Correct white balancing procedure

[Steve D. Taylor]

Okay, this is a total newby question, but here goes. Do I fill the frame with the white card when balancing, or put it in front of the talent's face and set? I've read about the "right way" being both, and I want the most accurate reading. I've been shooting film, and the last time I used a camcorder for something other than home movies, it was a beta 2. That machine had a translucent white lens cap for taking white balance settings, but my dvc80 does not have that.

Anyone?

Thanks so much

[John Hudson]

Zoom in completely on the White Board. It must fill the frame. And make sure the area you are doing the WB in is in the source of lighting you plan to use.

[Steve D. Taylor]

Thanks John! Will do.

Steve.

[Steve D. Taylor]

Funny, I just realized when doing as instructed, that I was holding the button down too long and resetting the black balance. What the heck is that? Do I hold a black card in front of the camera instead of white when setting this? The manual says you don't have to set it very often (I was setting it every time I was setting my white balance...oops).

Steve.

[Max Allen]

There is no hard and fast rule to white balancing. As a default procedure, John's answer is it.


Even if you're after precision accuracy in the colors it can depend on the feel you're trying to achieve -- ie. if you want to tone the image. For example, the equivelant of an 812 filter for film can be achieved by balancing to a temperature of above 4000 Kelvin. Simply balance to white under higher temperature lighting than your set lights, or do the old CTB on the lens thing.

As you work more with video cameras you may also notice the whole frame doesn't need to be filled with white, a minimum of 70% is usually enough. If there is no white card anything with white on it will do the trick. And if you can't fill the frame focusing out will get more white in the frame. These are a little more for when prep time is critical.

Black balance if you havent turned on the camera for a few months. It's also recommended when there are sudden/drastic changes in color temp. It gets the blacks reproducing as black since there is still current flowing through the pixels on the black portions of the picture, meaning blacks don't mean the pixels simply turn off in that part of the frame. You can black balance with the lens cap on or iris down all the way if you don't have a cap. Most modern cameras automatically close the iris when you activate black balance.

[Steve D. Taylor]

Max,

Great tips, thanks. I see that the camera does indeed close the iris all the way down when I black balance, so that explains that.

I ordered a white board from B&H, so I will experiment.

Thanks,

Steve.

[Max Allen]

welcome :)