Two different cameras, two different images.
Shooting with multiple cameras can be a real benefit for many reasons. Not only are you able to get more coverage of a single performance but you’re able to be a little more efficient while working on set. However, using a multi-cam setup, particularly one that includes different camera models, almost always results in images that vary greatly in colour, contrast, and quality, and while there’s not a whole lot you can do to remedy the issue of quality, there are several post-production techniques you can employ to make your images look like they were all captured from the same camera.
In this Rocketstock tutorial, filmmaker Todd Blankenship walks you through his colour matching process in Adobe Premiere Pro, showing you how to get a good baseline, match contrast, and apply LUTs to ensure all of your footage not only looks the same but also dynamic and eye-catching. Check it out below:
For this tutorial, Blankenship used a multi-cam setup that includes a Sony a7SII and a Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K, and I’m actually really glad he did because I’m sure many of us have been in situations in which we didn’t have the privilege of having our first choice of multi-cam setups. Maybe our clients insisted on certain cameras. Maybe our employer supplied us with certain cameras. Maybe we’re using what we’ve got and what we’ve got is an imperfect cinematic pairing.
Why am I saying this? Well, many times colour matching footage captured from multiple cameras is easier if those cameras are made by the same manufacturer. Frequently you’ll hear advice like, “If you can’t get multiple cameras of the same model, at least make sure they’re made by the same company,” as well as horror stories about trying to colour match Canon footage with Nikon footage or Sony footage and so on.
There isn’t always a huge disparity in the look of footage between different cameras, and there are many other factors that affect results anyway, including make-specific settings, lighting, and sensor size, but watching a tutorial that walks you through the process of colour matching Sony footage with Blackmagic footage, two reasonably comparable shooters that none the less have some pretty significantly different specs (bit depth, ProRes/RAW recording, dynamic range, etc.), will get you acquainted with some real challenges you might face when colour matching your own work.
