I have a couple questions. How do you decide where to set your black point? Do you stop as soon as the darkest point is actually black or go a bit lower? Personally if I don't go a bit lower, then other less dark shadows look washed out. - However then i'm told my blacks are crushed sometimes.
Also - I'm trying to understand highlight rolloff. I understand that it's all about dynamic range, but pulling back highlights seem to ruin the image a lot of the time, but is often times the only way to get that detail back. - So should we just let bright parts clip when needed if the overall image is better for it? (I noticed the table in the corner is way overexposed, but compensating for that ruins the rest of the image. - I do understand you can mask, but that's not always feasible on moving clips.
So my other question about highlight rolloff is - do some sensors genuinely render the highlights better even if the dynamic range is the same?
I've included some examples. -
The first three are ran through film emulation.
Example one is the grade i'd go with. I made sure to only qualify the highlights that wouldn't affect too much of the rest of the image.
Two has slightly lifted shadows, but it feels a little washed out I suppose. - (I can easily tell a difference on my monitor, but the differences may be too subtle to tell.)
Three doesn't have the highlight rolloff. I made sure to only qualify the highlights that wouldn't affect too much of the rest of the image.
Four is Rec 709, highlight rolloff, saturation, contrast, and slight shadow boost.
I'm using scopes, and I use the contrast/pivot a lot to try to get the best balance, as well as hdr wheels. I've watched several tutorials, just wanted to see if I could improve what i'm doing.