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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 :)

The Gentleman's Underwater Bubble Blower Thread

FWIW, I have found that white balancing at the proper depth and exposure makes a big difference in what I come to the surface with in terms of the amount of latitude I can have in post. Sand, or even rubble, at the depth makes a perfect white balance (it need not be pure white, and it's probably better if it isn't) Cyans are a big problem in UW shooting and the magenta hues of overexposed RED footage is equally problematic.
 
I thought i would pull up some examples and also put these on my flkr page since this comes up all of the time. Recently on a commercial shoot where i knew there were going to be problems when they had hired me and i got to the location. The buzz was that this group would be shooting at best rez and using best cameras for their commercial. They had a guy doing the post, but most of his work was with the topside crew. After asking who was going to color and do the post work underwater it was just thought that the images coming out of the epic would be beautiful, amazing and require very little post work. I had to stop them right there and say, wait. You are going to see very horrid, awful looking flat images in RAW. Anyway, this lead to me doing some quick color looks at the end of the night since their editor/colorist was unfamiliar with the underwater world. And most of us know how difficult it is to tell or show someone what an image should look like on a given day at a given moment....anyway, i found that only about 1/3 of the images that they showcased of underwater even got colored and only the ones i colored were in fact colored....Basically they never got to it...Basically this comes back to how much work it is to shoot RAW and then do your post. I think most all of us know this and i say my ratio usually ends up to be 1:3 to 1:4....if i'm really working images in post to get them crack on. So every hour underwater i expect to spend 3 to 4 in coloring etc....not always the case since not all images i'll color.

Here are some examples of what we are all talking about. So I will now set myself up for a slaying by our Gentelman underwater hunters. Feel free to knock away at my images here...I can take it as long as it's constructive. I might add i did this white shark example just now and left it i RC3 and RG3 just for Rudi. Anyway, using RCX we can only get so close and i nor anyone should expect RCX to do the heavy lifting. RCX (in my opinion) is only to set a base look. And be careful not to overdue it in RCX since you should be doing more in a color program later. ALL of these were shot at default settings. And i'm not arguing anyone should shoot this way, it's just the way i do it after multiple tests. I find i can achieve same results with default settings, albeit save myself a lot of time setting WB and having an assistant for that. That said, on most commercial work, i'll have an assistant, but we carry a burst chart for focus.

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[/url] RCX-BeforeSetting by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url] White Shark: before @ 5k by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

8721994722_be071966f5_c.jpg
[/url] RCX-AfterSetting by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url] White Shark: after @ 5k by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url] Before: R3d by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url] After: R3d by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Sharks Tonic Immobility

Sharks Tonic Immobility

Love shark diving and shot this at 96 fps yesterday. Just wanted to share it. shot on my EPIC. Quick grade in RED CineX and frame grabs.
 

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Shout out to Johnny F... nice going with the teaser of your whale shark project on Dive Film HD! Mary Lynn Price has curated quite the collection of really great videos on her Apple iTunes Podcast (which was named one of the top 10 Podcasts of 2012 - BTW).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624?mt=2

I'd love to see some work from others on this forum up there this year. (Mine is about 5 back from the top - January 2013 - just after Howard Hall's)
 
Ron Lagerlof said:
Shout out to Johnny F... nice going with the teaser of your whale shark project on Dive Film HD! Mary Lynn Price has curated quite the collection of really great videos on her Apple iTunes Podcast (which was named one of the top 10 Podcasts of 2012 - BTW).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624?mt=2

I'd love to see some work from others on this forum up there this year. (Mine is about 5 back from the top - January 2013 - just after Howard Hall's)
Click to expand...

Ron, Mary Lynn does an outstanding job. In fact she's quite the accomplished shooter, narrator and editor. Can't say enough about her and to help the U/W community with her efforts. I think a very nice platform that she has there. Excuse the uncolored/h26r trailer. the doc is actually finished and in full color DPX stabilized and colored far beyond the teaser i sent MaryLynn. But had no time to re-do the trailer. Every ounce of effort went back into the actual doc. Which was shot by myself and Alfredo Barroso. That was a self produced doc that we are now selling internationally ....hopeless to get a US sale as they really want live action reality style shows.

At any rate, this and another show are my first ventures to do such a thing--self produced, edited, and sales. And it's a difficult path. One that takes years to get from A to Z. We're still at W though.

Thanks Ron. Where's M.Thorpe on this....he produces some rather beautiful stuff his neck of the woods.
 
Some South Australian whites from a shoot last week. The bottom cage is pretty cool but a PIA to shoot from as it bounces and is pretty deep (30m / 100ft) fingers crossed it gets a good grade for the show.

B035_C092_0507ZL.0000609.jpg

B035_C142_05080T.0000150.jpg
 
Yes, it looks great, specially the top shot. BUT, do I see some color fringing on the bottom shot on the areas where the light hits the shark's skin? There's something weird going on there. Could you post an enlargement Jon?
 
Rudi Herbert said:
...There's something weird going on there. Could you post an enlargement Jon?
Click to expand...

The problem of magenta cast and loss of contrast is well understood.

We know the mechanism and how it originates in certain conditions. I don't think it is not possible or easy to remove it in post.
 
Pawel Achtel said:
The problem of magenta cast and loss of contrast is well understood.

We know the mechanism and how it originates in certain conditions. I don't think it is not possible or easy to remove it in post.
Click to expand...

Pawel,

Well understood by whom, you? Those of us that have come across it on frequent basis do not have an explanation, only suppositions. And I assume you mean it is not easy to fix, or even not possible? Or is it? Your reply, sorry to say, is as vague as usual and not really helpful. I really wish people with the intellectual capacity and technical means to understand issues like this one were able, or willing, to share their findings with the rest. To truly share, not simply announce that you know what's going on. This is a SERIOUS issue, to the point where many underwater cinematographers are either abandoning the Epic or not considering it for underwater use. Topside is a different story, but then again, underwater is what matters to us.
 
Rudi Herbert said:
Pawel,

Well understood by whom, you? Those of us that have come across it on frequent basis do not have an explanation, only suppositions. And I assume you mean it is not easy to fix, or even not possible? Or is it? Your reply, sorry to say, is as vague as usual and not really helpful. I really wish people with the intellectual capacity and technical means to understand issues like this one were able, or willing, to share their findings with the rest. To truly share, not simply announce that you know what's going on. This is a SERIOUS issue, to the point where many underwater cinematographers are either abandoning the Epic or not considering it for underwater use. Topside is a different story, but then again, underwater is what matters to us.
Click to expand...
I second Rudi Pawel. If Dragon doesn't solve this issue, I'm going to swallow a very bitter pill by abandoning my investment in RED.
That would be a very drastic and painful decision so any problem-solving advise would be very welcome.
If you have the answer to this issue we would happily hear it from you :)
Thanks!
 
Very nice. These are stills grabbed from motion?

Jon Shaw said:
Some South Australian whites from a shoot last week. The bottom cage is pretty cool but a PIA to shoot from as it bounces and is pretty deep (30m / 100ft) fingers crossed it gets a good grade for the show.

B035_C092_0507ZL.0000609.jpg

B035_C142_05080T.0000150.jpg
Click to expand...
 
For sale:

- 1x Gates Deep Epic (new Dec. 2012)
- 1x Gates Deep Red (good condition)
- Aquavideo housing (needs some work)

Plus:
- RED One M-X #1670
- RED One M-X #8966
- possibly 1x Epic-X

List with pictures and specifics to follow. If you are interested, PM me and I can give you some preliminary details.

Amund
 
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