white balancing my DVX100A

...okay, so there is this tattoo contest and music festival downtown and I thought I would go and take out my camera and begin to get a better feel for being out and shooting with it. I got alot of people showing off thier tattoos. (It is actually very sunny today and incredibly hot here in Michigan.)

...the problem is white balancing. I think (thought) I was doing it right but alot of the video came out quite overexposed. Just too hot and too much reflection, etc. I used the AWB and it helped a little. I brought down the iris which didn't help much.

...I am sure the problem is me, not the camera. What does it seem like I am doing wrong. It was very bright out, but I think (know) I should've been able to bring the balance down so the video would not be hot.

...any thoughts?..... :huh:

--spinner :cool:
 
ND filters are handy, yes. That will cut down much overexposure. You can get them in varying degrees of strength.

Also... how are you manually setting your whitebalance? You carry about a white piece of card to use?
 
...I most certainly did NOT... :bang:

Thanks, that's why I was out there, to see what I could remember without my manual. I am still making my way through it, and I did read this part :blush:

...there were about four good white tents out there, I used that...

I can't go back out there, though (sigh)

--spinner :cool:
 
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Hey Spinner. I have a DVX so I may be able to provide a suggestion or two. Look up how to activate "zebra stripes" in the handbook. It should be a button behind the LCD panel if I'm not mistaken. These stripes will tell you when you are getting overexposed footage by marking the LCD screen with stripes (not recorded in camera of course). The DVX has two settings: 80% and 105% (out of 110... don't ask!). I nearly always only use the latter as I can judge instantly if anything will be blown out to pure white on the LCD. I then fine tune the exposure with the ND filters and the iris wheel.
 
I don't think white balancing is your problem. As others have said, you'll need to turn on your ND filter in overexposed daylight situations. Also, Shaw's advice about the zebra stripes is important. They are invaluable tool, particularly in tricky light situations with a lot of latitude between bright and shadow.
 
...thanks, you guys! I knew I was coming to the right place when I couldn't figure something out.

... I did use the zebra stripes, the problem was figuring out how to fix the problem. Once I asked all of you, I saw what I did wrong. The problem now is to find another subject to practice on.

Shaw, which settings do you mean... 80% and 105%? I see where the ND has 1/8 and 1/64...

...btw, when it comes to frame rate, any suggestions on what I should be shooting with? Since DVX can shoot in so many ways, has anyone had the chance to compare the rates?

--spinner :cool:
 
There are two different levels you can set the zebras for. 80% luminance and 105%. Whenever something in the frame goes above which ever setting you chose the stripes will show up.

But yeah, the ND filter willl help :). Use the iris dial as well.

Shoot at whichever frame rate you need! 24p will recreate the look of film. 30p will look somewhere inbetween film and normal video. 30p is great for things that aren't cinematic in nature but could benefit from the look and resolution of progressive footage.

Try shooting some stuff at each setting. The difference should be pretty obvious. I could probably post a frame rate demo if you would like. Just need to have time to shoot, upload and edit.
 
White balance has nothing to do with exposure. White balance tells the camera what is white and references the other colors to that so they all look true. Exposure is the amount of light going into the camera to create an image. If the image is too hot, 1, use an ND (Neutral Density) filter, 2, stop down (but if you stop too much - like right on the edge of closed - then you can get distortion and double images), 3, increase the shutter speed (this can cause some movements to seem less fluid). Generally, the ND filters are the best because you can leave it at a low shutter speed and leave the iris as open as possible which has a variety of benefits. If the internal ND filter (if your camera has one) is not enough, screw one onto the front. A CP (circular polarizer) cuts down light like an ND, but helps bring out some colors like the sky and water and is a good thing to have when shooting outside. These are my favorites: http://www.tiffen.com/filters.htm, but they are not the best money can buy.

There also seems to be some confusion on the zebra stripes and how they work. When you turn this on, for everything that exceeds the exposure threshold, the camera will overlay the stripes. This can be advantageous or not depending on what you’re trying to do, but I generally use them. Now, the 80 and 105 refer to luminance in regards to IRE (I can’t remember what this means). Where you set this depends on how your camera is set up. I’m kind of surprised this camera has a setting for 105 because most chips cut off everything over 100, but anyway. If you imagine an S graph where high exposures are on the left and low exposures on the right, there is a certain point where the light levels are too high or two low to create a picture. There is a chip in the camera that cuts off anything outside of the levels the manufacturer set (this point is called the knee). Because analog will wander, the upper level used to always be set at 80%, and anything above 100% is not broadcast legal. Likewise at the low end, 7.5% is the cutoff and always has been because they use lower parts to encode the signal. With digital there is no wander, and the knee is usually set at 100% now. This causes the camera to be able to record a wider range of exposures. By setting the zebras at 80%, everything above that level will be superimposed with zebras, and likewise with 110%. This is meant as a quick reference. You should use a waveform monitor if you want to be precise. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-0943468-5942335 is an EXCELLENT resource for anyone who wants to learn about the technical side - which should be EVERYONE who uses a camera.
 
IRE stands for International Radio Engineers :)

I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the DVX has a setting for 105% due to the extra lattitude gained via cine-gamma. Need to double check that though.
 
film8ker said:
Now, the 80 and 105 refer to luminance in regards to IRE (I can’t remember what this means). Where you set this depends on how your camera is set up. .

...the camera has two position settings (I don't have the camera in front of me, gotta work you know) How would you go about "setting up" the camera? I am assuming that maybe you can set it up to other than 80% or 105% or am I wrong about that? I don't think I will have to do it, but I was wondering...

--spinner :cool:
 
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