Matching colors from 2 different cameras

[Joe Williams]

Hellp my fellow sony users, I shot a video using my a74 and used my Sony Z90 as a second angle camera. I had a blue pattern muslin as a backdrop. WHen i got to post the muslin background looked totally different, The Z90 was on the green side and the a74 was closer to the muslin colors. My question is, how can I calibrate these cameras so they look the same? I didn;t use any picture profiles or Slog. I did manage however to get the colors close in resolve but on closer look one can see the difference in cllors. I would like your advise please, I have 3 more interviews to shoot.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Did you do a custom white balance on both cameras with a gray card before shooting?

 

[Joe Williams]

Did you do a custom white balance on both cameras with a gray card before shooting?

No i didn;t I use the the auto white balance, I would do that on my next shoot

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Auto white balance has done funky things for me in the past. If your lighting is not changing, like studio lighting, then set the custom white balance on both and you'll at least have a closer baseline to color correct them in post.

 

[Joe Williams]

No i didn;t I use the the auto white balance, I would do that on my next shoot

Here is scrfeenshots of the same scene, I was baffled. What do you thik of using picture profiles? would Slog help? I am confused.

 

[Joe Williams]

Auto white balance has done funky things for me in the past. If your lighting is not changing, like studio lighting, then set the custom white balance on both and you'll at least have a closer baseline to color correct them in post.

FYI the A74 is dead on in terms of color

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

FYI the A74 is dead on in terms of color

If not using a gray card to do custom white balance on both, then how about take a picture with the A74, note the Kelvin temp in the metadata, and then on the Z90 go to camera settings, white balance temp set, and scroll to a Kelvin rating that is closer to what the A74 is using.

Really the only way to remain consistent is to not use AWB on either camera.

 

[Joe Williams]

FYI the A74 is dead on in terms of color

Thats a good Idea, my next shoot is on the 9th so i would put your suggestion in action and see what happens, I've copy paste your suggestion tomy google keeps, thanks. One question, is there a way to create your own PP for the a74?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Thats a good Idea, my next shoot is on the 9th so i would put your suggestion in action and see what happens, I've copy paste your suggestion tomy google keeps, thanks. One question, is there a way to create your own PP for the a74?

Honestly, I don't know. My video knowledge is based on the a6400 and a few youtube searches. The thing is, Picture Profiles are great for fine tuning color grading, but White Balance is far more basic than that. Get both cameras to a similar kelvin temp and most of your work will be done for you.

 

[Ivanturas]

Honestly, I don't know. My video knowledge is based on the a6400 and a few youtube searches. The thing is, Picture Profiles are great for fine tuning color grading, but White Balance is far more basic than that. Get both cameras to a similar kelvin temp and most of your work will be done for you.

Also, get a color chart... the aforementioned gray card is good enough, but you can get a spydercheckr 24 for a very affordable price, gives you really good results, and if you're using Resolve, will take you no time to adjust. I just can't recommend it enough.

Regarding what you already shot... again, if you're using Resolve, there's a color match feature that should work for this case. I'm not sure about a similar feature on Premiere/AFX... there probably is, but while I do use the tools from both Adobe & BMD, I don't really rely much on Lumetri.

 

[Joe Williams]

Also, get a color chart... the aforementioned gray card is good enough, but you can get a spydercheckr 24 for a very affordable price, gives you really good results, and if you're using Resolve, will take you no time to adjust. I just can't recommend it enough.

Regarding what you already shot... again, if you're using Resolve, there's a color match feature that should work for this case. I'm not sure about a similar feature on Premiere/AFX... there probably is, but while I do use the tools from both Adobe & BMD, I don't really rely much on Lumetri.

Thank you, I am going to browse on amazon now to get that spyder 24, i really don;t want anymore surprises. I do use resolve so I would look for that color match feature, i did however did my editing in premier but for the next shoot its resolve all the way. THanks again, the feedback here has been great.

 

[Ivanturas]

Thank you, I am going to browse on amazon now to get that spyder 24, i really don;t want anymore surprises. I do use resolve so I would look for that color match feature, i did however did my editing in premier but for the next shoot its resolve all the way. THanks again, the feedback here has been great.

Well, if you like coloring in Davinci and didn't do much more than just editing in Premiere (no funky effects and stuff), you can just export an XML and import it to Resolve.
It may sound a little cumbersome, but actually until not too long ago, the usual workflow was roundtripping the edit from Premiere to Resolve, coloring it, and then back to Premiere for final adjustments (back when editing in Resolve was awful or just a feature at all).