Darker or Lighter edit?

[AlbionDrones]

An interesting frosty and foggy evening, so I sent the drone up for a quick look see over the ship canal, captured some atmospheric footage, however I can't decide if I prefer the lighter or darker edit, what do you think? The darker is more atmospheric, but the lighter has more detail... Please let me know your thoughts in the comments please...

Darker vversion

Lighter version

 

[SmilingOgre]

I look at it with the perspective of what do I want to convey. Do I want to show it as I saw it at the time? Do I want to convey a feeling? Is there detail that I appreciate that I could not see with the naked eye? What is the scene saying to me and what do I want it to say.

 

[SmilingOgre]

I have been asking this question to my self lately. Seems when ever I edit something in my edit programs they look great but when I up load them to facebook or youtube they seem to dark. So I have been going with the lighter side of things.

Ya, Youtube is like composing a synphany and playing it back through a 1950's portable radio.

 

[AlbionDrones]

I have been asking this question to my self lately. Seems when ever I edit something in my edit programs they look great but when I up load them to facebook or youtube they seem to dark. So I have been going with the lighter side of things.

Yeah, I am working on hubby;s laptop - which only just runs DaVinci Resolve - and at times the colours and screen darkness come out incorrectly. Short of spending a lot of £££ on a pro- calibrated monitor I am stuck with what I have, and its only when I upload to YT and then watch it on the 55" 4K TV that I truly get to see what I have created..

 

[AlbionDrones]

I look at it with the perspective of what do I want to convey. Do I want to show it as I saw it at the time? Do I want to convey a feeling? Is there detail that I appreciate that I could not see with the naked eye? What is the scene saying to me and what do I want it to say.

The original edit was pretty much what was seen, but it is very dark, hence I went back and increased exposure on the darker areas... It will always be a compromise, I like the original edit, but think it is too dark for most - unless you are watching it on a big TV and sat in the dark, in which case it is awesome... Perhaps I need to upload 2 edits... but that would be confusing... argh!

 

[SmilingOgre]

The original edit was pretty much what was seen, but it is very dark, hence I went back and increased exposure on the darker areas... It will always be a compromise, I like the original edit, but think it is too dark for most - unless you are watching it on a big TV and sat in the dark, in which case it is awesome... Perhaps I need to upload 2 edits... but that would be confusing... argh!

I get where you're coming from. Maybe darken your monitor some so that you push the brightness more? You're into the realm of translation. It's a big bugaboo in audio recording as well. How do you get a master to sound good on most everything it will be played back on. Pretty much what you are doing. Try playing it back on different things and make adjustments as you see necessary.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Good monitors are crazy expensive. I think most of us that are not professional photographers would rather spend any extra money on a large screen TV instead of a small very expensive 32 inch monitor. Go out to buy a new TV and come home with a small screen monitor and try explain that to your wife. But dear it has all the color science built in ....oh Okay I guess I am sleeping on the couch tonight

Yeah thats not happening here... Hubby indulges me in having the drone and using his laptop for editing it, but if we had money to spend then I would rather get 2nd drone before a monitor... Have a nice new 4K OLED 55" TV, which does a good job when watching YT in 4k, so perhaps I just continue using that... Doesnt seem to want to allow the laptop to cast to it though, otherwie I could check the footage before uploading to YT..

 

[JimSteadman]

Personally I liked the lighter version. The darker version may have been fine for people familar with site, but for me tha lighter version was best.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Personally I liked the lighter version. The darker version may have been fine for people familar with site, but for me tha lighter version was best.

Thanks Jim )

 

[retiredNH]

Answer: Depends on your audience. I just viewed it with my laptop sitting in a sunny location. Dark version showed nothing in the shadows, so light version is better, for me, at this spot, today....etc. On my calibrated monitor in my darkened editing room, maybe not?

Editing, stills or videos, is an art as well as a science. As an art, the editor needs to think about the message, the story, one wants to convey.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Answer: Depends on your audience. I just viewed it with my laptop sitting in a sunny location. Dark version showed nothing in the shadows, so light version is better, for me, at this spot, today....etc. On my calibrated monitor in my darkened editing room, maybe not?

Editing, stills or videos, is an art as well as a science. As an art, the editor needs to think about the message, the story, one wants to convey.

Thanks... I think I am understanding that the more editing I do...

 

[Dale D]

An interesting frosty and foggy evening, so I sent the drone up for a quick look see over the ship canal, captured some atmospheric footage, however I can't decide if I prefer the lighter or darker edit, what do you think? The darker is more atmospheric, but the lighter has more detail... Please let me know your thoughts in the comments please...

Darker vversion

Lighter version

There simply is no doubt in my mind- lighter one is the better one! I always like more detail in the foreground than just a black out.

Dale

 

[borzoiboy]

Like the lighter version. Both look great though!

 

[karlblessing]

Personally I prefer the lighter one as the highlights aren't pushed but the shadows aren't clipped, good subtle details in the landscape while still conveying it's darkness.

 

[Lister]

Yeah, I am working on hubby;s laptop - which only just runs DaVinci Resolve - and at times the colours and screen darkness come out incorrectly. Short of spending a lot of £££ on a pro- calibrated monitor I am stuck with what I have, and its only when I upload to YT and then watch it on the 55" 4K TV that I truly get to see what I have created..

Watching your footage on a TV will lead to heartache. Televisions frequently apply all kinds of unasked-for behind the scenes "corrections" to your footage. You may be able to disable these in the TV menu system.

YT is slightly better, but it, too can change gamma (mid-tones). Basically, absent end to end colour management, it's a crap shoot.

I prefer the lighter version. Resolve will let you darken the top of the sky, much like a graduate ND filter will do. Use "Power Windows" if your laptop will allow you to process the results in a reasonable time frame.

I found the first piano chord of the music a little startling. As the piece progresses, it becomes apparent that it's part of the piece, but as an opening, I found it out of character with the visuals.

 

[Dale D]

Yeah, I am working on hubby;s laptop - which only just runs DaVinci Resolve - and at times the colours and screen darkness come out incorrectly. Short of spending a lot of £££ on a pro- calibrated monitor I am stuck with what I have, and its only when I upload to YT and then watch it on the 55" 4K TV that I truly get to see what I have created..

I have no clue with Dan Vinci Resolve. I am a user of Premiere Pro. Premiere. to my despair, has no way to edit individual parts of the video image, unlike the wonderful masking abilities of Photoshop and Lightroom. Perhaps, one day, this will be available.

In general, I always like to show some detail in the foreground, and it is truly frustrating when shooting videos of sunsets and sunrises, because, as we all know, the sensor reads the bright light and under exposes the details in the foreground.

I am told that selective masking can be done in Adobe After Effects but that is way beyond my abilities.

Dale

 

[Lister]

Resolve will do much of what Photoshop and Lightroom will do. It's basically a post production facility in software. It's not hard to learn.

Resolve is free. The hardware to run it well at 4K isn't.

 

[SkyeHigh]

If you’re using a Windows laptop (Apple MacBook displays are usually pre-calibrated) make sure your displays isn’t set for auto display brightness.

The following link shows how to calibrate your display using a contrast/brightness test chart. It’s much easier than it sounds and will allow you to get a good range of contrast that should be a closer match to your TV.

OLED TVs have a very high contrast ratio with deep blacks and will look quiet different to a normal laptop or LCD TV that can only produce a deep grey.