If the Luxi's are out of stock, you could use this as the light dome, but it's not ideal because it won't hold itself to the phone - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
Excellent video, genuinely one of the better and more useful wedding tutorials I've seen in a while. Extremely valuable, and I'd say the fastest and best way to dramatically improve footage on a wedding day. love it, thanks for the tips!
Just had a friend calibrating for her Sony camera. She said the max magenta that could be dialed out was +7m but Cine meter couldn't go that low on the tint gain adjustment. +9 was the max. The solution is to higher, all the way to +70G on the tint gain. So +70g on Cine Meter would mean to dial in +7m on the camera. Think of it like 7.0, not 70 and it'll make sense. The tint gain adjustment in Cine Meter is just a scale setting. Like reading kilometers or mph, it's the same speed, different scale.
Just got the Luxi in today and downloaded the app so I can’t wait to try it out at our next wedding. Please keep these tutorials coming! My husband and I love learning from you!
Nicely done! Light Meters are expensive, great to see an ios app can do something similar! But then you need to know how to use it,...which you just showed me how to do! Thanks for your time!
good advice. I have found another video somewhere on youtube that relies on auto balance but with auto balance lock button to keep it from shifting while you shoot. you can use grey card and auto balance works pretty good with that. obviously this method got its limitations, I like the fact that with your phone you can walk around and get light measurements ahead of time. thank you for the info!
When the email came through with this video I just about jumped out of my chair with excitement! Thank you so much for making this!! Learning to nail white balance is my top technical priority for filming this season, and this is exactly what I was looking for! Great tutorial Matt, thank you so much! 🙏🏼
Hey! So, I got everything and I’m in the process of doing the calibration but I’m not seeing how to Monitor the RGB channels on either my Panasonic GH5 or my smallHD monitor. Any ideas for me on how to find that? I have done all the googling to no avail. /:
@@kealaniburgos9963 Hey, while doing the green calibration hit the record button. As you lay the gel over the lens, say out loud how many times you've folded it. Then dump the footage and open your RGB waveforms in your editor. When the green channel is level the the others, note the number of folds and use that to lay over your luxi. -Matt
Thank you for showing us the correct way. for fast pace job, I always leave the white balance at 5600k & throw some 5600k light for indoor. I know it is not accurate but it's way better than auto white balance. I"m wondering how other videographer did their setup ?
A good ND should be neutral. Just like a good lens, it should have no color cast. But many have a slight green shift, especially the VND. If you know you're going to use it all the time you can do one of two things : 1. Measure the shift of the Nd by placing it over the Luxi and noting the shift. Then dial that shift out when using it by doing the opposite in camera. 2. Calibrate the Luxi with the Nd over the the dome, if its a VND set it to the midpoint. This would give you a permanent offset in the measurements and keep you neutral. Generally slight color shifts in lenses are just part of the character, and you go with it, but if it's coming from an ND you'd want to fix it. Hope that helps. -Matt
I don't shoot weddings, but this is great advice for anyone shooting in different scenarios. I had to watch that green/magenta calibration part back like three times 🤯 but now I think I understand. I've had a few other far more expensive light meters on my list, so I'm really excited to check out this Luxi meter!
Thanks Josh. Yea the point of the green calibration is to make it so you know how much green your camera can actually dial out. Sometimes you’ll actually go over that number. In those cases the expodisc and custom white balance will take care of it. For some reason most customs white balances and remove larger amounts of green than manual. I’m sure that really expensive meters are more accurate, but I’ve been pretty happy with the luxi/Cine meter combo. -Matt
Super helpful video! I was wondering, would it be just as good to invest in a dedicated light meter instead of using it on your phone? Is it more accurate?
A light meter that you see film photographers using only measures for exposure. You need a spectrometer to measure color. Those start around $1500. But yes they'd be more accurate and would come calibrated.
Bro... you have helped me a ridiculous amount. Even just watching your wedding videos has inspired me when editing my videos. Your films are top notch! Do you find doing this before every shot can become cumbersome and take you out of a situation and probably miss/shoot the shot differently. I tried this method at a wedding I shot last weekend and it felt like I was cramming too much for something I could change in post. Idk 🤷🏽♂️ I just feel like a lot of time is consumed using this. I could just be doing it wrong though 😅😂
It's an extra step for sure. I've found the more I do it, the easier it becomes, but you can always do both until you become used to measuring ahead of time - measure when you have the time and eyeball it when you don't and fix in post. I'm always measuring before the shots. I walk into bride prep and measure the middle of the room for general girls sitting around shots, and remember that number - measure the window light for makeup, etc. Then I just go between those two depending on what I'm shooting. Not re- measuring each time. Hope that helps!
light meters don't do color temp, you need a spectrometer. But yes that would work. Downside is that they are around $2,000, and are one more thing to carry. I prefer using the phone becuase I already have it with me. Unfortunately the discontinued the luxi, so you you'd have to by a light dome and place it over the camera
@@thefilmpoets awesome thanks so much. Yes spectrometers are pricey. It's too bad they discontinued that item. I will try a makeshift adapter for the light dome.
@@ramymelhem let me know what you come up with. I wish someone would create a 3d printed adapter that can accept the light dome I linked to and clip on the phone.
So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
Really excited to try this out! Thanks for the tips! Also, this might seem like a silly question, but I'm still struggling with where you point the sensor? I've seen some videos where they always point it at the camera, while putting the meter in front of the subject. Can you explain what you do in a just a little more detail? Thanks!
You have to point it near the subject you film. It has light sensor, so it needs to check the light at the same point where you focusing. (in this tutorial he points it near the bride, check it again)
Just bought the Lumi and the app. Thanks for the tips!! I have a question about white balance in general. Are you always trying to match the same kelvin number to what is there? For example, if it is 5500 kelvin outside, do you ALWAYS try to match 5500 kelvin in camera? And if so, what is the reason? More specifically, if you wanted warmer colors, why not change the kelvin number in camera instead of matching the “correct” white balance and changing the color in post?
In general I'm trying to make white look white while shooting and then adding creative color grading afterwards. There are a few reasons : 1. I can't decide on a creative look for the day until I've witnessed the wedding and seen had a good feel for the look l I'd like. 2. Even if I wanted to, there's no consistent way to implement that through kelvin temp. If you want it to look "warmer" how do you do it? Add 400k to every shot? Doing that will look different depending on the measured color temp. Adding 400 kelvin to a shot that measures 3200 kelvin will look MUCH warmer than adding 400 kelvin to a shot that measures 5800k. 3. You can always do a global creative grade afterwards, and it's more accurate than guessing throughout the day. Our wedding film from Mexico is very warm but was shot neutral. - th-cam.com/video/XlxXUAjmGsY/w-d-xo.html Hope that helps. -Matt
@@thefilmpoets Thank you for the detailed response! Color grading and getting the correct white balance has always been my weak point, so you’ve been very helpful! Got yourself a sub!
The best white balance video I've seen! I'm clicking on the link to the Luxi right now though and it says it's out of stock. I'm curious to know if it's being sold anywhere else, or if there has been an update? Thanks!
But my wife has used the expo disc over the iPhone camera along with the cinemeter app with good luck as well. calibrate it just like you would the luxi. Only downside is it takes two hands.
Thanks for the info! Hey, I'd love to see the finished film from the White Magnolia (I'm based in Louisiana and shoot there a good bit). Do you have a link?
Sure thing. That was a fun one. vimeo.com/376586932 We don't always post to TH-cam, I'm realizing there are some super sweet weddings that have never been seen.
Yes, put it back to zero. Now when you’re shouting outside, it will not show and green or magenta tint, so just set your kelvin. But the next time your indoors and the window has green tint, it’ll read something 5600k +5G - and THEN you put the magenta in at +5M. Just be sure to take it back out when you leave that light or all of your shots will be magenta. -Matt
Just throwing this out there, but the developer of the Cine Meter II, Adam Wilt, responded to a review by saying "Yes, a $25 app running on the $15 camera module built into a phone needs calibration for best results! For color, you can get a spot-on incandescent source (a light bulb) for about $2. For exposure, use any other light meter or camera that has an exposure readout. You can also calibrate by taking a reading, shooting a gray card using that reading, and measuring the resulting gray level in the image..." (I'd assume by taking that image into Premier or other NLE and using the white balance eye dropper tool to thus measure.)
This great but I’ve noticed that dialing in kelvin on different camera brand’s doesn’t always match. Even a c70 & a c300 MKII in clog2 don’t match perfectly. I’ve now switched to using a gray card to custom white balance all cameras and they definitely match perfectly while reading at slightly different kelvin temps.
Hi Matt, Great video as always. One question about Luxi, I saw that you are using the front facing camera and from my experience the iPhone's screen brightness affects the reading. How did you overcome that? Kind regards, Matthijs
I try to have the luxe position perfectly over the camera so that there's no screen involved. I suppose you could do a test as you raise and lower the screen brightness to see if its affecting it. To eliminate it totally, you can select the LUXI setting for the back camera and disable the front one, but it'll change the orientation of the phone as you use it. -Matt
Meanwhile I have found out that this issue actually only occurs with the Luxi developed app. That app comes for free, but it seems that the developers don't use their own product as they don't leave the top of the screen deactivated like Cine Meter 2 does. In other words, if you use Luxi as a spectrum color meter (and Light Meter) with Cine Meter 2, you should be fine 😆 See what I mean here: share.icloud.com/photos/0_5Ot7VaBNJMhXvztuYR-8m-Q I've reported this behavior and as soon as they have fixed this, I will remove my comment.
Thank you so much for the amazing video!! After trying many times and watching the video many times, I'm having trouble with the green/magenta. I only ever get a reading of 0 +G or 0 -G. Even when placing the green sheet over the luxi, I only ever get 1/4 +G. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong? If you have time for a reply, thank you!! (I'm on a Panasonic GH5 using a SmallHD monitor if that helps)
@@thefilmpoets I think I figured it out! I was looking through the settings and found my Tint Display was showing as Plusgreen / Minusgreen instead of Wratten CC Number. Now I seem to be getting a good reading! Thanks so much for your reply!
First thanks for this video! Now, I have bough the 1/8 +green, luxi, the CineMeter II and also an expo disc however, on Fuji XT-4 I cannot for the life of me get it to work. Every time I add the green gel my Blue drops. I can never get it to work like your canon. However, I have tried it on my old canon 80d and it appears that I can just add magenta and it works. But I don’t use that camera anymore. I have also made a TH-cam video showing this. Do you happen to have a Fuji? Or any of your friends? Any help would be appreciated.
It takes more time taking a custom white balance photo than pulling out your phone, adjusting your tint and Kelvin? Just curious. When you snap the custom white balance photo, does it matter what your white balance is set to when taking the reference photo?
@@thefilmpoets How do you expose your Canon Log 3? Do you go by the on camera light meter? Do you use the zebras? Do you set custom zebra % (35,45,55) Do you use waveform. Thoughts?
One of my second shooters had it. It worked well and matched up to my luxi pretty closely. It's a good option that doesn't need calibration, just figure out how the green shift scale lines up with your camera.
Yea I'll play with that sometimes. If its a true mix of light temperatures, like a dance floor at dusk with some tungsten lights hitting it but also some daylight from windows, I'll stand in the main dance position and let whatever falls onto the luxi tell me the number. like a window-lit interview with tungsten lamps in the background, I'd color balance for the key light of the window and let the background lights fall wherever the end up. -Matt
That's so much hustle. Good if you have time on the movie set but not really in the real scenarios on the weeding day. That's obviously in my view and understanding, and understanding veries. With modern camera auto WB works well but also manual Kalvin temperature works pretty fast and easy. You can obviously change this easy in camera depending on location and your camera screen will remind you quick. If you don't be perfect (not such things exist in universe, keep this in mind) you can do some tricks in post production and you sorted. You dealing with moving image keep this in mind as well that most of your viewers would watch this on different devices and you don't have options to set them the parameters of display. If you a colour blind or have some other issues with vision than photography and videography might not be for you. Keep it real and simple to focus on your work rather then overlord yourself with extra task. That's my view.
@@Musicaadorecchio The green tint calibration isn't exactly calibration, it's just gain setting. So that means you could technically do without it, and when you're luxi reads some random green number, you use a grey Gard or expo disc and figure out that +20G means to dial in +5M in camera or whatever. You'll just have to do the mental math every time. I actually did it like this for a while.
Great video! I used the Sekonic C700 this past weekend at a wedding, and the color temperature kept fluctuating on average by 300 degrees. The magenta and green fluctuated as well. If shooting rec709, wouldn’t this render inferior results to auto-white balance?
It depends on the situation. If window light was actually shifting a lot it could have been from the sun going in and out of the clouds, etc. the visual change of 300 degrees of kelvin depends on what the base kelvin your measuring from. So 3,000 kelvin with a 300 degree change to 3,300 is a much bigger jump than going from 6,500 kelvin to 6,800 kelvin. Think of it more in percentage change and you may notice it's not moving as much as you thought. As far as auto WB goes, no I don't think you get superior results. the auto WB is reactive, so it has to change only after the light changes. It also has to have a natural reference point, otherwise it will be off, and it's constantly drifting, so correcting in post makes it a moving target. But I do agree that in an un-controlled lighting environment, there will always be trade offs and shifts in light, so it's best to try and control the light as much as possible. -Matt
Can you someone explain the process of in camera calibration (G-M shift)? Is it a one time thing? Or we have to adjust M-G shift according to what the luxi gives us at the time of the measuring? Any recommendation for Sony A 7 series?
You calibrate the luxe to match your camera only once. Then when you measure the WB, you enter the g/m into the camera. you do the opposite of what's shown. If it says +3G, you put in +3 magenta in camera to dial it out.
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
You’re letting the sun hit it directly and it’s much brighter. You can test it by shading the dome from the sun with your hand. You’ll see the kelvin temp jump from 5500k to 8500k or so. So the answer is the sky does hit the dome, but an un-blocked noon sun plus a sky should be about 5500k combined.
If you shoot with different camera the kelvin WB would still work, you'd just need to know the scale of the green /magent shift of the other cameras. - for example my R5 goes to +9 magenta, my c70 goes +20.
@@GeorgeAtanassov that'd be a good start. You'd really need to test to nail down the exact number though, but ballpark with green shift is better than ignoring it.
I’m colorblind but have worked in tv as a career. Easier when not working alone. This is my answer, but it seems this item may be discontinued (B&H). Website says ‘out of stock’ and so is Amazon (but shows a delivery period in August). Do you have any insights here? Did I get here too late? It sucks that the only alternative is hundreds or thousands more. I would think there’s a market here.
Glad to hear it. This shows in stock for me, geni.us/Luxi so I'm sure its available in certain areas. Also theres a Lumi, calibrated disk that plugs into the bottom of the phone. It works well but you'll need to figure out the scale of the g/m shift compared to your camera.
@@thefilmpoets This shows out of stock for me. I placed an order anyway for August delivery. I’ll keep you posted on results if it comes. Thank you for the video and responding. ✌️
Man stuff all that. I’m using a a7s3 it’s INSTANT to set your wb with a white card. Just hold it up in your scene and boob, perfection. Grey card exposure your scene perfectly first and then flip the card and WB
thats essentially what the expo disc is, just over the lens and yea the Sonys do a good job of it. Does the a7s3 show you the kelvin temp and green/magenta shift values?
Great tutorial. I have Sony A7SIII but no external monitor , does anyone know if Sony has RGB monitor view for the tint calibration? I couldn’t find it.
My Sony camera goes down to a magenta of 7. I followed the directions in the video but when I adjusted the tint gain I had it on its lowest setting and it was giving me a reading of 14. Would that just mean that whatever the Luxi gives me I have to half that to put it into my camera? For example, luxi gives me a G5, I plug into my camera M2.5?
If it can’t display RGB, record a video while doing the green gel thing and make a note of each time you fold the gel over. Dump the video and look at the rgb waveform on your monitor. Note which number of folds the green channel is even with the red and blue. Then use that as the number to go over the luxi for calibration.
Update : the Luxi's are sold out and they don't plan to restock, but this method is still possible: Place any generic light dome replacement over the iPhone lens and calibrate it using the Cinemeter II app (linked below). You can even hold the expodisc over the iPhone lens in the same manner. It's all the same. There was nothing special about the Luxi except that it had a convent clip. ExpoDisc - geni.us/ExpoDisc Generic diffuser dome : - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : @
@@thefilmpoets Perfect thank you! Do you know anywhere that currently has them in stock? The link in the video description has expired and I'm struggling to find them online
@@bloomingmomentsfilms7262 The only solution I can think of is to rig one of these up to work until they come back in stock - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
Have you ever checked the color temp in the app, set the WB in cam, and looked at your monitor and thought this is horrible? I have run into that situation a few times and just went with what my eyes were telling me. I was too scared to trust the app.
As long as you've calibrated it properly that should be rare. But I've seen it freak out under strange LED lights at a reception. 99% of the time it's looking good to me. But if it's just crazy out of whack, just go with your eyes and then do a more tests at home to see if you can trust it. It REALLY needs to be a clear day when you calibrate under sunlight. Run a few test setups like shooting in full shade, window light, etc and see how it goes. -Matt
@@EyeLensWeddingVideography the 5600 is for situations where there is colored light light blue or teal and stuff like that. I have found that 5600k is same to waht we might see the scene to be.
@@ramymelhem please try it for yourself and you can see that with colored lights the white balance 5600k is the most ideal. That what i have experienced. Sorry if you have felt something else
I spent an hour trying to find a compatible app for you but couldn't. That was tough. Not to knock your phone, but Android and the google play store make me feel gross like I need to take a shower. 😀 - edit for smiley face so you know I'm kidding.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
If the Luxi's are out of stock, you could use this as the light dome, but it's not ideal because it won't hold itself to the phone - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
@@onlyonestinger check out the lumi - its a bit more but comes pre-calibrated. lu.mu
Seems like even the app is not working
@@burnhard. the cinemeter II app works fir me, its just that the Luxi has been discontinued
Luxi*
this was really helpful, now weare in 2024, what are you recommending?
Excellent video, genuinely one of the better and more useful wedding tutorials I've seen in a while. Extremely valuable, and I'd say the fastest and best way to dramatically improve footage on a wedding day. love it, thanks for the tips!
Thanks Josh!
Most helpful video I’ve ever watched about white balance! Thank you so much! Ordering all of these for our next season. 🙌🏼
Just had a friend calibrating for her Sony camera. She said the max magenta that could be dialed out was +7m but Cine meter couldn't go that low on the tint gain adjustment. +9 was the max. The solution is to higher, all the way to +70G on the tint gain. So +70g on Cine Meter would mean to dial in +7m on the camera. Think of it like 7.0, not 70 and it'll make sense.
The tint gain adjustment in Cine Meter is just a scale setting. Like reading kilometers or mph, it's the same speed, different scale.
I just found this TH-cam channel this morning and I really enjoyed.
My wife (our main colorist) will squee for joy when she watches this (& we follow through & do all your great suggestions!)
Now she can focus on color grading! 👊🏻
I just bought a handy grey card and have been using in most situation. Have been great help. No messed up white balance..
Just got the Luxi in today and downloaded the app so I can’t wait to try it out at our next wedding. Please keep these tutorials coming! My husband and I love learning from you!
I need to watch this video multiple times to really get used to it :D very helpful
Nicely done! Light Meters are expensive, great to see an ios app can do something similar! But then you need to know how to use it,...which you just showed me how to do! Thanks for your time!
good advice. I have found another video somewhere on youtube that relies on auto balance but with auto balance lock button to keep it from shifting while you shoot. you can use grey card and auto balance works pretty good with that. obviously this method got its limitations, I like the fact that with your phone you can walk around and get light measurements ahead of time. thank you for the info!
being one step ahead is always a good thing!
When the email came through with this video I just about jumped out of my chair with excitement! Thank you so much for making this!! Learning to nail white balance is my top technical priority for filming this season, and this is exactly what I was looking for! Great tutorial Matt, thank you so much! 🙏🏼
Happy to help. Have fun this season!
Hey! So, I got everything and I’m in the process of doing the calibration but I’m not seeing how to Monitor the RGB channels on either my Panasonic GH5 or my smallHD monitor. Any ideas for me on how to find that? I have done all the googling to no avail. /:
@@kealaniburgos9963 Hey, while doing the green calibration hit the record button. As you lay the gel over the lens, say out loud how many times you've folded it. Then dump the footage and open your RGB waveforms in your editor. When the green channel is level the the others, note the number of folds and use that to lay over your luxi.
-Matt
@@thefilmpoets Thank you!
Thank you for showing us the correct way. for fast pace job, I always leave the white balance at 5600k & throw some 5600k light for indoor. I know it is not accurate but it's way better than auto white balance. I"m wondering how other videographer did their setup ?
This video is excellent, I’m definitely going to try this out! I’m also just curious, how would you white balance with an ND or VND filter? 🤔
A good ND should be neutral. Just like a good lens, it should have no color cast. But many have a slight green shift, especially the VND. If you know you're going to use it all the time you can do one of two things :
1. Measure the shift of the Nd by placing it over the Luxi and noting the shift. Then dial that shift out when using it by doing the opposite in camera.
2. Calibrate the Luxi with the Nd over the the dome, if its a VND set it to the midpoint. This would give you a permanent offset in the measurements and keep you neutral.
Generally slight color shifts in lenses are just part of the character, and you go with it, but if it's coming from an ND you'd want to fix it. Hope that helps. -Matt
What is your recommendation for wedding photography using flash?
This content is pure gold!
I don't shoot weddings, but this is great advice for anyone shooting in different scenarios. I had to watch that green/magenta calibration part back like three times 🤯 but now I think I understand. I've had a few other far more expensive light meters on my list, so I'm really excited to check out this Luxi meter!
Thanks Josh. Yea the point of the green calibration is to make it so you know how much green your camera can actually dial out. Sometimes you’ll actually go over that number. In those cases the expodisc and custom white balance will take care of it. For some reason most customs white balances and remove larger amounts of green than manual.
I’m sure that really expensive meters are more accurate, but I’ve been pretty happy with the luxi/Cine meter combo. -Matt
@@thefilmpoets That's awesome, thanks again for sharing the tips!
Ive watched that part twice and will still need a few more when I set it up to follow exactly.
@@screammachineman and that was my best idea to make it as simple as possible for everyone.
...ordered a Luxi right away. Good study tool too. Thanks Matt
Sweet. Have fun with that thing!
man this fills my soul lol! thanks for the amazing lesson!
Super helpful video! I was wondering, would it be just as good to invest in a dedicated light meter instead of using it on your phone? Is it more accurate?
I have this question too.
A light meter that you see film photographers using only measures for exposure. You need a spectrometer to measure color. Those start around $1500. But yes they'd be more accurate and would come calibrated.
Unbelievable useful video.
Bro... you have helped me a ridiculous amount. Even just watching your wedding videos has inspired me when editing my videos. Your films are top notch!
Do you find doing this before every shot can become cumbersome and take you out of a situation and probably miss/shoot the shot differently. I tried this method at a wedding I shot last weekend and it felt like I was cramming too much for something I could change in post.
Idk 🤷🏽♂️ I just feel like a lot of time is consumed using this. I could just be doing it wrong though 😅😂
It's an extra step for sure. I've found the more I do it, the easier it becomes, but you can always do both until you become used to measuring ahead of time - measure when you have the time and eyeball it when you don't and fix in post.
I'm always measuring before the shots. I walk into bride prep and measure the middle of the room for general girls sitting around shots, and remember that number - measure the window light for makeup, etc. Then I just go between those two depending on what I'm shooting. Not re- measuring each time.
Hope that helps!
Great video thanks! Just out of curiosity whats your lens/camera setup for your home vlog? Looks beautiful.
This was the Canon R5 and an aputure soft box kit
SO MUCH VALUE in all your videos, man. Thanks so much, and keep crushing it!
Thanks Brian. Hope you're well!
@@thefilmpoets Yeah, man - hanging in there, just like everyone else!
That was an insanely good tutorial
Fantastic video. I look forward to trying that app at my next wedding in March! :)
Thanks so much for this video. Would buying a dedicated light meter be just as good? If so, are they all pretty much the same?
light meters don't do color temp, you need a spectrometer. But yes that would work. Downside is that they are around $2,000, and are one more thing to carry. I prefer using the phone becuase I already have it with me. Unfortunately the discontinued the luxi, so you you'd have to by a light dome and place it over the camera
@@thefilmpoets awesome thanks so much. Yes spectrometers are pricey. It's too bad they discontinued that item. I will try a makeshift adapter for the light dome.
@@ramymelhem let me know what you come up with. I wish someone would create a 3d printed adapter that can accept the light dome I linked to and clip on the phone.
@@thefilmpoets I'm on it brother
Once again coming in with another HIT!
Wow this is super helpful. Thank you! I just wish they made Cine Meter II for Android 😭 Any comparable apps you'd recommend?
I don't have a way to test any, but any app with kelvin and tint will measurements should work.
So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
thanks
Really excited to try this out! Thanks for the tips!
Also, this might seem like a silly question, but I'm still struggling with where you point the sensor? I've seen some videos where they always point it at the camera, while putting the meter in front of the subject. Can you explain what you do in a just a little more detail?
Thanks!
You have to point it near the subject you film. It has light sensor, so it needs to check the light at the same point where you focusing. (in this tutorial he points it near the bride, check it again)
Just bought the Lumi and the app. Thanks for the tips!!
I have a question about white balance in general. Are you always trying to match the same kelvin number to what is there? For example, if it is 5500 kelvin outside, do you ALWAYS try to match 5500 kelvin in camera? And if so, what is the reason?
More specifically, if you wanted warmer colors, why not change the kelvin number in camera instead of matching the “correct” white balance and changing the color in post?
In general I'm trying to make white look white while shooting and then adding creative color grading afterwards. There are a few reasons :
1. I can't decide on a creative look for the day until I've witnessed the wedding and seen had a good feel for the look l I'd like.
2. Even if I wanted to, there's no consistent way to implement that through kelvin temp. If you want it to look "warmer" how do you do it? Add 400k to every shot? Doing that will look different depending on the measured color temp. Adding 400 kelvin to a shot that measures 3200 kelvin will look MUCH warmer than adding 400 kelvin to a shot that measures 5800k.
3. You can always do a global creative grade afterwards, and it's more accurate than guessing throughout the day. Our wedding film from Mexico is very warm but was shot neutral. - th-cam.com/video/XlxXUAjmGsY/w-d-xo.html
Hope that helps. -Matt
@@thefilmpoets Thank you for the detailed response! Color grading and getting the correct white balance has always been my weak point, so you’ve been very helpful! Got yourself a sub!
The best white balance video I've seen! I'm clicking on the link to the Luxi right now though and it says it's out of stock. I'm curious to know if it's being sold anywhere else, or if there has been an update? Thanks!
But my wife has used the expo disc over the iPhone camera along with the cinemeter app with good luck as well. calibrate it just like you would the luxi. Only downside is it takes two hands.
@@thefilmpoets So we can use the app without the expo disk?
@@yoursalwaysphotography459 No - you can use the app without the Luxi and instead use the expo disc over the phone's camera.
@@thefilmpoets Oh! I get it lol thank you!
Thank you, Matt! Looks like a really solid investment to nail that WB! :)
I've seen a few other people getting some really good results using this method. I hope it helps you out! -Matt
really good stuff! I might try this out!
btw about attachment piece link it comes with uptight thing with it? and thnx for perfect information about your knowledge plz keep goin!
Thanks for the info! Hey, I'd love to see the finished film from the White Magnolia (I'm based in Louisiana and shoot there a good bit). Do you have a link?
Sure thing. That was a fun one. vimeo.com/376586932
We don't always post to TH-cam, I'm realizing there are some super sweet weddings that have never been seen.
@@thefilmpoets TH-cam helps with SEO and bookings as well! I'll check it out, thanks!
@@thefilmpoets So good by the way!! Looks like you had a ton of coverage (golf session, rehearsal dinner, etc) Great footage and edit!
Does they work the same for photos in photography?
Great video Matt!
Thanks Griffin!
Thanks Matt. That is a super interesting subject and once again you nailed it in exposing it. Stay safe abs healthy :) greetings from Ireland
great advice ! thanks for contributing your knowledge for every one
also the links you posted arent working at the moment!
Question, after you done w the green gel calibration, you go back to the camera setting and move the magenta from 9 back to zero ?
Yes, put it back to zero. Now when you’re shouting outside, it will not show and green or magenta tint, so just set your kelvin. But the next time your indoors and the window has green tint, it’ll read something 5600k +5G - and THEN you put the magenta in at +5M.
Just be sure to take it back out when you leave that light or all of your shots will be magenta. -Matt
Thank you so much
This was very helpful. Thanks for the tips!
Just throwing this out there, but the developer of the Cine Meter II, Adam Wilt, responded to a review by saying "Yes, a $25 app running on the $15 camera module built into a phone needs calibration for best results! For color, you can get a spot-on incandescent source (a light bulb) for about $2. For exposure, use any other light meter or camera that has an exposure readout. You can also calibrate by taking a reading, shooting a gray card using that reading, and measuring the resulting gray level in the image..." (I'd assume by taking that image into Premier or other NLE and using the white balance eye dropper tool to thus measure.)
This great but I’ve noticed that dialing in kelvin on different camera brand’s doesn’t always match. Even a c70 & a c300 MKII in clog2 don’t match perfectly. I’ve now switched to using a gray card to custom white balance all cameras and they definitely match perfectly while reading at slightly different kelvin temps.
Thanks for the video/information - really, really helpful. Subscribed!
Hi Matt,
Great video as always.
One question about Luxi, I saw that you are using the front facing camera and from my experience the iPhone's screen brightness affects the reading.
How did you overcome that?
Kind regards,
Matthijs
I try to have the luxe position perfectly over the camera so that there's no screen involved. I suppose you could do a test as you raise and lower the screen brightness to see if its affecting it. To eliminate it totally, you can select the LUXI setting for the back camera and disable the front one, but it'll change the orientation of the phone as you use it. -Matt
Meanwhile I have found out that this issue actually only occurs with the Luxi developed app. That app comes for free, but it seems that the developers don't use their own product as they don't leave the top of the screen deactivated like Cine Meter 2 does. In other words, if you use Luxi as a spectrum color meter (and Light Meter) with Cine Meter 2, you should be fine 😆 See what I mean here: share.icloud.com/photos/0_5Ot7VaBNJMhXvztuYR-8m-Q I've reported this behavior and as soon as they have fixed this, I will remove my comment.
@@matthijshols Yea I never messed with their app! Good find.
Calibrating the luxi is like rocket science.
It really is a pain. But that’s why it’s not $1800 like a light meter with good kelvin and tint measurements. Also way smaller.
Cheers so much, so helpful plus time saving both on run and gun plus post production:)
re your eye/brain combo auto-white balancing for you...
remember the gold and blue dress??
yeah... that
I forgot about that. Great example!
What blue dress? I only remember a gold and white dress from a few years back. 😂😂...jk
@@aventuraweddingfilms stand by that!
To clarify...when calibrating on a sunny day at noon. Do we just set the CCT to 5500 or set it to the reading on the meter the sun is giving?
You set it so that it reads 5500k when direct noon sun is hitting it (no clouds in the way)
Thank you so much for the amazing video!! After trying many times and watching the video many times, I'm having trouble with the green/magenta. I only ever get a reading of 0 +G or 0 -G. Even when placing the green sheet over the luxi, I only ever get 1/4 +G. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong? If you have time for a reply, thank you!! (I'm on a Panasonic GH5 using a SmallHD monitor if that helps)
Oh thats strange. Can you turn the tint gain up all the way and see what happens?
@@thefilmpoets I think I figured it out! I was looking through the settings and found my Tint Display was showing as Plusgreen / Minusgreen instead of Wratten CC Number. Now I seem to be getting a good reading! Thanks so much for your reply!
Nice video, thanks for the tips!
Color grade is always ON POINT! Do you guys have a preferred LUT that you use while shooting??
yes - we use our SIERRA LUT often - www.thefilmpoets.com/edu/store/sierra-lut/
@@thefilmpoets thank you! I see you list compatible camera systems. Can this LUT be used effectively with BlackMagic systems??
@@PPMTechnologiesHoldingsLLC It works well with any rec709 image. So just apply a log LUT first if needed and you're good to go.
Can I use a regular light meter since this is out of stock ?
First thanks for this video!
Now, I have bough the 1/8 +green, luxi, the CineMeter II and also an expo disc however, on Fuji XT-4 I cannot for the life of me get it to work. Every time I add the green gel my Blue drops. I can never get it to work like your canon.
However, I have tried it on my old canon 80d and it appears that I can just add magenta and it works. But I don’t use that camera anymore. I have also made a TH-cam video showing this.
Do you happen to have a Fuji? Or any of your friends? Any help would be appreciated.
Great video, thank you!!
Where did you buy the light meter that attaches to the phone?
Great video!!! Very informative. Thank you
Many thanks. Inspiring video.
It takes more time taking a custom white balance photo than pulling out your phone, adjusting your tint and Kelvin? Just curious.
When you snap the custom white balance photo, does it matter what your white balance is set to when taking the reference photo?
It's probably about the same amount of time but its just more cumbersome. And no your current wb doesn't affect custom WB.
@@thefilmpoets Thank you for yet again, another swift reply.
@@thefilmpoets How do you expose your Canon Log 3?
Do you go by the on camera light meter?
Do you use the zebras?
Do you set custom zebra % (35,45,55)
Do you use waveform.
Thoughts?
@@CodyScott th-cam.com/video/aCrmb-2YuwU/w-d-xo.html
Shot before the clog3 update but it's the same.
Have you ever tried out the Lumu Power meter for iPhones?
One of my second shooters had it. It worked well and matched up to my luxi pretty closely. It's a good option that doesn't need calibration, just figure out how the green shift scale lines up with your camera.
I can't get the green gel before my next shoot, will the green/magenta colors be significant if everything else is balanced?
You could just ballpark it. The green magenta cast will tell you which direction to go, and then try to get it right by eye.
In mixed light situations do you ever hold the luxi so it’s pointing straight up so it samples all the light?
Yea I'll play with that sometimes. If its a true mix of light temperatures, like a dance floor at dusk with some tungsten lights hitting it but also some daylight from windows, I'll stand in the main dance position and let whatever falls onto the luxi tell me the number.
like a window-lit interview with tungsten lamps in the background, I'd color balance for the key light of the window and let the background lights fall wherever the end up. -Matt
That's so much hustle. Good if you have time on the movie set but not really in the real scenarios on the weeding day. That's obviously in my view and understanding, and understanding veries. With modern camera auto WB works well but also manual Kalvin temperature works pretty fast and easy. You can obviously change this easy in camera depending on location and your camera screen will remind you quick. If you don't be perfect (not such things exist in universe, keep this in mind) you can do some tricks in post production and you sorted. You dealing with moving image keep this in mind as well that most of your viewers would watch this on different devices and you don't have options to set them the parameters of display. If you a colour blind or have some other issues with vision than photography and videography might not be for you. Keep it real and simple to focus on your work rather then overlord yourself with extra task. That's my view.
Great content!!
Good information 🙏👍
How come you use the front facing camera? Is it just so you can see the results as you wander around with it?
You can setup either camera, but I do like to see the readings as I hold it out.
You are a perfectionist. I like that.
The link for the plus green gel?
almost forgot! - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/44165-REG/Rosco_RS331711_3317_Filter_1_8.html
Is there a way for doing the calibration without the green gel? Seems difficult to find it where I live.
@@Musicaadorecchio I think that if you buy 6500K bias lighting from media light that don't have any color cast, it will be easy to calibrate !
@@Musicaadorecchio The green tint calibration isn't exactly calibration, it's just gain setting. So that means you could technically do without it, and when you're luxi reads some random green number, you use a grey Gard or expo disc and figure out that +20G means to dial in +5M in camera or whatever. You'll just have to do the mental math every time. I actually did it like this for a while.
great video - thanks
Great video! I used the Sekonic C700 this past weekend at a wedding, and the color temperature kept fluctuating on average by 300 degrees. The magenta and green fluctuated as well. If shooting rec709, wouldn’t this render inferior results to auto-white balance?
It depends on the situation. If window light was actually shifting a lot it could have been from the sun going in and out of the clouds, etc. the visual change of 300 degrees of kelvin depends on what the base kelvin your measuring from. So 3,000 kelvin with a 300 degree change to 3,300 is a much bigger jump than going from 6,500 kelvin to 6,800 kelvin. Think of it more in percentage change and you may notice it's not moving as much as you thought.
As far as auto WB goes, no I don't think you get superior results. the auto WB is reactive, so it has to change only after the light changes. It also has to have a natural reference point, otherwise it will be off, and it's constantly drifting, so correcting in post makes it a moving target.
But I do agree that in an un-controlled lighting environment, there will always be trade offs and shifts in light, so it's best to try and control the light as much as possible. -Matt
Can you someone explain the process of in camera calibration (G-M shift)? Is it a one time thing? Or we have to adjust M-G shift according to what the luxi gives us at the time of the measuring? Any recommendation for Sony A 7 series?
You calibrate the luxe to match your camera only once. Then when you measure the WB, you enter the g/m into the camera. you do the opposite of what's shown. If it says +3G, you put in +3 magenta in camera to dial it out.
@@thefilmpoets Thank you very much for sharing. I hope one day you offer classes so we can all learn from you.
Looks like Cine Meter II is iOS only. No Android.
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : th-cam.com/video/qh6tM0UBF8g/w-d-xo.html
"Use a spectrometer." Don't forget to smash that like button!
for $2,000 - thats the ideal. But then it's an entire other device you have to carry.
Awesome video
How come the dome meter doesn't pick up all of the cool blue sky when you point it at the cloud free blue sky dome at noon?
You’re letting the sun hit it directly and it’s much brighter. You can test it by shading the dome from the sun with your hand. You’ll see the kelvin temp jump from 5500k to 8500k or so. So the answer is the sky does hit the dome, but an un-blocked noon sun plus a sky should be about 5500k combined.
@@thefilmpoets aha, the extreme difference in intensity drowns out the sky. Thanks!
This is a good method if you use the same camera but if you shoot with too different cameras? Also Canon custom WB method is very cumbersome.
If you shoot with different camera the kelvin WB would still work, you'd just need to know the scale of the green /magent shift of the other cameras. - for example my R5 goes to +9 magenta, my c70 goes +20.
@@thefilmpoets So if CMII shows you +4 on green and is calibrated to the R5 would you then put about -10 on the C70?
@@GeorgeAtanassov that'd be a good start. You'd really need to test to nail down the exact number though, but ballpark with green shift is better than ignoring it.
I’m colorblind but have worked in tv as a career. Easier when not working alone. This is my answer, but it seems this item may be discontinued (B&H).
Website says ‘out of stock’ and so is Amazon (but shows a delivery period in August).
Do you have any insights here? Did I get here too late? It sucks that the only alternative is hundreds or thousands more. I would think there’s a market here.
Glad to hear it. This shows in stock for me, geni.us/Luxi so I'm sure its available in certain areas. Also theres a Lumi, calibrated disk that plugs into the bottom of the phone. It works well but you'll need to figure out the scale of the g/m shift compared to your camera.
@@thefilmpoets This shows out of stock for me. I placed an order anyway for August delivery. I’ll keep you posted on results if it comes. Thank you for the video and responding. ✌️
Man stuff all that. I’m using a a7s3 it’s INSTANT to set your wb with a white card. Just hold it up in your scene and boob, perfection. Grey card exposure your scene perfectly first and then flip the card and WB
thats essentially what the expo disc is, just over the lens and yea the Sonys do a good job of it. Does the a7s3 show you the kelvin temp and green/magenta shift values?
Great video and insight. Do know if there is an alternative to using cinemeter II for Android? It looks as if it only supports Apple.
I have no idea, but if you find one please post it here so others can see. It'd be the same general idea, so any meter with Kelvin & tint would work.
@@thefilmpoets definitely will do.
Great tutorial. I have Sony A7SIII but no external monitor , does anyone know if Sony has RGB monitor view for the tint calibration? I couldn’t find it.
Not sure, but you can just create a recording while doing the gel thing and then view it on your ok-cuter with RGB parade.
Wow
My Sony camera goes down to a magenta of 7. I followed the directions in the video but when I adjusted the tint gain I had it on its lowest setting and it was giving me a reading of 14. Would that just mean that whatever the Luxi gives me I have to half that to put it into my camera? For example, luxi gives me a G5, I plug into my camera M2.5?
exactly.
Hello Adam, did you also get a greenish look before the in camera calibration too? What is your M-G shift setting to balance it? Thank you.
Dang, now I have to go and spend more money, but if this saves me time in the edit, IT WILL BE WORTH IT!
Yea the Luxi cost a few bucks, and sometimes I lose it, but its so much cheaper than a 2k spectrometer and it's a huge time saver. Good luck! -Matt
@@thefilmpoets Going to buy one.
So you can't set the magenta and green tint calibrations just on the app with the luxi? My Nikon Z6ii doesn't have RGB waveforms to display.
If it can’t display RGB, record a video while doing the green gel thing and make a note of each time you fold the gel over. Dump the video and look at the rgb waveform on your monitor. Note which number of folds the green channel is even with the red and blue. Then use that as the number to go over the luxi for calibration.
@@thefilmpoets I cant get my Sony A7siii to display the channels so I'll have to do just this.
Have you guys used a sekonic c800
No but I'm sure it's the best tool for the job. But it's just not practical for us to carry at a live event.
Update : the Luxi's are sold out and they don't plan to restock, but this method is still possible: Place any generic light dome replacement over the iPhone lens and calibrate it using the Cinemeter II app (linked below). You can even hold the expodisc over the iPhone lens in the same manner. It's all the same. There was nothing special about the Luxi except that it had a convent clip.
ExpoDisc - geni.us/ExpoDisc
Generic diffuser dome : - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
I always love your videos :))
I use a grey card in the frame at a point and am done!
Hi do you know if this app exist for Android phones? or if there is a similar app for that OS?
Update for Android users - So after a lot of searching I found a solution (kinda) - Filmic Pro on Android has an auto white balance feature that shows the kelvin temp and tint. It can't be calibrated though, so you'd need to either use the Luxi (which isn't calibrated itself) and do mental calibration to offset what filmic pro sees, or hold a calibrated grey card or expo disc over the phone lens. I've found it to be pretty accurate, but consistently about 10% too cold. But it could work - see this video : @
Does the luxi fit on an iphone 12Pro?
yea it should. I use the 11 pro no problem. The only issue is if you have a really thick case.
@@thefilmpoets Perfect thank you! Do you know anywhere that currently has them in stock? The link in the video description has expired and I'm struggling to find them online
@@bloomingmomentsfilms7262 The only solution I can think of is to rig one of these up to work until they come back in stock - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/490665-REG/Gossen_GO_4497_Incident_Diffuser_Dome_for.html
any android alternative app?
Wait…..you’re not shooting in log?
You shoot straight out of camera?
I shoot log on my c70 and r5.
Have you ever checked the color temp in the app, set the WB in cam, and looked at your monitor and thought this is horrible? I have run into that situation a few times and just went with what my eyes were telling me. I was too scared to trust the app.
As long as you've calibrated it properly that should be rare. But I've seen it freak out under strange LED lights at a reception. 99% of the time it's looking good to me.
But if it's just crazy out of whack, just go with your eyes and then do a more tests at home to see if you can trust it. It REALLY needs to be a clear day when you calibrate under sunlight. Run a few test setups like shooting in full shade, window light, etc and see how it goes. -Matt
Your link to Luxi seems to be broken =(
Oh strange, its working for me. Here's a direct link - amzn.to/3u2WvMF
Is this superior to just white balancing a scene with a white card? As far as accuracy.
As far as accuracy goes it'd be the same. But for live events, it's superior because its more practical.
@@thefilmpoets ok thank you :)
Tip: When you're confused. Just keep 5600k makes it look like how you saw it.!
4800 actually looks best for an all around wb, it’s never too blue and never too yellow
does 5600k look good inside? When you're confused?
@@EyeLensWeddingVideography the 5600 is for situations where there is colored light light blue or teal and stuff like that. I have found that 5600k is same to waht we might see the scene to be.
Bad advise
@@ramymelhem please try it for yourself and you can see that with colored lights the white balance 5600k is the most ideal. That what i have experienced. Sorry if you have felt something else
Mate I'm never going to film a wedding but I'm here because you know your shit, would like a luxi but its ios only, bah.
I spent an hour trying to find a compatible app for you but couldn't. That was tough. Not to knock your phone, but Android and the google play store make me feel gross like I need to take a shower. 😀 - edit for smiley face so you know I'm kidding.
@@thefilmpoets lol that's how I feel about ios. Thx for looking though. Stay safe.
Looks like a very useful and interesting tool...but how in the hell do you find time to do this throughout a wedding day?
I just try to be one step ahead of every situation, not just for white balance reasons but for better compositions as well.