benymypony

For his upcoming snowy western Tarantino unearthed special cameras and 1.25x anamorphic lenses at Panavision which hadn't seen the light of day since 1965.
The film was shot on 65mm film and will get a 'Roadshow' release on Christmas day in amazing 70mm.
Read the full article

No matter the camera one shoots on, slog1, 2, 3, clog, BMCfilm, log-c - you need to get it to a point that is a good starting point.
So having a LUT takes out a ton of guess work.
From there you can really start to tweak.
 
Having a final LUT - a la film print out - is what Juan Melera does - and I think that's a great strategy .  But like all things in art, there is no one way to do it.  Some people don't use LUTS, some do.  And none of it is wrong.
People who make fun of people who use LUTS - well, whoopee do.
I know of a film editor who just started editing randomly and now he edits giant Hollywood movies.  He learned on his own.  No film school.  He was training to be a chef.
There is no right path to get anywhere. Just takes an open mind and a lot of patience and practice.  10,000 hour rule.  On that note I know a very prominent Hollywood DP who got his start shooting soft-core videos for Playboy.  Do you know who this is?  

Shot by Lumix LX100.
Light travel tripod.
Gimbal Beholder MS1.
 
 

Folks, thanks to EOSHD, I discovered Benjamin's awesome LUT pack. Today I tried one of his LUTs (this is the first time I'm using an LUT for grading) and thought I'd share the result in case you're interested in getting/using his pack.
I shot this with NX1 in 4K 24p with DR gamma, -10 sharpness, and -5 contrast; edited as 4K; and resized to 1080p using some scaling/zooming to get the framing I wanted. After some basic color correcting, mostly to match the colors, I applied Benjamin's LUT 9090 to prep for LUT and then used 9240.
All this was in SpeedGrade, and while the process was pretty straightforward, for some reason it was dog slow on SpeedGrade to see the results (anyone has an idea why?), so could only experiment with a few LUTs (that really is the hard part IMO, finding the right LUT).
 
 

I have created a new set of LUTs for Panasonic cameras. Having spent the last year and a half reviewing footage from my camera (the GX7) and various others, I have become quite familiar with its colour characteristics. In general I do find them very pleasing but in some respects they are quite flawed. And I wish to have pleasing colours without resorting to film emulation.
My new LUTs do the following:
Fixes the shift of reds to orange Gives greens and blues a subtly deeper and more satisfying colour. Stops the abrupt shifts of orange to yellow (which is generally what causes the poor skin tone rendition) Stops yellow from becoming overpowering. Allows film emulation LUTs to be applied without certain colours going mad  
The set includes two types of LUTs. One is called “Pleasing” and it gives a Canon-like rendition. The other is called “Neutralising” and gives a RAW photo look (ie. very neutral). Within each type, there are several alternatives. “A” is the main one to use, whilst “B” and “C” are offshoots with slight differences.
Each LUT is actually quite subtle in how it changes the image, but its the subtle differences that can change how natural an image looks. The LUTs will also make it easier to apply film emulation LUTs without certain hues going out of control (eg. yellows becoming nuclear).
Download now: Inazumas_Panny_LUTs
A note on camera settings:
Having done a lot of testing of camera profiles, I do believe Standard is the best. Some people recommend Natural but it shifts a lot of colours towards orange, which looks good for grass but is a bit unnatural. It also makes people look orange. Contrast at -5 is good but saturation at -5 is a bad idea if you plan to increase saturation in post anyway. This is because when you increase saturation in post of the 8bit footage, you will get loads of colour noise in the footage.
I also have iDynamic on Low and highlights at -5. I use preset whitebalances with the adjustment dot set to M5 (5 points below the centre).
I don’t have a GH4 so I can’t say how well it will work for CineD footage.
Some images:
Without LUT:

With LUT:

Without LUT:

With LUT:

Without LUT:

With LUT:

Original post here

Well, grading (not color correction) is a personal thing, so if you like high contrast, then you go for high contrast...what the rest of us think means squat. Having said that, you do need to watch the whole clip for the lows and highs. E.g., you say the lows are at 10 mark, but that is only at the beginning; if you scrub forward, you'll see the level touch 0, and that part is going to be too dark if you corrected for the beginning.
Anyway, if your goal is to increase contrast, once you set the lift/gain to adjust low/high levels, you might want to try reducing gamma for the lows and increasing it for highs. That will increase contrast, but in a much more subtle way. E.g., see below for for what happens to your clip if we do that (I also increased the saturation a bit). It is for illustrating the gamma adjustments only and may be nothing like what you want or meant to be pleasing in general.

I am back with another test of the NX500. I have recently been testing the settings that were used in the Cinema5D promo video for the camera before its launch. He used Saturation -4, Sharpness -10, and I believe Contrast -5... even though that has not been confirmed. Either way, I am looking to use this cam for an upcoming horror short, so I was testing out some looks. I still haven't settled on the perfect settings for this camera, but to be honest I haven't done much shooting with it lately. I think I went a little heavy handed with one of the graded shots... Anyway thanks for looking and as always... any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 

I wasn't even being a jerk this time! They found out I was banned before for life.  
 This is my only forum now besides nofilmschool and cinematography.com.  Until I get banned here.

http://cinescopophilia.com/prix-the-first-film-shot-on-quantumfilm-camera/
Some strange colours occasionally, but to be expected at this stage.... Amazing to think that this tech could soon be in mobile phones, let alone film cameras!
 

Have you guys been working with the Lumetri Color in Premiere Pro CC2?  I haven't heard much talk about it but I think it deserves some attention for people who may have missed the release notes.  Just found it myself, but it literally has changed my entire workflow overnight.
My old workflow used to be Levels, RGB Curves, and maybe either Filmconvert, Colorista II, or a LUT.  But....I find none of that necessary anymore with Lumetri Color.  
Everything corrects and grades so easily like you're editing a frame in Adobe Camera Raw.  Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Saturation....all the sliders are there.  And surprisingly, it seems to work very well with 8 bit frames.  It knows of S Log2, S Log 3, etc.  The rgb curves are incorporated into the filter.  It also has tools with Color Wheels, LUTs, Vignettes.
And it renders fast.  One more thing.  Not sure when it appeared but the Lumetri Scopes Window has a live histogram that I've always been wanting and needing.

for me this is one of the most useful color grading videos I have seen - the amount of work he does in each scene is remarkable.
 
Basically he throws a lut on the end - even though it feels like it throws it on first - it's an output lut.  
then he makes the shot overall color, then tweaks the low, mids, and highs.  he adds power windows - brings down the window - lowers exposure on stuff you don't want to see - other than where the action is - and in these shots it's the person talking.
then he goes into the faces - he usually adds a power window to bring up the exposure on the face where he wants it.
then he isolates the skintones, gets those to look healthy, then he does secondary correction, like making the lips more red and adding some highlights to the head.
God, overall, as I say it again and again, as long as you are shooting with as much color information as you can on the camera you can get - the colorist does a ton of heavy lifting in addition to how well the DP can light the scene in the time alloted.
but the difference between hollywood and small films is usually in the grading, beyond good lighting, composition, etc - this is so often forgotten.
And this is why I go bonkers when I shoot something on the alexa and it comes out and looks bad.  I mean, I screwed up in how I shot it and lit it - I can't free myself of blame, but many times the piece goes to a colorist and I have no way to communicate with that person on style and look and it comes out screwbally.
I wish production and post worked together more.
But anyway I guess this is a weird way to learn about film worked since I have hardly shot anything on film.  Film hits the telecine since the 90s and is turned into a log called cineon and from there gets tweaked and then put out on an answer print - and back then they would simulate the answer print with a LUT.  
So I guess all this is part of how people have been shooting films for a while now.

Hi, My LUTs are now fully compatible with Rec.709 and no-LOG profiles.
Below, some samples made on frames from "Puberty Blues" by John Brawley.

Hi Guys.
So I bought an A7RII for consideration to replace my NX1.  I am a still shooter by training, but moving more and more to video.  Thought the A7RII, which is obviously a very capable Still shooter, may handle my video well enough...but I am not so sure after testing.  Here are my results shot side by side with the NX1.  Sony all shot in SLog2 some FF and some super 35.  The Sony is far behind the NX1 in resolution, huge in FF and still significant in S35.  Also in SLog2 it has a fairly distinct noise pattern.  Images attached from full res 4K grabs. 1/ is Sony FF, 2,3/ are S35 and 4/ is FF   I was expecting some differences, but not as much as I did is S35 mode where the Sony is still showing a significantly less ability to resolve at the NX1 levels.  Can post FF 4K grabs of each if anyone is interested.  Lenses were 16-50 F2  and Canon 24-70 F4 L series.   In FF, I don't think the Sony is much better than my 5DIII was with Magic Lantern, certainly not any real world advantage to shoot at 4K?

speak for yourself. i've been hiding under my desk since last night.

Personally, I love reading reviews of expensive cameras and equipment as the Raven or Blackmagic URSA, but I would be more interested in small devices like the LX100, Canon HDSLR + Magic Lantern hacks or the future GH5. So this change of direction makes me happy !
Thanks Andrew for the great EOSHD forum 

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed I've been taking over a month off from EOSHD. Here are my views on what happened whilst I was away.
I am selling up...
After over 5 years of EOSHD I must admit to needing a break from gear. I'm going to completely wipe the slate clean later this month. I will clean out my studio and move. I am selling almost everything I have, but rather than putting it on eBay I will be offering it to EOSHD readers first. Almost everything is going including my Sony A7R II and Canon 1D C. Email me now if you're interested.
EOSHD will continue, but more like in the earlier days. A focus on an artistic approach to cheap gear and lenses. What is the point of me buying a $8k camera and as a result never being interested in the next GH5 or cheap $600 killer camera that kicks way above its station?
So although I won't be buying a Raven or Sony FS5 then, I will continue to offer my views on the higher end kit at EOSHD...
Read the full article

Too cool white balance, too much blue in skin tones.
Something like that will be more natural :

And here's the finished edit:
I have to say that this works quite well, at least sufficient for my needs

Since we had a big spam attack last week, newly registered members had to have their first posts or replies approved by a moderator. Unfortunately this system didn't work and most new members could not post at all from the get go.
I have taken the locks off and now you should all be able to post and use the forum as intended. Enjoy EOSHD!

Hey Everyone,
 
Last month I finished editing my last job with my T3i (since then i've upgraded to the Nx1), most of my jobs are weddings, even though I like doing some of them, I'm burnt from having quite a few this summer. So I've been doing some tests lately with Luts and finally decided to grade a job with it, I very much liked the end result, got a "cinematic" feel, but theres always room for improvement, so I'd like to know what you guys think of the video in general (editting, grading, filming and so on).
 
Password : Memoryshop
Thank you guys  

Hi everyone. I have uploaded a test sequence with shots from a indie feature I´m doing. We Shot a small scene with film because we wanted a really particular look for this par in the movie, more vintage, like memories from childhood. Se we shot on a SRII super 16mm Fuji Eterna 8673 stock. Then scanned on an Arri scanner.
I never color graded film. So wanted to hear some opinions about.
If any one have questions, please be my guest  
PASSWORD: fuji test
Also, i wanted to share the raw clip for anyone who want to give it a try. Remember its film log. compressed in DnxHd
https://mega.nz/#!hFh1hAyA!b0mxVAk1KtjL7guXYcRExBEcdTAVinaTLfMIQq5k-24 

Here are some screencaps from Berlin's Lollapalooza Festival. First real try with the LX100. These are just some very quick & dirty tests (with too much film grain), but i have to say this combo is really great considering the price.

The GH4's internally recorded 4K files can be converted to a chunky 2K 10bit ProRes 4444 image which grades extremely well.

To test this theory I call on colourists to have a go at it.

Arri Alexa ProRes files are available from their FTP server. Details below.

Read the full article here

Did you guys know that there is actually hidden highlight information in the video files? 
I was playing around with a LUT I made earlier this year and it was revealing information in the highlights that I thought could not possibly be there because when I messed around with the various exposure sliders in Premiere Pro, there was no detail there. But my LUT brought it out. So after discarding the LUT I added the Three Way Color Corrector effect and brought the output level from 255 to 235.. and voila there was the highlight information.

Thanks for sharing the method. (?!)
Panasonic coming up with such a cumbersome workaround to upgrade so it can't be hacked and then... voilá. Still. If you support their efforts bringing it in the first place, you might as well tip them for it.
(I already paid for mine, it's just silly that the camera already has it, but I can't use it until Panasonic ships out my key, so yeah it's nice to have an early preview)