Gamma? Huh?

evolvnyc

evolvnyc

Well-known member
I'm starting to shoot my first doc (and first experience with video) next week and I have such a lack of understanding of the terms (60i, cinne gamma etc..) that even Barry's book (which is great) doesn't help because I don't have the basic vocabulary, I'm shooting in 24p of course and wanted to do 16:9 so I'm just squeezing (this is a whole different topic) so I guess I wanted to ask if I need to pick one gamma setting and keep it for the whole film? I know I can't trust the lcd (mine is really red) so if I am a one-man-show with no monitor, how do I decide which gamma setting to use? Does it really matter? I just want the piece to look as un-video as possible, I know and will use lighting and have done a bunch of tests that look great, I just don't want to shoot the whole thing and go to transfer to film and have the editor look at me and ask "Why did you use that setting, you screwed yourself bigimte." Any suggestions where to school myself asap? Thanks!
 
Damn it... i had such a beautiful answer written out and i accidently erased it... so ill be short.

bring a montor along, set it up using color bars and then compare to the LCD. then you can tell whats wrong with the LCD and how to compensate. if you dont have a monitor check the footage daily using a friend's monitor after the shoot or using your home TV. do it each time you shoot to get the hang of how your LCD realy looks (this takes time), espcially concerning the contrast of the image ! LCD monitors are big lairs concerning the contrast and brightness of images so you must do a realy good test comparing what you see on the LCD and the monitor (or tv) so you get the best exposure !!!!!

Second, The gamma settings reacts diffrently in each particular light conditions so you must also check this out back and forth, in multiple enviroments. dont be lazy about this!!! you might need to change settings when changing locations! for even better results i suggest you practice using a post machine and see how well you can manipulte the image after the shoots with each and diffrent setting. each setup has diffrent latitude and detail.

About blow up--- DO A TEST. no other way to know the result. dont ask for advice because only seeing will please you.
 
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