Color Correction
with the DVX or in Post?
by Ed Tanten
Achieving
the perfect color temperature with any prosumer digital camcorder can be
pretty tricky (www.dvxuser.com/articles/shoot3/).
You have to take into account the factor of how much light you
have to work with, the design of your film and video production, how your camera
handles saturation levels, etc.
Although
the built-in scene file settings on the DVX100 (www.dvfilm.com/maker/dvx100settings.htm)
give you the best headroom needed for a specific look, in general,
when shooting for a specific look and performing 'in-camera'
adjustments for color correction, in-camera settings will give you
very limited options during post production.
Of
course, as digital movie filmmakers, we all know that the best rule of thumb is to come
prepared for every shot and know your production design before
even turning on your DVX 100. With that said, if you shoot with
in-camera color correction, sometimes minds change and last-minute
decisions are made and then - ooops! You won't be able to make any
changes at all since your source footage is stuck in that color
temperature, contrast, etc.
It's
through my experience that when dealing with clients (corporate or
wedding), you'll want as much flexibility as possible during post.
And especially for independent digital films that are to involve
any visual effects (ie. gun shots, blood spatter, sky re-touching,
etc.) To help achieve that, I usually zero out my DVX100 Scene File
settings to their default settings to ensure that I capture the
most neutral and cleanest signal possible.
In addition to that, I pump up as much light as possible, since
I'm dealing with mini-dv. This way I can manipulate my images in
post using the FCP 3-Way Color Correction tools or using After
Effects by manually adjusting levels, brightness and contrast
settings, hue and saturation.
By
taking some time to experiment with the parameters of each
function on your editing system, it'll give your film production a lot more
flexibility and be ready for any decision thrown your way.
Do
YOU have a cheap, low budget, do-it-yourself DVX100 tip or trick that
you'd like to contribute?
If so, just email it to
us and we'll post it up!
Thanks
for helping the grass roots grow!
