Snowboarding Color Correction

cellulararrest

cellulararrest

Active member
I've been having some trouble turning this fairly bland video into something I'm really proud of. I haven't really found any in camera settings that I like much yet so I've been shooting with a fairly factory default F6. I also shot on the 5600k preset. Reason being, I believe if you want film-like video, you must treat the camera as if it were a film camera. No white balance with film. I also underexposed slightly to maintain detail in the snow.

If a few people could possibly have a go at doing some grading on these I would greatly appreciate it.

These were shot at 60i then slowed to 40% in a 23.976 timeline so if you're wondering why they're a little low resolution, that's the reason. I will post the video after I've got some color correction I'm pleased with. The slow motion looks great!

Video: 3:26 minutes | 20.48mb
http://cotbol.com/videos/okemo.mov

Thanks a bunch!

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I'd say you are not doing the DVX100 justice at all.

1. White Balance

2. Exposure

3. Lock it down

4. Focus


These are really bad. I'd also shoot with the sun behind me
 
cellulararrest said:
I believe if you want film-like video, you must treat the camera as if it were a film camera. No white balance with film. I also underexposed slightly to maintain detail in the snow.
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Yes you do balance film, you just do it with filters. And underexposing snow???

Marlene
 
John_Hudson said:
1. White Balance
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Next time I'll try white balancing to the snow. I'm still not totally for that, but I'll try it out and see how I like it.

John_Hudson said:
2. Exposure
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Most important, but as I said I underexposed (just minor zebras at 95%) so that I could keep the contours of the snow. That's the one thing I really don't like about most video shot on snow. It just gets blown out. I was hoping to be able to adjust in post.

John_Hudson said:
3. Lock it down
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Do you mean a tripod? If yes then I really wish I could lug around my nice manfrotto 501 head at 755b legs, but it's just impractical for the slopes. My Dakine Sequence bag is big enough.

John_Hudson said:
4. Focus
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The only shot out of focus is the second one. It was the first shot of the day and we hadn't established a system letting him know when to go, so I wasn't fully prepared. The rest were all in proper focus.


John_Hudson said:
These are really bad. I'd also shoot with the sun behind me
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Most of the time I would shoot with the sun behind me, but I really liked that shot. He did a perfect 360 and passed right in front of the sun. I'll post the video after I'd done some work to the colors. As for these are really bad. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm not all that happy with them either. Hence why I'm posting them here hoping for some advice from someone more knowledgeable about color correction.

Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.
 
marlenedegrood said:
Yes you do balance film, you just do it with filters. And underexposing snow???

Marlene
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As far I know (I could be wrong of course) film is balanced to either 3600k (tungsten) or 5600k (daylight). The only reason you would use a filter to balance would be if you're shooting tungsten stock in daylight or vice versa. Is it common practice to use a filter to bring daylight closer to 5600k?

As for underexposing snow, I wouldn't really call it underexposing snow. Just exposing the snow properly instead of the rider properly so you don't loose the snow's detail. As I said, I was hoping to be able to correct that in post. Sort of trying to squeeze some more latittude out of the camera.
 
cellulararrest said:
Next time I'll try white balancing to the snow. I'm still not totally for that, but I'll try it out and see how I like it.
Click to expand...

Color Temps can run as high as 8000 K so using a PRST of 5600 can leave you a bit off when shooting in the snow. Always WB to the light you are shooting in and then again when the lighting conditions change


Most important, but as I said I underexposed (just minor zebras at 95%) so that I could keep the contours of the snow. That's the one thing I really don't like about most video shot on snow. It just gets blown out. I was hoping to be able to adjust in post.
Click to expand...

You may have thought you were underexposing but your skies are blown out off the illegal charts. Most videos shot in snow are usually the result of inexperienced camera operators. We've all seen amazing footage on video in the snow.

If it get's blown out in camera; its gone. There can be no post salvage. A rule on exposure ? Expose for highlights.


Do you mean a tripod? If yes then I really wish I could lug around my nice manfrotto 501 head at 755b legs, but it's just impractical for the slopes. My Dakine Sequence bag is big enough.
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I meant locking down leaving the camera still. Whether you use sticks or a bag or a tree stump.


The only shot out of focus is the second one. It was the first shot of the day and we hadn't established a system letting him know when to go, so I wasn't fully prepared. The rest were all in proper focus.
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I suggest a vision check. Every one of these grabs is out of focus.


Most of the time I would shoot with the sun behind me, but I really liked that shot. He did a perfect 360 and passed right in front of the sun. I'll post the video after I'd done some work to the colors. As for these are really bad. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm not all that happy with them either. Hence why I'm posting them here hoping for some advice from someone more knowledgeable about color correction.
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That's nice; next time shoot with the sun behind you. It'll give you exactly what your subject needs; light. Natures free HMI.

You seem a bit defensive and that's okay. I meant nothing but honesty and my humble opinion.

As for these are really bad. I wouldn't go that far...
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I would. These are bad.

Keep shooting! It only get's netter from here on out (In theory) and don;t take any .02 personally; you're not going to learn by everyone saying the shite is great.

I'm not trying to ruin yor day Cellular; just trying to help you become better.
 
John_Hudson said:
You may have thought you were underexposing but your skies are blown out off the illegal charts. Most videos shot in snow are usually the result of inexperienced camera operators. We've all seen amazing footage on video in the snow.
If it get's blown out in camera; its gone. There can be no post salvage. A rule on exposure ? Expose for highlights.
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If I were to properly expose the sky, everything else would be completely dark. There's no way the DVX has enough latitude to keep the sun along with the rest of the scene properly exposed. I'd rather have the snow properly exposed than the cloudy sky.

John_Hudson said:
I meant locking down leaving the camera still. Whether you use sticks or a bag or a tree stump.
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Absolutely not! This is snowboarding footage at 24p. Tracking is key to keep the strobing down. Maybe I should post the video?

John_Hudson said:
I suggest a vision check. Every one of these grabs is out of focus.
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It probably looks that way because of the resolution loss (which is quite significant unfortunately) due to the deinterlacing to get the slow motion. The slow motion is very smooth though. I really should post the video.

John_Hudson said:
That's nice; next time shoot with the sun behind you. It'll give you exactly what your subject needs; light. Natures free HMI.
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I know, I know. Number one rule of natural lighting. I liked the look of it.

John_Hudson said:
You seem a bit defensive and that's okay. I meant nothing but honesty and my humble opinion.
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I apologize. I don't mean to be. I just want to make sure that my intentions were known.
 
Video is posted. It's a bit monotonous because it was all filmed in one day in the same park. Second half contains much better riding than the first half.
 
Greggl said:
#5 Polarizer :)
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I considered trying one. The problem I've had with them is that when you move the camera, the polarization changes causing the exposure to change. Am I missing something? You can't shoot snowboarding with a fixed camera. Especially not in 24p.
 
Always track your subject; of course. I assumed your shots were so wide and was thinking about the blur issue; disregard.


Cell!

I'll check it this evening (have to pick up son and do baseball practice!)
 
Cellular,
in regards to editing I would recommend that you work on the pacing a bit. Intersperse your full speed shots with the slo mo - use the slow mo for emphasis. All slo mo begins to be tiring after a while. Use that down beat in your sound track to make some cuts. Maybe show us one snowboarded lifting off, switch to another landing the jump, etc. Have fun with the edit and tell a story. Right now you are tied into the 'actual' time of the event and just showing us snowboarders...
 
Here's a shot at a bit of cc - I just shifted the balance to make the snow white instead of blue. You should probably do a mask on the sky and cc that seperately.

Corrected Image:
CCPic1.jpg


Settings in FCP:
CCPic2.jpg


Also check out the My Six Settings Thread to see how you can really change up the factory settings then play around!
 
RoamingBobert said:
Here's a shot at a bit of cc - I just shifted the balance to make the snow white instead of blue. You should probably do a mask on the sky and cc that seperately.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. I use Premiere Pro, but it has a very similar looking color corrector. I'll play around with it.

RoamingBobert said:
Also check out the My Six Settings Thread to see how you can really change up the factory settings then play around!
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I actually did check out that thread. That was after shooting this. Seeing how bland and boring the factory settings are really made me start experimenting with in camera looks. I need to go shoot some snow stuff to test them more thoroughly.
 
I don't do a lot of drastic things in camera, but getting the scene files towards a point you want is crucial to getting great looking footage. I would also look into getting a polarizer as someone suggested - there are a number of different types so there is probably one that is right for you. Some great looking skys would really make the footage pop and look more lively. It's definitely a challenge to get great exposure when shooting in the snow (so many reflections!)
 
cellulararrest said:
Thanks for that. I use Premiere Pro, but it has a very similar looking color corrector. I'll play around with it.


I actually did check out that thread. That was after shooting this. Seeing how bland and boring the factory settings are really made me start experimenting with in camera looks. I need to go shoot some snow stuff to test them more thoroughly.
Click to expand...

have u watched some professional snowboard videos such as the big blind, wildcats or positron...even the shaun white album...they all try to tell a story...and it's not all the same speed footage...some is normal speed, some slo-mo and some fast-mo keeping the cam tight with tight cuts...what i did with my video was use progression as a story with 4 diff riders...me...my brother...and 2 friends...we started off on small kickers and the camera cuts through the air using the same shot for each rider but it progresses thru the straight air...

then it goes to 50's on boxes and rails then fs bslides and switch bs 50, 180 off etc...and i got some nice footage of my friend fs bslide to switch 50 on a 25ft kink =) i'll try to dig the footage if i still have it...

btw, if you've got a dolly or steadycam...use it ...makes for great footage
 
The DVX can do a heck of a lot better than that. You really need to white balance and also play with the other settings. Check out these two threads that contain shots and video from a Kirkwood snowboard session I shot:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=2600
http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=23172

cellulararrest said:
The problem I've had with them is that when you move the camera, the polarization changes causing the exposure to change. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Yes, that can occur. I have a grad polarizer which works great for those blown out sky shots. You can move the camera without the extreme exposure changes as long as you keep the camera level and polarizer half (upper) over the sky. Yes, limiting on some movements but it helps for shots. The other issue with the polarizer is the angle to the sun. It works best at 90 degrees to the sun. As your change that angle the exposure/look changes. How extreme the change depends on the conditions and the polarizer.

I just dug up this link. It's got some great information about polarizers:

http://dpfwiw.com/polarizer.htm
 
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