DSC chart opinions

Ducatimark

Ducatimark

Well-known member
Is the DSC Labs color book of backfocus, color, grayscale, and white balance cards suitable for field work or would it be a better investment in the larger Chroma series? Any opinions on which is best suited for typical field / small studio video work? I like the idea of shooting a Chroma board before a scene starts as sometimes I use all three of my cameras and it would be nice to be able to match them without the usual guesswork.
 
I've got the CamBook, the ToNi, and the FB VF/X 1 Plus. For field work, nothing beats the CamBook. It's got most of what you need all in one small portable pack. The ToNi is huge. For studio work the VF/X 1 Plus is a great chart at a great price.
 
Thanks Barry! I've got a travel gig coming up, too and it sounds like the Cambook might be the way to start but I like the extra features of the VF/X 1 as well. Would you consider the VF/X robust enough to safely carry around in a computer bag/briefcase or are these cards normally packed separately in some kind of hard case?
 
I haul 'em around in the sleeves they come in, but the Cambook and the VF/X are small enough and basically designed for travel. The Chroma DuMonde and ToNi don't travel all that well.
 
I thought the Cam Align charts are only used once in a while to fine tune your camera. How do you use them in the field?
 
After trying to do backfocus adjustments with cheap printed patterns and doing white balance with a foam board, I thought I would try to upgrade my settings and look with more professional tools. Plus, I find it very hard to color match cameras so i thought I would try shooting the color charts with each camera with the lighting used in the scence before each take. Theoretically, it should be much easier to do color correction in post.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I just want to get all I can out of the equipment I have and I feel like I've bumped up against the wall with getting cameras set correctlly before a shoot.
 
We use both rear and front illuminated chart systems from DSC. We did a setup video covering the Ambi2 system for them which you can find on DSC's youtube site, or at ours in the Video University section (last clip). The chroma dumond chart is very well suited for color timing as you indicated, but we also use it to generate colour profiles using that chart and a vectorscope. This OSG generates a specific pattern on the waveform when you've got the camera set up for "true" color capture. The Ambi2 with no chart is a perfect target for the HPX500 white shading adjustment as once set up properly there is less than 1/10th of a stop variation corner to corner. We use it bare like this to test edge fall off in our CINEFUSE R&D program and lens testing. Of course, you'll likely not cart this around outside of your studio, but if colour matching is a priority, you just might.

You can see our typical application for their front illuminated Fiddleheads/Backfocus chart here as it's by far the largest in our kit at 23" wide. Combined with their chart mount and a light stand, this makes the B4 backfocus adjustment a snap. We use it all the time for lens edge to edge sharpness testing and at least right now is our most used chart. In front illuminated charts, we also use the Chromadumonde 28 that we ordered with the trumpets and cavity black. This one chart would likely be your best bet if you had to pick just one.

They're expensive, but we find the quality outstanding. Having toured their facility in Toronto, I can also tell you that the crew there is about as nice a group to support with your business as you could find anywhere. David Corley (the big cheese there) gave me a look at the extensive heat pump system they were installing as an energy efficient way to heat the building. Heck, he even drives a Prius :-)
 
Thanks Dennis for your response. Before I make any comment, let me say I really like all the work you have put into your site. Very informative and helpful. I'm one of those looking forward to you getting a B4 relay in production.

I like the FiddleHeads for backfocus. I really like th Chroma...28-R but I also do some FX work and am interested as well as the lighting information that the V/FX can provide. One thing I didn't see about that chart was if it had the backfocus chart on the rear. Does anyone know?

Checking the DSC site, I did see the FiddleHeads chart is on sale, too. So many chart choices! Looks like no matter what I do I'll end up with multiple charts for W/B, Backfocus, and Color.

To expand on my knowledge more, would I be able to use the chart in the field with the scopes in DVRack HD to better adjust the camera colors thru the scene files and matrix settings on the HPX and HVX? Or would I be better off going for dynamic range, shooting the chart before a scene, and adjusting color in post? I've been doing the latter and coloring by eye. Results look okay for web video, but I'm moving into bigger production including one slated for the festival circuit and want to be sure I'm at least getting true colors before going for a certain look.
 
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