FS7: Burn in a LUT?

[morgan_moore]

Run
I get that trying to get it in camera is good and above I suggested I dont know the best way. But it will always have limits.

Now my stills background.. it started in a dark room with wet film, wet prints and dirty chemicals and something called 'multigrade' paper and a set of filters that each had a different 'gamma'. https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Contrast-control-for-Ilford-Multigrade.pdf
One might make a print using one 'gamma' for the sky zone of the image, another 'gamma' for a face.

One learns that unless one is entirely in a studio controlled environment that the best image can only be made in post as different zones of the image may require different contrast ratio. For example a person shot in front of a low contrast scene: well the scene might look best with one gamma, the person best with a different gamma - this is possible in post, but not in any of todays cameras. Shooting in camera and delivering WYSISWYG is only ever going to be 'good enough'

 

[Doug Jensen]

As far as I remember you are selling warm and cold "white" balance cards? What's the sense of them then if the 3 presets are good for you?

Different tools for different workflows. Yes, I am quite content with three presets for LOG and RAW. But for WYSIWYG, I want to bake in the best white balance I can. Which by the way, may or may not be neutral -- thus the flexibility of using WarmCards.

 

[OnSet]

Banding is only one possible issue. Another is color accuracy. Imagine shooting a Coke can and nor being able to correctly reproduce the precise hue of red, because your LUT is only 17x and it’s too blunt a tool.

Of course if you're shooting a Coke can and need to reproduce the exact color (or a mouthwash bottle, with its sometimes difficult teal or lavender shades), while it's obviously important to get the color right in post, an even more difficult issue can be getting the color to read properly on set -- on the monitor(s) being watched by the Agency and Client representatives, who will drive you crazy to get the exact matching color on the monitor, no matter how much you plan to adjust it in post. Here's where you may need better color control on the camera level...

 

[cyvideo]

Yep, as an old schooler, you did it one of two ways, you did it right in-camera in the field or you didn't and you didn't get called again.

DJ +1 for the comments. I know the olds schools. Went to some of them. I also appreciate MM's POV. I too started in stills and the dark room. Then shooting 4 x 5, 2 1/4" square and 35mm for a newspaper MM would know. The Bristol Evening Post along with The Bristol and West News Agency which no longer exists. Myself and anothter photog were the first two into Aberfan in Oct '66. We were stuck there for three days. We bought every bit of film the local shop had. The Evening Post had to transfer funds to the shop owners account as we didn't have the cash. No credit cards back then. Then worked for the Daily Mirror in London then the BBC. In other words familiar with most of the old schools

Chris Young

 

[cyvideo]

But for WYSIWYG with no grading, my advice is to create a Scene File instead of a LUT.

+ 1 especially if the lighting conditions are controlled. F55's with scene files on SBS's live show Rockwiz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L39KTA_goCs

16 x F55's on Muse's Rome Concert. All Rec 709 live transmission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsjtj3ZkNqw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THYSQJfmie0&list=RDTHYSQJfmie0&start_radio=1

EDIT: Need to be looked at on true 709 monitors as both videos are true TV levels not full swing.

Chris Young

 

[markfpv]

I guess most of us are saying the same thing - and this topic seems to never go away. I think we all can agree that shooting log and then doing the grading in post gives the best results. And I've said it before but worth repeating once again - having the options / flexibility in a camera at the Fs7's price point is why I continue to enjoy the camera. Are there frustrating constraints? Sure. But options are nice.

Of course if you're shooting a Coke can and need to reproduce the exact color (or a mouthwash bottle, with its sometimes difficult teal or lavender shades), while it's obviously important to get the color right in post, an even more difficult issue can be getting the color to read properly on set -- on the monitor(s) being watched by the Agency and Client representatives, who will drive you crazy to get the exact matching color on the monitor, no matter how much you plan to adjust it in post. Here's where you may need better color control on the camera level...

This is a perfect scenario to talk about the benefits of learning LUT creation - not necessarily for baking in - but for giving the client the best "live view" of what you'll be giving them. I've had an experience like this with a model's dress color on set. For those of us who sometimes don't have control of the footage after we shoot it...If we agree shooting a flavor of slog and then grading to perfection in post is best practice, then why shoot custom in these circumstances if everything else is being done to get best results? If you know how to use LutCalc, Resolve, Cat Browse or other LUT creation software - you can load multiple LUTs in camera (or monitor) to give slightly different color looks and then hand off that LUT (in a grading version higher than 17x) to post as a "starting point" to go along with your footage.