Best resources for learning color grading? [Getting Arri Alexa/Canon look with GH2]

D

dylansmith

Well-known member
I have seen on many websites that say, there's always a way to match 2 different cameras in different tiers/leagues in terms of color rendition. Hence, the statement that "skin tones are bad" in GH series or Sony cameras should not be true.

I would love to learn more about color grading - and in particular, how do I achieve the colors that an Arri Alexa/NX1/Canon ML produces by default with GH2 footage?

Would like to emphasize that this is specifically about grading - obviously a low cost cam cannot match up in many other aspects, but a good colorist should be able to get as close as possible to the production level cams when needed.

Welcome both free and paid classes/resources on this topic, preferably through Premiere Pro CC.

Thanks!
 
Your starting point should include a good chart. You can tweak all day in a color suite, but without a known reference it can become hard to get a good match.

Here is where I would start your camera matching procedure...... http://dsclabs.com


Good Luck!

Dave
 
i am a colorist by trade, the one time i had to match a GH4 to a Dragon it was only to be acheaved by dumbing down the Dragon

i can match Dragon to Alexa to F55 to Epic all day long, no sweat... matching a GH4/2, FS700/100, 5/6/7D to any of the production A camera's means dumbing down the A camera to some extent

i would in general terms avoid LUT's like the plauge, and lean on SpeedGrade's pretty usefull automatch button to get to a starting point inside the Pp ecosystem

if one had the resources i would recomend Baselight running ACESlog, but at an entry system price point of maybe 100k, that sugestion is not likely to get much traction, but it does have tools that help matching disseprate camera qucikly

if it's only about "look", again avoid lut's and work in SpeedGrade, put up a similar shot from any from the A cam's and split screen - look at the scopes and start twiddiling the knobs.

i would also recomend trying Resolve as it's "film style" tools are far behind the leading class, but the core tools do exist there, and they do not anywhere in the Pp eco system that i'm aware of

Leading class of film style gradeing tools are Baselight, Nucoda, Pablo, Luster, Mystika.. none are inexpensive tho

You may find that dropping the use of tv style gradeing tools (lift/gama/gain), and moveing to "film style" tools (exposure/contrast/pivot/saturation) alone will be a pretty major change
 
dylansmith said:
...a good colorist should be able to get as close as possible to the production level cams when needed.
Click to expand...

Just the opposite I'm afraid. The worst camera in the group sets the limits. The better cameras have to be "dumbed down" to match.

But matching cameras isn't color grading. It's not even color correction. It's camera setup. This is what Varicams are for -- you can match one varicam to another. In 12 different color axes IIRC. This is how broadcast TV is done, and one of the reasons that broadcast cameras cost so much. That level of flexibility ain't cheap. What broadcast does is match the various cameras' color spaces prior to capture so that no color correction or matching is needed in post. They spend the money on the cameras because it's cheaper than spending the money on post. And for live events (golf, football, basketball, etc.) it's the only way to do it.

Trying to do this after the fact makes post a frustrating and expensive process. But it can be done. To do it really well you'll have to shoot color charts. A lot. As in, every lighting change, every camera. If you're outside, natural light changes constantly; you'll be shooting color charts practically every take. Not to mention manual white balances against a gray card.
 
dylansmith said:
I have seen on many websites that say, there's always a way to match 2 different cameras in different tiers/leagues in terms of color rendition. Hence, the statement that "skin tones are bad" in GH series or Sony cameras should not be true.

I would love to learn more about color grading - and in particular, how do I achieve the colors that an Arri Alexa/NX1/Canon ML produces by default with GH2 footage?

Would like to emphasize that this is specifically about grading - obviously a low cost cam cannot match up in many other aspects, but a good colorist should be able to get as close as possible to the production level cams when needed.

Welcome both free and paid classes/resources on this topic, preferably through Premiere Pro CC.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Dylan, I think first hand experience is what you need. Shoot with the GH2 and try to get different looks out of the camera. First focus on primary color correction to take out all of the ills which are present in the GH2. That is the most important step. You can do this without needing to match to another camera. Just tweak a lot and study the effects. Having a proper monitor you can trust is important as well. And why the need to match to an Alexa when you are shooting with a GH2? :) kind of a stretch...

I think your paragraph above has a lot of false conclusions. Lower priced cameras do not record colors correctly and are often hampered by weak codecs. So by the time you get to post a lot of useful information was thrown away. Expensive cameras are expensive because of the engineering involved. No secret.

The GH2 has a problem with shadows. They are muddy and can have a blue tint. The codec fights you on trying to correct this in post. Basically the shadows are too dark and when you try to lighten them there is no information to work with. So you can not blame or expect a "colorist" to fix this as it is impossible.

Great that you are wanting to learn, I just want you to start from the right place.
 
The best way to get a specific look in post production is to plan for it in pre production. Make sure that you've budgeted for the lighting you'll need to get that look, and allow for the time needed to set the lights and exposure on set.

With good lighting and proper exposure, you can get any number of looks. And you might even allow for changing the look in post (if it's not an extreme look in camera to begin with). With bad lighting or bad exposure, you're already limited to just trying to get it to look like it's not an accident.
 
Hi guys,

Thank you so much for the comments so far.

To clarify further:

lighting is definitely key in video/stills work, but given that lighting is constant - the results you get out of a GH2 (by default) is different to, say an a6300/a7rii.

The reason I started this thread was because I've seen so many a7rii/a6300 footage online and most of them are graded terribly, compared to say a Samsung NX1 which produces pleasing colors by default.

I have tried playing around a lot with my GH2 and I noticed that the highlights blow out easily, shadows are not easy to recover and has a greenish tint. The first two are understandable due to limitations of the sensor/codec. I corrected the 3rd with WB adjustments, and also played with individual HSL curves, but it is really difficult to even get to the starting point of NX1 footage.

The Alexa was just an example and my main point is actually to grade it to my liking (for the sake of affordability, i am looking to match gh2/sony footage to the NX1's).

Let's keep the suggestions coming.

Thanks!
 
i think what you're doing is great. If you can even partially match gh2 footage to an nx1 without making it look like mud I think you'll be super happy and be on easy street when you upgrade to a camera that has a more robust codec. I'm having a lot of fun with my bmpcc after spending a lot of time in the dslr world of h264 which looks like mud if I sneeze around it. Grading and color correction is not be feared. It's really super fun. I really love when I'm watching a film now I'm noticing so much more. Just having more choices although daunting at first is really rewarding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top