I tried to make the timestamps as close to a question/topic as possible which made sense to me, if anyone finds a better title or the way i wrote is wrong and has a alternative lmk i'll update 5:45 how do you evaluate your exposure choices? 7:07 guidance for how to expose for the best grade (from post side) 9:25 do you meter ratios or just key 10:25 importance of ratio 11:25 importance of collaborating with production 11:50 A new trend where while shooting you expose, treating it not as the final exposure but leaving a leeway and deciding the final exposure in post (shooting for the final image/ shooting for a grade that gets you to the final image) 12:35 importance of the tools we use to measure exposure (the monitor on set might not be calibrated properly....) 14:04 dialling in the exposure knowing you dont have a control later 16:16 while optimizing exposure, do you limit or select your tools in a particular way to make those changes 18:40 experience of the audience members working with colorist 21:14 protecting brand colors from production to post 25:50 controlling exposure 26:42 what is exposure? 30:43 controlling exposure 31:55 controlling exposure- display 33:44 controlling exposure- pipeline 40:00 controlling exposure- camera - iso 46:52 controlling exposure- camera - sensor 47:58 controlling exposure- camera - shutter angle and frame rate 49:15 controlling exposure- camera - aperture 50:35 controlling exposure- camera - filtration 51:42 the tools on the camera to adjust the exposure is a artistic and story choice 54:55 controlling exposure- scene - lighting 59:25 controlling exposure- scene - subject 59:48 controlling exposure- scene - environment 1:01:36 how often do you adjust the reflective area part in post 1:02:37 controlling the reflectivity using polariser 1:04:27 bonus -middle grey by cullen 1:05:49 key takeaways 1:07:16 working with a DIT on set 1:08:47 question from audience -(about native iso) 1:09:43 dual gain

Wow, so generous!! Thanks a lot!!

I tend to use the same thought process from my days of recording audio where the steps are from the source to the tape machine ( old days ) where the better the source is, the better the final mix is. And all the steps to get there, at each step you capture as true a sound as you can. In a song for instance, the singer's voice and emotion etc. the goes into the proper microphone and mic placement - there might even be a pop screens between the singer and the mic - distance to the mic etc. down the cable to the audio channel where the levels are set etc. capturing the performance with the acoustics and ambience of the room ( environment ). We used to call it "getting it at the source" which coincidentally is the best approach to troubleshooting as well. If we were in the control room and nothing is coming out of the singer - the engineer gets up and enters the room - while hearing that the sound is actually coming out of the singer - then switch mics, mic cable etc. working back to the mixing console. Anyway, I feel like capturing the perfect exposure for the best final image is very similar - I am always asking filmmakers to work from the source to the capture and trying to nail all aspects of the signal and image. Love this discussion, felt like a great lesson from all three of how it all works in tandem. Thanks Cullen and friends.

When talking about raising or lowering ISO depending on dynamic range above and below middle grey, one key aspect that I feel is left out is that you have to compensate for the exposure otherwise like with an ND or Aperture. Otherwise we poor colorists might end up getting super blown out or way too dark shots in the future.

It returns!

Loved getting to listen in on this conversation, thanks Cullen 🤙🏼

Whooppeee!!! Thanks so much for this Cullen. Been looking forward to this one. (Hope all ok with you 🙏🏾🙏🏼)

Just so it makes sense to a lot of people here. Physically, the sensor operates at one sensitivity. While you rotate the EI in the raw data nothing changes, but on the screen the picture becomes lighter-darker. But as soon as you physically change the amount of light for example, close the aperture to a stop or hang a nd filter (based on the fact that the picture on the screen is too bright at ei 1600 e.g.) you will reduce the total dr camera.

Amazing! Thanks you for sharing this content with us. 🙏

The best lesson I’ve seen on the exposure pipeline and the variables that modify exposure. The discussion on ISO alone could be an hour long lesson. ISO setting is so misunderstood and counterintuitive. There is so much great information here that the best way to view this video is to take notes on the subjects then expand your knowledge on the subjects through Cullen’s other videos or research. In a nutshell, as a test, you should be able to drop your captured coverage into Resolve, put it in DaVinci colored managed, drop the exposure 1/2 stop, and without doing any adjustments see a beautiful image that’s well exposed, no noise and with correctly balanced colors. That kind of raw file is what you want to hand to your colorist as a starting point.

Damn, Joe Simon! Cool to see!

Hey Cullen, I run an iMac with an x-rite i1 calibration. Should I leave the calibration on the iMac display & just run your lut on the end of the node tree during the grade? Thanks for the content, very much appreciated.

How would you compare Gain on a camcorder to ISO on another camera? I've used cameras that only had Low, Medium, and High gain expressed in dB as opposed to ISO. My Sekonic light meter is in ISO, so I had trouble metering those cameras that used Gain instead.

I have a question, I have a BenQ calibrated monitor. My issue is on my monitor it looks great but it looks different iPhone, Tablets, and TV’s. Is there an away for me to export that it looks just as good on my monitor or other devices. I read your Grading for Mixed Delivery article back in 2019. I was wondering do you have a tutorial on this subject on your channel?

Super insightful! Will there be a part 2?

Is this video about Mastering Exposure well exposed?

Thanks for streaming this Cullen! Also, you should make merch. Imagine a plain black shit that just says "Linear Gain" lol

Cullen name the brand above you 😂 lol.

Around the 43 min mark, when discussing ISO and exposure. I was under the impression that the whole “you choose where you distribute your dynamic range, above or below 18% grey based on ISO“ was only for cameras that used “EI” (exposure index. Think ARRI) and NOT cameras that used ISO and shot RAW (like RED) am I mistaken?

It’s obviously cinematographers talk, ‘cos sound is appalling 🙄

Great content, thank you! But the audio is a nightmare and not having a micro for questions from the audience is a big no-no

Its hard to respect professionals when the content is so hampered by awful sound set up with audience. What were they thinking. Also so much of this is so unbelievably obvious and frankly so general as to be less than helpful. They all seem to take so long to say so little. Hugely disappointing and so long winded.