Learning more about my cameras. Seeking tips.

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RawDepth

RawDepth

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I recently read an article about how to white balance my video cameras before each shoot for better color. They advised using pale blue or green color cards depending on light temperature. I'll give it a go.

Anyway, since I am a novice, I am seeking more helpful tips and info such as that. (The camera manuals don't offer much along those lines.)

I mainly shoot music videos in my home studio. I already use three point lighting, but there is still room for improvement. Any quick/simple tips or resources on getting more professional results would be really cool. Thanks.
 
Try a card that's 80% grey. That was recent advice given to me, though I haven't checked it yet.
 
I can't speak for every domestic camcorder but, with professional cameras you use a neutral card with no colour of it's own. Gecko's suggestion of an 80% grey card would be ideal but, quite often, we'd just use a sheet of white paper--the camera stops down to make it look like grey anyway.

I'm a bit worried about the advice to use a blue or green card for white balancing--in most cases, the camera will assume the colour cast is to do with the lighting and try to compensate for it.
 
I agree with the grey cards, though I think it's supposed to be 18% grey and not 80% grey. I personally like bright white cards, but grey or white doesn't matter too much as long as you're consistent.

Never heard of using green or blue cards. The purpose of white balancing is to get similar colors when using different light sources in different shots. To me using green or blue cards would unnecessarily distort the color balance and I'm not sure what it would achieve in the end. It would make your colors more warm by over-correcting for the blue.

I think shooting video is very similar to recording audio. When tracking, you want the best, most pristine take you can get, then you alter each track to fit in with the feel of the song and the other tracks. When shooting video, you want to get all the info into the camera that you can, then alter in post-production to set the mood. Shoot all your footage with the correct color balance for the lighting, then if you want a warmer feel (more yellow) or a more sterile feel (more blue) you can alter the color balance in your video editor during post-production (mixdown in audio terms).

Balancing to green and blue cards is the same as adding reverb on your vocals when you're tracking, it's permanent. Then you may find out that it doesn't fit the rest of your video and you'll have to go back a reshoot that scene.

I'm no pro, that's for sure, so take my words with a grain of salt and add $5.00USD to buy a cup of coffee.
 
Chili said:
I agree with the grey cards, though I think it's supposed to be 18% grey and not 80% grey. I personally like bright white cards, but grey or white doesn't matter too much as long as you're consistent.

Never heard of using green or blue cards. The purpose of white balancing is to get similar colors when using different light sources in different shots. To me using green or blue cards would unnecessarily distort the color balance and I'm not sure what it would achieve in the end. It would make your colors more warm by over-correcting for the blue.

I think shooting video is very similar to recording audio. When tracking, you want the best, most pristine take you can get, then you alter each track to fit in with the feel of the song and the other tracks. When shooting video, you want to get all the info into the camera that you can, then alter in post-production to set the mood. Shoot all your footage with the correct color balance for the lighting, then if you want a warmer feel (more yellow) or a more sterile feel (more blue) you can alter the color balance in your video editor during post-production (mixdown in audio terms).

Balancing to green and blue cards is the same as adding reverb on your vocals when you're tracking, it's permanent. Then you may find out that it doesn't fit the rest of your video and you'll have to go back a reshoot that scene.

I'm no pro, that's for sure, so take my words with a grain of salt and add $5.00USD to buy a cup of coffee.
Click to expand...

I think Chili makes good sense. Except for the $5.00 cup of coffee. Come to my house and I'll sell you one for $2.75.
 
I know zip about white balancing but the thing I'm always kicking myself for not thinking through first is framing the damn thing I'm shooting in the first place so I don't limit myself with options to zoom in and out etc.

I need to put a big note on my camera saying "FRAME!"

FWIW!
 
Wow, thanks Gecko, Bobbsy, and Chili. That all makes sense.

Here is the piece I mentioned about the blue and green cards. The author explains why just above the example photos.
An easy way to improve the color and look of your videos His argument was about skin tones under different lighting.

On the other hand, Chili makes a good point about altering color balance later in post-production. (Although, I am not sure I know how just yet.) I already practice that methodology in audio recording. I rarely record audio with effects, EQ, or compression on the way in.
 
Well, that technique seems to me to be a "cheat" to workround a camera with the auto white balance (as installed) very badly set up at the factory--and, once you "calibrated" your workround, it would probably work. However, I'd hope that most cameras would do a decent job using the proper white/grey paper!
 
Chili said:
I agree with the grey cards, though I think it's supposed to be 18% grey and not 80% grey.
Click to expand...

You are probably right about 18%. I wasn't really paying attention when the guy told me, and I only remembered it when the question came up here. But I do remember him saying that he could get a card of those specifications for a not insubstantial amount of money. But then he discovered the lining on the inside of his camera bag was exactly the right shade.
 
gecko zzed said:
You are probably right about 18%. I wasn't really paying attention when the guy told me, and I only remembered it when the question came up here. But I do remember him saying that he could get a card of those specifications for a not insubstantial amount of money. But then he discovered the lining on the inside of his camera bag was exactly the right shade.
Click to expand...

That'll work!!

I bought a big 1m x1m Gold colored foam-core board from a craft store for $8 to use as a reflector for outdoor shots. It works great and it was super cheap compared to buying the real thing from a camera store. Turn it around and the backside is a very bright white. So I use that for color balance. Two good uses for only $8, I like it.

Of course, I haven't shot video in quite a long time and I need to get busy at it again... however, work is taking up a lot of my time lately. :(
 
My morning caffeine injection has jump started a few more neural connections in my aging brain and brought back some memories.

On the 18% vs 80% thing, it could be either. An 18% grey card is the norm in still photography for use with a reflected light metre. It was also useful (when making your own colour prints--something I played with for a couple of years before deciding "life's too short for this shit) as a way to calculate the necessary filtration.

However, in the old days of television, cameras weren't good at reproducing pure black (in NTSC, blacks had a 7.5% lift on the waveform) or pure white (which would tend to flare out on tube cameras). So, at that point, "TV white" on a test card was, in fact, about 80% reflective.

Frankly, for automatic colour balancing, either would work, the main consideration being that there was NO colour at all in the grey. The way white balancing works is that the signal is adjusted to remove any colour (assumed to be caused by the temperature of the light) and make the card appear pure white/grey. Indeed, when doing manual white balancing of studio cameras, you line them all up on a card in the studio (one with a grey background and a "stairstep" of grey chips from black to white) and, with a waveform monitor, adjust them all so they show no colour information, just neutral grey. This was easy to see on a waveform--colour would appear as a "smear" but monochrome was a fine horizontal line. I assume auto white balance circuits make this same judgement electronically.
 
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