mercer Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 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. benymypony 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sekhar Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I actually like the ungraded footage, except for saturation, which seems too low. I think sharpness -10 and contrast -5 are the best general purpose settings for both NX1 and NX500 (those are what I regularly use, along with Gamma DR on the NX1). IMO reducing saturation is pointless if you're doing post work since that's the easiest thing to tweak without introducing artifacts. Your graded footage is way too saturated anyway, so I'm not sure how reducing it while shooting and then increasing in post helps at all. IMO your grade also seems a bit too contrasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 I actually like the ungraded footage, except for saturation, which seems too low. I think sharpness -10 and contrast -5 are the best general purpose settings for both NX1 and NX500 (those are what I regularly use, along with Gamma DR on the NX1). IMO reducing saturation is pointless if you're doing post work since that's the easiest thing to tweak without introducing artifacts. Your graded footage is way too saturated anyway, so I'm not sure how reducing it while shooting and then increasing in post helps at all. IMO your grade also seems a bit too contrasty.Thanks for taking the time Sekhar. So you don't tweak the contrast at all in post? I have always liked high contrast I guess, but I am realizing a lot of other people don't. Of course, I am using the waveform and I am not even bringing the lows down to the 0 line... I keep them around the 10 mark. The reason I lowered the saturation is two fold... 1. I was using the settings the guy from Cinema5D used for the NX500 introduction review... 2. Because the colors are way off at 0 saturation in camera, in the NLE, I can get more accurate colors then I am getting in camera. With that being said... I am obviously doing something wrong because it just doesn't look right. Thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sekhar Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 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. mercer, Mat Mayer and benymypony 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 Yeah, to be honest, gamma levels confuse me a little. I know a lot of people raise the gamma and get that hazy, milky look to their clips. Is that an in style look? I instinctually lower the gamma, but I do like that other look. Do you use different layers to adjust your highs and lows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Here's another test. Thanks for humoring me. As always any tips are greatly appreciated!!! Liam, Sekhar and johnnyd 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I like that one best so far mercer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 I like that one best so far At least it's not worse. Thanks for looking!!! Liam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sekhar Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Looks great, has a nice stylized feel. mercer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Looks great, has a nice stylized feel.It's getting there. I don't love the last shot, but I'm definitely starting to get a better feel for it. Thanks for the tip with tweaking the gamma primarily... Helped a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronChicago Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Looks good. There's absolutely nothing wrong with crushing blacks in certain spots. Especially in dark areas that you don't need to see detail, like under a leaf. mercer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Looks good. There's absolutely nothing wrong with crushing blacks in certain spots. Especially in dark areas that you don't need to see detail, like under a leaf.Thanks Aaron, means a lot coming from you... I love your work. This color correction/grading thing is really new to me. I was using a t2i and eos-m for years... Shooting Prolost Neutral, most of the time, a lens would usually create the "look" I was going for. But the NX500 is a different beast altogether. Even though it's a consumer camera like the rebel line, it handles color entirely differently.Anyway, thanks for looking and the tip!!! AaronChicago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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