Matching shots from different cameras

[Max Palmer]

Hi all- I've been shooting weddings with a Canon XF100, and a 60D. I don't have the hang of matching up their settings and white balance yet, so my shots look a bit different from eachother. I believe that in the creative cloud version of Adobe Speedgrade there is a "look matching" function, but not in the normal version of the program. Anyone have any other quick ways of matching shots of a scene from one camera to another?

[Rickey Brillantes]

I don't know what editing software are you using, but in FCP X, there is a button that you need to click and it will match the color automatically, since you are using both Canon cameras, that won't be hard to color match.

[James Manford]

In Sony Vegas you can colour match ... but boy oh boy does it drain the energy out of your system!

[Victor Nguyen]

Maybe you also want to learn the basics of Color Correcting also.

[Allan Black]

+1 Max, while you get organised, don't forget your audience will see what they expect to see, unless the difference between the cameras is way off.

I remember when we had an unavoidable rough edit in the voice track, and the client was in listening to the track, right on the rough edit I used to cough.
Try something like that :)

Cheers.

[Max Palmer]

I do know some basics of color correcting, and I'm willing to learn plenty more. However, I'm just starting out, and I was paid a very small fee for this gig and I've already spent a lot of time on it due to my inexperience. The B&G shouldn't be expecting matched shots at this price point, but I'm still going to produce the best piece I can.

[Robert Benda]

A relative newbie here, but my strategy when filming has been to focus less on matching the cameras to each other and instead match each camera to what I see with my eyes.

In post (Sony Vegas), Color Corrector is the best tool. I group the footage from each camera by lighting/area. So all the footage from Camera A, in the church, goes on it's own line in the timeline then Camera A outside, is another line (since it will look very different); Camera B/church is a third line, etc.

This is because you can apply an FX like color correct to the entire line as a group, and save yourself some serious time.

And when doing color correct, I find a nice shot of the bride's dress (or a white wall), and work til that is correct (highs), then make sure skin tones are flattering (mid-tones); then check the black tuxes (lows).

[Nick Reuter]

Originally Posted by Max Palmer

I do know some basics of color correcting, and I'm willing to learn plenty more. However, I'm just starting out, and I was paid a very small fee for this gig and I've already spent a lot of time on it due to my inexperience. The B&G shouldn't be expecting matched shots at this price point, but I'm still going to produce the best piece I can.

I learned the basics of color correction by watching a Lynda tutorial. It was fantastic and I would highly recommend it (although it was for premiere pro, they probably have similar ones for other NLE's)

[Max Palmer]

Originally Posted by Robert Benda

A relative newbie here, but my strategy when filming has been to focus less on matching the cameras to each other and instead match each camera to what I see with my eyes.

In post (Sony Vegas), Color Corrector is the best tool. I group the footage from each camera by lighting/area. So all the footage from Camera A, in the church, goes on it's own line in the timeline then Camera A outside, is another line (since it will look very different); Camera B/church is a third line, etc.

This is because you can apply an FX like color correct to the entire line as a group, and save yourself some serious time.

And when doing color correct, I find a nice shot of the bride's dress (or a white wall), and work til that is correct (highs), then make sure skin tones are flattering (mid-tones); then check the black tuxes (lows).

Robert- are you color correct all shots from a scene on one timeline, and then cutting the corrected timeline into a new timeline to do your edits?

[D.J. Ammons]

My editor has found that first using the FBMN white balance plugin on all the footage brings it closer to matching and then adjusting exposure does even more. It is only after doing those two things does she then look at color correcting.

[Robert Benda]

Originally Posted by Max Palmer

Robert- are you color correct all shots from a scene on one timeline, and then cutting the corrected timeline into a new timeline to do your edits?

So far, no, not when I can help it. Vegas let's me create enough lines that I don't need to. I usually do separate work files for each part of the day: prep, ceremony, reception... So if my working file is the ceremony, I need three time lines (one for each camera), and can do some minor fixing on each file, if needed, but most major changes are for that entire line (all footage from that one camera).

[Jeff Harper]

Echo DJs comments. I try to white balance footage, then adjust exposure. Exposure affects the appearance enourmously. Between these two things you often have to do nothing more.