What is White Balance in Cinematography?

What is white balance in cinematography? Start by watching the video:

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What is White Balance in cinematography?

Here’s the simplest definition of white balance in cinematography:

White balancing is the adjustment that tells your camera what white really is.

What are the three kinds of White Balance in cinematography?

There are three kinds of white balance settings in your camera:

• Auto White Balance (AWB) – the camera tries to automatically guess what white is.
• Presets – there are custom preset settings in Kelvin (see below) that you can choose quickly. The two most widely used are 3200K (Tungsten) and 5600K (Daylight).
• Custom white balance – this is when you manually set the white balance, as the above video shows. You could use a calibrated grey card to get accurate results. Or, you can also change the white balance by eye if that’s what you like!

What is Kelvin (K) in White Balance?

Kelvin is the SI unit for temperature (Not Celcius/Centigrade or Farenheit). This is what scientists use. So that people are not confused by ºC or ºF, somebody decided to use Kelvin (K) instead.

Note: There is no ‘degree Kelvin’. You’ll find many people incorrectly calling it degree Kelvin or writing ºK. This is wrong. It’s just Kelvin or K.

The color tone from orange to blue is measured in Kelvin. The lower you go, the warmer it gets. The higher you go, the cooler it gets:

That’s why people talk about ‘color temperature’. It’s just color expressed in Kelvin.

The range can extend from about 1500K to 27000K or more, but for standard cinematography and photography use, we can stick to about 1800K (candle light, golden hour) to 7000K (cool blue sky, overcast).

What is “accurate” White?

There is no universal definition of white and no such thing as absolute white.

It’s just a perception. This is why the camera needs to be told what you think is white.

E.g., tungsten sources tend to hover around 3200K. So, if you shine a tungsten light source (rated at 3200K) at your white balance card, and then set the camera white balance to 3200K, what color is the grey card? It will be true grey.

In other words: White balancing makes white (or grey) appear white (or grey), with no color tinge.

Here’s what it looks like:

What is the color temperature of daylight?

There is no universal standard, even though many people erroneously believe it’s 5600K. It’s not their fault. Cameras and lighting fixtures advertise 5600K as “Daylight”.

The color temperature of sunlight varies depending on where, when and how you perceive the light.

General daylight light hovers around 5600K. So, if you shine a daylight light source (rated at 5600K) at your white balance card, and then set the camera white balance to 5600K, what color is the grey card?

You’re right. It will be true grey.

How to white balance in camera

Whatever your lighting source is rated for, match that color temperature in the camera. Voila!

This is what a calibrated white or grey card allows you to do. The two recommended white balance cards for video are:

• DSC Labs Oneshot – what I use and recommend.
• Calibrite ColorChecker Passport or Classic (Amazon, B&H) – formerly X-Rite.

Should you accurately white balance all the time?

Yes, if color accuracy is important to you.

When doing product cinematography, it is important to maintain true colors. This is especially true if you’re working with brand names, colors and logos that need to be translated accurately.

No, if color accuracy is not important to you.

Accurate color is not always pleasing color! This is especially true of skin tones.

Here’s a simple example of a shot where the model is in candlelight:

In this case if we attempted to use accurate white balance her skin would look more natural, but then lose the effect of candlelight!

So, in cinematography, you always don’t want accurate white balance, because it is a creative choice.

How white should your whites be? It is your choice.

Why should we White Balance in cinematography?

The idea behind white balance is to find a starting point, so that when you shoot different shots under varying lighting conditions, you have a place to return to.

This is important if you want to match your shots.

Let’s say you shoot a scene during the day. The sun changes position throughout, and if you don’t change the white balance with each shot, they will not match.

Here are some shots from exterior scenes. Do they match?

Notice the white shirt, the white snow, and the white of the woman’s dress. They are not the same white, and that’s the point.

It’s more rewarding to use white balance as a creative tool.

The Kelvin setting you use for white balance is one of the creative tools at your disposal, just like the aperture, shutter and ISO. Cinematographers change it all the time to get their signature look.

I hope this article simplifies your understanding of white balance in camera.