HPX Scene Files and Color Correction

[Jeremy Garchow]

Best way to do this is to get a Waveform, Vectorscope and chip chart to match all the cameras, even if you match them to an arbitrary ‘0’.

Jeremy

[Jamie Lejeune]

Thanks Jeremy. I wish we had the ability to set this up, but it won’t be possible. I’ll be lucky if I can ensure that our shooters all set the proper frame rate! Not to knock any of them, they’re all wonderfully skilled, it’s just that I won’t always be able to deal directly with them and as directions are passed down the line, important things sometimes get lost along the way.

I guess what I should really be asking is this: What’s the best way to set up the HPX170 scene files so that our color corrector has the best image to work with during post?

Thanks!

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Jamie LeJeune] “I guess what I should really be asking is this: What’s the best way to set up the HPX170 scene files so that our color corrector has the best image to work with during post? “

Well, Jamie. This is a rhetorical question.

Without a frame of reference, it is really hard to say. You can pick a scene file by flipping the dial and choose the one that you like the look of right out of the box and hope that it matches well enough.

Jeremy

[Jamie Lejeune]

Yes, “best” is a relative term. I’ll have to be more specific.

Hmmm. Forgive my ignorance here, but I would assume that some scene setups will capture luminance and chrominance in a way that provides the most latitude in color correction while other scene files will constrain the available options. For example, I’m pretty sure if I crushed the blacks excessively with the master ped set at -100, that would then make it difficult during color correction to bring detail back into my shadows. Kinda the same way that, if I stuck a strong warming filter on the font of the camera, it would be more difficult to undue during color correction when I decided I didn’t like the look and wanted something more natural.

Is that correct? [Hint: this is the real rhetorical question ;)]

If that is correct, do the 0 settings on the HPX170 allow the most latitude in post? And, which of the GAMMA options would be the least constraining?

Thanks again!

[Matthew Romanis]

On a recent job where we were shooting HPX 3000, HVX 202, Varicam, and HVX 171, I found that using the following scene file setup worked well in brightly lit outdoor’s.
Post production found that there was a good amount of latitude and chroma information to make a satisfactory match.

SCENE NAME :017
00005000: 1 ; OPERATION TYPE: FILM CAM
00005001: 0 ; FRAME RATE: DEFAULT
00005002: 4A026801 ; SYNCRO SCAN :
00005003: 8 ; DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 13 ; CHROMA LEVEL: 3
00005007: 9 ; CHROMA PHASE: 2
00005008: 6 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: -2
00005009: 6 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: -2
0000500A: 124 ; MASTER PED: -4
0000500B: 15 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: -1
0000500C: 1 ; DRS : 1
0000500D: 5 ; GAMMA : CINELIKE D
0000500E: 0 ; KNEE: AUTO
0000500F: 3 ; MATRIX: CINE-LIKE
00005010: 0 ; SKIN TONE DTL : ON
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN

You may wish to make your own call on the Chroma phase setting as this was for a PAL setup.

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

My suggestion would be that you take one set of number, like perhaps those above and put them into every file on the scene file knob and save each one into the camera. That way regardless of the position of the switch nobody can say, “oh I thought you said we were working with #3 not #4. Since you won’t have the opportunity to work with each camera and set it up, put together a scene file that does this, and make it a requirment that they load it before shooting. They can always go back to the factory preset when finished. Make sure you take the time to name the files so that in the VF the shooter can see that he has your file loaded.

Hope this helps,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, HPX500, HVX200, DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Jamie Lejeune]

Thanks Matthew and Jan!