How to tune white balance in Post?

Baluardo

Baluardo

Well-known member
hello,
I've always wondered what's the standard procedure to adjust the white balance in post production (i use primarily premiere pro, but i have access to other NLE softwares so any suggestion is welcome).
Either for fixing shots with wrong white balance, or change the 'mood' of the light.

I've always used the color correction, moving here and there the visual controls pretty much letting my eye judge. but, let's say, shifting everything towards red forces me to alter other parameters to adjust the overall look (brightness etc.). not easy this way.

- I'd like to know if there's a filter specifically for adjusting the white balance. if not, what's the most used method and procedure? do u guys use the 'levels'? how?

some time ago i found a free plugin to adjust the white balance, which let you pick a pixel on the screen and telling the system that had to be white. unfortunately you couldn't chenge the size of that pixel and, because of the noise or imperfections of the image (where obviously all adiacent pixels, even in a even coloured surface (like a white wall), end up having even very different colors), i would end up getting some very weird colorations.

Thanks all,
Andrea
 
Are you using a third-party capture card?

The Canopus DVstorm 2 has a white balance filter that I think work terrific. It is similar to what you described...you click on something you know should be white in the shot, and it adjust accordingly.

If you are using no capture card whatsoever, the DVstorm 2s can be picked up relatively cheap these days.

Good luck.
 
at the moment i'm capturing simply from the firewire port. but I've been considering purchasing a capture card recently mostly for analog inputs (but i have the dvx100 now eheh), and direct mpg2 encoding. so i'll keep that in mind. thanks.

Andrea
 
There are many other advantages to using a third party capture card other than just the analog inputs and outputs, although the component output is perfect for going to a production monitor such as the Sony PVM series. The best thing I like about my Canopus is the real time color correction and effects. I think of it as a 'supercharger' for Premiere.

Keep in mind, however, that adding a capture card can have it's drawbacks as well. Many people have had terrible problems with the Canopus and Premiere Pro 1.0 and 1.5. I've been very lucky, and both my systems are rock solid stable. The Canopus card however is very picky about hardware and system configurations, so definetely do your homework if you are considering a capture card purchase...whether it be Matrox or Canopus.

You can read more about them at http://forum.canopus.com/.

Good luck!!
 
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