GH4 Not Too Happy With The GH4 So Far...

N

nathannguyen59

Active member

https://vimeo.com/108663132

I have shot three things so far with the GH4. Two times with Cine-D (-3,-2,0,0) +5 Master Pedestal in 4k and one time with Vivid in 1080.

The video link above is shot with Cine-D and I just don't really like the colors that I am getting with the camera. I used Film Convert with the standard default camera setting since I didn't have access to the GH4 setting. The colors seem mushy to me. And the video quality doesn't seem to be as sharp as other videos online that make the camera shine. I exported out of Media Encoder CC at 25mb CBR H.264.

From my visual sample, which was created as an assignment, what do you guys think I can improve on? I really want to like this camera but I just can't make it sing like I want it to. Your feedback will be very much appreciated.

//Edit//
I have got rid of the grain which I made the footage artificially noisy. Other than that, I didn't finagle with the colors too much but I tried to keep the shots as clean as possible. Let me know what you guys think now and hopefully I have made some progress in making this camera shine. I will no longer mess with master pedestal since it has made finding exposure more difficult, often resulting in noisier images in post. Thanks guys!
 
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That looked really good……grading is always subjective…..
The sharpness is there.
There was nothing wrong with what I saw.
A few of your scenes were very high contrast, which
any camera will have problems with….
 
Doesn't really "pop" I guess. Would a Red or Alexa "pop" in the same situation?

I think Neatvideo would help in a lot of those scenes.
 
you should create your own profile. cine-d can be okay as a start for serious grading, but it is actually quite easy to get very strong footage from the GH4 straight out of the camera. experiment. the GH4 is an amazing camera.
 
I think most of your shots look out of focus. Soft. What lenses are you using?

Your white balance is off on 90% of those samples. How are you setting WB? Make sure you shoot a grey card in your setups so you can get a better balance in post or maybe it's a look your after.

If you shoot flatter you have to grade.

I agree. Your samples don't look sharp. Something else is going on. I get very sharp images and I set the sharpness down about -2.

Try these settings.

Cinelike D
contrast 0
Sharp -2
NR -2
sat -2
hue +1

Works for me. I get pretty good skin tone.

I dont mess with shadow and highlights because it does bad things to skin. Lowering contrats just adds noise so it's not worth it.
 
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What ISO were you shooting at? Your video looks noisy and you maybe ruining your colors in post.
Adjust your master pedestal to zero next time you shoot. If you needed lifted shadows, use a source light, bead board, reflector, etc.
 
I did not shoot over ISO 800 for any shots. Most shots I would say it is ISO 200. Coming straight from the camera, the footage looks pretty clean, but I think I am ruining my image in post. I've never really used Film Convert before and put the grain to about 30-40%. Could this create the image noisiness that many of you have mentioned? As for white balance, I used AWB for most of the shots but I also think I'm degrading the image in post by playing with the color wheels off of Film Convert.

Thanks everybody for your help so far. I'm going to play with color correction more to prevent any further visual degradation. In terms of downloading the GH4 camera setting for Film Convert, how does a guy go about doing that?
 
As a side note. Your title for this post is well kind of misleading because. The camera isn't the issue. It's what you are doing to the image that is causing the problems you have. AWB is not a good choice. It can change even while your shooting. It's a mess. You need to take control of the camera to get the best from it.

As for sharpness what lenses are you using? and f-stops.
 
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Stop reducing contrast in Cine D. No need to. White balance. Play with pedestal per the scene (in essence pre-visualize your shot or look). If you treat the Gh4 like the old technique of minus contrast/sharpness/color of the 5D, you're gonna have issues. Basically, leave the contrast untouched on the Gh4 so you don't affect your mid tones.

Color is subjective. Grading and color work takes practice.


Some clips I assembled filming the pacific coast using the Gh4 and the kit 14-140V1.
 
Erik Naso said:
AWB is not a good choice.
Click to expand...

Yes. Use the white balance tool. All you need is a white card, or white sheet of paper. Select WB, then one of the numbered settings, up arrow, put the white card in the square that pops up and click the shutter. Do this in the light you are shooting in.
 
I think you need a lot more practice. Both myself and others are getting great images from the GH4. I don't like to screw around with the camera settings. I like the "baked in" look using standard and cine V which requires very little tweaking in post for outdoor work if you nail exposure and white balance . My indoor experience is limited.
 
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True... BTW love your vimeo vid dustylense


Some clips I assembled filming the pacific coast using the Gh4 and the kit 14-140V1.
[/QUOTE]
 
I believe the way we see and "interpret" colour is subjective. And it changes also with our cultural backgrounds. So what may look washed out for one viewer may be okay for another, what some people may like as "punchy" may be shrill for others. And when talking about the holy grail of "cinematic look" - coming from the old times I ask myself at times: What kind of "cinematc" are we talking about? Kodak? Fuji? Agfa? Orwocolor? Ferrania? Yes, you can throw film convert onto material and say: Oh this is the Kodak xyz setting. But it may still do some things to your material you won't expect or do not like.

With a camera like the GH4 you should find out how to come as close as possible to what you want in the camera first before you throw something like film convert at it. It's a quite capable little machine as it is. And remember: People who do the grading professionally are for a reason paid rather good money. It's a complex process with a lot of variables at work. So dustylens is right: Keep shooting. Try. Play.
 
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Sorry to go of topic but i have a question..... is Premiere Pro CC a good option for colour grading or is it best to use third party software like Film Convert etc for best results ?
 
I would download Colorista Free from Red Giant and learn how to balance a shot before creating a look. Understanding the simple principles of correcting an image is very important. Fimconvert is a great tool but I feel it's more of a "look" tool. Learning the basic in collor correction is a must first.

Speedgrade is very powerful and is much more user friendly but it's also a bit intimidating and needs some time just to learn how to use it.
 
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