Shooting with flat video settings. Video settings problem with very flat footage.

[plainman007]

Shooting with the following settings....

D-Cinelike.
Video > Style (0,-3,-2). Or -1 for the last value (Saturation) if you want little more color.
ISO-100.
30 fps.

I get good crystal clear footage but its very difficult to color grade as its too flat. Completely lacks saturation etc so when i use color curves etc in my NLE (Vegas Pro 13) i get a highly crushed Black Hawk Down kind of look. Im unable to get good lively rich colors without getting excessive black etc which looks good for a war movie desaturated look but not so nice for a lively travel video.

Can someone help me with the right color settings you would advise on the MA for lively good color & contrast.

Thanks

 

[ryanolivas]

Can someone help me with the right color settings you would advise on the MA for lively good color & contrast.

There are no right color settings to achieve good color and contrast cause it always depends on what you are shooting.

 

[Jackcutrone]

There is a good site called Drone Film Guide on YouTube. They have some videos on color grading. He suggests using d log rather than cinelike. The log file will look flatter at first but there is more information there which you can pull out in grading. The series of videos they have is great.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Shooting with the following settings....

D-Cinelike.
Video > Style (0,-3,-2). Or -1 for the last value (Saturation) if you want little more color.
ISO-100.
30 fps.

I get good crystal clear footage but its very difficult to color grade as its too flat. Completely lacks saturation etc so when i use color curves etc in my NLE (Vegas Pro 13) i get a highly crushed Black Hawk Down kind of look. Im unable to get good lively rich colors without getting excessive black etc which looks good for a war movie desaturated look but not so nice for a lively travel video.

Can someone help me with the right color settings you would advise on the MA for lively good color & contrast.

Thanks

Try the Film Poets LUT. It's $9 (free if you don't like it) and if you want a one-click profile for your footage (within reason), this is it. It at least gives a very good starting point if you wish to do additional editing. You can also just make your own profile in the editing software of your choice and save it.

Anyway if you have D-Cinelike footage with -3 contrast and -1 saturation, you just need to add that back in post to get punchy looking footage with the benefits of the extra dynamic range. It sounds like you're having issues with this but that is all I have ever done and it works just fine. I mostly use the Film Poets LUT now though because it's good enough to save me a lot of time.

Mavic Air LUT - Film Poets Education

There is a good site called Drone Film Guide on YouTube. They have some videos on color grading. He suggests using d log rather than cinelike. The log file will look flatter at first but there is more information there which you can pull out in grading. The series of videos they have is great.

The Mavic Air actually does not have D-Log.

 

[plainman007]

The footage is too flat hence to restore it i need to up the contrast on it and at that time it either gets too contrasty or has that film of white fog like look to it due to the flat settings. Im having trouble lifting the pale sheet of white on the video, if you get what i mean from the way im trying to explain it.

 

[CanadaDrone]

The footage is too flat hence to restore it i need to up the contrast on it and at that time it either gets too contrasty or has that film of white fog like look to it due to the flat settings. Im having trouble lifting the pale sheet of white on the video, if you get what i mean from the way im trying to explain it.

Have you tried lowering the black point or lowering the shadow slider? That will help get rid of the "fog" you are describing, assuming I am understanding you correctly. I don't use Vegas Pro so I am not familiar with all the options you have available but I would be surprised if it did not have that optionality. I shoot in D-Log 0,-3,-2 with the Mavic Air and have no problem manually grading the footage by manipulating the sliders and levels. If you are getting the Black Hawk down look your contrast is set too high but it sounds like you know that.

The easiest thing for you to do would just be to use the Film Poets LUT as a starting point. It's $9 and free if you don't like it so there is zero risk. It is specifically designed to be used on Mavic Air D-log footage 0, -3, -2 while retaining the maximum 10 stops of DR. I find it to be an excellent starting point and often it requires no additional tweaking provided I've done my job and properly exposed the footage.

If you're still having issues, if you can upload some RAW footage I can try edit it myself and see if I can get a rood result.

 

[plainman007]

Have you tried lowering the black point or lowering the shadow slider? That will help get rid of the "fog" you are describing, assuming I am understanding you correctly. I don't use Vegas Pro so I am not familiar with all the options you have available but I would be surprised if it did not have that optionality. I shoot in D-Log 0,-3,-2 with the Mavic Air and have no problem manually grading the footage by manipulating the sliders and levels. If you are getting the Black Hawk down look your contrast is set too high but it sounds like you know that.

The easiest thing for you to do would just be to use the Film Poets LUT as a starting point. It's $9 and free if you don't like it so there is zero risk. It is specifically designed to be used on Mavic Air D-log footage 0, -3, -2 while retaining the maximum 10 stops of DR. I find it to be an excellent starting point and often it requires no additional tweaking provided I've done my job and properly exposed the footage.

If you're still having issues, if you can upload some RAW footage I can try edit it myself and see if I can get a rood result.

Hi There,

Yes thats exactly what i first try. I drop color curves on the clip and try dropping the blacks on the curve to get an S curve as they call it. But then that takes the detail out of the shadows, under window awnings, under trees etc turns too dark.

Do you drop multiple curve filters on top of a clip (stacking) to attack each level of shadow or color ?

Ill try to see where i can host the file because even a few seconds would do right ? but still that would be easily 200mb or so ? Ill find a file share program and take you up on your offer thank you !

 

[plainman007]

An afterthought ! I think overcast skies also by nature tend to contribute a pale grayish image overall isn't it ?
Whats your preferred light condition to shoot. Sunny skies Vs. overcast ?

 

[CanadaDrone]

Hi There,

Yes thats exactly what i first try. I drop color curves on the clip and try dropping the blacks on the curve to get an S curve as they call it. But then that takes the detail out of the shadows, under window awnings, under trees etc turns too dark.

Do you drop multiple curve filters on top of a clip (stacking) to attack each level of shadow or color ?

Ill try to see where i can host the file because even a few seconds would do right ? but still that would be easily 200mb or so ? Ill find a file share program and take you up on your offer thank you !

Sure - upload whatever you want and I can try take a look at it when I have time. I can see what it looks like with the LUT applied too, but if it wasn't shot in D-Log 0,-3,-2 it may not come out as good. I have a very fast internet connection, so upload whatever you want.

I don't use the same editing software, but you can stack edits on top of eachother (eg. apply the LUT and then edit further in another 'layer') but no I do not go after each individual color stream separately in a normal scenario.

An afterthought ! I think overcast skies also by nature tend to contribute a pale grayish image overall isn't it ?
Whats your preferred light condition to shoot. Sunny skies Vs. overcast ?

Overcast skies often give nice flat, diffused light which is good - kind of like shooting a camera flash (the sun) through an umbrella or soft box (the clouds). If anything it is probably helping your footage because the drone (or any camera) can only expose for one thing at a time, so if everything is lit evenly, you will usually get very even footage. If you have patches of sun and shade, it's impossible to expose for both at once and typically the footage doesn't look as good.

I don't care if it's sunny or overcast, as long as the light is even. If I am struggling to find an exposure that works for both the deepest shadows and brightest highlights, something has to give.

The reason your footage looks so flat/dull is because of -3 contrast and -2 saturation, not so much because of shooting conditions. That gives you the most leeway in post processing, but I realize that is where the issue lies so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it