Balance « Videomaker Community Forums

mrwinkey
Member

Hi Guys,

i shot my Contest on Sunday and i think it went really well, especially for my first gig.

I have a problem / concern.

As these contests are done under very bright lights which contrast witht he black backdrop, you often get the main subject greatly over exposed. So to compensate for this i used the Zebra stripes feature on the cam and set the appeture accordinly.

Now my problem is, the exposure looked fine through the viewfinder, and the little stripes had all gone except on extreme bright spots, but when i view the footage back on the pc, it is a lot darker than what i see if i view the footage on the cam viewfinder, which is exactly as i saw it as i shot it.

so, i want to know what to trust, as you can alter the settings on the viewfinder (they are set to standard preset) and also you can set the brightness on the PC monitor?

I am airing on the side of the cam viewfinder as the Zebra stripes have no bearing on how brightly the viewfinder is set, but only on the light coming into the cam, but i am not 100% on this.

The problem is that i can view this on a TV until i edit it as it takes too long to Transcode files to allow me to do the job twice.

Now if i trust the PC monitor, i will go and alter the birghtness all throught the Video and it may turn out too bright on a TV.

What do i do?

Thanks in advance,

Jay

Posted 6 years ago #
pappy
Member

the PC is most likely makeing it darker im 95% sure based on my what I've gone through, but it make sure, just take your raw footage and play it through the TV to check, but like I said its probobly your PC

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

You've got a lot of variables to deal with. Most camcorder LCDs have brightness settings and, of course, you can change the brightness settings on your monitor and you have (with many video cards) the ability to adjust the video output of the computer. All of these should be adjusted so that you will get what you expect on your TV.

Zebra stripes are not necessary the last word on overexposed spots. I'll nearly always have zebras on a bride's gown and even faces. But I have my LCD adjusted to show me what the final (on TV) result will be, so I only use the Zs when I have rapidly changing situations and even then, only as a rough guide .

The good news is that, with video, its usually better to underexpose than overexpose because you'll usually retain most of the detail and can use your NLEs brightness or color settings to bring back the brightness.

If you're buying your DVD blanks right, you're only paying about thirty cents apiece, so why not place a few clips on a sequence, with each clip having a different brightness setting. Then burn this very short video onto a DVD and check it out on your TV.

Posted 6 years ago #
mrwinkey
Member

High guys,

cheers for the replies.

I checked the output from the cam direct on the Tv and your were right, the cam is set to the right level and not my monitor. So i will trust the cam from now on.

As for the Zebra stripes, i think they are really good, and do understand how they work, so expect to get some on certain whites that are ok, as you say for example, a brides gown.

Sounds like digital video is the same as digital photgraphy, where underexposure still captures the details and can then be brought back, where as over exposure blows out all the details and cant be brought back.

I tried to air on the side of under rather than over when i shot the event. due to bodybuilders wearing oil and being under very bright lights with a black backdrop, it is very easy to trick the cam into over exposure, so i find the Zebra stripes are great.

Thanks again for the replies, both were very helpfull.

Jay

Posted 6 years ago #
kkmac
Member

Also too, if you're using an LCD flip out monitor on a camera, be sure your looking at it flat. In other words, make sure the top of the screen and bottom of the screen are the same distance from your eye. If its angled you'll get an incorrect display, lighter or darker, depending on the angle.

Posted 6 years ago #
mrwinkey
Member

Hi mate,

Although i am not using a monitor (just the view finder), cheers for that.

I am intedning to buy a little 7" TFT monitor for it, so that will come in handy, although i am not sure how often i will use it as apposed to my business partner.

Cheers,

Jay

Posted 6 years ago #