Spring is in the 'Air'

[dtdyer01]

Hi Fair Game.

Thanks for having a crack at tuning the footage. You have certainly brought out more than I did and I would love it if you could do a screen capture on the process you go through, I think that would help a lot of us. There is still a huge difference though between what Dave's camera captured and what mine did. The protune footage appears very flat. I have to say I still prefer the look of what Dave's non protune captured. I take your point about it being winter in the UK but the reality looked a lot more colorfull than what was captured.

I agree, the touch up is a huge improvement, but I did notice the windmill is completely white washed, very little detail.
The non protune has footage is much more saturated. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the clouds are more defined.
But it was a massive improvement so hats off to you

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

1:31' is how I remember the colour of the day.

 

[Fair Game]

Hi Fair Game.

Thanks for having a crack at tuning the footage. You have certainly brought out more than I did and I would love it if you could do a screen capture on the process you go through, I think that would help a lot of us. There is still a huge difference though between what Dave's camera captured and what mine did. The protune footage appears very flat. I have to say I still prefer the look of what Dave's non protune captured. I take your point about it being winter in the UK but the reality looked a lot more colorfull than what was captured.

The thing about protune is that you can achieve almost any desired look, but you will have to refine 'your' grading techniques to create it.

Look at it this way... Imagine you book a beautiful model for a shoot and she turns up with disco style glitter make-up already applied... You are pretty much stuck with the style and look. If she turns up with no make-up at all you can create the exact look you want.

When you shoot RAW on a DSLR it comes up pretty flat in Photoshop, in fact if you compared the thumbnail image on the camera screen to the RAW image on the computer screen you would be asking yourself where has all the life gone. That's because you are not actually viewing the raw image on the camera but a JPEG version which, guess what, Mr Nikon has already added autograding to.

Of course camera makers are not stupid, they have invested years of research to come up with pre-sets that people like. If you are happy to adopt 'their' styles as your own there is nothing wrong going down that road. But you are limiting your creativeness. It's down to the individual to decide what level they want to go to.

Take a look at GoPro's own promo videos and wow they knock you socks off. Look at them closely... the blacks are crushed with almost no detail in the shadows, the whites are pushed to the other extreme, colour saturation is way up. There is no denying it works for the subject matter. But it won't work with all subjects and for all films.

As I said in my previous post, this subject is the UK in winter not Florida in summer so I made no attempt to make my (quickie) grade look like the latter, to me it wouldn't work anyway - but that's down to personal taste.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

I accept the principles behind Protune and the comparison with a RAW camera image. With a photo its fairly easy to make the alterations as your dealing with one frame. Switch to video and its a whole different ballgame. Is it the case you can choose a frame and make your adjustments and then those will work with the rest of the clip, or do you have to re-tweak every time the light changes.

Being able to create the mood you want is very attractive however it all depends on how long it takes to achieve that look across the entire film.

 

[dtdyer01]

Fare game as a professional photographer I shoot RAW and edit in lightroom and photoshop. I couldn't work with JPEG because any
changes which are made are destructive and the information isn't there to work with. So with a RAW I can take this to a exceptional level which leaves my clients jaw to drop.

In saying that, I have more tools available to me with Photoshop and Lightroom to give me the end result. However I'm still inexperienced with FCP to reach upto the standard quality, let alone go beyond it. As far as I can see, I can't work individual colour tones, I can push just the blue tones, red tones etc. just a global highlights, shadows and mid tones.

I would be interested in seeing your Vimeo showreels where I can see examples of your work. I hope you will share your profiles for us to see examples of pro video creators at work.

If interested here is my website. www.davedyerphotography.com

 

[Fair Game]

Hi Dave, Ken,

The first colour video camera I worked with was so large it took three of us to lift it onto its Vinten ped and the though of it ever going outside the studio was laughable. Today GoPro's offer quality that beat the pants off what was used in broadcast not so long ago. But we just keep expecting more and more.

FCP X is a £200 programme that will edit to broadcast standard all the way up to 4k. It's all in there, including targeting specific colours. it's just a case of learning new techniques.

Obvioulsy you cannot grade every frame and you wouldn't want to; and nobody does. You have to look at a representative frame and base your scene of that, or add a whole load of keyframes which trigger subtle changes - How much time do you want to spend on grading... Will your audience spot the difference anyway?

If there is a desire by enough people then I will gladly do a five minute intro that helps cut through the jargon, if not maybe a regional meet up with a bit of hands on would be better.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

1:31' is how I remember the colour of the day.

That's mostly exposed for the ground (mixed shade and full sun ) with very little sky (although the typical GoPro auto wb cyan sky is noticeable on the left).

Here's a quicky -

https://vimeo.com/88188797

GoPro studio conversion to AVI - apply the standard protune profile, inc. sharpening
Edit in PP 2k timeline
First half - apply a stock MB Looks preset -Vibrant
Tweak by adding a light color gradient and adjusting highlights, mids and shadow via Colorista
Second half - apply a stock MB Looks preset -Blockbuster
Tweak vignette,lift gamma, and gain, for overly dramatic look
Nest in final 2k timeline - apply slight sharpening to account for detail loss when exporting from 2k to 1080p
Export as 1080/25p mp4, 2 pass VBR target 45/max 90

Well you prove your point that Protune allows you to experiment far more than the standard no protune video. The key to using pro tune though is a thorough understanding of how to use the tools to achieve your desired look. If you don't have that knowledge (and I am at the start of that journey) then I still think you should stay away from it.

The big learning point for me from this exercise is if you have more than one Gopro on a shoot they should both use the same settings to make life a lot easier. I am going to try and master sharpening better as I accept I over did it in my film. I edit on a Macbook Pro using the laptop screen. I generally only have a fairly small video window. I might do better using a larger external screen so its easier to see how things look.

Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate whats possible and for explaining how it was achieved.

 

[Fair Game]

Sorry a long time coming... but here is the promised quick (LOL) guide to basic colour grading of protune with FCP X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8k2ZNZgv4

 

[jayhas]

Meetup video with a fellow forum member.
Shot yesterday on the first day of spring

https://vimeo.com/87961908

Very nice! Love seeing two quads at play.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Sorry a long time coming... but here is the promised quick (LOL) guide to basic colour grading of protune with FCP X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8k2ZNZgv4

Hi there

I just watched your walk through of colour grading and you did a fantastic job of explaining it. It was so good that you have made me want to shoot with protune turned on again so that I can play with the end results. I have downloaded your video and its gone into my FCPX toolbox so I can study it in detail.

I would urge you not to just leave it in this thread but create its own thread so people might find it easily. Its certainly worth watching and I really appreciate the trouble you have gone to producing it for us.

Thank you. I did enjoy the music, its perfect for something where you have to concentrate. I recognise the tune but can't place it, was it used in a children's programme on TV in the UK? I am thinking of Morph but not sure?

Shrimpy.

 

[xgeek]

Sorry a long time coming... but here is the promised quick (LOL) guide to basic colour grading of protune with FCP X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8k2ZNZgv4

Great video. Thanks for posting.

Tunes from Take Heart I think?

 

[Fair Game]

Sorry a long time coming... but here is the promised quick (LOL) guide to basic colour grading of protune with FCP X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8k2ZNZgv4

Hi there

I just watched your walk through of colour grading and you did a fantastic job of explaining it. It was so good that you have made me want to shoot with protune turned on again so that I can play with the end results. I have downloaded your video and its gone into my FCPX toolbox so I can study it in detail.

I would urge you not to just leave it in this thread but create its own thread so people might find it easily. Its certainly worth watching and I really appreciate the trouble you have gone to producing it for us.

Thank you. I did enjoy the music, its perfect for something where you have to concentrate. I recognise the tune but can't place it, was it used in a children's programme on TV in the UK? I am thinking of Morph but not sure?

Shrimpy.

Looking forward to seeing your new Protune footage!

The tune is, as xgeek correctly suggests, from the 60's(?) children's TV show Take Hart. Not exactly 60's rock n roll but then the BBC always takes time to catch up!!