Some Zebra na dwhite balance q's at DVinfo.net

Peter Jefferson · February 15th, 2004, 10:38 AM

hey all, i have some q's

I am an event videographer, so many times my settings are set to auto, these q's primarily pertain to auto modes, but theres afew otheres there..
Im hoping afew other members would find the answers tot these q's helpful too...

1) what woudl be the "standard" setting for white balance detection...?? At the moment, im using 90/90 which seems alittle too high, which overexposes shots when i watch the footage on a monitor or tv.. i thought about dropping it, but the lower i go, the more it detects, and those lines can sometimes get to a point of NOT being able ot see what it is im filming..

2) White balance and Colour balance tracking..
Ive noticed that white balance tracking (auto) is FASTER on settings other than Cine.. problem i have thou, is once i have found the balance i need how do i LOCK IT IN PLACE??
2a) WBa and WBb manual mode.. one has a distintly red filter while the other is blue.. the problem i have is that sometimes i want whats inbetween... how to i do that?
One way to speed up the tracking i found is to switch around all there till the camera adjusts

3) White balance and Black Balance..
Sometimes, when i move from outdoors to indoors, and im running AWT sometimes the tracking goes awry (normal on al cams that ive owned, and it doesnt bother me) so i get teh deep blue compensation hitting an indoor low lit room..
Now the only way around this at the moment (i think) is to run the Balance check (the one where you hold down the button under the lens for 5 seconds.. ) or switching the cam on while facing a white card.

Is there a more efficient way to do this??

4) Cine and skin settings,
Ive noticed and read many articles on this, and i like the fact that the whites glow as oppsed to being flat whites... I also like the way the DVX handles backlight situations, as it retains PERFECT skin tones, even if light is coming form behind...
is there a way, though, where my backgrounds WONT be washed out when i want to get a good clear facial??

5) Home video..
Ive noticed some shots, look ALOT like home video, while others (for some unknown reason) come across with that film look.. i know DOF plays alot in this, but i have some shots where regardless of what i have, the colours, and sharpness jsut seem to be too deep.. no i dont particularly want to drop my colour levels, as these make up for the cine and skin settings above, but the sharpness can be an issue sometimes, while other times, its perfect (i have detail set to -2, with a thick setting)

umm.. oh and one other thing,.. i have noticed that ont eh left hand side, beyond the actual viewable area, there is a thing strip of "defective" colour.. its so minute that you woudl hardly notice it, but it IS there and can be a probelm or web related material (as web stuff shows the ful display, not cropped like tv)

anyone else see this line/? i rememebr reading about it, so it didnt phase me.. and i do have a workaround... but id rather not overprocess my work..

any response to any of the above is gretly appreciated!!!

Peter Jefferson · February 18th, 2004, 07:46 AM

someones gotta know this stuff??

Stephen van Vuuren · February 18th, 2004, 10:47 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson : hey all, i have some

1) what woudl be the "standard" setting for white balance detection...?? At the moment, im using 90/90 which seems alittle too high, which overexposes shots when i watch the footage on a monitor or tv.. i thought about dropping it, but the lower i go, the more it detects, and those lines can sometimes get to a point of NOT being able ot see what it is im filming..

-->>>

This sounds like your Zebra settings, which are exposure indicators rather than white balance indicators. The 90 setting refers to the IRE level of the video signal. Depending on what gamma curve you are using, you can set these to help control clipping. I generally had my set for 80/100 or 70/100 when shooting cine-gamma. The lower number was my target skin tone (for white folks) and the 100 was to check for clipping (I wanted nothing in the frame to be highlighted at 100).-->>>

<<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson 2) White balance and Colour balance tracking..
Ive noticed that white balance tracking (auto) is FASTER on settings other than Cine.. problem i have thou, is once i have found the balance i need how do i LOCK IT IN PLACE??
2a) WBa and WBb manual mode.. one has a distintly red filter while the other is blue.. the problem i have is that sometimes i want whats inbetween... how to i do that?
One way to speed up the tracking i found is to switch around all there till the camera adjusts-->>>

The 24p mode has the most processing - thus it affects processing speed. The way to lock is to set a user button to turn tracking on/off. The two manual modes are daylight (5600K) and tungsten (3200K). I assume you are calling daylight "blue" and tungsten "red". I don't have a DVX right now, but I believe you can adjust these presets and store your own - check the manual. I would also suggest a good read-up on lighting and video (John Jackman's lighting for DV -- www.greatdv.com) is a good place to starts.

<<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson4) Cine and skin settings,
Ive noticed and read many articles on this, and i like the fact that the whites glow as oppsed to being flat whites... I also like the way the DVX handles backlight situations, as it retains PERFECT skin tones, even if light is coming form behind...
is there a way, though, where my backgrounds WONT be washed out when i want to get a good clear facial??-->>>

I don't quite understand what you getting at here - do you have screenshots we could see? Also, post clips of what you are calling "home video" vs. "film". That's pretty darn subjective, so I don't want to comment unless I can see.

<<<<<---umm.. oh and one other thing,.. i have noticed that ont eh left hand side, beyond the actual viewable area, there is a thing strip of "defective" colour.. its so minute that you woudl hardly notice it, but it IS there and can be a probelm or web related material (as web stuff shows the ful display, not cropped like tv)

anyone else see this line/? i rememebr reading about it, so it didnt phase me.. and i do have a workaround... but id rather not overprocess my work.. -->>>

All DV cameras do this to some degree. Some cams mask it with a black bar, some leave it as is.

Peter Jefferson · February 19th, 2004, 04:34 AM

thanks for the response mate, i really appreciate it!

I will write back when i get a chance to take a real break, at teh mo im stuck in a huge project which i cant stop, just havnig a breather.

thanks again

February 15th, 2004, 10:38 AM	#1
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	Some Zebra na dwhite balance q's hey all, i have some q's I am an event videographer, so many times my settings are set to auto, these q's primarily pertain to auto modes, but theres afew otheres there.. Im hoping afew other members would find the answers tot these q's helpful too... 1) what woudl be the "standard" setting for white balance detection...?? At the moment, im using 90/90 which seems alittle too high, which overexposes shots when i watch the footage on a monitor or tv.. i thought about dropping it, but the lower i go, the more it detects, and those lines can sometimes get to a point of NOT being able ot see what it is im filming.. 2) White balance and Colour balance tracking.. Ive noticed that white balance tracking (auto) is FASTER on settings other than Cine.. problem i have thou, is once i have found the balance i need how do i LOCK IT IN PLACE?? 2a) WBa and WBb manual mode.. one has a distintly red filter while the other is blue.. the problem i have is that sometimes i want whats inbetween... how to i do that? One way to speed up the tracking i found is to switch around all there till the camera adjusts 3) White balance and Black Balance.. Sometimes, when i move from outdoors to indoors, and im running AWT sometimes the tracking goes awry (normal on al cams that ive owned, and it doesnt bother me) so i get teh deep blue compensation hitting an indoor low lit room.. Now the only way around this at the moment (i think) is to run the Balance check (the one where you hold down the button under the lens for 5 seconds.. ) or switching the cam on while facing a white card. Is there a more efficient way to do this?? 4) Cine and skin settings, Ive noticed and read many articles on this, and i like the fact that the whites glow as oppsed to being flat whites... I also like the way the DVX handles backlight situations, as it retains PERFECT skin tones, even if light is coming form behind... is there a way, though, where my backgrounds WONT be washed out when i want to get a good clear facial?? 5) Home video.. Ive noticed some shots, look ALOT like home video, while others (for some unknown reason) come across with that film look.. i know DOF plays alot in this, but i have some shots where regardless of what i have, the colours, and sharpness jsut seem to be too deep.. no i dont particularly want to drop my colour levels, as these make up for the cine and skin settings above, but the sharpness can be an issue sometimes, while other times, its perfect (i have detail set to -2, with a thick setting) umm.. oh and one other thing,.. i have noticed that ont eh left hand side, beyond the actual viewable area, there is a thing strip of "defective" colour.. its so minute that you woudl hardly notice it, but it IS there and can be a probelm or web related material (as web stuff shows the ful display, not cropped like tv) anyone else see this line/? i rememebr reading about it, so it didnt phase me.. and i do have a workaround... but id rather not overprocess my work.. any response to any of the above is gretly appreciated!!!

February 18th, 2004, 10:47 AM	#3
Stephen van Vuuren Space Hipster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,508	Re: Some Zebra na dwhite balance q's <<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson : hey all, i have some 1) what woudl be the "standard" setting for white balance detection...?? At the moment, im using 90/90 which seems alittle too high, which overexposes shots when i watch the footage on a monitor or tv.. i thought about dropping it, but the lower i go, the more it detects, and those lines can sometimes get to a point of NOT being able ot see what it is im filming.. -->>> This sounds like your Zebra settings, which are exposure indicators rather than white balance indicators. The 90 setting refers to the IRE level of the video signal. Depending on what gamma curve you are using, you can set these to help control clipping. I generally had my set for 80/100 or 70/100 when shooting cine-gamma. The lower number was my target skin tone (for white folks) and the 100 was to check for clipping (I wanted nothing in the frame to be highlighted at 100).-->>> <<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson 2) White balance and Colour balance tracking.. Ive noticed that white balance tracking (auto) is FASTER on settings other than Cine.. problem i have thou, is once i have found the balance i need how do i LOCK IT IN PLACE?? 2a) WBa and WBb manual mode.. one has a distintly red filter while the other is blue.. the problem i have is that sometimes i want whats inbetween... how to i do that? One way to speed up the tracking i found is to switch around all there till the camera adjusts-->>> The 24p mode has the most processing - thus it affects processing speed. The way to lock is to set a user button to turn tracking on/off. The two manual modes are daylight (5600K) and tungsten (3200K). I assume you are calling daylight "blue" and tungsten "red". I don't have a DVX right now, but I believe you can adjust these presets and store your own - check the manual. I would also suggest a good read-up on lighting and video (John Jackman's lighting for DV -- www.greatdv.com) is a good place to starts. <<<-- Originally posted by Peter Jefferson4) Cine and skin settings, Ive noticed and read many articles on this, and i like the fact that the whites glow as oppsed to being flat whites... I also like the way the DVX handles backlight situations, as it retains PERFECT skin tones, even if light is coming form behind... is there a way, though, where my backgrounds WONT be washed out when i want to get a good clear facial??-->>> I don't quite understand what you getting at here - do you have screenshots we could see? Also, post clips of what you are calling "home video" vs. "film". That's pretty darn subjective, so I don't want to comment unless I can see. <<<<<---umm.. oh and one other thing,.. i have noticed that ont eh left hand side, beyond the actual viewable area, there is a thing strip of "defective" colour.. its so minute that you woudl hardly notice it, but it IS there and can be a probelm or web related material (as web stuff shows the ful display, not cropped like tv) anyone else see this line/? i rememebr reading about it, so it didnt phase me.. and i do have a workaround... but id rather not overprocess my work.. -->>> All DV cameras do this to some degree. Some cams mask it with a black bar, some leave it as is. __________________ stephen v2 www.insaturnsrings.com

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February 18th, 2004, 07:46 AM	#2
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	someones gotta know this stuff??

February 19th, 2004, 04:34 AM	#4
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	thanks for the response mate, i really appreciate it! I will write back when i get a chance to take a real break, at teh mo im stuck in a huge project which i cant stop, just havnig a breather. thanks again