Exposing RED Dragon (Scarlet W brain)

[Benjamin Abramowitz]

First post, new RED operator, and have a question about ETTR.

It's no secret that skipping in-camera compression and signal processing means there is no NR done on the footage (read: RED footage will look noisier than a compressed format (insert arguments about organic quality of noise here)). It's also no secret that GIO mode shows you the raw sensor parameters to help you expose correctly. In doing so, is it best practice to ETTR in GIO mode until the goalposts/traffic lights are impacted, then slightly reduce exposure lights/ND/aperture, then switch back off GIO mode and set mainly your metadata ISO, then aperture/ND so that the middle grey values reflected in Video mode are where you want them?

Or are you folks exposing GIO for middle grey then getting the other settings to match it? I'm trying to understand how to maximize SNR and dynamic range, especially since when I go into GIO mode I see a little "800" greyed out on the ISO menu, leading me to believe that even though there "isn't a base ISO", there's actually a recommended ISO rating of 800.

I hope this makes sense; feel free to clarify if you wish. I'm coming from Canon so this is almost a brave new world to me, except I was part of beta testing with 5D Mark III raw video so I know raw generally.

Thanks!

 

[Benjamin Abramowitz]

Sorry, I meant raw view mode, not GIO.

 

[Robino_J]

SNR is really based on your own tolerance to noise.

Since getting my first RED in 2012 I never ever looked at the Goal Posts and I always get fine exposures and acceptable noise levels. For exposure I look at the RED Touch 5" (redGamma 3, Dragon Color..not DC2 it clips highly saturated lights) and and It matches my Flanders close enough.

The Traffic lights are essentials and when they light up you know you're clipping - That's the one tool I really use a lot, Histogram a little.. all these tools say the same thing, find what works for you.

The key is knowing your camera, what it can / cannot do. You have to know your monitor. Test and practice , don't get all worried about all this because you have PLENTY of dynamic range to work with.

For ISO I use 800 90% with the Skintone OLPF but if I really need cleaner i'll go lower, 250, 500 and light more or open up..

So I wouldn't worry about it, practice and test you have a great camera to work with.