Hey guys. So here is my tutorial and review of the Polar Pro Cinema Series Vivid collection which has the ND4/8/16/PL.

A couple things first. Excuse a couple of misspellings in the vid.

I don't know why but after several attempts, it would not let me upload the 35 gig ProRes version which looks MAGNIFICENT but I tried twice in two days and it keeps getting stuck at 70% so I was forced to just render out an H.264 which is then compressed again in the YT processing. Also I am not sure why it is not offering a 4K when the video is but it might just still be processing it at the moment. (In the Creater Studio of my channel I can get 4K but not on the main space yet).

ANY artifacts are caused by the compression as it went through 3. First from the bird onboard h.264 (which looks amazing), the second on render, another h.264 YT preset (Not terrible but would eliminate it by it accepting the ProRes which wouldn't lose a generation) and a third on the upload (now showing some minor artifacts but not bad). All things considered it actually looks good for three generations of compression. I would eliminate one generation of compression if the ProRes would successfully upload. I am gonna drop the bitrate down and make it smaller and reup it later.

Another thing is when I am showing myself screwing on the ND4 I say "now its snapped" or something and it looks like I am tightening it way more than I am. THERE IS NO SNAP. I say "finger tight" and that's all it should be. You DO NOT want to twist the filter on too tight. I also wanted to say that when you are removing the filter, it comes off easiest when you put your fingers around both parts of the filter (the moveable part and the threaded part). For some reason if you just grab the threaded part, it is more difficult.

I also didn't do a great job of explaining the polarizing gradient (not to be confused with a color gradient). I'm sure most of you know what a gradient is but in case you don't it's just means an increase or decrease of an element of something. Most obvious in a color gradient but with the polarizer gradient and how it turns in the video, is to show you how and where you want to place the stronger polarization.

The best example of this would be with pretty much all of the video I shot (not withstanding the opening video which is just me shot on an iPhone explaining). Most shots were with water and sky. This is a great example of when you would want greater polarization on the water vs the sky as water is reflective and the sky is not but then again, maybe you want to put more polarization on the sun instead of the ground. That's what great about these is that they are variable. Absolutely love the polarizing factor on these.

The ND part of the filter is a constant value.

I did ZERO color correction other than converting the vids from D-Log to Rec709 using a LUT (Look Up Table). The only exception are in the shots in Encinitas where I added some rather obvious creative color correction but that makes up about 2 or 3 of all the shots and they are obvious. All the rest are just the bird (Phantom 4) and filter and no CC!

I will try and get a better render of the video uploaded and will replace it with that when I do but for now, please enjoy and make sure you watch the last few minutes of the video after the explanation where I show a bunch of shots I did using only the Vivid Collection from Polar Pro and DJI Phantom 4.

I hope you enjoy and possibly learn. If you feel anything I said or did is wrong, I am all ears to kind words.

Please bump up the quality to the highest available because it seems to start at 360p.  Having weird YT issues today.

Very informative post. Thanks for sharing. At 7.49 (sunset footage), was that with ND8 or ND16?

Thanks
-PK

PKPhantom Posted at 2017-1-18 17:20
Very informative post. Thanks for sharing. At 7.49 (sunset footage), was that with ND8 or ND16?

Thanks

Good eye on that one.

I was at a 16 with that one and it was a weird shot because when I turned around it was a lot less dark. I loved the way that shot ended up looking dark but it was at the same time of day as the shots heading back East towards the pier.

Thanks for the kudos.  ND16 with the polarizer factor on the water.

ArtistFirst Posted at 2017-1-18 17:24
Good eye on that one.

I was at a 16 with that one and it was a weird shot because when I turned around it was a lot less dark. I loved the way that shot ended up looking dark but it was at the same time of day as the shots heading back East towards the pier.

For a minute there I thought it was ND32. But again, your tutorial covers up to ND16. That's an incredible shot. The Sunset, water reflection, iconic structure on the water, flying the old glory.....seems like it was almost staged, lol

Yeah, with these Filters, I've come to realize that once I have the highest Filter on there and chasing a sunset, it has to stick 100% with the sunset. Turning around completely darkens the surrounding. Unless I bump up the ISO, but then it defeats the purpose.

PKPhantom Posted at 2017-1-18 17:58
For a minute there I thought it was ND32. But again, your tutorial covers up to ND16. That's an incredible shot. The Sunset, water reflection, iconic structure on the water, flying the old glory.....seems like it was almost staged, lol

Yeah, with these Filters, I've come to realize that once I have the highest Filter on there and chasing a sunset, it has to stick 100% with the sunset. Turning around completely darkens the surrounding. Unless I bump up the ISO, but then it defeats the purpose.

Exactamindo, and why if you are really going to step up your game, being able to step the iris up or down remotely is a heavy advantage.

Thanks for the kudos. Very kind.

Adam