Superflat setting test

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
My entire house is sick with the flu and since today is such a beautiful day, an amazing amount of light was coming through the windows, so i picked up the cam with the superflat settings and shot for a bit.

Very impressed with these image settings when there is sufficient light, very flattering skin tones imo.

I too am just recovering from the flu, and am feeling very week, so my hands were quite shaky.



Comments on the image are definitely appreciated. Want to hear opinions and shared thoughts on how this setting looks to you.

personally, with a good amount of life, i find there is quite a bit of detail in the shadows and bright areas. Looks pleasing to me.
 
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Could someone please explain to me the reason for wanting a very flat picture? Don't get me wrong, it looks very good! Very commercial-like. I'd just like to understand what the big deal is with this setting.

Thanks!
 
I would imagine its the most "neutral" look, allowing post processing to stamp a look on it after, this would be good for creative freedom and matching footage...aint tried it myself yet but it could be great.
 
Papa, can you expand on these settings?

Right now I'm using something similar to this but I am finding it expands the skin/mid tones almost too much making for an almost too pastel look to peoples faces and skin.

I haven't yet played around with the EOS utility though, so it might be simple to get rid of.
 
William_Robinette said:
Papa, can you expand on these settings?

Right now I'm using something similar to this but I am finding it expands the skin/mid tones almost too much making for an almost too pastel look to peoples faces and skin.

I haven't yet played around with the EOS utility though, so it might be simple to get rid of.
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I just had daylight white balance on, with the Superflat preset. I might have upped the saturation one notch and the color tone one to the left ( i find middle a bit too green )

Really only to give me the maximum flexibility in post, and i think it's definitely a viable option.

The marvel one i find a bit too pastelish as well. That's why i stick with superflat for now.
 
Isn't the point of shooting with a 'superflat' preset to grade it later in post? It would be cool to see some non-graded/graded shot comparisons. I don't think I'd ever go with that look for a finished product.
 
KeeganFlynn said:
Isn't the point of shooting with a 'superflat' preset to grade it later in post? It would be cool to see some non-graded/graded shot comparisons. I don't think I'd ever go with that look for a finished product.
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Ya, I personally don't like it much, but it is all the rage for commercial work it seems nowadays.
 
I like this a lot. I find the problem with the Canon 7D is the colors pop so much and the highlights blow out so easy that it can get a cartoony oversaturated video look that can be too easily spotted. This looked very good and you can do more with it in post color grading. The codec also holds up much better than the gh1 with hand movement.
 
William_Robinette said:
Ya, I personally don't like it much, but it is all the rage for commercial work it seems nowadays.
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In my experience, it's actually not the case for anything outside of shooting with a REAL uncompressed or raw image because it looks horrible once you begin to manipulate the image. Doesn't SEEM matter what format you kick it out too to do your "grade", banding, blocking, noise becomes apparent.

Then again, everyone should test for themselves to find out if it works for them. The amount of image degradation was too much for us.
 
Kholi said:
In my experience, it's actually not the case for anything outside of shooting with a REAL uncompressed or raw image because it looks horrible once you begin to manipulate the image. Doesn't SEEM matter what format you kick it out too to do your "grade", banding, blocking, noise becomes apparent.

Then again, everyone should test for themselves to find out if it works for them. The amount of image degradation was too much for us.
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And this is something I am finding out quickly the more and more I shoot with this thing.

But I was talking about more what the finished product looks like. I turn on the TV and it seems every other ad has this flat low contrast, non crushed blacks, and pastel color pallet.
 
William_Robinette said:
And this is something I am finding out quickly the more and more I shoot with this thing.

But I was talking about more what the finished product looks like. I turn on the TV and it seems every other ad has this flat low contrast, non crushed blacks, and pastel color pallet.
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Oh~ I got ya.

I haven't seen it, I'll have to watch some more television more often, though. Always watching DVDs/Blu-Rays these days. I'm definitely NOT down with the Pastel Color Palette, though! Yikes.

Will, I just realized something: Did you get a 7D!?!?!?
 
Papa, do you find the skin tones a bit weird? Maybe they are closer to real skin tones...I don't know. I tried this setting a few times but went back to my own desaturated neutral setting because it just seemed off. I would like to see some grading done with this setting while keeping shadows lifted.
 
i wanted to keep the footage a little heavier in saturation in camera just to give me the most flexibility in post. Easy to dial down, but if you want to brign it up, you are degradaing the quality.

but im also of the school that you should go for the look you want in camera right away, i just don't have the confidence to always do that and like to find the look sometimes in post. Part of the joy, i guess.
 
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