GoPro 4 Protune Native White Balance Setting

[MattPSI]

I am upgrading from a GoPro 3 to a GoPro 4 Black, and it is time to start thinking about what settings I will use. So far I have been using the Backscatter flip filter system, with two 850 lumen lights, and doing further white balance tweaking using iMovie. The results have been pretty decent in most cases, but there is plenty of room for improvement. I am wondering if anybody has tried shooting a GoPro 4 with Protune "Native" white balance, either with or without filters. Thanks!

 

[toozler]

Can you share the results you're getting with a filter plus light and post color correction?

 

[MattPSI]

Sure, here are my three vacation videos using the described process and setup:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoFFJzCgKtIo0yrGwMrCl3A

 

[Got2Go]

The best results you are going to get are with:

1- No filter at all
2-ProTune on
3- White balance native/raw.
4- Color: flat
5- Good video lighting.
(bright and wide for daylight close-ups, none for far/wide angles...and good even spread, not crazy bright for night dives.)
6- Stick to 1080, and FPS of 30/48 (30 is typically adequate, but with 48 you can get better stills out of the video if you want)

But, this will involve doing a little bit of color correction in post.
By far this will give you the best results.

If you don't want to mess much in post, then use a good filter for the specific location/depth/light conditions and leave ProTune off.
If using a light for closeups, take off the filter.

 

[MattPSI]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Those are great tips. I don't mind taking time to learn about color grading and correction in post. It would be nice to leave the filters at home and maybe just put on two different macro lenses. Have you tried shooting 4k at 30 fps? I was reading that that video quality can be substantially better when 4k is output to 1080p, and I saw example videos that were pretty convincing.

 

[Got2Go]

Have you tried shooting 4k at 30 fps? I was reading that that video quality can be substantially better when 4k is output to 1080p, and I saw example videos that were pretty convincing.

Yes, I have.
Not worth it (battery life, file sizes, editing resources needed, longer time to process/render)...to me anyway...

Much better gains to be had with ProTune and post color grading.
Unless, off course, you do need 4k for your final product.

If your post color grading skills are excellent and maxed out, then you might be able to get ever so slightly better color results by shooting 4k and downsampling to 1080.
There are many variables to make that worthwhile.

But otherwise, I recommend keeping it at 1080-30/48.

 

[MattPSI]

Once again, thanks for your input!

 

[deeper thoughts]

good info

 

[AngloFish]

Any particular reason you suggest 30/48 over something like 60 fps?

The best results you are going to get are with:

1- No filter at all
2-ProTune on
3- White balance native/raw.
4- Color: flat
5- Good video lighting.
(bright and wide for daylight close-ups, none for far/wide angles...and good even spread, not crazy bright for night dives.)
6- Stick to 1080, and FPS of 30/48 (30 is typically adequate, but with 48 you can get better stills out of the video if you want)

But, this will involve doing a little bit of color correction in post.
By far this will give you the best results.

If you don't want to mess much in post, then use a good filter for the specific location/depth/light conditions and leave ProTune off.
If using a light for closeups, take off the filter.