GH2 White Balance strategy.

[craigbuckley]

Hey so I am still new to film making, especially with my gh2, and I have been recently messing around with the white balance function. I usually leave it on auto white balance but lately I have been told to use the "Auto white set" function. I'm not sure if im doing it right, I point it at a white space and then set the white function, but is there anything more too it? It seems so easy. Basically, I want my white to look WHITE, right? Is there anything else with white balancing that I should know about? Thanks!

 

[paulears]

The concept of pointing at a blank white card, and pressing a button has been a standard video process for years now, and only goes wrong when the light landing on the card differs from the colour of the light landing on what you're going to shoot. It gives you something to work from, and although you can always colour correct after, getting it right does protect the range of colours you record. The only other problem is when the light on the card isn't even or bright enough, or when light of a different colour hits the card, when it won't hit the subject. I still do what I did years ago, find a white card, defocus to hide the occasional black mark or crinkle and prod the button.