Blue Barn or Post?
 

I was wondering if anyone can answer this question, well its more a debate really. Now i know how good Blue Barn is at custom settings, it does the job fine, but isnt it better to do the adjustments in post? i know that some of the features of the XL2's total image control cant be reproduced in post but most can, now my debate is isnt it better to keep your footage "stock" and change the look in post rather than filming it using custom settings? and the possibility of ruining a days shoot.

In The Guide, Stu advises shooting "flat" to capture as much detail as possible, than doing image tweaking in post. What software are you useing? As far as I know, After Effects can match any look that can be produced in-camera as well as do modifications that the camera can't. The key is the image you start with: not under or over exposed (obviously) and as much color info as possible (i.e. no saturated image as this clips the colors and looses color info).

Sure, if you have the time for it. The presets manager is intended for those who *prefer* to use pre-made scene files in camera. There is no right or wrong method: some folks who need to deliver video quickly (such as same-day edits from wedding videographers) don't have very much time for post-production work.

There is no debate here -- just the option to do it however you want. If you have the time, save this work for post production. Otherwise, use the presets manager to create ready-made scene files that you can keep on hand for those occasions when you don't have the time to handle it in post. Hope this helps,