False Color for n00bs.

This is a video about how to use false color on your camera to nail your exposure. A lot of people I notice get a little hung up on exposure, but just remember, if you use your exposure tools and keep the scene within the dynamic range of your sensor, don’t clip the highlights, and make a generally good looking image on the monitor you should be good! False color is a great way to never clip highlights, retain information in the shadows, and keep exposure consistent over the course of a shoot when moving from scene to scene.

Lastly, keep in mind exposure tools work differently on different cameras. Here we saw how it works on an Arri Alexa, exposure tools works a little differently on a sony fx3 for example, but the theory stays the same, and you can tune it to your liking in camera or on a monitor. Same goes for zebras, waveforms, and EL zone. Run tests, set it up properly and you will have an easier time with your camera.

0:00 intro
1:25 log vs rec709 monitoring
2:10 exposure consistency
3:00 log monitoring false color
3:47 why is false color useful
4:56 zebras vs false color
6:11 over exposing
6:50 exposure compensation LUTs
7:45 SmallHD false color
8:22 tuning false color smallhd
9:36 adding LUTs to smallHD monitor
10:02 fixing smallHD false color
10:48 custom map false color smallhd
11:51 bye bye!

[parkerdickey]

You're awesome man, thank you for bridging this gap between professional level cinematography and aspiring creators by not gatekeeping this valuable information that you've picked up along the years. Your videos are incredibly insightful, straight forward and powerfully in-depth. I just wanted to reach out and extend my appreciation to remind you how effective what you're doing is and how much people like me appreciate it. Keep it up Blaine!

[FreshSqueezedLightning]

Man. Refreshing seeing a pro video on YouTube and not a bunch of regurgitated mid level info. Not trying to sound mean to others but finally a YouTube video that feels like I’m talking to someone on set. I’ve been a 1st AC for years and every once in a while I debate making videos dropping info like this for ACs. On this channel though I do stuff for fun, it’s just my comedy channel. But anyway, great video dude!

[bastienchilloux]

I did the exact same false color mapping on my SmallHD monitor for my camera last year. It is very valuable to spend time on setting up those tools to be more efficient on set.

[jondoeslifestuff]

Well done big dog. Big takeaway was remembering to keep everything as best you can in the dynamic range of the camera (sounds obvious but looking at a LUT slapped on LOG it's harder than it looks...lol). I'm going to make a point to use FC legitimately this weekend. Good stuff dude.

[igorzhidkov]

Different clipping point in camera vs smallhd false color might be because of incorrect settings in color pipe, specifically signal range. When it is set to auto, at least for s-log3 it is detecting it incorrectly as full range, which causing similar problem as in your video, so for s-log3 via hdmi, right setting in color pipe is legal. Mb for c-log it is the same.

[julienpierb]

At first I read "False Color is for n00b" 😅. Nice video, as always!

[DIRECTEDBYSRY]

This helped me so much, thank you man.

[loganlambert]

I don't think I have ever turned on false color on my camera but now I think I can handle it.

[hugomalpeyre]

All your content is so Amazing. Thank you so much.

[shueibdahirmotionpictures]

0:19 yo I thought my camera was the only one that did that. I shoot 14bit raw on magic lantern cameras and that right there is the thing that annoys me when monitoring since I'm used to how Sony or BM implement it in their cameras but it's good to know that it's not abnormal

[NoSuRReNDeR]

Another great very useful real world on-set video! THANK YOU!! OK so could you maybe do one on EL ZOne? I love his work and im curious about how his version on FC works. It seems several Cams are implenting EL ZONE.

[vngelpena]

I consider you my film school. Thank you.

[karlabmdz]

Would it be possible to see a video on how you make proper stop reduction luts ?  :)

[vahvahfilms]

Love the clarity and direct nature of your videos. Also that there's no "Hey YouTube" at the beginning. Big plus. I'm a little confused thoughabout one point you spoke about - you said you view false color off log but then also state that it's more accurate to view it off rec. 709. And that if you view it off log, you need some stop reduction luts. So for example, before you hit record, are you satisfied once it's not blown out in rec709, log, or lut? Or is it a combination that I'm too dumb to understand yet?

[mattfdevlin]

Hey Blaine! Can you do a video on the your process for creating luts for the Alexa! Including the exposure compensation luts.

[wilderenss]

it doesnt relate to the topic of this video perfectly, but I embarked on the journey to try to find out how I can use the false colour built into davinci to map and analyze screen grabs from films. the point I'm stuck is: how do I convert different IRE-s into stops of light? thats my one and only question regarding it. actually I think others might be interested in it as well - would the thought spark in your head to make a short basic video on it - but a short to the point answer would be more then enough for me nevertheless (I researched it on forums and youtube but couldnt stumble upon any proper answer)

[CornOffTheCobb]

As everyone else has stated, great video. love the channel. Quick question... I've played back the fixing small hd false color part like 15 times trying to grasp why they dont match up anymore but I think I got it. You only need to fix the Small HD false color IRE readings if you are using exposure compensation luts, correct?

[jhuver]

Awesome video! Just got a question. What if you’re using a camera that doesn’t have built in false color and you want to match its log format with the rec.709 on external monitor to be accurate in false color? For example fx3.

[Filmgoblin]

Any reason for having shutter angle at 356 degrees vs 180. Or were you just doing this for education purposes to get false color examples in a better place?

[BlackHouse]

What to do when trying to expose a monochromatic scene with highly saturated colors (Like full red light)?