Would you need special software to get this look? - 60d video

F

fastfinger

Well-known member
Love the color of this video, could you get this look in Vegas 10 or do you need special software like magic bullet?
thanks



Equipment used:
Canon 60D
Tamron 90mm 2.8 lens
Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens
Steadycam
Tripod
Duct tape
Hose
 
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David Jimerson said:
You would be best served achieving it when you shoot.
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David, I'm going to disagree with you here for the simple reason that once you've shot it with that look, you can't make changes in post.
I prefer to shoot my material as clean as possible and then "dirty it up" in post.
To answer fastfinger's question, try playing with color balance, curves, bump map and various other tools in Vegas before you try Magic Bullet.

Mike
 
rs170a said:
David, I'm going to disagree with you here for the simple reason that once you've shot it with that look, you can't make changes in post.
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Well, that's not entirely true.

Besides, if you have the look you want -- and you should know what you want before you ever shoot a frame -- it saves you time.

I know a lot of people shoot "flat" and decide later what to do, but to me, that just adds tons more work in the long run. A thorough preproduction process involves deciding what every frame should look like before you shoot, and that includes the color scheme. A disciplined, efficient approach tells you what you need to do long before you ever reach an editing timeline.

Now, it's true; there are things to be done in post. For example, shooting a nighttime scene (a bit more) brightly and lowering the levels in post -- but that's to preserve detail and reduce noise, and it's a decision made prior to shooting, not one left to post. And sure, things may not be exactly right when you shoot, so they need to be corrected. But that's correction, fixing a problem, not grading, establishing the look.

Shooting flat can actually PREVENT you from achieving certain color grades in post, or from getting it exactly right, because you may have too much of or not enough of certain color information, or an inappropriate gamma. Not knowing what you want until AFTER you shoot is going to trip you up time and again. It's not much different from not having a complete script and figuring out the story in editing. You might be able to do it, but chances are, you'll need to reshoot something in order to make it what you really want. And if it's what you really want, figure it out before you shoot and get everything you need.

Suppose you decide in post you want something predominately blue. Shoot flat, you might not have enough blue (which could easily happen under tungsten light), and when you bring up the blue levels, you'll find that blue is pretty noisy, and the lower the blue information in the original picture, the more noise you'll see when you bring it up.

Or, suppose you decide you want something in black and white. Shooting effective black and white requires particular lighting and other choices while you're on set; it's not as simple as shooting in color and then taking the color out. If you want it to be as good as it can be, you need to know ahead of time.

Never mind the difference in working with color on set and in-camera and then having the image processed down from raw, instead of working with the already-processed color at 4:2:0 or 4:1:1, or even 4:2:2 for that matter. You're losing tons of color information in the processing done by the camera, and what you have to work with is considerably less than it would be on set. It's a pretty basic concept, too -- the less you manipulate footage in post, the better the final render will be.

In general, you're better served by not waiting until post to make your decisions on these things. Preproduction -- that's when to do it. And if you know what you want after a thorough preproduction, then getting it in camera is by far the more efficient way of working.

People will do what they prefer, but "preserving options" for post really just means you're deferring decisions you'd be better off making in preproduction.

(Of course there are always exceptions, and the unexpected happens. But that's not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to intentionally leaving the decisions as to what your project is going to look like until after you shoot.)
 
David Jimerson said:
You would be best served achieving it when you shoot.
Click to expand...

Thanks for you help. I already have the source material, is there a plug-in or a general guide online to get this look? I haven't had much success playing with color adjustments. Also, I use a HMC150, not a DSLR if that makes a difference. Appreciate any tips
 
David, I think your idea really stands or fails based on what you're shooting on. Shooting in Red Raw I would 100% disagree with you about trying to achieve a certain look in post -vs- on set. Now if I were shooting on a HDSLR and knew I was losing tons of information as soon as its recorded I agree more with you.
 
It's not about the shooting medium. It's about the discipline and efficiency of the process. How much information is saved or lost is only a small part of the equation, just an example of a possible problem.
 
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