Presets
 

I posted the question below earlier today in the general forum. I was just looking at some information on presets I'd downloaded in the past and see that it came from this specific Canon XH thread, so maybe that is where I should have been posting (my camera is an XH A1). Assuming that might be the case I'm posting my question here again. Hope that's okay...

Hello.

I can think of several great documentaries that produce an amazing image on the TV screen. The blacks are saturated, the whites are not over exposed, and detail, gradation and saturation exist in all the colors. Like everyone else I suppose, I'm anxious to find out how they do this.

I've read of many custom presets that seem designed to give this kind of look, to create an image without the kind of blue flatness one often gets in video etc., but I'm beginning to wonder if that's all there is to it.

Elsewhere I was reading about another approach that relies on post-production. It suggests setting the presets so that they greatly reduce contrast in order to capture maximum detail in light and dark, then to produce the saturation and contrast you want in post. This seems to make some sense to me, for one thing I always note in these shows I love is that the dynamic range between dark and light seems controlled.

So am I on to something here? Is there a custom preset out there that's designed to be used along with post-production to produce this beautiful effect found in these documentaries? (Any North Americans out there might be familiar with the series Departures. How just to they get their amazing colour and control?)

Thanks,
John