Iso, Shutter Speed, Aperture, White balance for music videos?

ZodLiquefy

New member
Hello everyone. I just started making music videos. I just want some tips or can someone direct me to a good guide for music videos. I know the basics of iso, shutter speed, and aperture already. I read some guides and so far I know I gotta put my shutter at 1/50 or if i'm recording something at high speed, i increase it. is it so? Also, I always put my aperture at the lowest. I have a Canon T2i and Canon lenses 50 f/1.8 and kit lens. I always put my aperture at the lowest 3.5(kit lens) or 1.8. The tricky part is the ISO. I don't know where to put my ISO. I know the lowest ISO is good but sometimes the video looks dark. Do I fix this in video editing programs? Like should I always stay at ISO 100? What about white balance? I use Final Cut 7.
 
I know the basics of iso, shutter speed, and aperture already.

No, you don't. I'm not trying to be rude, but thinking you know the basics might be why you're having a hard time. I think you should spend more time learning the fundamentals of these three things, and then it will make a lot more sense.

A lot of the answers to your questions are case by case.

What should white balance be? It should be what's appropriate for your video, i.e. do you want to shoot your video neutral, or you want to balance and then adjust color temp and bake in a warm or a cool look?

You don't have to put your shutter speed at 1/50, that's just a "normal" look. You could have a shutter speed of more or less, they have different (opposite) effects on the picture that get more pronounced the more you go in either direction. Your shutter speed should be appropriate for your desired look.

Why do you always shoot with your lenses wide open? There are reasons to shoot wide-open and reasons to shoot extremely stopped down, and many variations in between, each for both artistic (depth of field) and practical (amount of light) reasons.

These questions/practices just illustrate you need to spend more time shoring up your fundamentals.


sometimes the video looks dark. Do I fix this in video editing programs?

No, not if you can avoid it. This is like saying, "my levels on this singer are too low when I record, so instead of increasing my record levels, I'll just fix it in the mix". It's always better to get good quality stuff in camera than try to compensate for bad recordings in post.
 
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Hi! ISO cannot be set for shooting video on the T2i. I have a Canon 550D (T2i equivalent). What settings really depend on what you want to shoot depending on lighting conditions. Shooting on a wide open lens will make your video brighter but will cause more DOF blur. Compensating for darkness using editing software will only produce poor results due to noise. Your best bet is to get more light. White balance depends on the lighting and what you want your video to look. Sometimes I deliberately set the whitebalance off to add a certain tone or feel to the video. You also can't control the shutter speed (which is only used in stills) when shooting video.

The 50mm f/1.8 is a nice lens for close up shots when used wide open(for stills and video). If you are new in shooting videos or stills, I suggest trying to shoot on daylight and get some practice there. Shooting at night, overcast, or under complex lighting can be tricky.

Good Luck!
 
I see. The control is buried in the menus. I stand corrected. . . Also the ISO speed can be adjusted. I have been using that camera for a long time and It's only now that I found out about those controls. My apologies and thanks!
 
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Understanding how these options affect your image is important, here is a run down:

Shutter speed: This is the amount of time in fractions of a second, of how long the light is captured for a frame. A good rule of thumb is to always use AT LEAST twice the speed of your frame rate. If you film a 30 fps, then your shutter should be atleast 1/60, if you film at 60fps, 1/120, or whatever is the closest you can get to it. The higher the shutter speed, the sharper the motion in the image (but also darker if it is too high), assuming your focus is correct.

Iris/Aperture: This is the amount of light that is let in to the sensor, the more light, the brighter the image, but the shallower the depth of field. The less light, the darker the image, but deeper depth of field. Depth of field is the distance and space at which subjects are in focus. The shallower the depth of field, the less space a subject has to be in focus.

Iso/Gain: Sensitivity to light, adds digital illumination.

White balance/Color temperature: This is basically an option that you can set in order to make sure that your whites are whites, if that makes sense. A lot of people use this in different ways, I am only describing a simple way of using it to avoid heavy color correction in post.

Hope this helps you out somewhat.
 
If you are shooting a music video, a basic softbox might introduce a drastical difference with your setup. If you shoot indoors, it is a really good idea to try proper lighting.
 
Hello everyone. I just started making music videos. I just want some tips or can someone direct me to a good guide for music videos. I know the basics of iso, shutter speed, and aperture already. I read some guides and so far I know I gotta put my shutter at 1/50 or if i'm recording something at high speed, i increase it. is it so? Also, I always put my aperture at the lowest. I have a Canon T2i and Canon lenses 50 f/1.8 and kit lens. I always put my aperture at the lowest 3.5(kit lens) or 1.8. The tricky part is the ISO. I don't know where to put my ISO. I know the lowest ISO is good but sometimes the video looks dark. Do I fix this in video editing programs? Like should I always stay at ISO 100? What about white balance? I use Final Cut 7.

Adjust your ISO based on your lighting conditions. Try not to go over 3200 ISO unless it's you absolutely can't get more light or switch lenses.
 
When you stop down your apperature you can get a much sharper image (mostly)

The shutterspeed must be twice the fps ( so if you are shooting at 30 fps change your shutterspeed to 60)

Also don't try to get over iso 800

Use iso 1600 if it's a must

and when you need more light just make your appereture wide open and change your shutterspeed to 30

But don't forget, experimenting is the best way to learn what is best for you
 
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