grading test

modified preset meaning one of the defaults, I usually adjust the saturation and sharpness, so they would be modified in a way, and then using a custom, or modified curve on top of that.

I am going to try setting your curve within the neutral preset, see how that turns out.
 
you can't add anything on top of anything else. change a setting and it's changed, and it's either brightness and contrast or a curve, never both. try and you'll see.

/matt
 
I never said anything about brightness or contrast, I mentioned I adjust saturation and sharpness and the curve. Entirely different parts of the preset.
 
so what's on top of something else? you're making an extremely simple matter my mother or six-year-old nephew could handle sound like rocket science... :-)

/matt
 
It may sound that way, yes. It's the trouble of communication through forums. :)

All I am doing is exactly what you are doing. Modifying a preset. Take neutral, portrait, landscape, etc. whichever you choose, and add the custum curve to it. I was saying I usually adjust the presets saturation and sharpness settings also.
 
so what preset did you base it on when you found it more contrasty? i mean originally, changing the sharpness and saturation isn't likely to affect the contrast.

/matt
 
Right, initially I believe I used landscape, which is obviously more contrasty. I didn't know the file I D/L'd from you was just the curve, I thought it was an entire preset on its own, since then I have reconfigured it into what works best for me, your curve on the Neutral setting, with modified saturation and sharpness. Gives me the most flattened image to work from.

DVXuser needs a chat function, jeez.
 
hi matt,
do you have finished your film with d90?
do you have stills??
best regards
ivan
 
i have, but you'll have to wait for stills. we've decided to keep it a secret for a while for strategic reasons regarding distribution and further investments.

/matt
 
ok matt,
not stills for now but can you describe your experience with D90 for this film?
do you are satisfied about image quality?
wich kind of distribution will have this film?web,home video,theatre??
thanks
ivan
 
i'm extremely happy, but you need to understand that i chose between this, super 8 or 16mm, and those who like crisp hd images should look elsewhere. the images are stunning, but in a "pi" or "chungking express" kind of way, not discovery channel or michael bay. our main concern was to avoid the rolling flicker under fluorescent lighting, and while it was certainly a hassle my dp got really good at it quick. we had two cameras so no real overheating problems, and a full set of manual primes gave us all the manual control that's necessary after we'd successfully stopped the rolling. the other problem was "jello" but we were either on sticks, shoulder mount, or steadicam (hague) all the time so we rarely saw it. one problem that turned out worse than we thought was the display. unless you're in total darkness and keep your head right behind it you soon run into problems judging focus and sometimes it's even hard to see well enough to frame properly. we solved it with a sweater over the head and camera most of the time, but since we shot a lot of run'n gun it wasn't always practical. the conclusion is that i would definitely do it again, no doubt. we would have needed a red one or 16mm to get the same kind of results, neither of which we could ultimately afford, or even handle with the minimal crew we had.

we're releasing it in scandinavia theatrically, limited of course, then we're going for tv and dvd worldwide. it's in english and spanish, plus some swedish, so there should be a market.

/matt
 
thanks matt.
last questions for you:
1.who was your DP?
2.do you have work in ambient light?
3.wich method you have used to set the exposure?
fixed light in front of your lens/light on set/others
4.do you have behind scene photos
best regards

ivan
 
linus eklund, dff (he loves it when i put that last part)
yes
we waved it around until it stopped rolling, then adjusted aperture by eye
not me but the assistant director got plenty i think. i'll check.

/matt
 
Have you tried (and with all of the testing you seem to have done, I bet you have) reducing the contrast setting instead of or in addition to custom curves? This should accomplish much the same as a custom curve with bringing up the blacks and pushing down the highlights to squeeze more dynamic range and picture information into the image. (Obviously contrast would need to be reintroduced in post).
 
yes, it's basically the same thing, but curves give you more control exactly what ranges you want to work with. no, you can't do both, it's either contrast/brightness or a custom curve.

/matt
 
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