False Color has BIG Issues! - Why EL Zones is Taking Over

[@berkano_plays]

Sigma has EL Zones built into their fp range with the latest firmware... But one annoying thing is that you have to hold the button to keep it showing...

[@YamilSunRay]

Cool thing with the EL Zones! I was always wondering about the false colors of my Blackmagic.. it seems like the range from red to purple is some kind of safe zone?! And one could still go a bit higher or lower with the exposer and still get information out of it. Because when I turn it off.. I sometimes see that nothing is clipping and that the information is there. Also when I put the footage into DaVinci. So I try get my middle greys close on point and the rest is for the edit. A thing that works if you a one man show.. but in a team.. I'm interested in the EL Zones.. could one make a LUT with the EL Zone?

[@Bruno_fyi]

I use my Ipad as monitor and the APP Monitor+ has EL-Zones so I'm completely perplexed as to why this is not industry standard when an Ipad app has it. 😅

[@timwhitingii]

I have been so frustrated with FC in camera not matching up in Resolve. I am hoping 19 updates it.

[@KevinTalksFilmmaking]

That would be nice!

[@oo0RECON0oo]

Try setting the monitor to native as opposed to rec 709 etc.

[@StarLightDotPhotos]

Does Ninja Ultra count as an expensive monitor? I am looking at grabbing one for my R5.

[@rodrigolev1]

problem is that not al camera manufacturer have jumped in EL Zones. Blackmagic hasn't yet . Even thought I own a Smallhd Monitor Cine5 I am not able to use EL zone in the poclets

[@AsteriskSarcasm]

Yes you are able to use it with the black magic- I have the same monitor and use it regularly- what you have to do is go into the settings of your monitor and set the color pipe to match that of your camera settings

[@GlenReed]

@@AsteriskSarcasm Does it work natively with Blackmagic or do you have to create a custom map for EL Zones? I just ordered the SmallHD Cine 7 and can't find a solid answer.

[@blanche027]

Ran into the same issue. Not sure why Blackmagic has not addressed the issue. Cinema camera 6k doesnt even show up in the false color selection.

[@KevinTalksFilmmaking]

I noticed that as well. Seems odd considering it's one of their most popular cameras.

[@tamasharangi9002]

The BMPCC 6K false color readout can be made to match the Resolve FC readout in two different ways. If you use the Camera Specific setting, as you're doing it in the video, the image in Resolve has to be in log and apparently under 800 iso, but you can also set the FC readout to "Creative" and then "Exposure Guide" and provide it a Rec 709 normalized image. This mode will match the FC readout on your camera, regardless of what camera you're using, because this mode reads the normalized values. The BM cameras internal false color always reads the log signal. Also, every Alexa before the Alexa 35 puts middle gray at 39 ire, only the Alexa 35 pushes it down -- the Blackmagic pocket cams are at 40 ire so extremely close to the original Alexa line.

[@digitaldevigner4080]

I have been saying this for years. The lame one size fits all method of false color on most monitors is seriously broken. Proper monitors like Flanders Scientific have the ability to customize the levels and colors used. While it may have been exciting to get false color the pathetic version we got wasn’t even really setup for log. Most were designed to work around rec709. It’s just not a very good or accurate tool. We needed either EL Zone or monitors to low is to customize what we use. I may even make the argument that sometimes customized may be better than EL Zone because we can set it up to cover the areas we want. Instead of looking at 12 stops of color maybe we only need to see 4 to 6 colors for the stops we care about. Alas companies outside of SmallHD and Flanders do not seem to want to give proper flexible false color support.

[@StifaniBrothers]

Thanks man

[@adamblair-smith3063]

Pretty sure the reason for missmatched false color between davinci resolve and the camera is because the cameras false color is uncompressed and unprocessed... in other words its not reading from a recording, but instead a live view of the image. More specifically, differences in the false color then are probably because the detail was already "lost" during the recording and isnt going to be "lost" again. When something is clipped or crushed in digital imaging, the camera typically still knows the luminance(voltage) of the missing information. For instance, something that is being measured at -3 IRE by the camera will be discarded and become 0 IRE. Likewise, something 113 IRE will become 100 IRE. Also, the false color in davinci resolve is probably meant to tell colorists how their color grade is affecting the image, not nessesarily the detail gained/lost during recording, so it makes sense that it would get slightly different results. This is, to my understanding, how this works, although keep in mind I'm not a camera manufacturer or designer so these are simply my best guesses.

[@KevinTalksFilmmaking]

Thank you for this explanation! Them being meant for two different purposes makes sense but why am I able to enter in the camera I used? It seems obvious that the two would match after that. Maybe there's a post from blackmagic that explains the discrepancy but it would be nice if one didn't have to try so hard to find this information. An explainer video from blackmagic would help clear up a lot of the confusion.

[@why_though]

What is the big deal about getting it spot on in camera? The cameras you use have LOADS of left over dynamic range to make the minor adjustment in post with imperceptible impact on quality. And as for clipping, just go and check with the eyedropper tool and read the values in the "clipped" areas to see what the camera/monitor are considering to be clipped, and you will see which one is wrong.

[@KevinTalksFilmmaking]

It’s not really a “big” deal, it’s just that it’s annoying and tedious. The tools should be consistent and predictable. I understand that you can do a lot in post and that’s good for some but others are going to want to achieve something specific. Also, A lot of cinematographers will use their understanding of post production to get a shot. They aren’t just making it look good. Say you want to overexpose an image by 2 stops so you can get a cleaner image in post. You wouldn’t be able to do that with just false color. You can use the noise reduction features in davinci but you can only push that tool so far. As for using the eye dropper to figure out which is wrong, the problem is that neither one of them should be wrong. There should be a way to match the false colors.

[@allen_bernardo_jr]

I think different cameras clip at different IRE levels too (like the S5II clips at 93 or 95 or something supposedly) 😩 I don't really use false color anyway though I'm a noob that uses zebras 🤷🏻‍♂ lol Might be a dumb question but when you were comparing the footage false color in Resolve vs the pocket camera, when the Resolve's false color showed it "wasn't" clipping, was the footage itself actually clipped though where you couldn't recover the highlights/shadows? Because that'd be even worse if not only does the software show a different calibration but that it could be saying something isn't clipped when it really is 🤦🏻‍♂

[@KevinTalksFilmmaking]

I believe the false color on Resolve is generally more accurate. The camera records ire values above 100 and under 0 but it won’t show you on the false color on the camera. That’s because it’s a live view instead of the recording itself . Resolve can actually view the full ire spectrum of the camera you recorded on so it can show you clipping a lot more accurately. (I assume) 🤷‍♂️

[@davidmultimedia2024]

EL Zone is indeed amazing, but honestly, I find this whole False Color VS EL Zone debate to be a total non-sense. It does basically the same thing. Some will say that one reads ''voltage''... but it doesn't change anything to the fact that it simply gives a particular color based on the exposure of your pixels. There is absolutely no problem with False Color tools, as long as they're calibrated in stops/half stops increments and taylored to the dynamic range of the camera and its middle grey point. All it is is a LUT designed for a particular scale/dynamic range. You can very easily make your own False Color LUT perfectly taylored to the dynamic range of your particular camera sensor, choose the number of colors you want, and just add 0.5 stops increments for extra precision (especially around middle grey). You absolutely don't need a monitor with a built-in EL Zone tool to have False Color that shows all stops of your dynamic range (and half stops). For Lumix S cameras, Nick Driftwood made one and there is a free 17x version on his website. That's all i've been using to light up my whole scenes for over a year now, and it's just like EL Zone.. but I can load it on any camera and monitor with LUT function. Much more convenient.

[@kentreyes7379]

Can you say "howdy partner" on your next video