Auto white balance color corrected in editing vs manual white balance

[ronscuba]

There has been a lot of discussion on the necessity of manual white balance vs color correction in editing, lately. It's a good topic because easy access to setting MWB in an underwater housing is not a common feature like it used to be. Plus the software editing companies have improved their color correction capabilities.

I've been shooting with MWB for years, so I haven't bothered to see if I could get as good results shooting AWB and color correcting in my editing S/W.

If anyone is willing, could you send me some raw HDV footage of a typical Caribbean scene that was shot with a filter and AWB ? Since raw footage takes up a lot of filespace, something around 15 seconds would work.

 

[ScubaBob92651]

I'm on the road so don't have any such footage with me (only have MWB and corrected footage). I have some from Cayman Brac from a couple years ago when I first got my HC7 I can post this weekend if you haven't gotten some good test footage. The "Fast Color Correct" on Premiere CS3 has a great feature to set white balance by "touching" a color on your footage. This feature is great and I've been able to use for footage that is just slighly off - much easier then playing with the levels.

 

[BDSC]

It will be interesting to see what you come up with Ron. I'll keep checking back to see a report.

 

[ronscuba]

I'm on the road so don't have any such footage with me (only have MWB and corrected footage). I have some from Cayman Brac from a couple years ago when I first got my HC7 I can post this weekend if you haven't gotten some good test footage. The "Fast Color Correct" on Premiere CS3 has a great feature to set white balance by "touching" a color on your footage. This feature is great and I've been able to use for footage that is just slighly off - much easier then playing with the levels.

Hi Bob,

So far you are the only one offering. Might be interesting to compare how well Premiere does vs. Vegas. I don't plan on going nuts. Just a one click correct for whites, darks and maybe midtones. I can post the results on Vimeo. Thanks !

 

[uzun]

I find it best to try and get the shot as close to correct as conditions allow, this makes post correction much more effective. At least with scenes shot in natural light.

 

[PerroneFord]

Ron,

AWB in the situation you described shouldn't prove too big a challenge. AWB where the source of light changes constantly is a royal pain.

Note, that you will need a keyframe and color correction for about every 300-500K of light change. I once did about a 7 minute video with over 200 keyframe color corrections. My hands were cramping at the end of that session. Not recommended.

 

[ronscuba]

PerroneFord, assuming relative constant lighting, are you easily able to get color as good color correcting in post ? I have a long weekend trip to Grand Cayman coming up. Guess I'll do some experimenting with AWB if I can't get someone to send me footage.

 

[PerroneFord]

I've used AWB on the cam a few times and it's been fine. But I wouldn't use it with non-constant sources. And if I am going to be doing color in post, I don't bother with AWB. There's no reference to work from. If I balance at 5600 and the light shifts between 5600 and 4000, then I know it's just going to be getting more or less warm. If I let AWB do things, it could be at 5600 one second, and 4820 2 seconds later. And my corrections are all OVER the place.

 

[ronscuba]

As far as I know, most of the UW video that has impressed me has been shot with MWB or with lights.

I've been shooting with MWB for years. Before 3 wheel color correction was a standard editing feature. I'm anxious to see if I can match the quality.