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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Play with this HDR-x shot and share workflow - Resolve

Phil Holland said:
mattJP_phfxQuickLook02.jpg


In terms of working with HDRx there's just a few visual notes I try to keep in mind. As mentioned that discolored coring on the transition of colors between the tonal blends is something to look out for, especially at HDRx +4. The other stuff is really based around if you want a more natural somewhat linear feel to the image or something a bit more "flavored". There's a lot of room to play with that much information and it's more about selectively placing where you want tones to go. With this shot and particular exposure the forest could just as easily be hidden or revealed, surreal saturation or a more natural feel. Just depends on the look you're after. The river and rocks as a visual element poses some interesting narrative and composition thoughts. With a couple of looks I went with I was somewhat inspired by the darkness of the shadow on the rock and foliage frame right and that influenced the approach for the rest of the foreground. However, in the second image I went with more of a detailed approach.
mattJP_phfxQuickLookRGrab.jpg
Click to expand...

Love these Phil, especially image 3. That is exactly what I had in mind but couldn't pull off myself. Happy to see it is possible. You should definitely consider doing a series of cc videos and charging a small fee to view. I for one would pay...

The video this HDRx shot is from covers a span of day to night throughout the video, this HDRx frame being later in the afternoon. Here is a shot from earlier in the day. Not the final grade but for reference purposes.
Step_1.14.2.jpg
 
Matt Ryan said:
Love these Phil, especially image 3. That is exactly what I had in mind but couldn't pull off myself. Happy to see it is possible. You should definitely consider doing a series of cc videos and charging a small fee to view. I for one would pay...
Click to expand...

Thank you sir. Once the Davinci 10 bird lands I might do a 1-3 hour video. There's been talk about me teaching a post color workflow and theory course at Gnomon as well. It's on my list of things I should probably do soon-ish.

I think in reality I should probably do a top to bottom R3D thingy from capture through finish. Might be a good time for that.
 
Phil Holland said:
Thank you sir. Once the Davinci 10 bird lands I might do a 1-3 hour video. There's been talk about me teaching a post color workflow and theory course at Gnomon as well. It's on my list of things I should probably do soon-ish.

I think in reality I should probably do a top to bottom R3D thingy from capture through finish. Might be a good time for that.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah buddy! That would be awesome. Maybe you should do a +4 HDRx tutorial ;) hint, hint. I wan't to see the steps as you work Master Phil haha.
 
Brett Harrison said:
Phil's 'bit more character' grade is the most pleasing to my eye.

But I still haven't seen a grade that doesn't exhibit some HDR dissonance, even if it's very subtle.
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To be fair, this shot is 5Kff but framed for 16x9 center crop. So the spot where that splash may look weird most likely will be out of frame in the final and theres room then for a slight push in. I don't think most would notice. This was just a test and I find it pretty impressive. After shooting this project hiking miles into the forrest carrying all of my own gear, I could have used Dragons native DR. Would have saved me some matte box and filter weight.
 
No worries Brett, I understood. Just wanted to point out the context of the shot because I forgot to in the opening post haha

I agree. Have seen a lot of artifacts in HDRx footage around and most looked "off". This was my first time giving it a shot and was somewhat impressed with the results (not by my shit grade but that all the info was there). Definitely works better with some shots than others. Luckily, the talent doesn't move much or fast, so the only motion to worry about is the running water.
 
hdrx_800.jpg


hdrx_crop_800.jpg


I think it's useful to think and treat HDRx as if it was a single exposure shot with a camera that natively has all that dynamic range.

I do this in Resolve by first loading up the A track and identifying the point at which it clips. Then bring in the X track and use a luma qualifier to key just the information that sits in that clipped area. Be accurate. DO NOT overlap this key to include anything that isn't clipping in the A track. Or at least try and keep it to the bare minimum required to create a seamless key.

Then, still on the X track use one or two points in the middle and top of a curve to bring the exposure up to and matching the A track. So you create a seamless transition between the two exposures. At this stage it will appear as if you've gained no information out of the X track. But because Resolve doesn't clip information when using curves, all that information is actually still up there...

Then downstream from the layer mixer node, grade to bring all that latitude back into the visible range. How you do that is up to you!
 
Nice and natural Juan.

Once more quick one before I zip off until the land of ZZZssss.

This one is based through a Fuji LUT.
mattJP_phfxQuickLook05.jpg
 
Matt Ryan said:
Not sure if it's the HDRx though making the weirdness of the water at that spot. It's right where water hits that rock and causes splashing.
Click to expand...

Hey Matt, good thread you've got going :)
When I played with the amount of blending between the two tracks, I could see some undesirable artifacts pop up in the water. The highlights in the splashing water especially exhibit the effect and as you and Noel point out there's also an unnatural lack of chroma in the rock highlights to watch out for when mixing the tracks. Thinking maybe +4 was a little too much for a natural HDRx blend and could be what we're seeing there. Might be useful to do a simple blend between the tracks to assess the motion to determine if the settings worked for that shot, paying special attention to the movement and highlights of the water. If the water breaks down in motion, then I'm thinking maybe concentrate on getting the rest of the scene looking realistic first, and then do like Phil says and use AE for motion blur on the water.

In the grade you posted, the shadows under the river's edge are deep black, yet the adjacent subject and grass is glowing with no true shadows. Looks like maybe you were trying to draw the focus to him? You can see into every crevice in the foliage, yet the forest has muted specular highlights. The scene appears to be lit with bright sunlight, but both the man and the nearby rocks also have muted highlights. The whole scene also has a hyperreal saturation, so I agree with Jake that the problem it isn't just to do with HDRx. I think Juan makes a good suggestion to create natural luminance values with HDRx, then treat the result downstream to get the look you're after.

On that note, what exactly are you trying to achieve in the end? It looks like you were trying to recreate another time of day. You mentioned messing around with blur and mist, but to my eye this environment doesn't have that feel. It was mentioned that the time of day is late afternoon, but based upon the shadows it looks like mid day. That influenced my grade because to me it looks hot and sunny, not cool and misty. In context to your scene, this grade could go many directions. Is the subject hot and thirsty or is the mood something else entirely? What's the intended purpose of your glowing highlights? Good flow of ideas here, just still wondering what you're trying to achieve. Lets' see some more grades from the OP!
 
Jeff Whitehurst said:
In the grade you posted, the shadows under the river's edge are deep black, yet the adjacent subject and grass is glowing with no true shadows. Looks like maybe you were trying to draw the focus to him? You can see into every crevice in the foliage, yet the forest has muted specular highlights. The scene appears to be lit with bright sunlight, but both the man and the nearby rocks also have muted highlights. The whole scene also has a hyperreal saturation, so I agree with Jake that the problem it isn't just to do with HDRx. I think Juan makes a good suggestion to create natural luminance values with HDRx, then treat the result downstream to get the look you're after.

On that note, what exactly are you trying to achieve in the end? It looks like you were trying to recreate another time of day. You mentioned messing around with blur and mist, but to my eye this environment doesn't have that feel. It was mentioned that the time of day is late afternoon, but based upon the shadows it looks like mid day. That influenced my grade because to me it looks hot and sunny, not cool and misty. In context to your scene, this grade could go many directions. Is the subject hot and thirsty or is the mood something else entirely? What's the intended purpose of your glowing highlights? Good flow of ideas here, just still wondering what you're trying to achieve. Lets' see some more grades from the OP!
Click to expand...

Hey Jeff, definitely trying to draw attention to him. This shot was actually in the afternoon but the hillside behind him was blocking partial sun so it looks mostly overhead. The blur and mist wasn't for this shot but another in the video. Just trying to figure out how to do a pro mist like glow to highlights in general.
 
Phil Holland said:
Thank you sir. Once the Davinci 10 bird lands I might do a 1-3 hour video. There's been talk about me teaching a post color workflow and theory course at Gnomon as well. It's on my list of things I should probably do soon-ish.

I think in reality I should probably do a top to bottom R3D thingy from capture through finish. Might be a good time for that.
Click to expand...


I would be in line for that training material ;)


Now I do have a Gnomon account so that would be bonus if your added :)
 
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