Skin Tone

Super Trooper

Super Trooper

Well-known member
Hey all.

I hate the skin tones in all the footage I shoot. It's just too damn red/orange. >:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG<

I try to desaturate and mess with the colors, but then it the skin no longer looks like skin and the rest of the image looks all ot of whack.

This happens mostly when I try to boost the contrast. All of a sudden, the subjcts start glowing. :laugh:

Is there some sort of in camera setting or post production (I use Vegas) proccess of getting rid of this crap?

I mean, how do you guys get a descent skin tone from your subjects?

Does it all come down to lighting? I suppose incandescent bulbs don't help out all that much. Should I use flourescents?

I'm a bit frustrated here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Troop
 
i know what you mean man.
some peoples footage almost looks like they shot it with a seperate camera, but it all comes down to lighting. Soft light will genereally produce the effect you might be going for, so either a large softbox, flo's as long as the lighting fixture has a large diameter/surface area, so some diffusion a few feet infront of a flood light or something might help ya out if u dont have any other means.
 
Troop,

With proper lighting temps and white balance, it can look spot on. If you start using halogen lights and normal incandescents and the default tungsten balance, and things can go very yellow/orange.

Also, what color matrix are you using? The CINE matrix really makes colors pop, and if your white balance is a little off, the skin tones can go really whacky. The NORM matrix is usually more than enough saturation.

Josh
 
Troop,
Since you are using Sony Vegas, download a free plug-in called "aa6vc".
It allows saturation control of individual colors. Drop the red vector while viewing Vegas' built-in vectorscope until the glowing disappears. Try to keep the "hot" colors at 85% or so to keep them legal.
DV in general has problems with red/orange smear, but the DVX color palette tends to emphasize this more than other cameras.
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
Get a couple of large china lanterns.... 26' would be my pick, and get some 500watt bulbs, and that should do quite nicely. Works for me anyway.
 
Troop, I have to back you up and say that I've had plenty of experiences with the DVX where skin tones have run in the red/orange. Hair as well.

You get a girl with one of those "fake tans".....forget about it. The camera exagerates it by 100%. A real nightmare. The thing that always throws me for a loop is when whites are nice and white, but skin tones are off.

I'm going to play with some of these suggestions, especially adjusting the matrix & chroma. The less post I have to do, the better. Live & learn.
 
Well, that goes w/o saying, but I'm talking about post-white balance. Whites are white, skin tones can be a bit funky.
Not all the time, but I can see where Troop is coming from with the original post.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. :beer:

I'm going to try some things a little later today and see how it goes.
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Joshua Provost said:
With proper lighting temps and white balance, it can look spot on. If you start using halogen lights and normal incandescents and the default tungsten balance, and things can go very yellow/orange.
Click to expand...

Crap. Halogen lights and normal incandescents are exactly what I'm using. Perhaps it's time to rethink my inks here.

What do you mean by default tungsten balance?

Also, what color matrix are you using? The CINE matrix really makes colors pop, and if your white balance is a little off, the skin tones can go really whacky. The NORM matrix is usually more than enough saturation.
Click to expand...

Lol. Yep. I'm using the Cine Matrix setting. I think I might try out NORM and see what happens.

Wow. Your sure know your stuff Josh. :shocked:

As a side question, if I'm using flourescent lighting, would I have to use the flou matrix setting? I thought I heard somewhere that on new flo lights the green glow and flicker crap aren't a problem. Besides, the manual says red and orange are boosted in this setting anyways, so it might just make things worse...

i know what you mean man.
some peoples footage almost looks like they shot it with a seperate camera, but it all comes down to lighting. Soft light will genereally produce the effect you might be going for, so either a large softbox, flo's as long as the lighting fixture has a large diameter/surface area, so some diffusion a few feet infront of a flood light or something might help ya out if u dont have any other means.
Click to expand...

So I take it flourescent lighting would give me a much 'cooler' look?

:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG< :cool:

If so, then I'm sold. Besides, soft boxes look awesome anyways.
Are these any good?

http://www.coollights.biz/

http://flolight.com/

Since you are using Sony Vegas, download a free plug-in called "aa6vc".
Click to expand...

hmmm...can't seem to find it anywhere...

White Balance.

That's all I have to say.
Click to expand...

Ya know, I think I might have done something wrong here. First off, I was using the two presets. Secondly, both sunlight and incandescent light was pouring in, and I moved around some of the time.

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Anywhoo, awesome advice guys. Hopefully I can figure something out and post some before and after grabs so you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks,

-Troop
 
Super Trooper said:
Crap. Halogen lights and normal incandescents are exactly what I'm using. Perhaps it's time to rethink my inks here.

What do you mean by default tungsten balance?
Click to expand...

The default tungsten white balance is when WB is on PRST 3.2k. Cheap lights will look very orange/yellow on this setting.

That doesn't mean you can't use cheap lights, it just means you need to manually white balance the camera. Still it's not the best light, it lacks in the blue spectrum, and can be very noisy. Daylight-balanced lights are the best, if you can get them.

As a side question, if I'm using flourescent lighting, would I have to use the flou matrix setting? I thought I heard somewhere that on new flo lights the green glow and flicker crap aren't a problem. Besides, the manual says red and orange are boosted in this setting anyways, so it might just make things worse...
Click to expand...

If you get good flos, you won't have to use the FLUO matrix, just stick with NORM. You want flicker-free lights (electronic balasts), with color temp as near 5.6k as possible, and as high CRI as you can get (more than 90).

So I take it flourescent lighting would give me a much 'cooler' look?
Click to expand...

Yeh, daylight(-balanced) if cooler looking, but you'll use the 5.6k WB PRST or you'll manually white balance, so it's not like the image will look terribly different. Just better.

Oh, and they're cooler, too (in a heat sense).
 
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