Nailing exposure with False Colour

Morning all

Using the BMPCC 4k and learning about the false colour chart to get my exposure right in camera.

So far most of my footage is overexposed.. I think I am putting too much emphasis on getting as much pink onto people’s faces as possible. I am seeing a lot of online videos and tutorials and the consensus seems to be anything betweeen green to pink is general thought of as being acceptable.. so probably need to err on the side of green more than pink..

Anyone else got any tips ?

Thanks

Lee


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You say your footage is overexposed, so my question is whether there is any parts of the image that are yellow and red? That’s over-exposed to the point of near clipping and clipping. If everything is below those values then you should be fine with regards to details being perfectly recoverable. And, with Caucasian skin at pink then the skin is properly exposed. Black skin at green and it is properly exposed.

You may just need to grade it a bit differently. We need to see examples of what you’re working it however. What does the false color look like and what does the image look like without false color. And, how are you grading?

I haven’t had issue with overexposure with exposing skin at the proper values of false color. Not unless I’m exposing the skin and letting everything else in the image clip at red false color value. I’ve never done that.


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You say your footage is overexposed, so my question is whether there is any parts of the image that are yellow and red? That’s over-exposed to the point of near clipping and clipping. If everything is below those values then you should be fine with regards to details being perfectly recoverable. And, with Caucasian skin at pink then the skin is properly exposed. Black skin at green and it is properly exposed.

You may just need to grade it a bit differently. We need to see examples of what you’re working it however. What does the false color look like and what does the image look like without false color. And, how are you grading?

I haven’t had issue with overexposure with exposing skin at the proper values of false color. Not unless I’m exposing the skin and letting everything else in the image clip at red false color value. I’ve never done that.


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Thanks for your comments

To clarify nothing is blown out and in the red/yellow areas.. it’s just the fact that when I bring my footage in resolve and start my grading i can see I am overexposed by a stop or so consistently and always have to bring this down in post.

The lazy part of me just wants to nail exposure in cam and get used to knowing how to do that every time. Using my old og bmpcc I overexposed a lot.. and it was encouraged with that camera.. but with the 4k I would rather be under exposing than over..


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I often point out this false color photo and Resolve screenshot for how I graded this video to demonstrate the amazing high dynamic range of the UMPG2.


Video here:



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I often point out this false color photo and Resolve screenshot for how I graded this video to demonstrate the amazing high dynamic range of the UMPG2.


Video here:



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That’s really helpful thanks!


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I often point out this false color photo and Resolve screenshot for how I graded this video to demonstrate the amazing high dynamic range of the UMPG2.


Video here:



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That’s really helpful thanks!


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How did you get that false colour image?.. is there an option in resolve to display the false colour?


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How did you get that false colour image?.. is there an option in resolve to display the false colour?

I used my cell phone's camera to take a picture of the on camera LCD. So I played back the clip off the CFast card and had false color enabled. I paused at this moment. I then matched that frame when I took the Resolve screenshot and matched it with the poster image on Vimeo. That's why it's the same frame across all those.

I often point out this false color photo and Resolve screenshot for how I graded this video to demonstrate the amazing high dynamic range of the UMPG2.


Video here:



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That’s really helpful thanks!


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How did you get that false colour image?.. is there an option in resolve to display the false colour?


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Seems a screenshot from camera. Anyway there is lut and ofx from timeinpixel to have false color and many other tools in resolve


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I use timeinpixel false color OFX to nail exposure in Resolve as well. Pretty handy tool.

That's an awesome use of the false color tool to nail exposure. BTW, did you use reflectors for the close ups at the last end of the video. Good job.

That's an awesome use of the false color tool to nail exposure. BTW, did you use reflectors for the close ups at the last end of the video. Good job.

With that video I used no reflectors. It was all natural light 100%. It was at a model & photographer meet up last year. So most of the time when I attend those I don't have any assistance. I usually get good footage and am able to experiment and try some things.

This year for example I was able to try out my new Steadicam. It was a challenge in the Florida heat. Especially having to wear a mask. But with the same model I created an equally awesome video.

Thumbs up.

The pink is a guide for a typical scene but in the example shown green faces are fine in post grading. I’ve also done a lot below recommended levels and had fine results. On the other side of the coin, I’ve done light grey faces too and the results are fine. Having a light grey face helps add light to the shadows and that’s sometimes very important too. Yellow and the beginning of red can also be tolerated to some extent for other parts of the frame, say for example where there is a kicker on clothing or a person.

Staying in pink, green, and gray is my way I nail exposure with FC, and adjust light on set to stay within that range. There are creative diversion of yellow and blue to highlights and shadow respectively, but that's only when creative lighting is warranted or in situations that is out of the crew's control.

The lazy part of me just wants to nail exposure in cam and get used to knowing how to do that every time. Using my old og bmpcc I overexposed a lot.. and it was encouraged with that camera.. but with the 4k I would rather be under exposing than over..

Lee, I was just re-reading this post for a different reason but when I came to your statement that with the 4K you rather be under exposing that over, I would disagree unless you're doing it for some aesthetic reasons. I would rather expose slightly over and pull it down in post, as long as you're not clipping (FC = not getting near yellow closer to red). It's better to ETTR sometimes, but not underexpose. My 2 cents.

...is there an option in Resolve to display the false color?

That feature has been added to version 17.

...is there an option in Resolve to display the false color?

That feature has been added to version 17.

In Resolve 16, there is Time and Pixel that you can add to your node. https://timeinpixels.com/false-color-plugin/
But it might be cheaper to just get 17.

Are you supposed to use false color with a LOG or REC709 signal for accurate exposure?

For instance - on my BMPCC6K and URSA Mini 4.6K G1 I record BRAW in the film/log profile but monitor through a Small HD 702. I can apply the same REC709 conversion LUT (Buttery Natural) that I usually start with in editing but I have the option of ‘Ignoring the look’ when I use false color. The same applies to the waveform in terms of being able to ignore the LUT.

If I do not ignore the LUT and the false color and/or other exposure tools like the waveform are measuring off the REC709 signal - am I negating the benefits of recording in LOG? I can see that the false color readout changes quite significantly when I toggle to ignore the LUT.

What’s confusing me is that if I expose based off the REC709 signal and say an area of highlights is red indicating it’s overexposed - would it not be judged differently off the LOG signal?

Are you supposed to use false color with a LOG or REC709 signal for accurate exposure?

Ideally, you wan to monitor in the same color space that you plan to master to. If you're targeting a Rec709 deliverable, that means monitoring in Rec709.

If I do not ignore the LUT and the false color and/or other exposure tools like the waveform are measuring off the REC709 signal - am I negating the benefits of recording in LOG? I can see that the false color readout changes quite significantly when I toggle to ignore the LUT.

You're not negating the effects of shooting in log by monitoring in Rec709, since the camera's gamut far exceeds Rec709. The fact that you can't see it on set doesn't change the fact that it's being recorded.

The catch you will run into is that colors look different in Rec709 than they do in other color spaces. If you try to master something shot while monitoring in Rec709 in, say, P3 D65, you'll often see a huge difference in color, sometimes looking quite dreadful. It's not because you screwed up, it's because your Rec709 viewing look hid that from you.

What’s confusing me is that if I expose based off the REC709 signal and say an area of highlights is red indicating it’s overexposed - would it not be judged differently off the LOG signal?

I found that my highlights looked clipped in Rec709 but not in log a number of times as well. That's where the idea of highlight recovery comes from; often you feel like you're rescuing clipped highlights, but in reality they weren't clipped, but the higher contrast in the preview blew them out.

That’s great thanks for the thorough reply! I’ll be delivering in REC709 pretty much 100% of the time and always using the same technical LUT in the edit to start any grade.

I was fine with the general concept of monitoring in the deliverable colour space but just wanted to confirm that the false colour tool should be working on the REC709 technical LUT signal and it sounds like it should.

That’s great thanks for the thorough reply! I’ll be delivering in REC709 pretty much 100% of the time and always using the same technical LUT in the edit to start any grade.

I was fine with the general concept of monitoring in the deliverable colour space but just wanted to confirm that the false colour tool should be working on the REC709 technical LUT signal and it sounds like it should.

Then you can keep working, knowing that you have a camera that can do HDR, and take advantage when you're ready.