Idiot Soccer Dad with an HD-1000
 

Help....Using the HD1000 to tape my daughters bright red uniform results in over exposure of the uniform. Setting the white balance to outside has helped, but still not great. This is usually in direct bright sunlight. Any tricks here ?

Settings are:

Focus-auto
gain-auto
WB-outside

Is gain selectable on your camera? If it is, set it to 0dB and adjust the exposure manually using either the LCD or viewfinder as the monitor. Then try manually white-balancing the scene with the red uniform in it. This particular red may render better in your footage with a different outdoor lighting.

It's not likely the WB. Sonys tend to pump the reds.

Try turning CAMERA COLOR down a notch or two, if it's just that the red is too intense. If the picture really is overexposed (doubtful but possible), you can go to manual exposure or set AE SHIFT to -1 or -2. If the whole picture is too red, you could use WB SHIFT, but I doubt this is your problem. Your best bet is to stay in OUTDOOR WB while outdoors. Setting to indoor would actually make everything look bluer, but it will look strange.

All this is on pages 40-42 of your manual. Play around with the settings a bit until you like what you see. Also play around with X.V. COLOR (page 45).

One other thing to check, do make sure you haven't accidentally knocked the Backlight button and turned backlight compensation on, as that will blow out your exposure as well...

Typically, setting AE shift between -2 and -4 will help a lot, turn your zebras on, and if needed you should also be able to ride exposure. Reds can be touchy with any cam - a Canon would probably be even worse.

Soccer Dad Red problem part 2
 

Well at least its good to hear that the bright red can be a problem far most cameras. I will definitely try the AE shift.

Another note, I did one video that was absolutely great in red color. I have tried to recreate (remember) what I did exactly, and I think I had my circular polarizer on. Does that makes sense to keep the red from being so glare-y in bright sunshine?

A CP can be helpful in bright sunlight to prevent overly reflective surfaces from blowing out, it's worth a try, that's for sure. I always keep a CP or two handy in my kit if I'm going to be shooting outdoors.