How to EXPOSE SLOG3 Correctly - Sony A7IV - FX3 - A7sIII - FX30 - Settings & Exposure - CINEMATIC

What's up YouTube, Jacques Raffet here with another exciting tutorial. In this video I'm going to tackle S-Log3 and show you my reasoning behind exposure and also how to color grade it. These two go hand in hand and it's impossible to exclude grading from the conversation because the way you plan to grade can also affect the way you expose. There are four ways I use to judge exposure in S-Log3. Number one with my eyes, number two using the camera's metering modes, number three using zebras and number four using an external monitor. An external monitor is not essential but it's definitely a more reliable solution. I don't recommend using only your eyes because it can be deceiving in certain lighting conditions but your eye is still a great way to quickly expose especially if you're shooting indoors or in low-light situations. Here you simply have to turn on the gamma assist function on your camera to do a rec 709 conversion. This will give you a flattering image similar to what you will see when shooting on other picture profiles which makes shooting a lot more enjoyable without the need for a monitor. If you're used to exposing with your eye on other picture profiles you'll feel right at home here. I recommend switching the LCD brightness to manual with the brightness set to plus 2 at all times for consistency. Number two using the metering modes. Here you have a bunch of options but the multimeter is the one I use the most especially for run and gun type shoots. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution so it's important to understand how it behaves in different situations. First let's look at an ideal scene. The reason I say this is an ideal scene is because there's a good balance of shadows mid-tones and highlights and a multimeter does a better job in a more balanced image. Now the popular opinion is to overexpose and shoot between plus 1.7 and plus 2 where 2 presents two stops with a cap at plus 2 when it starts to flicker. Although this method is safer it can result in a lot more work because you have to bring down the highs and mids to an acceptable level. If you compare it to a scene shot at plus 1 where the skin tone took priority you end up with brighter shadows but you sacrifice dynamic range in the highlights. Unlike previous generation sony cams exposing correctly for skin tones won't give you noise in the shadows but it depends on what you want out of your scene. So here's the crux. Slightly overexposing will give you more detail in the lows but you also sacrifice some range in your highs. Overexposing means more time in post where getting the perfect exposure is simply a click away from a beautiful image. Here you get deeper blacks but more pleasant roll-off in the highlights. The choice is up to you. The more important subject to cover here is whether or not you can trust the multimeter. Because it behaves differently depending on your scene. Look how the meter jumps up to plus 2 and immediately starts flickering the moment we introduce the haze. That's because it's picking up a larger surface of overexposed highs accentuated by the backlight and the two overexposed tube lights. The overall exposure didn't change but if the haze was there permanently you'd be inclined to drop the exposure based on the flicker. This also happens when filming into a strong backlight the sun where it's impossible to expose for everything. The multimeter is highly sensitive to highlights but unlike your eye it can't tell which part of the image you want to expose for. Here's an example where even at plus 1.3 we're blowing out the skin tones way more than usual. In this case the reason the multimeter doesn't give us an accurate reading is because there's a lack of highlights which causes the meter to lower its average. It's only when we get closer to plus zero where the skin tones are properly exposed. So how does it work? In this example you can see how radically different the multimeter behaves when aimed at a scene with no highlights to a scene with some highlights to a scene with a lot of highlights even though they are lit with the same strength. The spot meter is a good alternative because you can identify the exposure of an exact part of the image and here the highlights are the easiest since that's the part we want to expose for. You can also check yourself using the zebra function. Here you've got the option to customize your settings and I use both C1 and C2. With C1 I focus on the mid-tones with the standard setting on 50 with a plus 2 threshold. The idea is to increase the exposure until the zebras start to appear over the brightest parts of the skin. You still have some freedom here to increase the exposure but the limit is indicated when zebras previously there start disappearing like these two spots on the face are a clear indication that I'm starting to reach clipping point. By bringing in a fill light the multimeter is telling a different story but you can check yourself using the zebras on the skin tones. The great thing about zebras is you don't have to shoot with it on and you can simply toggle it with a quick shortcut on the camera. Ultimately the best way to expose using the zebras is to use a grey guard brilliantly explained by Gerald Undone on YouTube. The reason I'm not focusing on this method is because it's impractical for the average content creator on day-to-day and in-the-field shooting. If however you're doing a controlled setup like an interview it's worth checking out as it will give you great results. If you don't have skin tones to measure the zebras to your next shot is using C2 with a focus on the highlights and your standard setting set to 75. This is quite lower than what most users will suggest but for me it gives me a solid indication of when I'm nearing overexposure. As you can see the moment I hit zebras over my main subject I know I need to go down a stop. That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to see zebras so going back to our first scene I'm ignoring the zebras in the areas that doesn't directly affect my subject. To prove the zebras are working you'll also see the multimeter starting to flicker when the zebras appear so the goal is to not see zebras in the relevant highlights in the scene. In this case the blouse. Now you might ask why I'm not using the histogram and the short of it is that it's just not reliable enough. The histogram is a great tool for still photography but ultimately what you're looking for is a waveform which leads me to my next point. One of the great perks that come with using an external monitor is the waveform and false color. False color is probably the easiest way to expose because you can see the exact IOE value on the relevant subject. In this example the book, a clear indicator of highlights. If I want an exact exposure I would stop at 80 mark but for that slight overexposure I'll go up to 95 if I want more detail in the shadows. If you don't have clear white highlights your next target should be mid-tones which is also where your skin tones lie. So generally I would stay in the 55 to 65 IOE range. Using the waveform is my personal favorite just because it's such a familiar picture in post. I use the waveform all the time when color grading so I already have an idea where I want my highlights and mid-tones based on the LUT I plan to use. If I don't have any specific LUT in mind I prefer to expose with the waveform before applying my Rec. 709 monitor LUT. With the waveform it's easy to make the call based on where I want priority. For example sometimes I don't mind clipping the blacks if I really need to retain more extreme highlights. The exceptional dynamic range that comes with S-Log3 is one of the biggest selling points of these cameras and to never use it would be a crime. When I say I prefer it over the easy profiles what I really mean is that it takes me just one click to get my visuals to a point where you can already use it and any additional adjustments is something I would have had to do anyway if I'm striving for perfection. At least in S-Log3 I have a better dynamic range to start with so if I don't utilize the full range it's still going to look better than a baked in profile. As for grading I did a detailed breakdown of my workflow now available exclusively on the alpha universe. You can watch it for free, just click the link below and make sure you register for the event as it will only be live for a limited time only. If you want to see more videos like this one make sure you check in from time to time as I often share tutorials exclusive to the platform and with that I'd like to thank Sony for sponsoring today's video. If you still have questions let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to answer. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.