Colour Profile, Am I the only one that likes Normal?

RoadieMunky · Apr 23, 2018

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone one else uses/likes the 'Normal' Colour profile on the MA?
All the YouTube videos I have seen all use 'D-Cinelike' but I don't think it's that good and is aimed towards the professional post editor.
I find the 'Normal' profile much better.

Anyone else have a theory/comments on this?
Thanks.

djiboi · Apr 23, 2018

Sure, if you are good at colour grading, D-cinelike is the way to go, if you're not that good or value your time more, normal will be fine.

hamstergraphics · Apr 24, 2018

D-cinelike gives you a better starting point if you're going to be doing you're own colour correction in post. It's a flatter image with more definition throughout.

The 'normal' profile will give you a decent image right out of the drone, but then you're more limited to correcting in post...

BaNZ · Apr 24, 2018

I'm new in post editing. I shotted all my stuff in d-cinelike and I find that even after I color graded. The videos are looking very flat. For my next trip, I'm going to try shooting them in normal.

hamstergraphics · Apr 24, 2018

You should work on your colour grading. It's quite easy to go from flat to a good contrast - Try changing the blacks and whites in the exposure settings first. That's what will get rid of the flat look. Then work on the colour.

Of course you can just leave it on normal if you're happy with that.

BaNZ · Apr 24, 2018

So this is what mine looks like after I color graded it. The footage was badly exposed so it took me awhile to fix it.

Original
After grading.

hamstergraphics · Apr 24, 2018

Yeah, the after doesn't look too bad at all, but of course, if you over expose in the first place, it's always going to be harder to correct, whether in d-cine or normal.

I like to stay slightly underexposed if possible, but it's difficult with a drone since it's always changing direction from the sun.

RoadieMunky · Apr 24, 2018

Thanks, theres been some great comments on this.
I started off using d-cine and tried colour correction in post (to mixed results, good and bad), but as i'm no pro I'm only using iMovie or Photos on the mac.
I found for me, using normal is a much better solution.

Wacker2611 · Apr 24, 2018

RoadieMunky said:
Thanks, theres been some great comments on this.
I started off using d-cine and tried colour correction in post (to mixed results, good and bad), but as i'm no pro I'm only using iMovie or Photos on the mac.
I found for me, using normal is a much better solution.

I agree. I went through a period of using and downloading loads of image processing programs after using dlog/cinelike etc but I’ve ended up sticking to normal. I’m just looking for generally good results as a hobbyist and I haven’t the time or inclination to fiddle with the footage every time. There’s nothing wrong with normal and you can mess with it a bit if you really have to.