics of the calibrated monitor. This is a better approach and much more likely to get what you think you shot on the tape.
 
Even with everything calibrated properly, I find that my footage looks a little flat when I first bring it into Vegas, but I boost the contrast and mess with a few other things and it ends up looking much better.
 
Check out any Hollywood film before color correction. It looks like total crap. That's why we have these tools, to bring the image to life.
 
asylumproductions said:
Check out any Hollywood film before color correction. It looks like total crap. That's why we have these tools, to bring the image to life.
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BINGO!!!!!!! My challenge now is to figure out exactly how to get my CC skills up.
 
asylumproductions said:
Check out any Hollywood film before color correction. It looks like total crap. That's why we have these tools, to bring the image to life.
Click to expand...

exactly..

Lord of the Rings at really bad images pre-CC... but after they treated the image, it had a unique look of its own!
 
Some people don't understand the importance of color correction. A cinematographer should develop a lasting relationship with a professional colorist or a great FCP editor/Colorist. After all their job is to make YOU look good. I know I would be out of a job if I never got a chance to treat my footage in post.
 
HorseFilms said:
Even with everything calibrated properly, I find that my footage looks a little flat when I first bring it into Vegas, but I boost the contrast and mess with a few other things and it ends up looking much better.
Click to expand...

I agree Horse

I am more concerned with Exposure Levels and Compostions in the LCD that what the final image will be. In post I'll tweak the hell out of anyway
 
First of all, it's not every film that looks like crap straight from the camera. Actually, before Digital post production and precise contrast development controls, the images had to look very good from the camera. Well exposed, contrast right and maybe color a little bit off (because that could be adjusted on the print).

That is really not the issue here.

the real problem is that the LCD will try to make things look "better" enhancing some of your signal. It's way brighter than it should be, and way too saturated. Your real image is much more like the one in your monitor than the one in the LCD. Don't trust your LCD until you've grown accostumed to it, that will make you capable of making adjustments on your head and judge from them. Experience, experience.

Everyone that shoot something and it ends up looking like crap are:

1- Bad cinematographers
2- Bad cinematographers that shoot only for TV (commercials and music videos) and have grown spoiled by the colorist.

Applying color correction to your workflow and concept is one thing. Even shot deliberatedly low contrast for post treatment is acceptable. To say that you can't get good images straight from the camera, is not only hipocritical as it is ilogical, since movies have been made this way for over a century, wich looked great, BTW.
 
Rember folks, although CC is a very important step, you are working with DV footage, not film, so CC is a whole different thing. I personally find doing test shoots is the best use of time and gives you the best over all image quality. The DVX is a very capable camera for getting lots of different looks. Go out, light a scene, grab a subject that will be in your film, and spend an hour or two trying out different settings. Write down these settings, and then bring the clips back home, hook it up to your NLE, and see what gives you the best results. Play with the sharpness, Chroma, Master Ped, Color Temp, Cinegamma modes, and then pick the one that works best for that shot. Save it as a preset and your done. I currently have 6 different "looks" preset on my camera, well actually 5 and then a modular 6th one that changes from time to time. I have spent a little time setting up the camera correctly, and can be confident what my image will look like when I take it back to my NLE, then as John said, I can just focus on my exposure and lighting, and know that everything will look exactly teh way I want it. But I guess that just works for me.
 
Any useful links for beginning CC'ers? I'd love to learn about what all those scopes and etc are for, as well as how to calibrate a monitor.
 
If you have FCP you can find tons of good info on the manual (the FCP manual is great!)

You can also check www.kenstone.net I think there was an article about CCing in there somewhere...
 
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