Help with exposure

[onrope]

OK i have been lurking for a while and I am a total newb on this site as well as shooting video. I have a Canon GL2 that I run in manual mode with 1/60 manual, white balance set, and ND filter turned on and gain off. I also use the Zebra stripe set to eliminate all my overexposure and constantly change settings depending on changing light. I am having a huge problem with my videos turning out like it is a cloudy overcast day when in post.

How do I set up for this? Can I do it with lens filters? Can I change it in the camera settings? Most videos are being shot of motorcross racing.

[jagabo]

Have you viewed your video on TV? Computer monitors display video very differently than televisions.

[onrope]

jagabo,

No I have not viewed the videos on TV. The main reason for this is because my site is in it's infancy and I have been focused on mainly providing online videos of the races. This was my main concern before developing video for television.

Hope fully tonight I will have a video completed in post to be able to show a sample of what I have done.

[jagabo]

If your main concern is viewing on a computer you can adjust the contrast, brightness, and gamma to make the videos look better.

[creakndale]

Might be a black level setup issue...
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/prodv/clips/blacksetup/JVC_DEMO.swf

[onrope]

OK. I will try to correct some of of my video in post with what you suggested. But what would be the most recommended settings camera wise for outdoor videography in sunny conditions that allow me to achieve the detail of the blue skies and white clouds as well as propers levels of my ever changing race subjects?

Should I be using a lens filter to achieve this?

BTS the Black lever was quite intuitive.

[filmboss80]

As for getting blue skies and good detail on sunny days, I suggest you get a polarizing filter. Also, you may want to do a search on how to calibrate video monitors to grayscale, as well as color bars. If your monitor is set correctly, you can more easily "eyeball" your exposure (although the zebra indicator shouldn't be ignored).

[edDV]

Post a few representative frames so we can evaluate exposure. What editor do you use?

The VLC player has a good screen capture that respects the current deinterlace setting. You will find it in the "Video" menu.