dvx200 black n white

T

tenbit

Member
hey guys,

im shooting with the dvx200 for the first time next week (3 x dvx200 shoot) and "need to find a profile" that works best at:

- higher iso, around 2500 to 3200

- to be mastered in b&w, so i'd prefer to capture in b&w, and need to monitor, on the dvx200's built in screen, in b&w

- as clean/ low noise as possible- can shoot in either 4k or hd (at 23.98 for 90% , then some at around 48 or 60fps)

- low detail/ sharpening - as non video a look as possible

- interior, lower light/ low key scenes, but will overexpose/ give sensor healthy amount of light, then grade to final b&w look in resolve 12.5


* i've tried adjusting to b&w but closest i could get is desaturated look by reducing chroma level in scene menu- not quite b&w

ideas/ thoughts?

thx

tb
 
I don't know of a baked in profile for B&W applicable for the DVX, but I wouldn't think that's too much of a deal breaker. High ISO? There could be some "noise" at those settings. If it were me given what you have shared I go V-log & do the B&W in post using FilmConvert (it's great for getting rid of the video-ey look). You'd have better control over sharpening, etc. by shooting in V-log. Me? I'd do 4K with a 1080 dual record. The 1080 dual record from 4K seems to look better than straight up 1080, and I'd have a 4K "backup" for cropping/zooming if needed. I wouldn't try to fake it by de-saturating. Been there, created a bigger headache in post as it seems to just create a potential contrast disaster unless you're going for a super stylized look or something.
 
You can monitor in B&W in-camera. I have the EVF that way. I also light as if i were shooting b&w, anyway. It's all about texture, contrast, mood...it's not just desaturating a color image. You should shoot DCI 4K vlog, then use filmconvert to add grain and the grayscale-ness. What MichaelA said. Just remember to shoot it right so it converts to grayscale better.
 
hey everyone, thanks for the feedback and assistance

re desaturating, to be clear... i was referring to monitoring purposes only , not grading

but thx for tip re desaturate lcd- exactly what i was looking for !- didnt realize lcd and evf had sat control

re 1080 from 4k, im assuming you are referring to capturing 4k but placing it in a 1080 timeline in resolve?

or is there a better way to get 1080 from 4k?

and i do typically prefer log curves to 709 but i was concerned that at the higher iso's that ill likely be working with , log will exhibit too much noise

so far, from some initial tests, filmlike 3 isnt too bad

i did find however that the camera files themselves seem to have too much noise/ compression like artifacts floating around- maybe a result of the codec in the 420/ bit world...

but even with 709 at higher iso's i was planning on a noise reduction ( neat) pass anyways...

and.. i was choosing "monochrome" in resolve , is there a difference between that b&w step and film convert's b&w, aside from grain of course?

im trying to minimize heavy grading knowing that the files simply are not that robust

cheers

:)
 
DVX can simultaneously record 4K and 1080 on separate cards. It really does seem that 1080 captured that way looks better than when the camera is set to record "regular" 1080. Not sure why; I think others may have commented on that as well & Barry mentions this in his book. Forgot that the viewfinder can be set to B&W. Shoot a test vid with your proposed settings. Knowing you are doing B&W you may be surprised how well the rendered project can look. While the on-board codecs are OK for light color grading, you'll find that once you dump it into B&W you have a LOT more latitude than with color all things being equal. But it won't make up for crap lighting. You can also push the noise reduction and sharpening more than in color if you want to. I find the "natural" grain in some of the upper ISO's actually looks pretty cool in B&W but it all depends on the look you are going after. I haven't done much in B&W, but what little I have done I found it a joy to mess with compared to color grading, which I kinda suck at. Oh... I forgot... if you shoot in V-log you can forget about the scene file selection since they aren't applicable. The scene files really focus on color "feel" and may only have a negligible impact on a B&W rendered project regardless of which one you use. V-log involves a few extra steps in post but I bet you'll be impressed with the results in B&W!
 
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It also has to do with production design. For The Man Who Wasn't There, they used a certain color of brown to represent red since that color of brown looked more like what they thought red would with that film stock, in that lighting, with that grade. Going grayscale is not just pushing the monochrome button in dissolve. There are filters you can use to enhance or diminish certain color wavelengths to make aspects of an image pop. That's why they sell red, green, and yellow filters.
 
JRJphoto said:
It also has to do with production design. For The Man Who Wasn't There, they used a certain color of brown to represent red since that color of brown looked more like what they thought red would with that film stock, in that lighting, with that grade.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, it was common practice to use something like chocolate syrup for blood in black and white cinematography.
 
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