Colour correcting for film vs. video -- what differences should I know about?

Mike Barber · January 5th, 2008, 10:29 PM

I have my fair share of experience doing colour correction for NTSC broadcast video, but I have never been involved with anything for film. I will be working on a documentary that will originate as video (if all goes as planned, XDCAM EX1 1080p24) but will go out to film. So what differences between the two mediums (colour saturation, handling of blacks/mids/whites, etc.) do I need to be mindful of when doing the CC?

Giroud Francois · January 6th, 2008, 04:58 AM

film has is own properties (brand of film, type of film, the way it is exposed) so it will bring its own CC to your video anyway.
The best would be to ask for a sample so you can see what will happen exactly.
go there
http://www.swisseffects.ch/english/e...ges/e_tape.htm

Alex Humphrey · February 4th, 2008, 09:18 PM

ugh.... get the final cut the best you can, then send it to a film transfer house and pay them... or if funds don't allow, contact two or three houses that may be used for the transfer and ask them specifically how they like it, maybe even head in with a 5 minute section on a thumb drive and do a short sample session with them if they have the time. They should be willing since when it comes to transfer times, it costs buckets of duckets, so they might be willing to give you 20 minutes on weds afternoon to make thier lives easier when your ready a month later.

Alex Humphrey · February 4th, 2008, 09:23 PM

Also... if you do the processing yourself, I know my JVC HD110 has a setting in camera for FILM OUT. It's far darker, highliths are super minimized and it looks like maybe 1 or 2 stopps under exposed in camera.. then you reballance the preview monitor so you can see what's going on. It is fairly different, so if it wasn't shot that way, it might make a lot more significant changes than you might think in POST. To the point that it looks terrible on a normally balanced monitor, but would look just great to film in a film recorder... sooooo that's why I was suggesting to seek out the film transfer house, but you probably already knew all of that.

Mike Barber · February 4th, 2008, 09:31 PM

How about IRE levels? With NTSC video, blacks may not dip below 7.5 IRE and whites will bloom above 100 IRE (or is it 108 IRE, but 100 is the legal ceiling?), which is due to properties of the medium. Film being a different animal, are there any similar restraints I need to be mindful of?

January 5th, 2008, 10:29 PM	#1
Mike Barber Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Montréal QC Canada Posts: 381	Colour correcting for film vs. video -- what differences should I know about? I have my fair share of experience doing colour correction for NTSC broadcast video, but I have never been involved with anything for film. I will be working on a documentary that will originate as video (if all goes as planned, XDCAM EX1 1080p24) but will go out to film. So what differences between the two mediums (colour saturation, handling of blacks/mids/whites, etc.) do I need to be mindful of when doing the CC? __________________ Mike Barber Assistant Editor, LumiereVFX Last edited by Mike Barber; January 6th, 2008 at 01:37 AM. Reason: clarifying question

February 4th, 2008, 09:31 PM	#5
Mike Barber Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Montréal QC Canada Posts: 381	Black/white levels (or... crushing and blooming) How about IRE levels? With NTSC video, blacks may not dip below 7.5 IRE and whites will bloom above 100 IRE (or is it 108 IRE, but 100 is the legal ceiling?), which is due to properties of the medium. Film being a different animal, are there any similar restraints I need to be mindful of? __________________ Mike Barber Assistant Editor, LumiereVFX

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January 6th, 2008, 04:58 AM	#2
Giroud Francois Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 1,510	film has is own properties (brand of film, type of film, the way it is exposed) so it will bring its own CC to your video anyway. The best would be to ask for a sample so you can see what will happen exactly. go there http://www.swisseffects.ch/english/e...ges/e_tape.htm

February 4th, 2008, 09:18 PM	#3
Alex Humphrey Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 199	ugh.... get the final cut the best you can, then send it to a film transfer house and pay them... or if funds don't allow, contact two or three houses that may be used for the transfer and ask them specifically how they like it, maybe even head in with a 5 minute section on a thumb drive and do a short sample session with them if they have the time. They should be willing since when it comes to transfer times, it costs buckets of duckets, so they might be willing to give you 20 minutes on weds afternoon to make thier lives easier when your ready a month later.

February 4th, 2008, 09:23 PM	#4
Alex Humphrey Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 199	Also... if you do the processing yourself, I know my JVC HD110 has a setting in camera for FILM OUT. It's far darker, highliths are super minimized and it looks like maybe 1 or 2 stopps under exposed in camera.. then you reballance the preview monitor so you can see what's going on. It is fairly different, so if it wasn't shot that way, it might make a lot more significant changes than you might think in POST. To the point that it looks terrible on a normally balanced monitor, but would look just great to film in a film recorder... sooooo that's why I was suggesting to seek out the film transfer house, but you probably already knew all of that.