Whats your White Balance technique
 

I've been learning up on White Balance and was wondering what your technique is with the XH-A1. When shooting videos with narrative, mood lighting and feelings do you still WB or do you adjust the WB via the Kelvin selector to achieve the desired look.
Very interested in this process, all input appreciated.
Thanks,

I try to white balance to the main light source (where my subject will be). Carry a white card, or a warm card if you prefer. In run-and-gun situations where I don't have the time to find something white/grey in the proper lighting, I'll go preset and 'ballpark' in the range I need to be.
When doing events with colored gels, I'll balance to my on-camera light, so that anyone 'in-sight' of my camera will appear to have natural flesh-tones.

There is a lot you can do in post, but you'll want to be in the same ballpark range of color temps (unless you're going for a specific look).

I use presets most of the time to keep the warmth I've added. If I white balance, then it'll go away (it did with my DSR500, and I'm assuming same thing happens with this camera, haven't tried). If I light for daylight, using mostly LEDs, HMIs and/or tungsten lights gelled with CTB, then I use the daylight preset. If I light tungsten, I use the tungsten preset.

If I'm shooting available light in a mixed light area or someplace with funny colored lights, I often white balance on the talent. Occasionally in a couple of places I shoot regularly I'll light daylight but tweak it down a little with the K selector because I can't light the big background entirely. I have a color temperature meter, but usually my eyeball is a close enough guess on what the background is, usually within a couple hundred K.

Speaking of color temperature meters, it is very annoying to me that the camera refuses to tell us what the temperature is. It has to read it when you white balance, and it's no great leap to display it on the screen as all bigger chip cameras do. I don't know why they won't do that. In my big camera days I never used the old color temperature meter because I could do a white balance and it would tell me what the reading was on the various lights around a location.

It might be because the custom white balance does more than just change the temperature, such as modifying the tint or color matrix. My only guess is that they hide this information because they are afraid it would confuse the customer.

Gary cards are great.
 

I’ve been white balancing on grey cards or neutral gray more often these days with my XH-A1 and getting much better color. More accurate less green color cast. Just seems truer.

I do a lot of automotive videography and I cover indoor and outdoor product installations and auto events.

When outside, I'll find something that looks white to me (like someone's shirt, or a truck or car) and set my white balance to it. Depending on the time of day, and cloud cover, and lots of variables, I might white balance every 5 minutes.

When indoors, in my studio, I usually set the balance to "Indoors." I'll then adjust blue or red levels in the NLE to cool or warm up the shot.

Thanks for the replys everyone.

I was wondering what you guys do on a film set. I'm guessing you want to get accurate whites but you also have to worry about the scene's mood. For instance, lets say your filming a scene at sunset and you want to capture the warmth of the setting. I would guess you wouldn't white balance the camera because you would loose that warmth? I would assume you would maybe adjust the K until you get the right look?
Does this sound right?

Thanks.

I white balance with a 18% gray card using the camera default preset. Once that is done I switch to my preferred preset (Panalook2) for filming. I do this for outdoor or indoor/mixed lighting. If I'm in a hurry just to grab a quick shot, I use a white balance preset.

For a sunset, I would adjust the K like you said until it looked best.

Good Hint; Don't use WHITE shirts or even WHITE tableclothes as they may actually have BLUE thread intertwined which the eye can not discern but the electronics of the WB circuitry will.


Purchase a TRUE WHITE CARD and keep a distances of about 8 to 10 feet from the camera withthat card.
This allows the camera to take into account various color temperatures mixed in with your camera point light.

I set the cam for manual wb and use a photo grey card to white balance on. $5 at most camera stores, is all. Gives great results.

I always or almost use the manual kelvin selector.

i like to use both the A and B white balances, balancing A for sun and the B for shade (in the same environment) for quick changes if necessary...

Well, you won't find a film camera that will tell you the color temperature in a readout!!

I think you meant "narrative-style shoot" rather than literally shooting on film so I won't go into the much-more complicated process of the latter. For high-end digital acquisition I'll usually use the presets, but if shooting with two cameras I'll first make sure that the presets match closely enough, otherwise I'll look at white balancing as that will generally deliver a better result. If I have concerns about the footage being color-corrected properly I'll try to "bake in" the look, i.e. adjust the color temp to taste. Believe it or not many pro-level cameras do not have the ability to dial the color temp up and down like the little camcorders do (or if they do, it is buried in menus) so I sometimes use the tried-and-true cheating method by holding a piece of color correction gel in front of the lens while white balancing.

Bill mentions using a color temp meter (or using the camera to read color temps)--one aspect of color temperature that is not addressed by cameras that show kelvin temperature is the mired shift, which reads the magenta-green axis. This is also harder for the eye to judge accurately than the Kelvin scale (blue-orange axis, if you will). Fluorescents are notorious for going off in the mired shift, especially the dimmable type and it can be hard to see this happening, especially if you are using a not-so-reliable LCD to monitor the image. A color temp meter can tell you how many points of green or magenta are being seen as well as the Kelvin readout of a given light source, however the scale given for the appropriate correction has to be interpreted for video as it is tuned for film, which has a different response to the mired shift (it's much more sensitive).

With color correction being as robust and ubiquitous as it is these days it's not as much of a concern to nail the look on set any more, which is especially true with cameras like RED that capture the raw data.

i just use AWB all the time...anything wrong with that? my footage always looks good to me...

depends on what you are shooting. If it's run and gun, documentary style, in most cases that is fine (and sometimes the best way to do it, if you are moving through mixed light). If you are lighting to create a mood that needs to stay consistent throughout different shots, the camera may try to "erase" that mood (i.e. if you have lit the set warm or cool) and when cutting shots together, the walls may shift color etc.

point well made...so i guess i gave away my own shooting style hahaha

Stupid question by me but just wanted to double-check with you all before I film tonight - if I were to completely remove a tape and battery during the course of filming, when I insert a new battery and tape do you think the custom white balance will still be preserved?

The manual says "as long as the built-in rechargeable lithium battery is charged, the camcorder retains the custom white balance setting even if you turn it off."

Yes, it will be preserved, I do it all the time. The manual here is referring to a different battery hidden away somewhere in the camera, probably one of those little button cells that last for years.

How about using the ExpoDisc ? I shoot outdoor / hunting situations most of the time. I am not able to place the white balance card into the subject area ( animals tend to be where they are & moving ) and want to obtain my best WB . I also find myself using manual set at 5600k for sunlight/outdoor lighting. When in trees - mixed lighting - I usually balance in a sunny spot. It seems to work much better than shade balance in that situation.

Any tips/suggestions ?

Thanks !

On a sunny day, if you white balance manually and use a white card that is in the shade, it tends to give you a warmer look. On the other hand, if you have the white balance card exposed to the direct sunlight, your image tends to look cooler. BTW, my first pro camera said you should have a white object that fills at least 80% of the viewfinder and it should be out of focus. I know I often ignore the out of focus part and I have never really been able to see a difference.

I use the Expodisc, much better for varying lighting conditions, much faster and you feel more confident using it. Bought both models but haven't used the 'warm' one much.

Saw tips on buying the 82mm size for use on all your cams with step down rings, but using it with the A1 would mean taking off the lens shade etc.

So I bought the 72mm versions, very quick and easy to use, they clip onto the lens rim and its pouch clips to your trouser belt. Even use it as a short time lens cap in some situations.

Cheers.

they definitely need a hard dial on the camera(s) to dial up or down the color temp. Kinda like the overcranking dial on the EX3. I don't like auto white balance and it would be nice to (easily) just dial up/down until I like what I see.

The A1 does have that feature. In manual WB you can select "A" , "B" , or preset, the preset is available with the flip of a switch in auto indoor , auto outdoor , and "K" - where you can use the dial to scroll to whatever you like.

See I knew it was a good idea. :)

I use the tungsten and daylight presets only. I find myself thinking more filmy that way (film stocks are set in their whites - and lighting, gels and filtration become the way they deal with differences on set).

white balance k
 

what scroll wheel do you move to change k light?

The same wheel that messes with your shutter speed, down on the left, up by the lens.

Set the WB selector to "preset" , set the preset selector ( under the lcd ) to "K" , then press the manual WB button - you can then dial in your desired K by using the scroll wheel in front of the exposure lock button.

I was filming outside in the sunlight on Christmas Day and successfully white-balanced a white sheet of paper on the way to the beach. I then activated the PANALOOK2 customised preset (was very nice by the way!). Once I reached the beach, I decided I wanted to do a fresh white balance, so I deactivated the PANALOOK2 to DEFAULT and then tried a new white balance with a white sheet of paper. Despite my best efforts, the camera white balance indicator kept flashing. This was weird, I thought, because the conditions were bright and clear for the camera to be able to white balance. Assuming perhaps that the XHA1 wouldn't allow a 'fresh' white balance due to the light quality perhaps being the same as earlier, I executed the PANALOOK2 and started filming anyway.

I thought perhaps that the camera would only prevent a manual white balance occurring if the conditions were too dark or the camera wasn't able to read a clear sheet of white paper. Just thought it was unusual the camera wouldn't allow a manual white balance in clear, bright conditions. Any suggestions appreciated about why this might have occurred.

By the way, the eventual footage I shot with the 'flashing' white balance indicator and PANALOOK2 looked excellent.

Here are my two biggest mistakes I have ever made setting the white balance. Both of which were with an XL2 but the lessons still apply.

#1) Always set the white balance to a know white color or Grey card.

Once, I was doing a simple basketball game in a new gym. The wall was white and I used it and everything came out great. The next week I shot another game in the same gym as this was the main game. The first one was preparing me for this game. I used the same wall as before and shot the game.

However, what I did not know was that the wall had been painted and was not white. It was an off white. The game before was in primer and had the perfect color...but it changed. Therefore never assume have white in front of you.

#2) I was shooting a football game and during the game I went from sun to dark. I did not realize this until the darkness. So we go from sun light to overhead bad lighting and the color was out of whack. This second by second changing environment should have been shot in Auto.

Lesson learned considered the how the lighting will change though out the day. This also will apply outside on sunny/cloudy days. If clouds roll in if can impact your setting.

For many years and is still common practise on broadcast shoots, the standard white was/is the directors/reporters script. This is often fooled by using a 1/4 CTB to warm it to taste. However, one thing to be careful about is that some white papers can be a bit on the cool side. Some of the white balancing plastic found on some of the old 3/4" u-matic or Betacam VTR weather covers were variable depending on how much dirt was on it and how yellowed it had become.

Commonly I just use the pre-sets especially on the high end cameras. These cameras usually have 3200K, 4300K and usually 6300K as the built in pre-sets. The latter is more useful than 5600K because it's the common reading on an overcast day and it factors out a bit of the blue from the sky on a sunny day and looks great.

On the A1, Expodisc. On a 2hr indoor shoot in a room with beige walls lit with one key and the afternoon sun through large windows, we white balanced before every take. You must lock the cam off on the exact framing first.

Cheers.