This thread is intended to help others achieve great results with their camera. I'd like to invite all of you to take part and develop a good starting point for all Osmo+ users.
When I started with the Osmo+ I was baffled at first what this thing can do but soon the euphoria came to a halt because the material just didn't look as natural as I'd like. Especially shots of cars felt weird as if something is wrong or missing. I even went through the process of viewing the resulting videos on different screens...This is where the story begins.
Right now I'm testing different styles and settings and -prior- I've read a lot of opinions to investigate on the subject LUT development for the X3 Zoom without spending money on prefabs. Almost no profile provided satisfied my needs and if so the thing is just too pricey. Most of the supplied LUTs are even developed for aerial photography on the Mavic or the-like. Getting nowhere with the color correction stuff I headed out to try it on my own. How hard can it be to develop a self-made LUT anyway? We're talking about color correction after all!
After several tries I came to the conclusion that simply the base correction is key, while also taking care of the camera settings in the first place in order to receive natural looking, vivid colors with the camera. You can then go ahead and safely add color corrections to give the image a certain visual style as you prefer and not as the seller of the LUT wants it. Just getting the whole color spectrum right without applying any effects. So the ultimate goal is to achieve a safe foundation, a starting point for getting the most out of it. This means having your camera set up correctly. It is absolutely vital to produce footage that's close to what you expect. No software can effectively turn bad source material to perfect cinema-quality videos and if it could, the rendering times are just terrible...
So once more I've jumped into the car and recorded some footage to test out what works best. After this trip I was confident to have something to share with the community!
Alright - first things first, here's a comparison video where three different styles have been applied on top of the LUT correction and in the LUT applied without any effects. The first two clips are recorded out of the window while it was down, the other two are recorded straight through the windscreen:
This LUT is optimized for best performance of the sensor which means shooting at ISO 100, 1/60 for 30fps and 1/120 for 60fps. In order to achieve that it might be necessary to have a set of ND filters handy. In this video for example it was necessary to put on the ND16 even though the Sun was just two hours away from setting. Keep in mind that the source material must be free of artifacts of any sort in order to achieve clean output. That's something I forgot to take into account way back when I just started to use the Osmo+ Profile: D-Cinelike Saturation: +2 Contrast: 0 Sharpness: -1
Why Cinelike? Most of the information on the web states that D-LOG is the way to go but this profile produces weird artifacts like moireé and grain that can't be removed easily. It's just not right for the X3 in my opinion. You'll get a 100% better results with D-Cinelike right from the start. Usually you would want to have the source material as flat as possible to have more leeway in post production. Unfortunately the sensor of the X3 doesn't cut it with the D-LOG profile and what you'll end up with it is just muddy material.
Had a few minutes and shot some test footage of my Osmo +. D-Log, Polar Pro ND8 Polarizer, ISO 100, 4K, 24fps, 1/50th. Osmo + -2 Sharpness, -3 Contrast. Brought into FCPX Color Finale. Loaded Polar Pro Electra Lut and graded from there. Did a + 2.5 sharpening filter. Footage shot today 1:00pm an hour after the rain so this is the worst light possible. However I am pointing NW/N/NE on October 2nd. I've included a frame grab from my ipod showing the histogram.
For me the DJI Osmo + moving to Contrast -3 (lowest contrast) really gave me the retained detail in highlights and shadows so grading was simple. My histogram became center weighted with the Polar Pro ND 8 CP filter and ISO at 100 with 24fps at 1/50th. more later.
I got good results with D-LOG as long as I dropped the contrast in camera to -3 and sharpness I think -1 or -2. But D-LOG with Contrast -3 combined with ND filters like Polar Pro brand (though there are many) really suddenly made my Osmo + descent. Wish it was 150 mbps though..
The more time you spend on tweaking the settings on the camera itself, the less you need to invest in post production. This rule applies to all cameras ;)
Because I usually move a lot between shots I prefer the route of spending most of the time in post production. It heavily depends on the type of capture. When taking pictures you also have the great opportunity to tweak shutter but in video you always want to keep the shutter twice the frame rate. This also limits what contrast and sharpness can be used.
Sharky1 Posted at 2018-10-2 14:04
Had a few minutes and shot some test footage of my Osmo +. D-Log, Polar Pro ND8 Polarizer, ISO 100, 4K, 24fps, 1/50th. Osmo + -2 Sharpness, -3 Contrast. Brought into FCPX Color Finale. Loaded Polar Pro Electra Lut and graded from there. Did a + 2.5 sharpening filter. Footage shot today 1:00pm an hour after the rain so this is the worst light possible. However I am pointing NW/N/NE on October 2nd. I've included a frame grab from my ipod showing the histogram.[view_image][view_image]
For me the DJI Osmo + moving to Contrast -3 (lowest contrast) really gave me the retained detail in highlights and shadows so grading was simple. My histogram became center weighted with the Polar Pro ND 8 CP filter and ISO at 100 with 24fps at 1/50th. more later.
I have had my osmo + for a month or so but yet to really use it.
Usually you would want to have the source material as flat as possible to have more leeway in post production.
Coming from a photography background I would prefer to get it right as far as possible in the camera and rely on post processing minimally.
You do raise interesting points and the proof is in the pudding as they say. I am about to head home to Aus for a holiday and hope to get a lot of beach work done (love our beaches !) amongst other things tying it in with my Mavic Air footage and see what I can come up with
I have had my osmo + for a month or so but yet to really use it.
There is, like always, no universal road to success
You can get great results with standard settings and D-Cinelike profile but don't forget to bring ND filters with you
Because of the sensors limitations it's best to aim for a more flat image for better detail.
I have had my osmo + for a month or so but yet to really use it.
I do think you need to get the exposure right in camera, but with video it is hard to get the exposure right for the whole shot (since lighting can change while you move around).
So with a still you can set your exposure just right for that shot, with video you want some more room for post processing to be able to bring back some darker area's etc.
For that you will need a 'flat' profile.
Montfrooij Posted at 2018-10-30 11:42
I do think you need to get the exposure right in camera, but with video it is hard to get the exposure right for the whole shot (since lighting can change while you move around).
So with a still you can set your exposure just right for that shot, with video you want some more room for post processing to be able to bring back some darker area's etc.
For that you will need a 'flat' profile.
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