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Shooting flat for color grading with EX1
On their websites, I have read that Allister Chapman, Phillip Bloom, and Doug Jensen, all have good picture profiles, and so I’ve loaded quite a few of them already onto my EX-1. I’ve also done recordings and shot comparison to most of them, and they all do look very unique. EX-1 Picture Profile comparisons are all over YouTube, so I’ve seen quite a few of those as well.
My question is, if I want to use a profile that is like editing Canon C-300 RAW, or S-Log, or as flat an image as possible, what picture profile is best for grading EX-1 footage? There was one that Allister had that was meant for color grading and it looked a lot flatter, however, does this help in pushing the grading? Is it like shooting and giving your EX1 a higher color space by shooting more flat, allowing you to push the grade even more harshly if so desired? The bigger cameras now shoot in RAW and are as flat as can be, so this triggered my questions, for the EX-1, so I need or can I shoot much flatter to gain the upper hand in grading EX-1 footage?
Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Digital Chop House
Salt Lake City, Utah
http://www.digitalchophouse.com -
4 Replies
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Basically the EX1 is not up to the job. To capture this “flat” footage you need an enormous dynamic range which the EX1 doesn’t have. The CINE curves from the EX1 are a bit more flat than the STD curves.
But the best is to shoot as close to the final colours as you can.
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In my experience, the EX1/R’s “cine gamma” profiles are helpful. If you edit your own footage, you can use the “cine gamma” profiles and modest color correction to come up with a very nice end result.
Not from personal experience, just from reading, it appears that the best way to improve the quality of the EX1/R image is to use an external recorder such as the Ki-Pro or Atomos, so you can record in 4:2:2 10-bit. While not noticeably better-looking than the 4:2:0 8-bit image recorded directly to the SxS cards, it is said that the 4:2:2 image holds up better for color correction and keying.
I have a related question. As stated above, my preferred method is to use the cine gamma profiles and color correction in post. But when I hand off footage, I’m somewhat hesitant to shoot with anything non-standard, because I won’t be around to adjust the image in post. I have lately been thinking about transcoding everything to ProRes, rather than handing off BPAV folders and having to answer questions about how to handle them. Is there such a thing as a LUT for the EX1/R’s flatter picture profile settings?
Bob C
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Allister Chapman has a few picture profiles (PP’s) he uses for grading. Can’t remember the names, but I also think Philip Bloom had posted a few as well.
Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Digital Chop House
Salt Lake City, Utah
http://www.digitalchophouse.com -
Hey I found this old post and I was wondering something along the same lines. I’m shooting a stage production with two Sony EX1 cameras, switched and recorded on an Apollo monitor/switcher/recorder. Since the recorder has the capability of using ProRes 422 (and even ProRes 444), I was thinking I might be able to capture more dynamic range by using the cameras’ flattest cine profile and then bringing up the color and contrast as needed in post.
So I’m not interested in full-on color grading or anything but I want to know if I’m thinking correctly. Will shooting with a cine profile net me a little more highlight to shadow detail in harsh stage lighting?
Thanks
Geoff
https://www.chandlervideo.com
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