New Blue Video Essentials

backlit wrote on 10/10/2008, 7:24 AM
The majority of my material involves underwater video which almost always needs colorization and white balance work. Vegas provides some wonderful tools for this but I'm always on the lookout for easier ways to get the job done. Has anyone had any experience with the new plug from New Blue called Video Essentials? If so, how do you like it? I plan to take it for a trial run next week but would love to hear your opinions.

Thanks,
David

Comments

jetdv wrote on 10/10/2008, 8:24 AM
This may help.
Randy Brown wrote on 10/10/2008, 3:45 PM
I downloaded the trial but it the intterface is nothing like the tutorial (tips and tricks)...it doesn't even have an eyedropper to select white.
farss wrote on 10/10/2008, 6:19 PM
"The majority of my material involves underwater video which almost always needs colorization and white balance work. "

I've never shot anything underwater, heck the very thought of being underwater gives me nightmares so take this with a grain of salt.

The best solution is to deal with these problems in camera.
I've tried correcting wonky underwater footage, it's a nightmare.
On the other hand we've got a HC7 in an Amphibico underwater housing that comes with a white balance card and a red filter and the ability to WB the camera underwater.

From memory the red filter should be used below 10M, you should set WB at every depth change or regularly when conditions change. One common trick is to velcro a plastic white card onto the left arm for easy WBing.

My apologies if you know all the above and are still having problems.

Bob.
jetdv wrote on 10/11/2008, 6:58 AM
Randy, mine looks just like those examples. I *DO* see an eyedropper.
Randy Brown wrote on 10/11/2008, 7:22 AM
That's strange, I see boxes where I can type in different parameters and when I click the color selector I only see a color chart to choose from or RGB boxes to type in.
I just went to the link to make sure I downloded the right one and I did.... NewBlueVideoEssentialsForWindowsSetup10.exe.
I wonder if it could be something in V8 that I have checked (or unchecked)?
Thanks Edward,
Randy
backlit wrote on 10/11/2008, 12:32 PM
Thanks for the information Randy, Bob, Ed. While I agree with Bob 100% about setting WB in the camera, doing so underwater is tricky stuff. Even though you can easily set it, and I do most of the time, one needs the time to do so. Underwater subjects aren't likely to stay still while your point your camera at a plastic card. Another problem I deal with is that often lighting changes during each shot and so does the balance. A clip that started out balanced often is off at the end. Also, It is not just WB that I'm after. Adding black, saturation and other tweaks... Come to think of it, I'm actually looking for "Lightroom" only for video. This plug looks like it might be a step in that direction. I will be trying it soon. If anyone is interested I'll post my thoughts as I try it out. I am making two vacation movies as we speak.

Cheers,
David