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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro X How best to white balance for candle light

  • How best to white balance for candle light

    Posted by Terence Morris on November 2, 2022 at 5:08 am

    Curious how members might approach this to achieve a warm looking low-light candle-lit scene. Should I balance accurately in camera then boost the color temp towards daylight in post, or balance for daylight in camera so that the warm orange shift is baked in. Using a C100MkII and candles motivated gently with LED light set to 2700k. Thanks.

    Mark Smith replied 2 years, 3 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Robert Olding

    November 2, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    I’d bake it in. Candles and incandescent bulbs should look warm to the eye. But I wouldn’t balance for daylight, the warm tones from the candles would probably be too strong. If you trust the on-set monitor, play around with the balance until it looks good to your eye. I suspect it will be somewhere between 3600k and 4500k. This will also give you a bit more latitude for adjusting it in post.

  • Terence Morris

    November 2, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Thank you, Robert. I did a dry run, pretty much as you described by eye. Had the camera WB around 5000k, probably too much and I need to experiment. Thanks for you input.

  • Mark Smith

    November 8, 2022 at 2:11 am

    Candles are much warmer than incandescent light. If you go for a 3200K white balance your candle light should look about right warmth and color

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