Shoot conservatively, tweak in post?

S

SentryDoodi

New member
I'm shooting a film in 24p which takes place in Iraq; my set is essentially a 32 x 16 tent, and I really want a golden, heated look. To acheive this, is it best that I: Adjust my (new) DVX100B settings accordingly, employ a system of lighting which will give my film a warm feel (any suggestions on 'warm' bulbs that I can find at Home Depot?), or shoot the thing to match a real world view (as close to the way my eye sees it as possible) and deal with creating a warm look in post (I'm using A Pro 2.0)? I'm making this film to raise money for families who lost their breadwinner to the war, so please resist the urge to mock this noob. Thanks all
 
It's best to do some tests before you start shooting anyway, so why not get the look you want through the testing process?
 
Post is where you will have access to the most options color wise. Once you see what can be done, it makes the camera menus look pathetic.
 
Degradation?

Degradation?

Wait, why the hell hasn't anyone mentioned the other benefits of "grading" in camera over in post? Like, I don't know, so that the image won't be degraded or so that you won't add as much noise versus if done in post? At least that's what I've been told. Although, I've heard that playing with the White Balance too much and pushing it too far will add noise to the image, but it's probably not as bad as if you had pushed the coloring just as far in post (DV isn't good for post).

Best, at least for me (since I care so much about image quality), is to do it in camera 50-90% of the way, and get the remaining "look" I want in post -- sometimes all I need to do is tweak a little, add some contrast; sometimes I need to make major changes. But I won't be degrading the image as much.
 
If you do it in camera, you can't change your mind.

I do it all in post because a) I'm good at it, and b) I change my mind often.

my .02
 
With DV you compromise a lot by doing it in post. The more you can get right in the camera, the better off you are. I won't call anyone out but all you have to do is look at something that was shot flat and had everything done in post to realize how much you are losing in DV.
 
For those concerned with noise...

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=111384

Anything extreme in post will cause noise, but at least there is a way to make your sensors feed the DSP cleaner footage, that has GREATER usable dynamic range...

On the topic of shooting flat or not, I would advise shooting flat. I've noticed that many cameras produce just as much noise when you crush the blacks, sometimes more, than if you do it in post. I guess my point is this:

In camera crushing can be just as bad as post crushing, but with post crushing you can control it better, and you can ease up on it and still having information there, something that can't be said for in camera crushing.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Hey Doodi,

You need to take a look at the movie Iraq in Fragments. The doc is by John Longly, he is a member of dvxuser, just search his name and you'll find post by him.

Iraq in Fragments, was nominated for a Oscar, and more importantly, for you that is, it has that warm look your looking for. You can study the film and gain some sort of perspective about color. If I am correct, he didn't play with the camera settings as much and had it color corrected, again you can double check on this.

He shot Iraq in Fraqments with two DVX100s. This is the film that made me want to get a dvx100.

Here is the link http://www.iraqinfragments.com/

All the best,

Manny
 
manymoosh said:
Hey Doodi,

You need to take a look at the movie Iraq in Fragments. The doc is by John Longly, he is a member of dvxuser, just search his name and you'll find post by him.

Iraq in Fragments, was nominated for a Oscar, and more importantly, for you that is, it has that warm look your looking for. You can study the film and gain some sort of perspective about color. If I am correct, he didn't play with the camera settings as much and had it color corrected, again you can double check on this.

He shot Iraq in Fraqments with two DVX100s. This is the film that made me want to get a dvx100.

Here is the link http://www.iraqinfragments.com/

All the best,

Manny
Click to expand...


Great Movie.

John Longly
 
I think the trick is to set the camera for the settings that gives you the most latitude and detail level and then correct it in post, but only as much as nessicary.
 
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