White Balance
Lesson 12 from: Videography 101: How to Use Your Camera to Record VideosTomas George
White Balance
Lesson 12 from: Videography 101: How to Use Your Camera to Record VideosTomas George
Lesson Info
12. White Balance
Lessons
Introduction and What You're Going to Learn
00:29 2Video Resolutions
04:15 3Frame Rates
07:25 4Aspect Ratios
02:40 5The Rule of Thirds
01:19 6The Exposure Triangle Introduction and Light Meter
01:18 7Shutter Speed for Video
03:04 8Aperture
05:22ISO
06:35 10PAL Region Downloadable Guide/Cheatsheet
02:04 11NTSC Region Downloadable Guide/Cheatsheet
02:36 12White Balance
03:51 13Different Types of Camera Lenses
05:17 14Focal Lengths
01:15 15Thread Sizes and Lens Mounts
01:22 16ND Filters
04:52 17Polarising Filters
00:53 18UV Filters
00:58 19DSLR vs Mirrorless Cameras
04:01 20Talking Head Video Setup Walkthrough
12:18 21Outside Higher FPS Video Walkthrough
12:18 22Thanks and Bye
00:11Lesson Info
White Balance
Hi there and welcome to this video. I'm going to talk about White Balance. So white balance allows you to tell your camera what pure white is on a camera. We will have an auto white balance setting and this is where our camera is taking the educated guess which can be ok, but often our eyes can be better for setting the white balance. You may also not want to use auto white balance. If you want to make your shot a bit more creative or if you want to make your shot a bit warmer or cooler looking also light from a candle, for example, will be a different temperature than a blue sky. We can look at the light source as warm or cool and standard daylight will be neutral white color. We set our white balance by choosing a temperature of light which is measured in Kelvins or Kelvin units. The lower the Kelvin number, the warmer the light and the higher the Kelvin number, the cooler the light, for example, 2500 K or Kelvins will look warm or orange and 6500 K will look cool or blue. On average...
though light will be between 12,000 Kelvins, you may notice that light bulbs in your house have a Kelvin number. Light bulbs often have a pretty warm or orange color and they're normally around 3000 k led lights may be around 5000 K to 6000 k and a light will look a lot whiter compared to most standard light bulbs. If we want our light source in our shot to appear true white, then we need to adjust our white balance to the same Kelvin number as the light in the shot. So if we use video lights set to say 5500 K, then we need to set the white balance on a camera also to 5500 K for the white color in the shop to be true white. However, if we change our video lights to K or if we're shooting in a room of light bulbs that are 3000 k, then we will need to set the white balance on a camera to 3000 k to achieve true white and to match the color temperature of the light in the room. But if you're in a room that's lit with lights that have a temperature of 3000 k and you set your white balance to 6000 K, then the camera will think true white is 6000 K. So anything below 6000 K will appear to be warm and may give you a shot a warm or orange glow, let's say it's the other way around. So you set your camera's white balance to 3000 K and you're in a room with a light source is 6000 K. This shot will now look cooler and will give a blue glow. This might be fine for a creative effect or if you want your shot to look warm or cool. But if you want your shot with True White, then you need to make sure your camera's temperature matches that of a light source in your location. It's also useful to set your white balance different to a light source of your location. If you wish to create a cool or winter scene or if you wish to create a warm or summer scene. So for creative effects, the white balance doesn't need to be exactly the same as a light source. However, I do think it's important to think about your scene before you hit record. So do you want your shot to have a True White look or do you want it to look cooler or warmer? Let's now talk about auto White balance some more with some examples. So I don't recommend using auto white balance when there's a fire or candle in the shop with a person. That's because Auto White balance may set the white balance for the person in the shot which can make the flame look unnatural. This is because fire gives off a warm orange glow which is around 2100 Kelvins. So if the auto white balance is set to say 5000 Kelvins, then this will get rid of a lot of the orange glow in a shot and will make it look unnatural. We can adjust the color temperature in post. And if you record it in raw, then you can adjust the white balance in post. However, it's not always ideal to record in raw as it will be a larger file and you may need to convert this footage. Ok. So for the best results, I recommend setting your white balance as close as what you want before you hit record to help you achieve the best possible shots, auto white balance is getting better. But I still recommend using manual and setting the white balance yourself. Also, your camera may come with different presets for white balance. But again, I think it's best to use manual and to set the temperature of your white balance. So you can set it just how you like it. We do really want to get away from auto and presets and learning the ins and outs in your camera and videography can really help you create a better video. Ok. So that's white balance. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.
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