Keeping "Grain" to a minimum

B

bluegrey

Active member
Anyone have any tips on keep the graininess in low light to a minimum? DO I just need more light? Or maybe it's my playback on FCP and an HD DVD wouldn't have the grain? Anybody with any knowledge on this topic would be greatly appreciated. For some reason this has always bugged me, even on stuff I shot with the DVX.
 
Lower your detail level (around -5 or so) and consider lowering your shutter speed, and by all means add light. use cine-like-V gamma instead of cine-like-D. And add light! :)
 
Thanks, I'm buying the book by the way. Butit's kind of hard to add light for a night scene in the forest. Too much light and it looks fake. I'm sure I'll end up shooting with a lot of light and bringing down in post. OH and why Cine-V? Wouldn't more contrast add more dark spots, there by adding to the potential for grain?
 
bluegrey said:
Thanks, I'm buying the book by the way. Butit's kind of hard to add light for a night scene in the forest. Too much light and it looks fake. I'm sure I'll end up shooting with a lot of light and bringing down in post. OH and why Cine-V? Wouldn't more contrast add more dark spots, there by adding to the potential for grain?
Click to expand...

Just try it. Cine D is great for fully lit sun scenes where the shadows are at a minimum. I shot some lake shots of a boy running into the water at sunset. Shutter speed was 1/1000. Cine V- hardly any grain.
 
Are you guys using gain?

Remember, your making a movie, and a light with blue gel or blue in post = moonlight in the movie world, no matter how bright it is.. Just because it's a night scene doesn't mean you shoot it DARK.. You can get away with a lot by adjusting your exposure and making it "look dark"... Throw a little dapple in front of the source to break it up (trees work GREAT) If you have a spot that is low lit, and blackness around it, you will inevitably get grain..

Or

Get a camera that likes darkness :-)

- - Justin
 
Yeah, you could always shoot infrared. Another help would be to read up on lighting day for night.
 
You need exposure, and you need contrast. Without those your footage will look muddy and grainy and awful.

Just because you're shooting in a forest doesn't mean you don't need (or want) plenty of light! Scharky's correct, read up on "day for night" -- lots of forest type shots are shot in broad daylight, just framing the sky out of the shot and underexposing and tinting blue...
 
I can't do day for night, we've got flashlights in the scenes. I appreciate the help though, I think I've got it figured out.
 
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