dallas kruse

On 11/18/2019 at 4:01 PM, Brian E. Rutan said:

Can I just say that I shoot with both the T3i and A7s often, and this looks way better than anything I've done. Super impressive. That third shot actually looks quite filmic.

oh well thank you, Brian! 

That is MUCH appreciated!

I only have a couple of stock lenses and I'm trying to do the best with what I got.

Thinking that investing in a light meter will help me as most of the time it's just me running the cameras and lights.

21 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

Hi Dallas, 

My advice would be to first set all of your cameras to manual exposure and manual white balance.

Second, expect that if the lights will be changing in intensity and color during the show, then the exposure and colors on all of the cameras will also change. This is fine, as long as you are happy with how they look most of the time. As in life, there are color casts, highlights, and shadows in movies, and it’s ok as long as they complement the feeling of your final video and don’t distract from them. The important thing is that you are the one who chooses what the picture looks like, not the camera.

To that end, I would take some extra time to set up your cameras and your lights. Have your band mates (or just anyone you can grab) stand-in before the recording session, match the camera settings as best you can, then adjust the light levels to where you’re happy. Just like how I’m sure you do with your mic placement and recording levels. Also, with most digital cameras they tend to look better darker than brighter, so err on the side of going darker with the camera settings.

Finally, if the whole frame is on the dark side then aesthetically sometimes it is nice if the subject is a little overexposed, giving some visually pleasing contrast. I personally like wide shot Frame #1 you posted. If you wanted to make her just slightly less hot, then just dim down that light a few notches on your dimmer board without touching the camera.

Hope this helps!

This is great advice!

When setting white balance on my cameras ... does it make sense to do it this way...

set the lighting scene to a "pure white" setting. I.e. find a spot light setting where the singer is lit up in white and no colors ... then take my still on a white board and set the white balance that way?

Re: light intensity, that's one thing I did NOT do ... check the actual brightness of the LEDs/Spots in each camera before we shot the scenes. I needed to check it on actual skin tone, which I didn't do.

I'm imagining I should use zebras and such to make sure I'm not overexposed. 

Screen grab 1 is obviously blown out.

Screen 2 is a few frames later when the stage lighting changes ... in which the singer looks great.

3 and 4 are really blown out and I lose definition on her face.

Trying to find a way to balance out my shots so I don't get ANY blown out shots.  Should I be using a light meter before shooting?

Good idea. I'll grab some stills when I get back to my place. Thanks!

I'm a noob.

I have a Sony a7sII, a canon t3i, and a canon t4i.

I've been shooting, for fun, some live bands in my studio. The lighting is just like a live concert with 4 channel LEDs, LED movers, and a couple of static par cans.

I'm not behind the camera but rather playing keyboards so I don't have an idea of how the shots look till the taping is done.

I'm wondering how I avoid getting shots that are blown out. One shot will look fine on the Sony but will be blown out on the Canons.  The lights are constantly changing colors and scenes throughout each song ... with a lot of colors.

How should I be prepping each camera to ensure NO shots get blown out? My ISO never goes above 800 (set manually). My white balance is set to AUTO.  

Should I be simply turning down the white channels on my DMX board? Should I be running some kind of light meter before each shoot? 

How do I measure lighting to ensure the footage will come out with no issues?

Thanks and apologies for my lack of knowledge but this is how I'm learning ... by asking.