Thanks for the tips, Greg. One problem I was having on the focus is that I had the iris wide open. I didn't think about the shallow DOF this created.

Now I hope this isn't a horribly stupid question, but when you say "focus lock", is this just an expression, or is there a way that I'm not aware of to actually set the focus and "lock it" on the XL2?

Here's another stupid question: Regarding focusing on "infinity", I typically look for anything I can set focus on (any distant illuminated object), zoom all the way in (20x) get a sharp focus on that, then zoom all they way back out again. Is there a better way?

Thanks again...jb

Focus lock was actually a figure of speech. If you are not in auto-focus mode, you actually lock the focus as soon as you stop manually focusing. (grin)

Another thing I did was slip a wide angle adapter on the lens to get more real estate in the shot and to help with DOF. Keep the iris closed and slow down the shutter speed to compensate. Remember, the lights you are taping are pretty intense so it's not as big a problem to achieve good exposure as you might think.

I will try to find some time to upload a clip for you to look at. The fireworks are not commercial, just the most powerful stuff we mere mortals can get our hands on.

-gb-

p.s. which chain do you work for?

Here are some things to try...

Gain: -3db
Knee: LOW
Blacks: PRESS
SetUp Level: down 3 notches
Master Pedestal: down 3-5 notches


As far as color, I would use normal video gamma, not cinegamma and cheat it toward red on the color phase a notch or two. Might want to boost the color gain a notch or two as well. Also, try out some high and low shutters, those can have a nice effect, either causing the lights to flare crisply (high shutter) ot trail off (low shutter). If you do low shutter, make sure you are locked down on a tripod.


ash =o)

Fireworks Preset
 

OK... So here's the preset that Ash recommended for shooting fireworks video. Please let me know if I have failed to translate these correctly:

[Presets]
Preset Name = FIREWORK
Gamma = 0
Knee = 2
Black = 2
NR = 0
VDetail = 0
Color Matrix = 0
Color Gain = 2
Color Phase = 2
Red = 0
Green = 0
Blue = 0
SetupLevel = -3
Sharpness = 0
Coring = 0
MasterPed = -4
Description = (Ash Greyson) Recommended settings for shooting fireworks video

Thanks for the help!
jb

Settings request
 

Does anybody know what settings to use on the XL2 to recreate the look of 8mm film? I want to try and get the same kind of look that is used in the PBS TV show Globetrekker. They use this look for cutaways. Any pointers? Do I need to do it in post? I use FCE so any settings I need for post would need to be available in that.

TIA

Colin

For anyone interested, here are my most used settings for wildlife outdoor/nature type work:

'Globetrotter' XL2 settings:

Gamma - Cine
Knee - Middle
Black - Press
Color Matrix - Cine
Color Gain +3
Color phase 0
R Gain +2
G Gain - Middle
B Gain - Middle
Sharpen +2
Coring - Middle
Set up Level - middle
Master Ped -middle
NR - Off

Last week I shot my first project with my new XL2 (after using XL1 for 6 years): a holy communion. I used the standard setting and notice that the picture is indeed a bit flat. Next weekend I have to shoot another one and I am not confident enough to play with the custom settings. Shall I use the "wedding" preset? Or can I just change only a few settings?

Post a grab on the look you want and I will post the pre-set to get that look... The main things that make the picture milky are the setup level and master pedestal, try turning those down a bit.


ash =o)

ash what is the best way to post a grab on this forum. Can we just paste it in a post or do we have to link it??

Question for Ash
 

Ash:

Do you have a good custom preset when shooting in 30P at night or in very low light? My main interest is as little to no noise as possible in the blacks (dark areas).

Would love to see your settings. Thanks!

The number of preset possibilities with the XL2 is 10,604,499,373. That's ten billion, six hundred four million, four hundred ninety-nine thousand, three hundred seventy three possible picture adjustments!

That does not take into account the variables of gamma, color matrix, knee, black, NR, and vert. detail.

You'd better get busy, times'a wastin'.

;o)

I think it's awfully nice of Ash to offer create presets for others, but personally I think it'd be cooler if people posted settings they've come up with for <whatever the situation> and asked the community for feedback or ways that it could be improved. Not trying to be judgemental, just thinking about the whole 'give a man a fish...' thing.

Regards,

~J

There is a low light setting floatin around, I am on a remote shoot so I dont have access to my stuff at home. Main thing when you have to gain up in low light is to boost the saturation a little, turn UP the coring, turn down the sharpness and turn the NR on LOW (high usually ghosts too much). You can control the blacks in several ways with the MP and setup level as well as the black level settings.



ash =o)

Thanks Ash, your input, again, if very helpful. I will search for the low light settings again.

Ash,
Did you get my PM?
In case you did not, could you or anyone here please tell me why after using the BlueBarn software to change the custom presets and all of that, I then turned the knob of my xl2 back to Manual, it seems the cam. is not picking any of those custom presets.
I am trying to imitate Devon's low light and all of that but I am getting this darkish color and whenever I turned the knob to Ext. control, the camcorder gives me this crips colorful view based on the presets Ash and you other guys provided?

What am I not clicking?

Hi Everyone,

I have a couple question about presets for the XL2. I hope it doesnt sound too stupid but.....Should I white balance for each shot before applying a certain preset or would that basically change the settings of the preset? Also the same for using warm cards....I would assume that the preset might do the warming for me but Im sure there would be instances that I would want to warm. I will experiment this weekend but thought an answer from you guys would set me down the right path. Thanks for all your help.

Tom

That's not a stupid question. . .I'm actually interested in knowing the same thing.

I know that when the rental house I used to hang out at would set up their cameras to chip charts, the idea was that you were supposed to use the preset for 3200 and 5600, 'cause white balancing would undo all the work of the setup. Then again, we're talking about cameras with much more intricate and sophisticated adjustment posssibilities than the XL2.

Maybe balance with the custom presets turned off (on the camera's factory settings), and then apply them? Sorry if that's the same thing you meant/said.

Hi Josh,

Yes thats kind of what I was trying to figure out. I run a Mac so I have to input these presets manually and wouldnt want all that effort to go to waste if I did the white balance/warm balance wrong. I am going to shoot some test footage this weekend to find out, but I figured if someone like Ash could answer this question for me then I can cross that off my ever growing list of things to do. LOL.

Tom

It's not really wasted time. . .you just go back to the preset after white balancing, if that's what you're supposed to do. You don't have to reenter the settings every time you turn the preset off.

Hey Tom,
I too have a Mac and I can't even get the preset files to open so I can read them . Can I ask you how you did it?

Hey Hunter,

I have not done it yet. I have an Imac 2.0 Core Duo that I purchased about 2 months ago when they were having the special on Final Cut Pro Studio where you would get $300 off Final Cut when you purchased a new computer so I did and it has worked wonderfully for me. I was going to run boot camp and put the Blue Barn software on the XP side but I have been avoiding doing that and trying to hold out for the Mac version of the software. I have just been taking peoples presets that they have listed on here and enter them into the camera manually for now. A bit tedious but I may just break down and install boot camp and do it that way, probably going to have to do that anyway so that I can run Adobe CS2 properly.

Tom

So . . .did we find out whether the order of white balance/activation of presets matters?

Hey Josh,

On my testing this weekend I found out that a good white balance before the application of the presets gave good results, but not so with the warm balancing. Which I had figured would be the case, as some of the presets are made to do the warming anyways. Again more experimenting is needed because as is usual, I was busier than I thought I was going to be this weekend and was only able to run a few tests....funny how that happens isnt it? Seems to be since we are all ingrained to white balance before a shot we should keep doing so but I would advise everyone to test their favorite custom settings. A good rule of thumb anyways. Now if I could just get Blue Barn software to work on a Mac.....LOL

Tom

Well, logically, to me, it seems the presets' effects would be negated by a white balance, at least where color is concerned (not so much saturation, black/knee settings)

Example: Let's say your preset adds +2 red, -2 green, etc. If you turn the preset on, THEN white balance, it seems the camera would see that extra red and lack of green as white, and remove it, taking you back to a totally neutral balance. Whereas if you have no extra red/lack of green, you'd add those TO a neutral white balance, which is how the preset was intended.

Right? Wrong?

blue barn presets manager question...
 

hey, guys. have been reading over this site a lot recently. have been learning a lot. invaluable. really appreciate it.

here's my question. i downloaded the blue barn presets manager, but am having problems using it. when i connect my camera to the computer and open up the blue barn file, the usual window pops up letting me know the "device is connected". after that though, when i try to build a custom setting (or whatever really), there's a short delay before the computer tells me there's been an error. then, the whole site shuts down. i thought i'd downloaded everything properly as the directions were pretty easy to follow. anyone else had a problem like this?

quote #28 (i believe) on this thread mentioned that he had to allow the blue barn driver to install to his camera to solve this issue. have no idea how to do this.

any ideas? thanks.

PD

Hi Peter,

Not sure how much help this will be, but here goes.

I installed the pre-sets manager on my lap top pc and had the same issue yet it worked fine on my desk top PC. I also tried installing the Canon Console software on the laptop pc which told me I didn't have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed. I installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 and since then, all of my IEEE1394 (Firewire) issues have gone away. My XL2 now works nicely with the pre-sets manager and the Canon Console software.

I don't know what your operating system is, but if it is Windows XP, are you running service pack 2 ?

Just a thought. Good luck.

Allan

hey, allan.

i do have windows XP, but i don't even know what this service pack 2 is. could you elaborate? it could also be a firewire problem perhaps, but i doubt it. fire wire IEEE1394 keeps coming up. i don't know if that's what i'm using. i had assumed a standard firewire cable would do the trick.

Hi Peter,

The cable you connect the XL2 camcorder to the PC with is an IEEE1394 cable which is also more commonly known as a firewire cable. They're the same thing. Windows XP comes in various versions and as technolgy develops and more and more interfaces become available to connect to the outside world, the software and hardware world have to update accordingly.

USB and firewire technology is no exception and to keep up to date, Windows XP have a patch for their software, the latest being service pack 2. Service pack 2 was released to overcome many, many interface/software issues.

To check to see what version of XP you are running, go to the control panel on your pc (i.e. start, control panel) and select "System". Under the General tab at the top, it will display the operating system information (i.e. Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 2). If it doesn't state service pack 2, then you'll need to go to Microsofts web site and install service pack 2).

I'm assuming you have the camcorder connected to the pc with a firewire cable as depicted in the user manual. Normally, when you connect the cable and then turn the camera on, the pc will detect it and open up a window asking which software you want to use. Are you able to use your camcorder with anything else on your pc ? I'm just trying to establish whether you actually have a good connection.

Allan

yes, i'm able to use the camera for other functions so the connection appears to be a-okay. also, i checked my system and it's windows xp w/ service pack 2. hmmm....

on this very thread, under quote #28, someone mentioned they were having the same issue. they fixed it by letting the blue barns driver install on the xl-2. does this mean anything to you? would love to let the driver do just that, but i didn't realize i wasn't letting it do that, ya know.

thanks for the info, allan. at least i've filtered out a couple of things i know aren't the problem now.

Sorry Peter, I don't know anything about installing the Blue Barns Driver onto the XL2. That's new to me.

Hope someone else on the forum can chip in with some other things to try. If you're running XP service pack 2 and are able to connect your camera to other software on your pc, everything seems to be in order.

Have you tried un-installing and re-installing the pre-sets manager ?

Allan

no, haven't tried that yet. will do. thanks.

White balance the last thing before you start shooting... that has always worked for me...



ash =o)

Is this before or after you apply the preset?

I dial in a preset, then white balance. In my case I pretty much already know what every combination looks like, there are times I do some adjustments on the fly as well. Dont over think it =o)



ash =o)

But it seems that if you add preset that makes color changes, white balancing would negate those changes, know what I mean? If you add red with a preset, and then white balance, wouldn't it take away your added red? Am I wrong?


Also, it seems you'd white balance, if you were in a controlled environment/artificial lighting situation, after you set up your key light. Cause if you do all this lighting and gelling lights, and then white balance, wouldn't it negate those effects? Assuming you gelled your key, or whatever you're using to light the surface you're white balancing to.

FILTERS: If the user has an 812 filter or other warming or color correction filter on the camera, WB must occur BEFORE placing the filter on the lens. When the filter is placed on the lens, then the light is effected which will alter the color rendition.


ELECTRONIC PRESETS: The WB never alters the color or parameters set electronically. Anything in PRESET is already committed to memory and the circuitry is already pre-programmed for the PRESET. Think of it as the motherboard on your computer. The electronic preset and the WB work together. The WB will not change the colors, saturation etc.

This isn't true in my experience. A preset I often use is shifted toward the blue, and yet a warm white balance will still warm the picture considerably.

So you're saying if I white balance, but have a preset that adds +2 blue, -2 red, etc., the camera knows this and applies these changes to the picture AFTER the white balance, EVEN if the preset was on when I white balanced?

I'm still not really sure how the chain of image manipulations works out myself; maybe Ash will chime in soon with a detailed explanation of how all these pieces fit together.

Josh, I should probably add that in the situation I was talking about earlier, I use a preset WB... I have a preset WB for warm outdoor shooting on sunny days, and that WB preset was set with the cam's RGB values at default.

OK, I'm just getting more confused now.

Of course it does! All of the settings in the camera are based on or adjusted to what it thinks white is. If you use a warmer white balance card it changes what the camera assumes white is and the picture will be warmer.

Put in all of your presets, set up all of the lights you need, then white balance just before you shoot.

Mike