Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

The Gentleman's Underwater Bubble Blower Thread

Thanks very much Johnny,

I should mention that post will be going to a high-end house in LA, the most accurate WB setting should provide them with lots of latitude; comment duly noted to have slate on talent as well as water. That being said, they have the capability to make R3D look like pretty much like anything they want, so possibly a little relief there on my part.

The other factor, my camera feed is being monitored by the topside folks at the end of a 100' SDI cable, we have quite an extensive shot log to go through, so viewfinder look is very important, as that will drive whether we do the one-take-charlie thing, or go at it over and over again, me in 60-degree ocean water, them on the beach with frothy latte... Christ my freezing balls, ya know...

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Thanks very much Johnny,

I should mention that post will be going to a high-end house in LA, the most accurate WB setting should provide them with lots of latitude; comment duly noted to have slate on talent as well as water. That being said, they have the capability to make R3D look like pretty much like anything they want, so possibly a little relief there on my part.

The other factor, my camera feed is being monitored by the topside folks at the end of a 100' SDI cable, we have quite an extensive shot log to go through, so viewfinder look is very important, as that will drive whether we do the one-take-charlie thing, or go at it over and over again, me in 60-degree ocean water, them on the beach with frothy latte... Christ my freezing balls, ya know...

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!
Click to expand...

if thats the case...why worry about setting up a look undewater...sounds like they can then do that topside...all they probably want is a contrasty image to see better on a monitor since in the end as long as you have good focus and framing, they can then do anything they want...but personally i see no need to going to the trouble of trying to make an image look good on my viewfinder when i know focus is good and i can change the look later. That said, it's a personal fit for me...
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Question?

Upcoming shoot with actors in about 15 ft of greenish water, overhead sun between 10 & 2, using 2 x 16000 lumen LED's for fill, WB on white slate (The Red sensor doesn't react well to 18% grey underwater), WB calc lights on or off?

Seems to me off is the correct answer for background water colors, but scratching head over this one.

Responses much appreciated, thx.
Click to expand...

Hi Tom, Why do you say the RED sensor (which one?) doesn't react well to 18% gray?
In my experience (Dragon sensor) it works very well on the gray side of the slate with lights on.
 
Hi Rui,

I had a discussion at the DEMA Gates booth last week with an underwater grading specialist who works extensively with Resolve, let me ask him to post comments here.
 
Tom/Rui, in my limited experience so far white balancing the Scarlet W underwater, I have found that a white card works quite well and have never achieved what I would consider to be a decent WB when using a grey card.

Other people's experience may be different of course and I am not saying that my testing should be taken as absolute proof, it is merely my experience to date.

Tom, personally I would WB on a white card with the lights on. That will help to get skin tones close and will also help to balance out the foreground, whilst helping to boost the red channel.
Yes I know it is a raw image but you can't manipulate a colour that simply isn't recorded. By WB-ing with the lights on you will help to introduce a greater amount of red colour for post manipulation.

For post, your colourist would be able to pull a key for the background water colour and manipulate that separately and they will have better results if you have introduced as much colour in to the scene as possible.

Just my thoughts of course and happy to discuss more if needed.

Cheers Pete.
 
Hi Peter and Tom,

The main reason why I use the gray side of the WB slate is because that way I don't need to re-adjust the exposure to take the reading (I've found that using the white side overexposure/bad readings is more probable and most of the times I need to first readjust exposure to that white site).
I did not made any comparative tests to check if the WB off the gray side is better or worst then from the white side. Its just based on my experience in an unscientific way, although the general procedure in the photographic world is to advice to use more the gray side instead of the white side.

A side note, I have two WB slates and although the gray sides looks similar, the white sides have slightly different tonalities (they are exactly the same brand and model, but were bought several months apart).

Regarding lights: yes, with lights on but not too powerful. Use a lower setting. The reason is if you use too much artificial light you will have a stronger red input so the WB will result more to the blue side (making the water less blue, since the WB will approach the ocean color). If you use a lower power setting you will be measuring in a slate the receives a higher percentage of natural light and less artificial light which results of a WB in a lower Kelvin, making the water more blue.
Of course that this also depends on the WB of the lights you use. I use the Light & Motion Sola Video Pro 8000/9600 that burns at 5000K.
 
H2O ~ Helium ~ MONSTRO

Hi guys,

Merely an FYI: living in one of the worst underwater environments for RED's Dragon, I must say I'm not stressed anymore whether or not I slapped H2O on or not with Helium.
I don't think it makes much difference anymore (re magenta, CA & green blacks).
Personally I think all has been solved, apart from (but way less) magenta under low light conditions (in the 'dreaded Cayman waters').

I'd like to see which difference MONSTRO will make, planning to take her underwater first half December.
If M makes the same jump H did after Dragon, then we're in for some very good news :)
Unfortunately H2O doesn't fit Monstro (unbelievable how much larger that sensor is vs H or D); so I won't be testing H2O on M.
Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile, for those of us shooting NIKONOS RS 13mm and wonder about MONSTRO coverage:
• Vignettes mildly on the smaller 8K formats
• Vignettes heavily from 8K HD to FF
• Covers up to 7K FF

Keep blowing bubbles!!
 
I am looking for a DSMC H2o filter (original not DSMC2)- if you have upgraded your rig and have one to sell... shoot me a note.
MH
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Thank you for the info Michael. What lenses are you planning to use with Monstro?
Click to expand...
Canon CN20x50 IAS H, Zeiss cp2 & cz2 fam, and Nikonos RS (mainly 13mm).
Only the Nikonos lenses go underwater ;)

Mauricio Handler said:
I am looking for a DSMC H2o filter (original not DSMC2)- if you have upgraded your rig and have one to sell... shoot me a note.
MH
Click to expand...
Hi Mauricio, I should have an H2O DSMC "1" which I can part of.
 
Just sharing a little video I put together from a recent trip to Bali.
This was shot on the Scarlet W in a Gates Pro Action Housing and using the Gates GT-14 Lights along with the Nikon 70-180mm macro lens.

The R3D's were edited and graded in Resolve 14.1 with a couple of clips post stabilised.
Graded wasn't a big job as the files were already close to what I wanted thanks to the H20 OLPF and white balancing underwater off a white slate.

Most of the colour corrections would be considered as secondaries, so pulling a key on certain parts of the image to blend the colours a little, adding vignette's to some clips, using curves to isolate specific colours etc etc.
Cheers Pete.

 
All, I have been workIng with legacy Zeiss Contax glass on several recent projects, if you don't know about these lenses, perhaps you might want to have a look. Gorgeous in every way, cinematic, astonishing bokeh, razor sharp, has changed the way I shoot in so many ways. Covers Monstro.

I now have acquired most of the primes, including the 'Hollywood' 28, a small fraction of the price compared to much more expensive glass with the same performance. Phil Holland take note.

Get them before Michael Maes corners the market on these astonishing lenses. :-)

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?92044-Contax-Zeiss-Survival-Guide&p=1770565#post1770565
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1801.jpg
    IMG_1801.jpg
    92.2 KB · Views: 0
DEEP WEAPON for sale -- Slightly Used

DEEP WEAPON for sale -- Slightly Used

Anyone need a slightly used DW? We are helping a customer to switch over to a Pro Action or Pro Explore.

DEEP WEAPON
RT7 External Monitor for RED Touch 7" LCD
PE386
SP80 Glass Dome Port
+ All the usual included things (Seal Check, Spare Kit, Tool Kit, more)

Comes with Gates 2 year renewable warranty.

Contact Pamela if interested.

J-
 
Can you post asking price John? Would be helpful I guess.

Fully sympathize with the effort to reduce gear weight and size to minimum, baggage charges are out of control. Worldwide airline 'ancillary revenue', their euphemism for 'gotcha by the testes', in 2017 alone stands at 82.2 billion dollars (yes, that's a 'b'). They will sell you the seat for a song, and then grab you by the baggage balls until you go operatic and reach the high notes.

I have personally circumvented some of this using my aircraft for shoots within a thousand nautical mile range or so of home base here in Florida/Bahamas, for those without that option, I recommend Fedex shpment to location for domestic shoots.

Internationally, to mitigate those expenses, John's carry-on Pro Action/Adventure housings are certainly an excellent solution.
 
I've just arrived from a trip to Baja California where I've been able to carry on almost all the camera equipment. The housing was at sight carried with a shoulder strap (Nauticam LT housing, big 230mm dome port, Weapon, 2xPagLink battery, fishes lens). In a fishing vest I had another PagLing battery, two extra monitor's batteries and two Light & Motion Sola video Pro Lights. I also used to "pockets" from Lowpro that I use in my belt with two more L&M Sola Video Pro lights. In a relatively small backpack I had my external monitor inside it's housing, another battery, two external 3.5" hard drives, laptop Macbook Air and all the chargers (two of each).
In the checked bag I only had two extension rings and two chargers :-)

Three flights for each side and no problem at all :-) :-) :-)
 
That was lucky Rui, guess those airlines haven't joined the feeding frenzy yet. In addition to checked bag fees, my carry-on has been weighed at all airports in Australia, and Tahiti, they charged me for that as well.

I don't include baggage estimates to clients anymore, because you never know, I just submit receipts after the fact.
 
Gentlemen, I have a relic from an earlier life which is a custom made Swedish Seacam housing for a Aaton XTRprod with Canon8-64mm. I used it in the Arctic a lot. It has two exchangable ports for wider angles (9mm & 5.5mm) and a separate housing for the LCD screen. In any event, it has sat in my studio for long enough and I have now listed it on eBay. I mention it here simply for the interest of anybody or for your amusement.
It is beautifully built, extremely solid (outdated) but could be adapted to other cameras, I dare say even a RED. Not exactly competition for the modern gear today (except maybe weight Tom!) but really unique nevertheless.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seacam-Underwater-custom-housing-for-Aaton-XTRProd-Could-adapt-to-other-camera/253254320898?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top