jlames
Well-known member
I've had literally two dozen...ok 23 but pretty close... PM's and e-mails from people on the issue of the DCS charts and what we think of them. And I say us because as I've always maintained, it's the camera people and everyone else who makes any production company a success so I try to make sure everyone hets what they need. So I decided to do a quick post. Bottom line is David Corley turned us on the charts and we'll never do another production without the calibration.
First, this post, http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration.html, does tons to explain the whys and should be first set reading for anyone inquiring. In fact, I can do little more than direct you additionally to http://www.dsclabs.com/tv_tech_article.htm and then say that there's little doubt that the Chroma Dumond is the premiere setup but at almost $1000, its expensive. That said, IMO anyone who can afford to plunk down $5000 for an HDV (I know it gramatically correct to write "a HDV but that just sounds wierd) camera jolly-well needs to say, "And can you get me one of those DSC Front Boxes for $200, too?" If EVS, our supplier of choice, doesn't carry them, then head over to Filmtools on Magnolia in Burbank, CA or order it directly from DSC at wwwdsclabs.com (everything DSC) or http://www.dsclabs.com/front_box_series.htm (specific to "The Box")
The HD Back Focus chart alone will fix most of the Backfocus questions posted on this Board and the other side of the Box will do wonders for your piece's look and feel. The site mentioned above and Paolo's post will explain the mechanics of The Box but the bottom line here is, if you do nothing else, send the best possible color information TO your post people or to your own NLE and then you can rightly expect to get the best possible end result BACK from them or it.
NLEs have evolved to the point that virtually anyone with an eye for filmmaking can create astounding movies, shorts, docs, really anything they can dream up. But with all of that great mechanical ability coupled with great imagination, the results are very similar across the board. Simply put, look at some of the pieces available through this board. Stephen and so many others have done incredible pieces that yesterday would have been impossible for anyone but the "chosen few" whose work is supported by zillion-dollar networks or studios for distribution. Today, again IMH(umble)O, the filmmaker needs the edge to set his or her work apart from his opr her contemporary filmmakers and understanding colorimitry and calibration, especially in the HD world we live in today, and using the available tools like The Box can set your piece apart from the other great filmmakers'.
It does little good if any to debate between ourselves the benefits of 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0 etc if all we achieve is someone else's "safe" inerpretatoipn of color and pioxel depth. We might as well stick with 480 SD. HD is so much more than screen width or pixel numbers or any of the quantifiable differences between cameras and selections. The employment of DSC charts allows your audience to look INTO your work instread of simply across it. They allow your camera to literally bend the interpretation of color to match your interpretation which results in some wonderful results; results that will have you saying, when you beg, borrow or buy a DCS chart, shoot an image set, calibrate the same carmera to a chart, reshoot the same image set and then compare the results side-by-side, "How did I ever shoot without it?!" It will also have you looking at others' work to see if the colors seem alive or dead. Come to think of it, why worry if JVC cameras have "3-dead pixels" or 9-dead pixels? By comparison, all of the pixels are all dead until you correctly calibrate what they reflect. ANd if any of you are shooting wester-theme or equestrian-theme like we are in 2 of our shows, the browns of the horse, saddle, leather, boots etc. will really come to life when the camera sees the colors as they really are. Reds, greens, blues aside, the lowly browns, if you can get them to snap, really leave a lasting image.
So again http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration.html, then http://wwwdsclabs.com or http://www.dsclabs.com/frontboxseries.html and http://www.dsclabs.com/tv_tech_article.htm for a great article. In my humble opinion, and I mean that sincerely, you'll never look at or through your camera, your partner, the same way again.
First, this post, http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration.html, does tons to explain the whys and should be first set reading for anyone inquiring. In fact, I can do little more than direct you additionally to http://www.dsclabs.com/tv_tech_article.htm and then say that there's little doubt that the Chroma Dumond is the premiere setup but at almost $1000, its expensive. That said, IMO anyone who can afford to plunk down $5000 for an HDV (I know it gramatically correct to write "a HDV but that just sounds wierd) camera jolly-well needs to say, "And can you get me one of those DSC Front Boxes for $200, too?" If EVS, our supplier of choice, doesn't carry them, then head over to Filmtools on Magnolia in Burbank, CA or order it directly from DSC at wwwdsclabs.com (everything DSC) or http://www.dsclabs.com/front_box_series.htm (specific to "The Box")
The HD Back Focus chart alone will fix most of the Backfocus questions posted on this Board and the other side of the Box will do wonders for your piece's look and feel. The site mentioned above and Paolo's post will explain the mechanics of The Box but the bottom line here is, if you do nothing else, send the best possible color information TO your post people or to your own NLE and then you can rightly expect to get the best possible end result BACK from them or it.
NLEs have evolved to the point that virtually anyone with an eye for filmmaking can create astounding movies, shorts, docs, really anything they can dream up. But with all of that great mechanical ability coupled with great imagination, the results are very similar across the board. Simply put, look at some of the pieces available through this board. Stephen and so many others have done incredible pieces that yesterday would have been impossible for anyone but the "chosen few" whose work is supported by zillion-dollar networks or studios for distribution. Today, again IMH(umble)O, the filmmaker needs the edge to set his or her work apart from his opr her contemporary filmmakers and understanding colorimitry and calibration, especially in the HD world we live in today, and using the available tools like The Box can set your piece apart from the other great filmmakers'.
It does little good if any to debate between ourselves the benefits of 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0 etc if all we achieve is someone else's "safe" inerpretatoipn of color and pioxel depth. We might as well stick with 480 SD. HD is so much more than screen width or pixel numbers or any of the quantifiable differences between cameras and selections. The employment of DSC charts allows your audience to look INTO your work instread of simply across it. They allow your camera to literally bend the interpretation of color to match your interpretation which results in some wonderful results; results that will have you saying, when you beg, borrow or buy a DCS chart, shoot an image set, calibrate the same carmera to a chart, reshoot the same image set and then compare the results side-by-side, "How did I ever shoot without it?!" It will also have you looking at others' work to see if the colors seem alive or dead. Come to think of it, why worry if JVC cameras have "3-dead pixels" or 9-dead pixels? By comparison, all of the pixels are all dead until you correctly calibrate what they reflect. ANd if any of you are shooting wester-theme or equestrian-theme like we are in 2 of our shows, the browns of the horse, saddle, leather, boots etc. will really come to life when the camera sees the colors as they really are. Reds, greens, blues aside, the lowly browns, if you can get them to snap, really leave a lasting image.
So again http://www.paolociccone.com/hd100-calibration.html, then http://wwwdsclabs.com or http://www.dsclabs.com/frontboxseries.html and http://www.dsclabs.com/tv_tech_article.htm for a great article. In my humble opinion, and I mean that sincerely, you'll never look at or through your camera, your partner, the same way again.