fleshtone reference

The last time I went to a professional DeVinci bay and watched the generously paid colorist do his magic, and I do appreciate their artistry, I remember seeing a picture of an attractive lady that he used as a calibrated reference for fleshtone. As I remember it was used to compare the fleshtone on the scopes as well as to refresh the colorists eye to what the correct color balance should look like. (they called her by name as there is a story about how she got the job).

My question, if you've read this far, is do we have a good reference for FCP. As all tv's are set up differently and bars will only take you so far. I have five cameras and each seems to have a different color nature. I know this seems more asthetic than technical, but we are non-linear by nature aren't we.

Thanks



Barrett Taylor

<<<bars will only take you so far.>>>

Perfectly true. Before the colorbars, you need to color balance the monitor so in blackand white, it looks like daylight and then adjust the lights in the room versus the "brightnesses" control so the black level on the face of the monitor is in the right place.

Then put the bars up and adjust the color calibration so the colors come out right.

After you do that to all your monitors, they should all look pretty much the same--like ours do.

The lady in the leader is called "Marcy" or "Marcie" also known as the Girl Head. I've never seen a video version of that because the *rest* of the frame has calibration patches relating to film gamma, color correction and transfer characteristics. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means I never seen one.

If you do go about transfering Marcy from film stock to video, you have to start making decisions like what parts of the picture to throw away because film has a much broader range of brightnesses than video does.

There were two Marsies, by the way. A very old one that's been on film stock since they decided to use 35 for the film size, and the new one, which has only been on film for the past ten years or so.

Europe tends to like test patterns with humans in them. Not so much in the US.

Koz

There's a flesh tone reference in the FCP scopes, too. Open your scopes and have a look at the the vectorscope.

The pink line that looks like a clock hand at about 11 o'clock is the flesh tone reference. All types of skin should fall around this line. (unless you are doing something else on purpose.)

Also, you can use the match hue feature to get your different stocks into rough alignment.

[(they called her by name as there is a story about how she got the job)]

In film we knew her as Shirley-- or the China Girl. Seems she has changed her name-- and probably lies about her age as well.
But those pink cheeks are crucial... talking about her *face*, guys...

- Loren
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Yea, China girl (although she wasn't asian). That was it. I think she was the wife of someone at Eastman Kodak or something. Marcie I don't remember. I guess with all televisions having their own unique color settings and everyone having their own taste, it's pretty subjective. Just getting an even hue adjustment and similar tones is as good as it gets. I have one angle that has three men sitting on a couch. One is always tan, the second is East Indian and the third always looks like he has a sunburn everytime I see him.

Anyone have any experience with preferences of the networks as far as saturation is concerned?



Barrett Taylor

<<<I guess with all televisions having their own unique color settings >>>

Exactly. Which is why you can't use a television to judge color. You need to use a professional or broadcast monitor. Those answer to a "higher authority" to borrow a phrase from a Hebrew National Meats commercial.

Those monitors do not "make people look really really good". They show you what's really there so you can judge quality without having to second guess a manufacturer.

Koz

Also, you can use the match hue feature to get your different stocks into rough alignment.

Yes, but make sure to match hue in the midtones. If you choose a highlight, you will have a tougher time with getting the fleshtones close.

Kevin Monahan
Author, "Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro"
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