Noob needs help

C

Chillin69

New member
Hey guys i recently just got the Hmc150 and love it, The only thing is i'm coming from a vx2000 so it is a hard switch for me. I film snowboarding and i was wondering why my colors seem off and how i can improve. Heres a video which was shot in 1080i60 http://vimeo.com/18367446

Any tips on scene files or anything would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks
 
Are you doing a manual white balance before each shoot? That is the most important thing. If you do an auto white balance, lock it before shooting so it doesn't change mid clip. With regard to scene files, there is a ton of info here, search is your friend.

Welcome the DVXuser.

Grant
 
Hey thanks Grant, I usually manualy set the white balance, it just seems that there is a lot of noise in my shots.
 
The Scene Files can be adjusted to cut down on noise...I believe coring can be dialed up a bit to help, plus a couple of the gamma curves are cleaner than others. I'd read up on the scene files here and browse Barry's book if you have it... for sure.
 
I used to think scene files were some kind of voodoo, but after I started to experiment, it was a great experience learning more about my cams. So I would encourage you to do the same. If you want a little guidance on noise reduction, here are a few places to start.

Try BPress for your gamma and avoid the Cine Gammas
Avoid cranking your Detail level up too much
Add some Detail Coring but not so much that things go soft

Have fun and develop your own look, it is part of the creative process. If you look on the Panna Pro website, find the scene file white papers, they are a wealth of good info, as is the Barry Green Books.

Grant
 
One more thing that make a huge difference is how you are viewing your footage to make the noise judgement. If you are viewing raw AVCHD files on a computer, that might not work to well unless you have some realtime CPU power.

Grant
 
Ok thanks so much guys for the help, i will play around with the settings and look for those books. Thanks again
 
First off. NEVER SHOOT INTERLACED. Interlaced is gross. If you want that "live sports" look then shoot 720/60p. I personally shoot 1080/24p but that's a whole different look and feel.

Maybe try out 30p instead? That's what I filmed all last year on my DVX when I used that camera.

On another note, what is your workflow? What is your compression? I can help you out if I know what you're doing step by step.
 
Some more tips.

Set your zebras to 95% and 100% and make sure there are little to no zebras. Sometimes it's impossible to avoid clipping of the highlights though under certain lighting conditions, but generally the zebras will goive you an idea of exposure.

Make sure you white balance when the lighting changes. It's easy to forget when you're doing followcams, but just remember to white balance. I usually white balance off of the snow, but carrying around a white piece of paper would be even better. Maybe set your color temp down to -1 or -2. Drop your Master Ped down a bit (or crush blacks in post). I like the B.Press gamma myself. Good luck and have fun learning the camera fellow snowshredder.
 
AlpineSteez said:
Some more tips.

Drop your Master Ped down a bit (or crush blacks in post). I like the B.Press gamma myself.QUOTE]

Hi,

Do you know how to crush the blacks in post using Premiere Pro CS5?

Also I have played around with the Master Pedestal before. What exactly is the difference between the Master Ped and the B.Press gamma? When would you use one over the other?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Ok thanks Alpine for the tips, i'm going to try 720/60p this friday and see what happens. I use FCP and just log and transfer, then i usually go by vimeo compression settings and go straight from fcp to vimeo.
 
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