Mavic color correction tips with FCPX?

[KiterTodd]

Whenever I film video or take stills with the Mavic, there is always an artificial tint to the photos. So much so that anytime someone posts images or videos, I can usually tell if it was taken with a Mavic because I'm familiar with the color inaccuracy. Just like many of us can look at GoPro footage and can tell which GoPro it was taken with.

I've also seen plenty of professional looking videos taken with the Mavic where the color accuracy is spot on. I have watched many of the color grading videos and most of them use video software I don't have (usually Adobe) or LUTs packs I haven't purchased.

How do you get the most accurate color representation with stock FCPX?

On images (usually edited on the iPhone) I bring up the color tint warmth which helps a bit, and drop the Highlights which deepens the colors. I know this is pretty basic but it is enough to fool most people for social media posts. I can still see the inaccurate color representation, though. It looks fake.

On videos, I can do better, but I still can't get it as color accurate as I can get GoPro footage. When I'm done editing, I can still tell it's MP footage. There is just a hue to the tans/browns that is off. Blues seem okay. Reds seem to blow out easily. (that's from memory, I'm not looking at any footage as I type this)

I usually shoot with a Polar Pro ND16/PL filter on the Mavic.

Thanks for any tips. My last major edit had my Mavic footage and a friend's 3DR Solo footage which had a GP on it. His footage looked better.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Tip 1. Make sure you have a style and color profile which suits your vision. This makes a world of difference as to your perception of the footage, out of the camera. There is a huge range of available settings in terms of saturation. contrast, and balance within the custom settings.

Tip 2. Don’t use auto WB. Custom select your WB as close as possible to the lighting situation. Then your adjustments will be smaller in post.

Remember, the Mavic has a lot of available control over the camera, which more automatic cameras do not have. Therefore the ability to get it “perfect” out of the camera, without additional effort, is a little more difficult.

 

[KiterTodd]

@Robert Mitchell thanks for the input...

On Tip1, those are settings I have not altered from default. Do you have recommendations that are best for accuracy? I'm sure you see the imperfections with the default settings.

On Tip 2, yup, I always do that. I often find that none of them look perfect, so I just choose which is best. Usually just a ping pong between sunny and cloudy. I haven't found the others useful.

 

[Roamer105]

Whenever I film video or take stills with the Mavic, there is always an artificial tint to the photos. So much so that anytime someone posts images or videos, I can usually tell if it was taken with a Mavic because I'm familiar with the color inaccuracy. Just like many of us can look at GoPro footage and can tell which GoPro it was taken with.

I've also seen plenty of professional looking videos taken with the Mavic where the color accuracy is spot on. I have watched many of the color grading videos and most of them use video software I don't have (usually Adobe) or LUTs packs I haven't purchased.

How do you get the most accurate color representation with stock FCPX?

On images (usually edited on the iPhone) I bring up the color tint warmth which helps a bit, and drop the Highlights which deepens the colors. I know this is pretty basic but it is enough to fool most people for social media posts. I can still see the inaccurate color representation, though. It looks fake.

On videos, I can do better, but I still can't get it as color accurate as I can get GoPro footage. When I'm done editing, I can still tell it's MP footage. There is just a hue to the tans/browns that is off. Blues seem okay. Reds seem to blow out easily. (that's from memory, I'm not looking at any footage as I type this)

I usually shoot with a Polar Pro ND16/PL filter on the Mavic.

Thanks for any tips. My last major edit had my Mavic footage and a friend's 3DR Solo footage which had a GP on it. His footage looked better.

Be mindful of your polarized filter. Most of the times a non-polarized filter produces better results.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

@Robert Mitchell thanks for the input...

On Tip1, those are settings I have not altered from default. Do you have recommendations that are best for accuracy? I'm sure you see the imperfections with the default settings.

On Tip 2, yup, I always do that. I often find that none of them look perfect, so I just choose which is best. Usually just a ping pong between sunny and cloudy. I haven't found the others useful.

Personally I like d-cinelike with either landscape or custom +1, 0, +1.

As for WB, use the custom WB at around 5500k for “normal” lighting and around 7200 for cloudy or shady situations.

Again you’ll need to experiment as to what suits you, but that IMO is part of the beauty of this machine.

It’s several steps up from the point and shoot mentality. I don’t think many understand that’s what they are getting.

 

[KiterTodd]

Be mindful of your polarized filter. Most of the times a non-polarized filter produces better results.

How so? I do just have the one. Maybe I'll get another.

I fly predominately over water landscapes or snow. So I like the glare reduction and the definition it helps to bring out. I had not thought that it impacted color accuracy though. ?

 

[Roamer105]

How so? I do just have the one. Maybe I'll get another.

I fly predominately over water landscapes or snow. So I like the glare reduction and the definition it helps to bring out. I had not thought that it impacted color accuracy though. ?

For stills - polarized filters are great mainly because you frame pictures taking them when all aspects are just right. When you take video however, you don't have the ability to always have the best lighting and light angles. Polarized filters can produce radically different results by simply changing the light angle by a few degrees. That does not work as well for video. There are situations where I will use a polarized ND for video, but they are relatively few.

One more important issue with the PL filters on the Mavic (or Phantoms), they can't be rotated for best results while in flight. In order to use such a filter effectively, a lot of shot planning has to take place prior to taking off. Consider the angle of the light and heading of the shot, then turn the PL such that it is 90 degrees to the light source trajectory. Well, I am sure you can see the issues...

 

[KiterTodd]

...One more important issue with the PL filters on the Mavic (or Phantoms), they can't be rotated for best results while in flight. In order to use such a filter effectively, a lot of shot planning has to take place prior to taking off. Consider the angle of the light and heading of the shot, then turn the PL such that it is 90 degrees to the light source trajectory. Well, I am sure you can see the issues...

Thanks.

I have not noticed those issues, but I am probably not as tuned to it as you are.

My video seems to get a deeper color, less glare, and as you would expect water is more transparent. What you're saying makes perfect sense, but I have never taken the time to look through my filter and see what rotated position is best. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I just throw it on there in whatever random orientation it's in.

I'll pick up an ND16 to use as well.

 

[HiKen51]

A rule of thumb from my experience with DSLR photography is that you don't want to use a polarizing filter on a wide angle lens if you're including the sky in the picture, because it will make the sky unnaturally darker and lighter depending on angle from the sun and there is no way to correct it in post. I don't use them for anything wider than about 35mm. Mavic camera is what? 28mm?

 

[Aikidoamigo]

How so? I do just have the one. Maybe I'll get another.

I fly predominately over water landscapes or snow. So I like the glare reduction and the definition it helps to bring out. I had not thought that it impacted color accuracy though. ?

Is the Mavic 2 pro Lens polarised as standard? Today I left the OEM lens on and the scene image with snow still has a very blue hue, certainly not white as it was when viewed by my eye.