Tiffen filters vs post effects
 

Scenario:
I have just purchased an XL1s and I have
some experience in post production in AE.
I hear alot about Tiffen filters but I don't like
the idea of being stuck with an effect as is the
case when you have a filter on.

Question:
What are the possibilities of leaving the filter
off and achieving as much if not more of an
effect in post, ie After Effects?

Right now I have a UV filter and am planning
on purchasing some ND filters.

Requesting opinions.
-thanks!

An UV filter is quite handy for basically protecting your lens and
keeping light out you don't want and *might* interfere with the
chips. An ND filter is practically a must, especially when shooting
outdoors with lots of light (I've had an extra ND filter on my
camera + the internal built in one on some times to cut the light).

With filters that effect the picture (color filters, or soft filters) it
is different indeed. Some prefer to have them while shooting,
others prefer to do it in post. Whether or not this works for you
is a thing you will have to find out for yourself and try! You have
AE and some experience with it. I'd suggest you shoot some
footage and see where you get.

If you are looking for a softer image you can switch the camera
in frame mode (a form of progressive) which will soften the image
a bit. Then there are controls for sharpness on the camera as well.

Perhaps some people who own some filters will chime in and
give you their opinion on the filters.

off topic:
Thanks to this website specifically and your
site as well, I have learned much quicker than
otherwise possible. The video number 22 at
Lady X finalized my decision in buying the xl1s
of which I am very happy with.

In my first and only experiment I found myself
using the ND filter and needing a little finer
adjustment with a 1/2 or 1/4 nd that I don't have.
No big deal I'm just experiementing now.

Another filter that can't be done in post is the polarizer filter. If doing outside work it's useful to knock down the contrast of the sky versus the ground (depends on the angle it's oriented). Polarizer filters also act like ND filters.

Your editing software will have to render all changes to the video. So when doing typical edits, your NLE is just assembling the new AVI with its encoding intact, and maybe rendering some transitions, effects, etc. But if you use a software filter, it will have to re-encode the whole video. Some claim that with most DV AVI codecs, each time it is encoded, it loses a slight bit of quality, unless you have specifically purchased a special 100% non-lossy codec. At least this is the way I understand it, though someone may know otherwise.

The difference between 1st and 2nd generation DV is (near) impossible to tell. I haven't tried it myself but it's easy to do so.

If you have multiple layers of effects then it's slightly better to add the effects while you're shooting.

Some color filters can be achieved when you are shooting by using warm/cool cards to white balance on.