telecine color balance w/XL1s

[Mario Pinzon]

Hi everyone. I am a new member.

I'm getting really bad color on my super-8 telecine transfers and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. Here is my setup:
Eumig S910 projector
Coastar video/film converter (first surface mirror/rear projection screen)
XL1s Settings:
shutter: 1/90
aperture: f5.2 (i ride the iris wheel to adjust brightness levels)
gain: 0
ND filter: on (i use this to reduce the bright light hitting the telecine convertor from the projector)
white balance: indoor mode

problem: bluish, muddy reds; muddy colors all around.

The reason i don't set the WB manually is that since i'm working in darkened room and the only light source is coming from the projector i have no way to set the WB. Too bad there's no way to set WB moving a continous dial from warm to cool while watching it on a video monitor.

I appreciate any ideas re. this and am glad to join what seems like a cool community.

[Jack Smith]

Sounds like your setting WB to indoor ergo 3200k.If the result is bluish the projector is probably closer to " outdoor" about 5500k
also exposure is critical
If the original film is WB correctly you do need to WB to the projection light.Could you use translucent material between source and the camera?Then set WB manually.
smitty

[Mario Pinzon]

Thanks for your response smitty.

The "outdoor" WB setting is too warm. I chose 'indoor" setting as the better of the 2. I did try a translucent material to set WB manually but WB indicator keeps blinking since it's not able to do a proper WB.

I believe WB on cameras work by measuring reflected light. I guess manufact. don't expect you'll be trying to obtain WB from a strong light pointed directly at camera (as is the case w/my telecine setup).

Aside from messing w/the RGB settings on the XL1s, is there a way to set WB manually w/o using reflected light to get a measurment - a way to adjust color balance as i'm watching the super-8 movie on the display monitor?

[Jack Smith]

As far as I know there is no way to continuously adjust WB
However you probably only need to find the right setting once and lock it in a preset,then switch to that preset when using the telecine.You could use WB cards to adjust the WB either commercially available ones or make your own.eg. If outdoor setting is too warm and indoor too cold try balancing to a card in outdoor light that is is slightly orange or a card in indoor light(3200k) that is slightly blue then retest with the telecine adjusting the density of the blue or orange card to suit.
smitty

[Mario Pinzon]

That seems to make the most sense. I'll have to bite the bullet and test w/diff. WB cards 'till i get the right setting.

Thanks for your help!
mario