How to make skin look good on LUMIX?

[ConfrontingPhotography]

First time poster here, and I am looking for input from the community. I've been using an S1R for a few years now and in general think it is an impressive camera. Unlike most folks I shoot a lot of video on the S1R including talking head video of myself. I record to a Ninja V and use Zeiss Milvus glass. In most situations the 4k 24p video looks really wonderful except for one thing . . . SKIN. Skin usually looks horrible. I have done a lot of testing and in my experience skin pretty much always looks waxy, lacks detail, and is too warm, the camera always emphasizes red, yellow and orange hues and over saturates them across different lighting situations even when shooting flat and desaturated. I often look like a Citrus American in my footage.

Granted, only so much can be expected from 8bit 4:2:0 color space, so I am looking at buying an S5ii. I have looked at a lot of S5 and S5ii video on YouTube (far from ideal, I know, but that is where my footage ends up so it's relevant.) but what I see there ISN'T encouraging! There is so much bad looking skin: waxy, lacking detail, and over saturated warm hues. The results seem generally better than what I get on the S1R but aren't impressive at all. I am a former Hollywood professional and have a lot of color correction experience, so I am well aware of how challenging skin is for video, in particular prosumer video, but I am wondering if anyone here has worked on getting natural looking skin on the S5 or S5ii? If I put in the time refining settings and the workflow, will I be able to get good looking skin on one of those cameras, or is it all kind of the same? What works best for you? Thanks in advance.

 

[PJD]

Please post 2-3 links to YouTube videos (created by different people) which demonstrate what you believe is good-looking skin. Then we have a basis for discussion. Cheers.

 

[Jan.Wedekind]

which profile are you using? What WB setting?

 

[Quentinquirelino]

What white balance settings do you use and does the problem appear in natural light as well as artificial light?

 

[Babylonia]

I am not a film-maker, so I have somewhat reservation with the information I provide.
When I film, it is done by output to the memory cards of the camera itself.

I wonder, if the Panasonic camera is used with a Ninja V monitor/recording unit,
whether the 10 bit film footage in that case the colour profiles of the camera are used, or a basic "RAW" film footage is generated,
where the possibilities of the Ninja V itself must be used to adjust colour profiles, or a basic output where colour grading is applied afterwards??

So study the possibilities with what the Ninja V itself is expecting to receive as a film format / profiles / LUT's
In the case, the possibilities of the profiles supplied in the camera are included.
Personally I find the use of e.g. "Cine Like" profile a more pleasant profile to use, compared to the other profiles.
(You can also choose for example "L. Classic Neo" or "Als709").

More or less contrast, "flatter" or "steeper" by tone rendering for shadows, and/or highlights, white balance etc.
Can all still be adjusted by personal preference. As well as the limits in dynamic range.
[0 - 255] / [16-235] / [16-255] - 8 bit
[0-1023] / [64-940] / [64-1023] - 10 bit
Although the output in combination with profiles and personal settings, the lower and upper limits of the output are definitely not "hard" fixed.

The newer generation of Panasonic cameras have an additional combination, by using an app on a smartphone / tablet,
to adjust LUT's and use them directly for video.

Demo: Starting directly at 90 seconds


Real Time LUT - Starting directly at 221 seconds



Using different brand lenses (Zeiss Milvus glass), also can have effect to the basic characters and rendering / colour output,
"of particular series of lenses". You have to be aware for it, and "personalize" the character.

Hope it give more insight.
-

 

[xaviergut]

8bit 4:2:0 color space,

With the S1R you can get 10bit 4:2:0 in MOV (not in MP4).

I am wondering if anyone here has worked on getting natural looking skin on the S5 or S5ii? If I put in the time refining settings and the workflow, will I be able to get good looking skin on one of those cameras, or is it all kind of the same?

With the S5II you have up to 51 options to record at 4:2:2 10 bit. Therefoe, there are a lot of space there for color grading. You can even configurate LUTs to your liking to use in camera without the need to color grade.

But, sometimes the natural color looking skin depends on the light temperature and intensity.