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SmallHD User Manual Table of Contents User Interface ............................................................................................................................................... 4 User interface quick-start (joystick)................................................................................................ 5 Pixel Zoom ......................................................................................................................................20 Settings Menu ..............
SmallHD User Manual Peaking .........................................................................................................................................164 Pixel Zoom ....................................................................................................................................168 Tools - Overlay ..........................................................................................................................................172 Look (3D LUT).........................
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SmallHD User Manual User interface quick-start (joystick) Once you get your monitor plugged in, check out this guide for a quick overview of the interface. A tutorial is built into the monitor itself under Settings > Help which will run you through the basics via on-screen prompts. This written guide can be followed separately if you don't have a monitor in your hands to train with. Select an Input To start, ensure you have an input being displayed on your monitor by visiting the Settings page.
SmallHD User Manual To learn about the settings menu, take a look at the Monitor Settings documentation.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel Zoom To zoom into any page for quick spot checks, press up on the joystick. To pan when zoomed in, click the joystick.
SmallHD User Manual If you wish to adjust the maximum zoom level go to Settings > Interface > Pixel Zoom Adding tools to a page Let's make this into a 'focus + framing' page that we can flip to for composing our shot and nailing focus. This will include a focus assist, a crosshair for accuracy performing pan/tilt and custom frame guides for a cinemascope aspect ratio. Click the joystick to bring up the 'add new tool' menu.
SmallHD User Manual From here press right or click the joystick to select, and navigate to (1) Focus > (2) Focus Assist and select the '+' to add Focus Assist to this page. Focus Assist will paint a highlight around areas it determines to be in focus based on small/harsh changes in contrast.
SmallHD User Manual The Peak Threshold is a bit high, meaning we are picking up extraneous edges on the back wall which are not quite in focus. To fix this, edit Focus Assist by pressing to the right when it is highlighted in the tool bar, and navigate to Peak Threshold.
SmallHD User Manual Bringing Peak Threshold up to around 30 does a better job of causing only in-focus areas to activate the filter but this is ultimately a balance that may need tweaking depending on the camera/shot. To make the effect more visible we can boost up the Sensitivity and change the Color.
SmallHD User Manual Next Add a Crosshair to the page by going through Add Tool > Frame > Crosshair Finally we can add an Aspect Guide by going to Add Tool > Frame > Aspect.
SmallHD User Manual This time when highlighting the '+', press down once and click to add Aspect Guides to all pages. This will ensure you are able to view this tool on every page of the monitor, and any edits to it are made globally. Any tool can be added to all pages, including scaling adjustments and Look (3D LUT) files.
SmallHD User Manual By default the Aspect Guide is set up for a 4x3 aspect ratio for times when you're needing to preview the cutoff area of an old-school monitor. Press right to edit the Aspect Guide. Navigate to "Ratio", select it and change the aspect ratio to "2.39" for cinemascope viewing.
SmallHD User Manual Next move down to 'Opacity' and increase its percentage to view the guide becoming more opaque for a more visible effect. Now we have a page that lets us focus our shot and frame it up properly for the common 2.39 aspect ratio. Adding a Look (3D LUT) file to a page Look files (3D LUTs) are a great way to visualize color grades without 'baking' anything into the footage - great for testing out different looks on set.
SmallHD User Manual Notice how when you add a new page, the Aspect Guide that was set for 'all pages' shows up automatically. Click to add a new tool and this time navigate to Overlay > Look and select the '+'.
SmallHD User Manual You will immediately be presented with a file browser to select a 3D LUT file. Selecting it will apply it to this page.
SmallHD User Manual Adding several LUTs to several pages can be a great way to test out looks for a shoot while mobile, enabling creative decisions to be made early rather than in post production. To learn how to create your own color grade in Davinci Resolve and save the result as a LUT to be used on your monitor, check out the tutorial video (19m).
SmallHD User Manual Conclusion As you can see Pages can take very different roles depending on your needs. Don't be afraid to experiment to find the best setups! For an exposure overview, go here. For an overview of our focusing toolset, go here.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel Zoom Zooms directly into your image on the monitor to get you an exact idea of your focus distance and any other fine details. Pixel Zoom - Stats Enable Pixel Zoom by pressing up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom/swipe up on touchscreen monitors when viewing your camera feed normally. When zoomed in, press the joystick/tap to switch to pan mode to move around the image.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel Zoom gives you a zoomed-in view of your camera's feed which means it's most likely the tool that will enable you to spot areas where you can make improvements, be it precise focus or a piece of set dressing that's not angled correctly towards the camera, a stray light stand in the corner of the shot, etc. As long as you have no image-altering features activated, Pixel Zoom lets you see exactly your image zoomed in, making it the best tool for 'seeing it for yourself'.
SmallHD User Manual If using a touchscreen, pinch-to-zoom to your desired level to check focus. If using a joystick, press up to zoom in up to 8x (maximum zoom level may be adjusted in Pixel Zoom Settings). Though a minor adjustment, this has increased the effective resolution of the entire image. With 4k and 8k cameras becoming commonplace, achieving proper focus becomes even more important to properly utilize available resolution.
SmallHD User Manual To pan around the image once zoomed-in, click the joystick once and then move in any direction. To pan on touchscreen monitors, drag with one finger around the image when zoomed in. Pixel Zoom, Focus Assist and Peaking are excellent tools to help keep your shots in focus. We recommend trying each to find which works best for your shooting style.
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SmallHD User Manual Help (section) Tutorial Settings If you wish to have your monitor teach you about your monitor, this is where to go. Start Tutorial (button) Begins a step-by-step overview to get you familiar with the monitor's user interface.
SmallHD User Manual Input/Output Define which signal you wish to view and where to output; set up color properties to monitor your footage in its intended color space, for example DCI-P3 for previewing your footage the way it may appear in cinema projection. Actual Input/Output settings dependent on monitor model. Input Settings Use this section to choose your input and adjust related settings. HDMI View the signal plugged into ‘HDMI IN’.
SmallHD User Manual View the HD-SDI signal plugged into ‘SDI IN 1’ (or ‘SDI IN’ depending on monitor model). SDI 2 View the HD-SDI source plugged into ‘SDI IN 2’. Dual HD-SDI inputs available on SmallHD's Production monitors (13" and up). The following options become available when the monitor has been calibrated (see Calibration section for details). This allows you to safely define a color space, white point and Log correction that are within the bounds of your calibration.
SmallHD User Manual Log Correction If your camera is outputting a log-based gamma, here is where you select your intended output color space/gamma. Output Settings Choose how signals flow once you plug in your camera. HDMI This option will send HDMI 'downstream' via the 'HDMI OUT' port on the monitor.
SmallHD User Manual HD-SDI This option will send HD-SDI 'downstream' via the 'HDMI OUT' port on the monitor. Any tools you have applied to the Output Page (such as a Look/3D LUT) will display on any monitor connected via HD-SDI OUT Output Page Settings The Output Page enables lets you apply tools to a downstream output just like with any other page, enabling any monitor or TV to display, for example, a properly graded image on set, especially useful for client monitoring.
SmallHD User Manual Show if Output Enabled This will enable the output page only if you are outputting a signal. This option is useful when you wish to keep your interface free of clutter when no signal is being output but still allows you the ability to configure it when it is. Never Show If you know you will not need to add and configure tools to apply to an output feed, check this option to keep the output page hidden even when an output signal is being sent downstream.
SmallHD User Manual Display Settings that affect the output of the display can be found here such as backlight adjustment & auto calibration. Individual options dependent on monitor model. Backlight Settings Set up and fine-tune the brightness of the LED backlight. STANDARD RANGE This option enables adjustment of the backlight up to its maximum limit within the specified color space.
SmallHD User Manual If you are in a studio or other low-light environment, use this option to limit the backlight to 100 nits which enables a fine-tune adjustment within that range. BACKLIGHT Adjusts the actual output of the backlight or in the case of OLED adjusts the maximum pixel brightness. Calibration Settings Your monitor ships calibrated from the factory with selectable calibration LUTs depending on how you may want to display your image, for example DCI color space for cinema projection or Rec.
SmallHD User Manual Calibration LUT If you already have a saved calibration LUT you wish to use, you can browse your SD card and apply it here. Otherwise this will display stats related to your auto-calibration. Targeted Color Space: (not editable) Lists the color space that your monitor is currently displaying post-calibration. Targeted White Point: (not editable) Lists the white point that your monitor is currently displaying post-calibration.
SmallHD User Manual Run Auto-Calibration Automatically sets the white point and gamma of your monitor by using a compatible color calibration probe. Appearance Settings This menu allows you to directly alter the display's RGB output post-calibration if adjustments need to be made to match a lesser monitor on set. This menu directly affects (and can therefore negate) the extensive calibration capability of the monitor - modify at your own risk.
SmallHD User Manual Sharpness Adjusts the intensity of edge detection. See Peaking for a more user-friendly version of this. Contrast, Brightness, Saturation (Con,Brt,Sat) Standard Contrast, Brightness and Saturation controls. Red, Green, Blue Gain (RGB Gain) Adjusts the Gain or Contrast of the Red, Green and Blue channels individually. Red, Green, Blue Offset (RGB Offset) Adjusts the amount of offset for Red, Green and Blue color channels.
SmallHD User Manual Controls Miscellaneous settings we had a hard time categorizing :) Volume Settings Control output volume of the 1/8” stereo port and internal speakers if applicable. Headphone Volume Adjusts the output of the 1/8” stereo mini port Speaker Volume Only available on SmallHD Production Monitors If using a monitor with speakers (Production Monitors 13” and up), adjust their output volume here.
SmallHD User Manual Image Rotate Settings Use this section to rotate/flip the image and/or menu to enable operation from a funny angle. Auto Flip Image Depending on how your monitor is oriented (portrait, upside down) select this to automatically flip the displayed image, similar to a smartphone.
SmallHD User Manual Match Menu to Video For situations with an upside-down camera - low mode on a stabilizer for example - use this option to rotate the image and not the menu. The following options become available when "MATCH MENU TO VIDEO” is disabled. Auto Flip Menu This option keeps the menu right-side up regardless if the image itself is set to rotate. Rotate Image If you wish to explicitly flip the menu independently of the image select this option.
SmallHD User Manual For the one person who needs to view and operate the monitor through a mirror but keeping the image itself un-flipped, congratulations this option is for you :-) Anamorphic Settings Anamorphic de-squeeze moved from the Settings to a Tool beginning in firmware version 3.5.0. This tool has more flexibility than the older setting. If you don't see this setting, check under Tools > Scale. If you'd like to take advantage of these new features, we recommend updating your firmware.
SmallHD User Manual 1.5X Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 1.5X squeeze factor. 1.66X Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 1.66X squeeze factor. 2X Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 2X squeeze factor. DSLR Scale Settings For older Canon DLSRs that like to output a cropped image over HDMI, use these options to ‘uncrop’ for a fullscreen view.
SmallHD User Manual None (no scaling) Disables DSLR Scale. Canon 5D Mark II Scales the HDMI feed from a Canon 5DMKII to fill the screen properly. Canon 7D Scales the HDMI feed from a Canon 7D to fill the screen properly.
SmallHD User Manual Capture Settings related to capturing and viewing images on the monitor. Image Capture Settings These options will help determine what happens when you use the built in Image Capture function. Capture LUTs (Look files) When capturing an image, this option will apply any user Look files (3D LUTs) to the saved image, great for reviewing color-graded stills of a shoot day.
SmallHD User Manual Capture on Record Start This will automatically capture an image as soon as the monitor detects the camera is recordinguseful for a quick overview of a shoot day. This feature is currently available for SDI signals only Reset Capture Number Resets the naming of captured images starting with 0001, useful when beginning a shoot for easy grouping of captured files.
SmallHD User Manual Sets the Image Capture location back to the monitor’s internal memory. Image Gallery Settings View and access files taken with Image Capture Open Media Gallery Opens the image browser where you can view and manage files taken via Image Capture.
SmallHD User Manual Accessories Manage and control accessories connected to the monitor. Wireless Settings Manage settings related to wireless protocols (wifi/bluetooth). Airplane Mode If shooting video on an airplane, check this box to disable Bluetooth if required. Remote Use this section to pair up to three bluetooth remotes to your monitor for bump-free menu access.
SmallHD User Manual The remote is a great option for steadicam, gimbal, crane/jib or even sensitive tripod work because it allows you to access the entire monitor without physically coming in contact with it. [Remote Slots] Easily pair up to three wireless remotes with this menu. If a bluetooth remote is found within range (make sure to remove the battery cover on the remote) it will display as 'Found' - select this to pair your remote which will change the readout to 'Active'.
SmallHD User Manual Interface Options related to customizing the user interface for your shooting style. Pixel Zoom Settings These settings adjust the functionality of Pixel Zoom which enables you to zoom in on your image at any time when viewing your shot (move up on joystick or swipe up on touch screens) First Level This option determines the desired zoom level for the first ‘stage’ of pixel zoom.
SmallHD User Manual Scopes Button Only available on SmallHD Production Monitors (13"+) These settings determine which scopes are displayed when the Scopes Button is activated on the front face of SmallHD’s production monitors. Waveform Displays the Waveform on-screen when the Scopes button is activated. Histogram Displays the Histogram on-screen when the Scopes button is activated.
SmallHD User Manual Vectorscope Displays the Vectorscope on-screen when the Scopes button is activated. Status Display Settings The Status Display is a discreet information bar at the top or bottom of the image for displaying signal format, frame rate, time and battery life (if applicable). Off Turns the Status Display off. Top Enables the Status Display and places it at the top of the image.
SmallHD User Manual Bottom Enables the Status Display and places it at the bottom of the image. Show Frames/Sec Displays the frames per second next to your camera’s resolution on the status bar. Show Fields/Sec Displays the fields per second next to your camera’s resolution on the status bar. UI Lock Settings UI Lock is like a ‘hold’ switch which disables user input while active. This is useful in scenarios where there is a risk of the monitor's controls getting bumped.
SmallHD User Manual Hold Joystick to Lock UI. Enables or disables the UI lock at any time via a press-and-hold on the joystick. Language Settings Choose your preferred language in which to operate the user interface. English Sets the user interface language to English.
SmallHD User Manual Chinese (Simplified) Sets the user interface language to Chinese (Simplified).
SmallHD User Manual User Settings related to monitor personalization. Power Settings This section is for controlling user-definable power options. Auto Recover Automatically turns the monitor back on after a power loss. Date & Time Use this menu to adjust the current date & time - this will keep you organized when taking screen captures by using a date in the file name.
SmallHD User Manual Date Sets the month/day/year. Time Sets the current time. 24H Display Displays the clock in a 00:00 to 24:00 format, known commonly as 'military time' which makes 12am and 12pm slightly less confusing. Profiles [Settings] Save and load profiles between monitors to keep your monitor’s configuration consistent on set or between sets.
SmallHD User Manual Save Profile to Storage Saves all pages, tools and settings currently applied to the monitor to an SD card for easy consistency between. Load Profile from Storage Load a saved profile from internal memory or SD card to keep from having to reconfigure all your settings, pages and tools if moving from monitor to monitor.
SmallHD User Manual System Update system firmware or reset to factory defaults. Firmware Settings Go to this section to update & manage your firmware via SD card. Update to [version number] (SD) Selecting this option will update your firmware to the version contained on your SD card (if any). The latest SmallHD firmware is always available from smallhd.com/latestfirmware. To apply the update, unzip the file, drop the resulting .
SmallHD User Manual Factory Reset Settings Go to this section to reset the monitor’s pages & settings to how it was when it came out of the box. Execute Factory Reset Select this option to reset the monitor to its factory default settings.
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SmallHD User Manual Aspect (guides) If you are shooting in a different aspect ratio than the expected final output, place an Aspect Guide on your page for framing your shots instead of just using gaffer tape. Aspect - Quick Start For this example we will be preparing for a cinemascope (2.39:1) aspect ratio while filming in standard 16x9. This means we wish to visualize the top and bottom of the image being cropped for the final product via Aspect Guides.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Frame > Aspect and select the '+' to add it to the current page. Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when ‘Aspect’ is highlighted.
SmallHD User Manual The default setting is for previewing a 4:3 aspect ratio for older TVs. Select 'Ratio' and change it to 2:39 to see the black bars switch to a horizontal configuration. By default the bars are set to 50% opacity; adjust 'style' and 'opacity' to taste for whatever you find most viewable. Here I set the opacity to 80% to keep the off-screen areas from being distracting.
SmallHD User Manual If your production relies on boom audio, you can use the top and bottom dead zones to give your boom operator a 'grace area' for getting close-but-not-too-close. To complete our 'cinematic preview' I have applied a Look (3D LUT) - learn about Look files here.
SmallHD User Manual Aspect - Settings On Enable/Disable the Aspect guide. Ratio Select the aspect ratio you wish to visualize with the guide. Go with the Custom setting if using a non-standard ratio. Width When using a custom aspect ratio, this setting manually defines the width of the crop.
SmallHD User Manual When using a custom aspect ratio, this setting manually defines the height of the preview 'crop region'. Style Toggles between a solid color overlay and a thin line to define the edges of the aspect ratio. Line style may be more helpful when needing to see very clearly what is outside the active area as it will not get ‘painted’ over as it does with solid color.
SmallHD User Manual Safe (guides) Provides a simple line border near edges of the frame as a friendly reminder to keep important elements in-frame to account for 'overscan'- traditionally SD TVs would crop out part of the frame to fit various aspect ratios/resolutions being sent to it and sadly this practice still often takes place on modern TVs as a relic of the analog past.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Frame > Safe and select to add it to the current page. Odds are the default setup is all you will need but you can edit the settings by navigating right when ‘Safe’ is highlighted. //Gif: Safe > Edit Let's change the aspect ratio to 4:3 so we can visualize how an old TV would crop our image. //Gif: Aspect format: 16:9 to 4:3 If the guides are not visible in your viewing environment you can edit the Color and Opacity for better viewability.
SmallHD User Manual Adjusts the aspect ratio of the safe guides; set this to what you consider the 'least common denominator', i.e. if you have to make a 16x9 AND a 4x3 deliverable, use the 4x3 guide to account for the 'worst case'. Color Choose the line color of the guides for easier viewability depending on your shot. Opacity Adjust the transparency/visibility of the guide lines, best practice is typically to go with 'visible but not distracting'.
SmallHD User Manual Crosshair Places a crosshair reticule in the center of your image; great reference point on shoots when symmetry or panning accuracy is an important part of the composition. Crosshair - Quick Start We'll apply a crosshair to our page to help us pan a shot to a precise position. From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’ and navigate to Frame > Crosshair and select to add it to the current page. A crosshair will be placed on your image.
SmallHD User Manual Crosshair - Settings On Enable/Disables the Crosshair. Style Toggles the Crosshair off/on. Color Define the color of the Crosshair for better visibility depending on your shot. Size Choose the size of the Crosshair to taste for your preferred balance of visibility and cleanliness.
SmallHD User Manual Opacity Sets the transparency/opacity of the crosshair.
SmallHD User Manual Crosshatch Adds a basic grid overlay to your image with customizable rows/columns for a variety of on-set compositional needs. Crosshatch - Quick Start Crosshatch is beneficial for aligning elements of a shot into a grid-like and structured pattern, for this example we'll set up a product shot and use the grid lines to help us compose a visuallypleasing arrangement.
SmallHD User Manual Crosshatch - Settings On Enable/Disable the Crosshatch. Color Set the line color of the Crosshatch to adjust its visibility. Opacity Regions This setting lets you define the density of the Crosshatch grid for achieving the desired amount of granularity.
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SmallHD User Manual Exposure Overview Either before or after reading this guide you will have an understanding of how to set proper exposure using SmallHD's industry-leading toolset. Learn how Waveform, Exposure Assist, Zebra, Histogram and Color Picker compare and how to get the most from each. The Dynamic Range 'bucket' Cameras have a limited dynamic range; this is the range between the darkest dark and the brightest bright a camera can simultaneously see and retain detail.
SmallHD User Manual Adjusting exposure will shift the dynamic range to capture brighter or darker detail in order to accommodate the most important aspects of the image. Anything outside the dynamic range gets clipped, meaning a badly placed exposure is wasting the camera's potential. Exposure Examples Let's look at the problems we face with a shot with a relatively low exposure (underexposed) and one with a relatively high exposure (overexposed).
SmallHD User Manual Underexposure --> Brightened Overexposure --> Darkened 1. Bright highlight detail remains in-tact (good) 3. Bright highlights have been clipped, meaning the detail of the window cannot be recovered (bad) 2. Shadow tones reveal noise when boosted (bad) 4.
SmallHD User Manual Scene lighting If you have the benefit of a set with controllable lighting, the best scene exposure can be generally achieved without touching the camera. Because this is such a huge topic, we will just be covering adjustments that can be made on-camera. Iris/Aperture The most commonly used method for controlling exposure, the Iris or Aperture adjusts the physical size of the opening in the lens at which light passes through to reach the camera's imaging plane.
SmallHD User Manual ISO Increasing camera ISO essentially 'boosts' the camera's image digitally beyond its native ISO level, brightening the image but increasing the likelihood of image noise. Notes on adjusting ISO for exposure Flexibility/Night Shooting - Some cameras have incredibly low-noise sensors and effective noise processing that can allow for high ISO values without noticeable artifacting meaning easier shooting in the dark.
SmallHD User Manual Shutter Speed Shutter speed refers to the amount of time the sensor is being exposed to light for each frame. Shutter speed is slightly less commonly used when adjusting exposure due to it having a more pronounced stylistic effect at different extremes.
SmallHD User Manual Lens Filters Lens filters offer creative flexibility on brightly lit scenes - instead of having to raise shutter speed and increase strobing, or close down the aperture and deepen the depth of field, ND (neutral density aka darkening) filters can darken the shot without adjusting the aesthetic.
SmallHD User Manual Exposure Assist Exposure Assist is a great overall balance of utility and ease of use and can benefit most shooting scenarios. It allows ‘painting’ the image depending on the intensity of a pixel's luma value. For example you could set 97% IRE and up to turn bright red as an overexposure warning while creating a scale to turn green when a face is exposed properly at 55%, etc. (& anything else you wish to plot to any points on the range). Click to learn more about Exposure Assist.
SmallHD User Manual Zebra is essentially a simplified version of Exposure Assist which allows the specific ‘painting’ of areas depending on brightness value but is less destructive to the underlying image -- it is however limited to painting one value range at a time, though up to two Zebra tools can be activated simultaneously. Click to learn more about the Zebra tool.
SmallHD User Manual Waveform plots the value of the entire image onto a graph that physically matches it from left-toright, meaning if you see an area that’s too bright on the left side of the image, it will create a 'peak' on the left side of the waveform graph. It also has other benefits by way of RGB & RGB Parade modes. Click to learn more about the Waveform. Use the Waveform to check evenness of lighting across a solid-color backdrop- just look for a straight line all the way across.
SmallHD User Manual Histogram sorts every pixel in your image based on its brightness and plots it to a chart; darker values on the left and brighter values on the right. Click to learn more about the Histogram. If you see that the Histogram is mostly a 'lump' towards the left hand side, you may have a generally under-exposed image (or a normally-exposed night scene). If it is stacked up towards the right, you may have an over-exposed image (or a normally-exposed day time snow scene).
SmallHD User Manual When you need an extra level of information on a very precise location, set up a color picker on your subject's face and as light levels change, roll exposure or relight to compensate to achieve the same or a similar readout.
SmallHD User Manual Exposure Assist (False Color) Exposure Assist is a highly visible, quick and accurate guide to setting exposure for your shots by ‘painting’ pixels when they hit a specified luma (brightness) value. This helps you pinpoint the exact areas your image may be clipping and quickly roll exposure to adjust for it, particularly in difficult viewing conditions (outdoors or on a gimbal or crane) *New firmware 3.
SmallHD User Manual Because Exposure Assist 'paints' your image different colors depending on what their luma (brightness) value is, it can be beneficial to memorize these colors to make the most sense of your exposure range. Alternately you can now create your own exposure/color scale if you find the presets not to your tastes or suitable for your camera.
SmallHD User Manual Because of the nature of Exposure Assist and how it paints the image various colors, it can become distracting to other necessary jobs on set. Tools like the Zebra, though less comprehensive, may work better for keeping a low profile. Exposure Assist - Quick Start From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up (1) ‘Add New Tool’ and navigate to (2) Expose > (3) Exposure Assist and select to add it to the current page.
SmallHD User Manual By default the Arri False Color scale is used which is a great place to start. The chart below describes what each color means- essentially when an element in your scene gets colorized, that means it is within the brightness range specified here. This allows you to make exposure decisions that are based on numeric values as opposed to simply how the image appears, which depending on viewing environment and many other factors can yield inconsistent results.
SmallHD User Manual Exposure values near the 50% mark on the scale will generally provide the most natural result on human skin. With the Arri scale this means the pink and green bands provide a great guide as the upper and lower range for exposing faces. Sticking with this exposure value means we'll be clipping a portion of the sky & sun - Exposure Assist makes it clear which areas will be clipping/losing detail as a result of overexposure by painting such areas red.
SmallHD User Manual Clipped areas are tricky to manipulate in post production because they are effectively comprised of a single 'blob' of color/value.
SmallHD User Manual When graded normally, skin tones maintain plenty of detail due to being exposed in an optimal range. Below-left is an example of normally-exposed face, below-right is an example of an underexposed face that has been brought up in color grading - take note the difference in image noise.
SmallHD User Manual Exposing a shot ‘just right’ will vary greatly between shoots, operators and cameras but is always a compromise in some way. You must decide how important are your highlights and shadows and what will contribute to the better final image, and this can vary depending on many elements including intended color grade, delivery methods, VFX and of course the camera itself - some handle highlights better than shadows for example, others vice-versa.
SmallHD User Manual To begin setting the scale we need to first find the limits. For the following example I'm using a DVX200 set to V-Log gamma but this procedure applies to any camera or gamma.
SmallHD User Manual I briefly pointed the camera towards the sun during midday for this shot - this is generally not advisable to keep the sensor safe but I did it so you don't have to ;-) Add an Exposure Assist via Add Tool > Expose > Exposure Assist if not already applied. Even though the sun area is clearly clipping, the Arri false color scale doesn't pick it up - we need to fix this for an accurate reading. Select 'Style' and choose 'Map1' to start with an empty preset that we can modify.
SmallHD User Manual Select 'EDIT' to begin customization To begin adding a range, select the '+' A default color and range is placed onto the scale; let's change this color by selecting it Let's choose red to act as an overexposure clip warning.
SmallHD User Manual Next we can edit the position of this color on the luminosity scale by selecting it and dragging in either direction Move the color block to the far right - now any values in the 90%-100% range will get painted red. As can be seen none of the values in this image even reach 90% so we need to decrease the 'MIN' until we see a red blob appear where the sun is located.
SmallHD User Manual When decreased to 80%, we have finally found the limit at which this camera clips highlights.
SmallHD User Manual Now if you see orange it means you're almost clipping highlights and if you see red you are clipping highlights. Repeat the same process but this time to the darker extremes - I have my shot set up in a dark environment but you may simply cover the lens for this stage when looking to pinpoint the camera & gamma's native black point.
SmallHD User Manual Create a new color band for the shadows - I prefer 'cool' colors for dark areas and normally set highlights to 'warm' colors to help me identify each zone quickly but feel free to use any configuration that makes sense to you! Set the MIN to 0 and adjust the MAX value to the point where color starts being introduced - You can customize this value until the noise level is acceptable to you (anything that gets painted blue is considered 'clipped', so increase the MAX to 'clip' more of th
SmallHD User Manual Because Exposure Assist is ultimately a guide, setting these ranges is for keeping us aware of issues as soon as they show up. In this case if we see a deep blue on someone's face, we'll need to increase exposure or the footage will be noisy.
SmallHD User Manual Here is what a shot looks like when we're employing the new exposure scale. The colors reveal precisely which areas are recoverable and which are lost. Red areas are clipped highlights, blue areas are noisy/clipped shadows. You may continue to add colors to the scale, for example a midpoint to represent skin tones or an 18% grey card/chart.
SmallHD User Manual Exposure Assist - Settings Access Exposure Assist's settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when the Waveform is highlighted. On Toggles Exposure Assist Off/On Style Choose from a preset exposure assist scale or start with a generic map that you can customize. Edit Customize the exposure scale to set any brightness value to a color of your choosing.
SmallHD User Manual Ignore Look Allows Exposure Assist to work on the signal directly from the camera even if you have a Look (3D LUT) applied which would otherwise affect the results on the scale. Uncheck if you wish to monitor exposure values AFTER a look has been applied to see what effect it may bring to the final image. We recommend leaving this on for most shooting scenarios unless you are baking a LUT into your footage on set and do not intend to color grade in post.
SmallHD User Manual Intensity Dial in the intensity of Exposure Assist to make its effect more subtle, allowing an easier view of the original image. Dialing back the Intensity will also decrease Exposure Assist’s greyscale influence, bringing saturation back into your image.
SmallHD User Manual Zebra Similar to Exposure Assist but a bit simpler to use, the Zebra tool helps you expose your image properly by displaying a stripe pattern over a specific brightness (IRE, value) range on your image. This is useful for essentially setting exposure ‘boundaries’ typically for highlights but you can add one for shadows as well; as soon as a value hits the range you specify, a zebra pattern is displayed on that portion of the image to warn you of over-or-underexposure.
SmallHD User Manual If set to the proper range, In many cases using the Zebra tool is as fast as rolling the iris until you don't see -- or see the appropriate amount of -- zebra stripes. You can add up to two (2) Zebra tools simultaneously, letting you cover the highlights and shadows, for example. For deeper custom mapping functionality, have a look at Exposure Assist. If you would rather look at a graph to exposure your image than to have it 'painted over', have a look at the Waveform.
SmallHD User Manual Here we have a shot that is overexposed; we can use the Zebra tool to determine what we need to do to compensate for it and by how much. From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’ Navigate to Expose > Zebra and select the '+' to add it to the current page.
SmallHD User Manual We don't see any effect yet because the Zebra tool only activates by default on 100% brightness and above (confusingly, luma values can reach below 0% and above 100%). Because our camera places its overexposure limit below 100% or 100 IRE (quite common when shooting in log/flat gammas) we need to adjust the minimum IRE until the Zebra is activated.
SmallHD User Manual You can edit the settings by navigating right (tap the arrow on touchscreen) when ‘Zebra’ is highlighted. Now decrease the 'MIN IRE' setting until you can see a zebra pattern being painted over the brightest portion of your image. This adjustment will vary between cameras/gammas. The zebra pattern is now informing us the exact area on our image that the camera clips highlights; this marks the 'top end' of our dynamic range.
SmallHD User Manual Bright objects, lights, sun often need to be overexposed and will display a zebra pattern in these cases. If you wish to make the Zebra pattern more visible (purely cosmetic) you can change the color of the highlighted area. I have changed mine to red to make a very distinct overexposure warning area.
SmallHD User Manual At this point you may wish to add a second Zebra tool and set its range to shadow areas to act as exposure 'boundaries' to help maximize dynamic range. Here we place the MIN IRE at its lowest possible setting then set the MAX IRE to 0 and increase if necessary until pitch-black shadow areas activate the filter. Feel free to place a lens cap on your camera to gauge what it considers pitch black.
SmallHD User Manual Now we have a page configured to warn us when we are overexposing and when underexposing our footage. Anything in these areas will be clipped so you can now adjust for these limits consistently and precisely. Because the Zebra tool doesn't activate on parts of the image outside the specified ranges, it combines well with other tools such as a Focus Assist or Frame Guides without the screen becoming too cluttered.
SmallHD User Manual Min IRE Sets the minimum IRE (brightness value) that will activate the Zebra functionality. Max IRE Sets the maximum IRE (brightness value) that will activate the Zebra functionality. Color Choose the background color of the zebra pattern - adjust for visibility in difficult viewing conditions such as outdoors or on a jib/gimbal.
SmallHD User Manual We recommend keeping this option activated unless you plan to apply a Look/3D LUT directly to your footage in post without any additional adjustments before exporting.
SmallHD User Manual Color Picker Color Picker samples color/value information from a single pixel to give a precise readout of a specific location. Great for matching multiple cameras or getting consistent exposure in changeable lighting conditions by sampling from a color chart or an actor/subject's face. Color Picker - Stats The Color Picker is easily placed anywhere on the image using the joystick or tapping on the touchscreen. Making judgements based on the data will depend on the user's preference.
SmallHD User Manual Speed is not where the Color Picker shines for setting exposure if you need to keep an eye on several areas simultaneously - for the fastest exposure tools we recommend Zebra, Exposure Assist or the Waveform if you prefer a scope. The Color Picker serves exposure decisions that can be made from a single point such as a human face or a color chip on a test chart. To gauge a slightly wider area, have a look at the Spot Meter function of the Waveform.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Expose > Color Picker and select to add it to the current page. A stats window and crosshair populate the window; if we move the joystick or tap the screen we can change the point currently being sampled.
SmallHD User Manual The Color Picker is unique in that it doesn't remain active when not in use, meaning when the tool is activated, moving the joystick will move the crosshair around the image and not flip through pages. To freely move between pages, disable the Color Picker. Set the crosshair on a point on the image that you wish to get a precise reading from. In my case I will pick the middle grey chip on an X-Rite ColorChecker Video chart.
SmallHD User Manual To compensate all we need to do is roll (close) the iris until we get back to the same value from before.
SmallHD User Manual Color Picker - Settings Access Color Picker tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Color Picker is highlighted in the tool list.
SmallHD User Manual Format Choose how you wish to display brightness ranges - via percentage or raw image value which will change depending on bit depth (8-bit is 0-255, 10-bit is 0-1023, etc). Location Set the location of the on-screen display to a spot of your choosing for best readability or to make room for the crosshair itself. Color Adjusts the color of the crosshair for easier viewability.
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SmallHD User Manual Histogram The Histogram is a brightness graph - left side is darker values, right side brighter. Use it to judge the overall balance of exposure in your image. Histogram - Stats Determining where your exposure is balanced is simple with the Histogram- if a 'lump' is shifting more to the left, more of your image is in shadow, if a 'lump' is towards the right, your image is largely in highlight.
SmallHD User Manual One quick glance of the Histogram is enough to determine the overall exposure balance of your image -- not fine details about it but a general gauge of where most of your image is 'weighted'. Beyond determining exposure balance, the Histogram is outclassed in utility by the other exposure aids that are more suitable for pinpointing specific issues on the image. For the most versatile scope for most setups, have a look at the Waveform.
SmallHD User Manual A graph appears in the top-right of the image. The overall 'weight' of the image data is positioned towards the left of the graph; this is telling us we have a lot more shadow areas than highlight areas.
SmallHD User Manual Since this is a daytime shot with relatively even light (no super-bright objects) we can roll exposure to better balance the 'lump' of the graph toward the center. There are no 'spikes' toward the far-left or far-right of the graph, meaning everything in our shot is within a usable exposure range and as a result no clipping is occurring.
SmallHD User Manual Let's edit how the graph appears by navigating right or tapping the arrow when ‘Histogram’ is highlighted. For a bit more useful info you can navigate to 'STYLE' and set from LUMA to RGB to get access to color information in addition to luma/value. Just as with Waveform, using RGB mode lets you see the individual luma values of red, green and blue that make up your image - If you see a distinct separation of colors on the graph you will notice more colorization/saturation.
SmallHD User Manual We can also adjust the size of the graph any way we wish (or use FULL SCREEN to dedicate an entire page to the feature) With the addition of RGB data, we can tell that our image has a warm cast toward the brighter end (yellow area) and a cooler cast in the shadows (blue area).
SmallHD User Manual Cameras which have an 'auto exposure' will often use an internal histogram as their guide, meaning it will center the 'weight' on the graph as best as possible just as we are doing here manually. Because the Histogram does not know the context of your shot it can sometimes be tricky to use for exposure balance.
SmallHD User Manual Style Pick your flavor of Histogram- LUMA displays a brightness/luma plot only while RGB graphs red, green and blue values individually for a look at the chromacity of the image. Full Screen Displays the histogram in a full-screen view, which is useful when viewing from a distance or if using multiple monitors where another can be displaying the image itself. Width Scales the Histogram horizontally to help with rearranging your workspace. Height Scales the Histogram vertically.
SmallHD User Manual Location Set the location of the Histogram to a spot of your choosing - useful when placing multiple tools/ scopes on screen. Opacity Adjusts the transparency of the black background behind the Histogram for readability. Boosting Intensity helps to compensate for a lower Opacity. Ignore Look Because monitoring with a Look (3D LUT) alters the image and therefore its exposure, it can be useful to ignore its effects on exposure tools.
SmallHD User Manual Waveform The Waveform is generally considered the most robust exposure tool because it plots your image's luminance (brightness) -- and chrominance if using RGB mode -- to a graph but unlike the Histogram, it physically matches the screen from left-to-right. *New firmware 3.0 feature - Waveform now has a ‘spot meter’ function for a detailed look at specific areas of your shot! 1.
SmallHD User Manual The Waveform is an extremely comprehensive exposure tool but when needing to understand your exposure levels from a quick glance, Exposure Assist or Zebra may be better options. Once you get comfortable with how the Waveform works you can quickly reach optimal exposure with it by balancing exposure between the top and bottom of the graph to make sure highlights and shadows aren't being clipped too harshly.
SmallHD User Manual 2. Waveform - Quick-Start To set exposure with the Waveform, first add it to a page. From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’ Press right on the joystick or tap the right arrow next to 'ADD NEW TOOL' and navigate to Scopes > Waveform and select to add it to the current page. Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right when ‘Waveform’ is highlighted.
SmallHD User Manual Select ‘Style’ and switch from LUMA to RGB - this will let you observe each Red, Green and Blue value simultaneously - a unique benefit of the Waveform. Back out of the Edit Tool menu to observe the waveform in action and to accurately expose your footage. The Waveform ‘flattens’ at the top when highlights are being blown or 'clipped' - this will result in footage that is a solid 'block' of color without the ability to manipulate it meaningfully in post production.
SmallHD User Manual Rolling exposure downwards, the lines 'un-flatten' and much more of the window can now be manipulated in color grading while some areas remain overexposed. If we keep rolling exposure down (closing the aperture) we will continue seeing more 'into' the brighter details at the expense of shadow details which become 'crushed' or 'clipped' and effectively lost similar to overexposure.
SmallHD User Manual The key to finding a healthy exposure relies on a graceful balance between clipped highlights (top of graph) and crushed/noisy shadows (bottom of graph). The difference between the darkest and the brightest areas that a camera can effectively see detail is known as its dynamic range - this is why high dynamic range is a highly sought after feature among cameras; you are able to capture and therefore manipulate more of your image.
SmallHD User Manual Notice how adjusting the white balance setting on the camera shifts the RGB 'bands' - when lined up they turn white, indicating a proper white balance setting. 3. Waveform Settings Access the Waveform's settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when the Waveform is highlighted. On/Off Toggles the Waveform On/Off. Ignore Look Allows you to apply a Look (3D LUT) to your footage while monitoring a waveform that is not affected by the Look.
SmallHD User Manual We recommend leaving this on for most shooting scenarios so that the waveform applies to the footage being recorded instead of shifting around while adding or adjusting a 3D LUT. Style Pick your flavor of Waveform- LUMA displays a brightness/luma plot only while RGB graphs each primary color on top of one another. RGB PARADE physically separates the Red, Blue and Green channels into discrete sections from left to right so they can be viewed easily in isolation.
SmallHD User Manual Full Screen Displays the waveform in a full-screen view, useful when viewing from a distance or if using multiple monitors where another can be displaying the image itself. Width Scales the Waveform horizontally. We recommend leaving this at 100 (or set to the same width as your image) to gain the benefit if the graph matching up evenly with your image from left-to-right. Height Scales the Waveform vertically.
SmallHD User Manual Set the location of the Waveform to a spot of your choosing - useful when placing multiple tools/ scopes on screen. Intensity Adjusts the brightness of the waveform graph (the plotted portion) - increase if the graph appears too faint. Opacity Adjusts the transparency of the black background behind the Waveform. For better visibility, boost Intensity to compensate for a lower Opacity if desired.
SmallHD User Manual Enabled Toggles visibility of the Spot Meter. Width Adjusts the width of the Spot Meter. Height Scales the height of the Spot Meter. Spot Location Set the location of the Spot Meter to an area of your choosing.
SmallHD User Manual Legend Places a guide onto the Waveform graph listing numeric IRE (brightness) values for measuring levels. Overlaid Toggles visibility of the legend on/off. Num Labels De-clutter your waveform by decreasing its number of labels or increase this for more granularity. Legend Color Change the legend color if in need of extra readability of IRE values.
SmallHD User Manual Line Color Change the line color of the graph to more clearly see when your values are reaching a specific level. Adjusts the opacity of the graph lines to make them stand out - or invisible to improve graph visibility. Adjusts the thickness of the graph lines for readability.
SmallHD User Manual Vectorscope Though generally not considered as 'mission critical' during shooting as exposure scopes such as Waveform & Histogram, the Vectorscope plots the chromacity, or the hue + saturation of your image onto a color wheel so you can help gauge complimentary color, ensure skin tones are being colorized properly, to visualize how overall scene color is being placed, and where potential adjustments may need to be made in general.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Scopes > Vectorscope and select the '+' to add it to the current page. A Vectorscope appears at the bottom of the image. The 'blob' is largely contained in the center of the graticule/crosshairs which means the colors of the current image are not very saturated (which is especially true as this footage is using log-based gamma). The Vectorscope represents saturation as distance from the center of the circle, and hue as the angle around it.
SmallHD User Manual If we apply a LUT to this page, the Vectorscope reacts by expanding its plotted area. The scope confirms that we are viewing a more heavily saturated image after applying the look. The Vectorscope uses the same layout as a color wheel and therefore principles of color theory apply - for example we can achieve complimentary colors by ensuring our scene plots to the graph on exactly opposing sides.
SmallHD User Manual We can edit some settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when ‘Vectorscope’ is highlighted in the toolbar. You can adjust the SIZE of the graph for better visibility. At this stage feel free to use Size & Position or Crop & Scale to arrange the image and scope so that they don't overlap. Next let's enable SHOW SKINTONE - this provides a line on the graph for where to keep skintone hues for the most natural result under neutral lighting.
SmallHD User Manual Because the entire image is being plotted to the graph all at once, we can check the status of individual areas by using Pixel Zoom in combination with the Vectorscope for spot meter functionality! Press up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom on touchscreens while the scope is activated to see its effect.
SmallHD User Manual Zooming into an area consisting of only skin tones reveals the exact hue in which they plot - the result is slightly toward the yellow side - this is the result of a golden reflector which was used to bounce light onto the face. If we had used a silver reflector, the facial tones would rest precisely on the skin tone line. Vectorscope - Settings Access Vectorscope tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Vectorscope is highlighted in the tool list.
SmallHD User Manual Opacity Set the transparency/opacity of the Vectorscope graticule/graph. Show Skintone Displays a skin-tone line directly on the Vectorscope to indicate where to place skin color during lighting to achieve a neutral, natural result.
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SmallHD User Manual Focusing Overview Manually focusing a camera with accuracy can be difficult, thankless, and if unchecked can lead to a surprise of the worst kind in post-production. Use SmallHD's industry-leading focusing toolset to help achieve razor-sharp focus every time and to free you up for other on-set tasks. Pixel Zoom Pixel Zoom lets you quickly 'push in' to your image to make careful judgements over any details and to check for accurate focus before rolling.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel zoom is unique in that it isn't added to a page like other tools but is accessible from any time by pushing up on the joystick or using pinch-to-zoom on touchscreen monitors. Focus Assist Focus Assist is a filter that looks at your image for areas of dense contrast and highlights those areas with a color of your choosing. This represents the 'in-focus' portion of your image which can be seen clearly in a wide variety of viewing conditions.
SmallHD User Manual Peaking Peaking is essentially the 'sharpness' filter turned all the way up -- meaning in-focus edges highlight similarly to Focus Assist, but it doesn't alter the image as drastically which can be helpful when used in combination with other tools. If you need to manage several aspects of your image at once while still focusing, Peaking may be the correct tool for the job since it doesn't mess around too much with the integrity of the original image.
SmallHD User Manual Focus Assist Paints a highlight around in-focus edges, enabling very fast and accurate focusing on-the-fly without needing any additional tools. Focus Assist - Stats If configured properly, Focus Assist makes finding your focus point extremely easy- simply roll focus until your subject is displaying bright edge highlights.
SmallHD User Manual Focus Assist is the fastest method to find your focus point because of its pronounced effect on infocus edges. Focus Assist is versatile and accurate, only at a slight disadvantage to Pixel Zoom in its overall utility since it doesn't allow for as much direct scrutiny of the underlying image, but at the advantage of speedy usage.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Focus > Focus Assist and select to add it to the current page. Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when ‘Focus Assist’ is highlighted. The default sensitivity is usually a good starting point but if you are not seeing enough edge highlighting, give this value a boost.
SmallHD User Manual Notice how we are picking up many edges that are not in focus in addition to the areas that are in focus. Increase the next slider labeled 'Peak Thresh' to help eliminate the false positives. Now we are getting a much more isolated area of focus with this particular setup.
SmallHD User Manual A good rule-of-thumb for sensitivity/threshold is to adjust until image noise is just out of range of affecting the filter drastically. Some false positives will almost always be present and proper usage is generally about looking at the 'center of mass' of the colorized area as the focus distance. You can check 'B&W Background' to make the colorizing effect stand out more if viewability is compromised.
SmallHD User Manual Sensitivity Sensitivity adjusts the intensity of Focus Assist - a low number causes a faint edge highlight, high numbers cause many more edges to be detected. Peak Threshold (Peak Thresh) Peak Threshold is like a 'confidence' slider, the higher the Peak Threshold, the more confident Focus Assist needs to be about an area to paint it as 'in-focus'. Increase this setting to taste after increasing Sensitivity for best results.
SmallHD User Manual Adjust the brightness/contrast of the image to feed Focus Assist with an adequate (ie not a flat log signal) source, translating into a clearer view of what is in focus. Any active exposure tools will respond to changes in brightness and contrast made here unless "Ignore Look" has been applied on each exposure tool - we recommend leaving these settings checked so that you are making exposure judgements off your original unmanipulated footage.
SmallHD User Manual Peaking Peaking essentially mimics an exaggerated 'sharpening' filter like you may find on a consumer TV - this effectively increases contrast on in-focus portions of your image while retaining full color unlike Focus Assist. Because of its relatively benign effect on the image this makes it great to use in combination with other features.
SmallHD User Manual Because it only enhances edges to a certain degree and doesn't otherwise mess with the image, Peaking is very useful in combination with other tools and scopes. Peaking - Quick Start The main benefit of using Peaking to focus your shot is that due to its relatively low impact on the image, we can use multiple tools along with it on a single page. in this example we'll add Peaking to a page that already has Frame Guides, a Look (3D LUT) file and the Zebra tool applied.
SmallHD User Manual Peaking - Settings On Enables/disables the Peaking tool. Intensity Adjust the opacity of the edge highlighting effect - increase for a more visible 'halo' with which to focus. Brightness/Contrast Adjust the brightness/contrast of the image to feed the Peaking filter with an adequate (ie not a flat log signal) source, translating into a clearer view of what is in focus.
SmallHD User Manual Any active exposure tools will respond to changes in brightness and contrast made here unless "Ignore Look" has been applied on each exposure tool - we recommend leaving these checked so that you are making exposure judgements off your original footage.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel Zoom Zooms directly into your image on the monitor to get you an exact idea of your focus distance and any other fine details. Pixel Zoom - Stats Enable Pixel Zoom by pressing up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom/swipe up on touchscreen monitors when viewing your camera feed normally. When zoomed in, press the joystick/tap to switch to pan mode to move around the image.
SmallHD User Manual Pixel Zoom gives you a zoomed-in view of your camera's feed which means it's most likely the tool that will enable you to spot areas where you can make improvements, be it precise focus or a piece of set dressing that's not angled correctly towards the camera, a stray light stand in the corner of the shot, etc. As long as you have no image-altering features activated, Pixel Zoom lets you see exactly your image zoomed in, making it the best tool for 'seeing it for yourself'.
SmallHD User Manual If using a touchscreen, pinch-to-zoom to your desired level to check focus. If using a joystick, press up to zoom in up to 8x (maximum zoom level may be adjusted in Pixel Zoom Settings). Though a minor adjustment, this has increased the effective resolution of the entire image. With 4k and 8k cameras becoming commonplace, achieving proper focus becomes even more important to properly utilize available resolution.
SmallHD User Manual To pan around the image once zoomed-in, click the joystick once and then move in any direction. To pan on touchscreen monitors, drag with one finger around the image when zoomed in. Pixel Zoom, Focus Assist and Peaking are excellent tools to help keep your shots in focus. We recommend trying each to find which works best for your shooting style.
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SmallHD User Manual Look (3D LUT) A Look or 3D LUT is a simple but very powerful way to apply a color grade to footage. 3D LUT files are quite small, (often around 1MB) and can be produced with most any color grading software and can be saved on to an SD card for use on the monitor or at any point in post production.
SmallHD User Manual With the LUTs placed on the SD card, insert it into your monitor. From any page with a video feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’ and navigate to Overlay > Look.
SmallHD User Manual You will then be presented with a file browser where you can select your Look. You can see a preview before making a selection. The Look is now applied to the page.
SmallHD User Manual Look - Settings Access Look tool settings menu by navigating right/pressing the right arrow when Look is highlighted in the tool list. On Toggles the Look Off/On.
SmallHD User Manual Select this option to switch to a different Look file from an SD card or the monitor’s internal memory. Intensity This setting lets you scale back the effect of the Look for situations where color & value are being pushed too far. Leave this at 100% if you wish to maintain accuracy of the LUT.
SmallHD User Manual Input Data Range If your LUT has been designed for ‘legal’ broadcast range (16-235 for 8-bit, 64-940 for 10-bit), use this setting so that your signal gets displayed properly. If you aren't sure what this means, leave at the ‘full’ setting. Output Data Range This setting currently mirrors the selection of ‘Input Data Range’ - splitting input/output data ranges is on the roadmap for a future firmware update.
SmallHD User Manual Image Overlay Image Overlay places an image (taken with the Image Capture function or manually placed from a computer onto the SD card) directly on top of your footage - very useful for judging shot continuity, particularly when using the built-in 'blink' feature. Image Overlay - Quick Start In this section we will add an Image Overlay to a page to help us shot-match.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Overlay > Image Overlay and click on the '+' to add it to the current page. By default Image Overlay displays the latest snapshot taken with Image Capture at 50% opacity. You can edit the settings by navigating right with a joystick or tapping the right arrow on a touchscreen when ‘Image Overlay’ is highlighted.
SmallHD User Manual If you wish to overlay a different image, disable 'USE LATEST CAPTURE' and select 'CHOOSE IMAGE' If you wish to overlay an image from a computer, first ensure it is in .jpg format and save it anywhere to the SD card.
SmallHD User Manual If we then dial up BLINK SPEED the monitor will flash alternately between the live feed and the Image Capture, offering a very clear view of how to fix the shot.
SmallHD User Manual Image Overlay - Settings Access Image Overlay tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Image Overlay is highlighted in the tool list. On Toggles display of the currently selected Image Capture.
SmallHD User Manual Set the transparency/opacity of the Image Overlay. Blink Speed Blinks the overlaid image at a speed of your choosing. Leaving this at zero disables the Blink functionality. Use Latest Capture Displays the latest Image Capture automatically, even as a new one is taken.
SmallHD User Manual Image Capture Image Capture takes a snapshot of the video feed being sent through SDI or HDMI (combined with a LUT if desired) and saves it to an SD card - great for shot matching (continuity) or a quick overview of the days' shots. If using a 500/700 series monitor, the snapshot function can be quickly accessed by pressing the 'O' (capture) button on the top-right of the unit. On Production monitors press the 'CAP' button next to the joystick.
SmallHD User Manual Image Capture - Quick Start In this section we will add Image Capture to a page and set it up so that a snapshot (with a LUT) gets taken every time we press record on our camera (currently compatible with SDI cameras only) resulting in graded stills of each take from the day's footage. First insert an SD card on which to save your images. From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’.
SmallHD User Manual Click the joystick (or tap the touchscreen) to capture an image. A flag appears at the top to inform you of where you are saving your image and its name. Next let's enable the capture of LUTs so that we can take color-graded snapshots. Start by pressing down on the joystick or swiping down on a touchscreen monitor to access the zoomed-out view.
SmallHD User Manual Move left until you reach the global Settings menu. Image Capture settings are located in the far-left Settings menu since they affect the way images are captured globally across the monitor.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to Capture > Image Capture and select 'CAPTURE LUTS' to automatically apply any active Look/3D LUT to the saved image. Flip back over to the page with Image Capture applied so that we can take a snapshot.
SmallHD User Manual Next select a Look/3D LUT from an SD card or the internal memory.
SmallHD User Manual We're finally ready to take a snapshot! Select Image Capture that's already in the toolbar. A grey snapshot overlay will appear; click the joystick or tap the screen and the overlay turns green, indicating a snapshot has been taken. To browse through your captured images on the monitor, you can access the Image Gallery back from within the global Settings menu.
SmallHD User Manual The default capture location is under the SD/IMAGES, so navigate to this folder by selecting the appropriate folders in the Image Gallery. Note the difference in color grade between our first capture and each additional capture due to the application of the Look/3D LUT.
SmallHD User Manual Select any image to display it in full screen. At this point you could apply any screenshot as an Image Overlay for help with continuity/shot matching or plug the SD card into a computer to backup/save/edit.
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SmallHD User Manual Audio Meters Monitor up to 8 channels of audio with a built-in clip warning. Audio Meters - Quick Start In this section we will add Audio Meters to a page so we can keep an eye on levels. From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’ and navigate to Overlay > Audio Meters and select to add it to the current page. This may be all you need at this point, but let's increase the size of the meter for better viewability.
SmallHD User Manual Select 'Size' and bring it up to 100 for a full-width audio meter. You can also increase the amount of channels being displayed if your production requires it. If you don't wish to have Audio Meters covering your image, you can scale the image to make room with Size & Position. Audio Meters - Settings Access Audio Meters tool settings by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Audio Meters is highlighted in the tool list.
SmallHD User Manual Size Adjust the size of the Audio Meters to make way for other tools or for better visibility when viewing from a distance. Channels Adjust the amount of audio channels you wish to monitor (up to 8). Location Arrange the Audio Meters on-screen using various pre-set locations to make way for other tools or the image itself. Opacity Set the transparency/opacity of the Audio Meters.
SmallHD User Manual Metadata Displays a small information bar containing metadata information being sent over HDMI or SDI such as timecode and tally flags. Useful for ensuring the camera is recording without having to take your eyes off the monitor. Not all cameras support outputting metadata over HDMI or SDI. Some cameras may not have metadata enabled by default. Please refer to your camera's user manual for information on supported metadata and how to enable this feature.
SmallHD User Manual Metadata - Settings Access Metadata settings by pressing to the right when the tool is highlighted. On Toggles Metadata Off/On Timecode Enables display of the camera’s timecode being sent over HDMI or SDI. Record Enables display of the camera’s record flag being sent over HDMI or SDI. This displays as a red rectangle around the edge of the monitor.
SmallHD User Manual Location Arrange the SDI Metadata on-screen using various pre-set locations to make way for other tools or the image itself. Opacity Set the transparency/opacity of the Metadata.
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SmallHD User Manual Crop & Scale If you plan to crop your image, for example shooting interviews in 4K and zooming in post for the 'close up' or for cameras that don't send a fullscreen feed to the monitor, this tool lets you previsualize a custom crop and will automatically scale up the remaining portion to fill the page. Crop & Scale - Quick Start In this section we will make highly efficient use of screen space by employing Crop & Scale to preview a 2.
SmallHD User Manual From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’. Navigate to Scale > Crop & Scale and select the '+' to add it to the current page.
SmallHD User Manual Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when ‘Crop & Scale’ is highlighted. Navigate to HEIGHT.
SmallHD User Manual Take note of the red border - anything outside this area gets cropped when exiting the tool. Decrease the HEIGHT to 75% which simulates the same cropped area as a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
SmallHD User Manual Press the Back button or tap the top-left arrow to back out of the edit menu. Now our image is being cropped to the setting we chose. We just need to shift it upwards with Size & Position so it no longer overlaps with the Waveform. Add Size & Position via Add New Tool > Scale > Size & Position. Once added, open the edit menu by tapping or pressing right on the Size & Position tool.
SmallHD User Manual Select LOCATION and then tap towards the top of the image or press up on the joystick. Back out of the edit menu for a full-screen view of a 2.39 cinemascope aspect ratio accompanied by a full-width Waveform! Crop & Scale - Settings Access Crop & Scale tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Crop & Scale is highlighted in the tool list.
SmallHD User Manual On Toggles Crop & Scale Off/On. Center Crop If you wish to crop your image symmetrically, select this option. Width When ‘Center Crop’ is selected, this will adjust the width of the cropped area symmetrically. Height When ‘Center Crop’ is selected, this will adjust the height of the cropped area from the center of the image.
SmallHD User Manual Left When ‘Center Crop’ is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the lefthand side of the image. Right When ‘Center Crop’ is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the righthand side of the image. Top When ‘Center Crop’ is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the top of the image.
SmallHD User Manual Size & Position Resize and position your image to accommodate other features you may wish to simultaneously view, such as scopes or audio meters. Size & Position - Quick Start In this section we will use Size & Position to help arrange the image so that a full-width Waveform will not overlap the footage, enabling a clean view of the picture and the scope on the same page.
SmallHD User Manual I have already added a Waveform to an empty page and adjusted its height from 50 down to 25 to make a bit more room for the image, but it is still covering a portion of the picture which we can address with Scale & Position. Click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up ‘Add New Tool’. Navigate to Scale > Size & Position & select the '+' to add it to the current page. Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right when ‘Size & Position’ is highlighted.
SmallHD User Manual Navigate to SIZE and adjust it from 100 to 75- you will notice the image scaling from its' center point. Because the Waveform is scaled to 25% height, the image fits perfectly when scaled to 75%.
SmallHD User Manual Now move the image to the top of the frame by selecting LOCATION and pressing up on the joystick or tapping the top portion of the image. This leaves us with an unobstructed view of the Waveform. Press Back or tap the left arrow at the top right hand corner to exit. Next we edit the Waveform and scale its WIDTH to 75 to match the width of the image.
SmallHD User Manual We now have an unobstructed view of our image and its corresponding Waveform! At this stage you can use the LOCATION adjustment to add & arrange more tools such as a Vectorscope and Histogram if you wish.
SmallHD User Manual Size & Position - Settings Access Histogram tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Histogram is highlighted in the tool list. On Enables/disables the Size & Position tool.
SmallHD User Manual Size Adjusts the size of the image proportionally within a page. Location After scaling the image, use this to position it where desired.
SmallHD User Manual Anamorphic Anamorphic video is a technique where an image is squeezed horizontally during the recording process. On film sets this is done to make better use of the film or sensor's vertical space using specialty lenses. It is also often seen when footage originated in HD needs to pass through SD equipment. In all cases an anamorphic de-squeeze can restore footage to its native aspect ratio, although lost resolution is not recovered.
SmallHD User Manual The monitor will automatically attempt to determine the correct aspect ratio for the video from its resolution and any flags in the video stream. In some cases those flags are incorrect and this tool can be used to fix the video. If you need to correct video that has been incorrectly identified as 16:9 or 4:3, this may be the only setting you need to adjust. Desqueeze Choose the amount to de-squeeze your input by. Choices are 1×, 1.
SmallHD User Manual Firmware Updates 502 Bright Page 219
SmallHD User Manual OS3 Software Update Latest version overview can be found here. Compatibility OS3 firmware is compatible with all current SmallHD monitors (FOCUS, FOCUS OLED, FOCUS Bolt, 703 Bolt, 500 Series, 700 Series, UltraBrights, 1300 Series, 1700 Series, 2400 Series, and 3200 Series). OS3 is not compatible with legacy monitors (DP1, DP6, DP4, AC7, and DP7-PRO). How to install OS3 firmware: CAUTION: Make sure you do not lose power during firmware update Download the latest firmware update 1.
SmallHD User Manual FCC Documentation On product information can be found in the monitors Menus under Compliance. FCC 15.21 Information to user Please be aware that changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment. FCC 15.105 Class B compliance statement NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
SmallHD User Manual CINE 7 TERADEK 500 TX FOCUS 7 Bolt 500 RX FOCUS Bolt 500 TX FOCUS Bolt Sidekick RX FOCUS Bolt 500 RX 703 Bolt 702 OLED 702 Bright BLK 702 Bright 702 Lite 701 Lite 502 Bright 502 501 502 Bright Page 222
SmallHD User Manual Samples & Tutorials 502 Bright Page 223
SmallHD User Manual How to use Look (3D LUT) files with your monitor 502 Bright Page 224
SmallHD User Manual How to make a LUT TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS All Monitors – SmallHD – Technical – Conversion LUTs PROBLEM Is there a way to get the LUTs pre-installed on my SmallHD Focus monitor from the monitor to my computer? In particular the one converting the slog-3 to a rec 709. Any chance I can get that one? SOLUTION Unfortunately that internal conversion is not made with a LUT. We recommend this free pack of utility/conversion LUTs, though, which includes S-Log3 to Rec 709: https://luts.iwltbap.
SmallHD User Manual C:/ProgramData/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/Support/LUT/ 2. Select the Edit page at the bottom of the main window 3. Drag and drop a video clip from the desktop into the timeline - (any video clip will work, we will only use it to ensure the LUT actually gets applied) 4.
SmallHD User Manual 5. In the Node view in the upper-right, right-click the only node (01) and select LUTs > (location of your LUT from step 1) to apply the grade to the clip 6. You should see a grid icon appear at the bottom of the node indicating it has a 3D LUT applied. 7.
SmallHD User Manual 8. Right-click and select ‘Generate 3D LUT (CUBE)’ 9. Save to an SD card for use in SmallHD monitors and elsewhere (ensure that the file retains a .cube extension or the LUT will not be recognized by the monitor).
SmallHD User Manual Keywords Sony, Canon, fuji, panasonic, 3d, 1d, LUT, LUTS, camera, card, sd card, profile, loading, 502 Bright Page 229
SmallHD User Manual How to auto-calibrate your monitor 502 Bright Page 230
