Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

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scubacanz
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Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#1 Post by scubacanz » Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:24 pm

Hi everyone, I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on how to get a "blue-ish background" in videos. I notice that a lot of the well-known videomicrographers have this which really helps their videos "pop." An example of what I'm looking at is this, or really many of his posts: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVJCWxUF ... _copy_link

Any guidance/feedback on taking GOOD videos with a microscope is welcome!

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josmann
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#2 Post by josmann » Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:38 am

scubacanz wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:24 pm
Hi everyone, I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on how to get a "blue-ish background" in videos. I notice that a lot of the well-known videomicrographers have this which really helps their videos "pop." An example of what I'm looking at is this, or really many of his posts: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVJCWxUF ... _copy_link

Any guidance/feedback on taking GOOD videos with a microscope is welcome!
Okay so the guy you linked to uses a pretty simple technique, though I'm not exactly sure what his implementation is these days. The bluish background isn't what's making it pop, necessarily, but rather the application of oblique illumination which tends to add contrast to small details.

Here's the general theory: you want to cast light which has a gradient in brightness from bright at one end to dark at the other. One easy way to achieve this is to put an oblique filter (classic is the crescent moon shape) below the condenser and then put a coverglass laminated with matte-finish scotch tape (as a diffuser) on top of the condenser (between slide and condenser).

Another similar technique is Dodt contrast where you create the gradient below the condenser as described here: https://www.scientifica.cn/downloads/cu ... dition.pdf

Still another way I accidentally stumbled on is to simply make a filter which has a darkness gradient across it. I did that for this video clip by just stacking ND filter film across a clear condenser filter. Here's a video of what I got: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb2Kxy4kVN8

Keep in mind as well that most content creators are passing their videos through at least some form of post-processing to kick up contrast, clarity, detail, and saturation. I highly recommend Davinci Resolve (free) if your computer can handle it.
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viktor j nilsson
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#3 Post by viktor j nilsson » Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:43 am

Martin, my.microscopic.world, who you linked to, has actually written up a pdf describing how he achieves this effect, which combines oblique illumination with a Scotch tape diffuser on top of the condenser lens. Only works at 10x and 20x for him, though.

He posted the link on Facebook:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/Amateur.M ... ent_filter

Javier
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#4 Post by Javier » Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:10 pm

Yeah, that is Martin Kristansen's technique. I asked a few days ago to @tardibabe, who makes some stunning microscopy on IG, and she told me about this illumination technique.

I tried a few days ago with parchment paper instead of the tape (I didn't find it on the two stores I visited) and my homemade dark filter, and it didn't work on my scope. I'll keep trying to try to achieve something like that, is really beautiful. I don't know is the field condenser plays a big role on this technique.

Greg Howald
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#5 Post by Greg Howald » Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:35 pm

I use a rheinberg filter with a blue center stop and a light orange outer ring. You wind up with blue background and brighter specimens. Greg

scubacanz
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:41 pm

Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#6 Post by scubacanz » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:16 pm

josmann wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:38 am
scubacanz wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:24 pm
Hi everyone, I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on how to get a "blue-ish background" in videos. I notice that a lot of the well-known videomicrographers have this which really helps their videos "pop." An example of what I'm looking at is this, or really many of his posts: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVJCWxUF ... _copy_link

Any guidance/feedback on taking GOOD videos with a microscope is welcome!
Okay so the guy you linked to uses a pretty simple technique, though I'm not exactly sure what his implementation is these days. The bluish background isn't what's making it pop, necessarily, but rather the application of oblique illumination which tends to add contrast to small details.

Here's the general theory: you want to cast light which has a gradient in brightness from bright at one end to dark at the other. One easy way to achieve this is to put an oblique filter (classic is the crescent moon shape) below the condenser and then put a coverglass laminated with matte-finish scotch tape (as a diffuser) on top of the condenser (between slide and condenser).

Another similar technique is Dodt contrast where you create the gradient below the condenser as described here: https://www.scientifica.cn/downloads/cu ... dition.pdf

Still another way I accidentally stumbled on is to simply make a filter which has a darkness gradient across it. I did that for this video clip by just stacking ND filter film across a clear condenser filter. Here's a video of what I got: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb2Kxy4kVN8

Keep in mind as well that most content creators are passing their videos through at least some form of post-processing to kick up contrast, clarity, detail, and saturation. I highly recommend Davinci Resolve (free) if your computer can handle it.
Thanks so much for the tips! I didn't know about Dodt contrast so I'll be sure to read more on that. Otherwise, yes, that blue background with scotch tape is really exactly what I'm trying to achieve.

scubacanz
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:41 pm

Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#7 Post by scubacanz » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:16 pm

viktor j nilsson wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:43 am
Martin, my.microscopic.world, who you linked to, has actually written up a pdf describing how he achieves this effect, which combines oblique illumination with a Scotch tape diffuser on top of the condenser lens. Only works at 10x and 20x for him, though.

He posted the link on Facebook:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/Amateur.M ... ent_filter
Thank you Victor! I downloaded the PDF. I'll be trying this today.

Greg Howald
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#8 Post by Greg Howald » Sat Jan 22, 2022 7:14 pm

A very bright LED lighting system with circular polarization at or very near extinction can result in a beautiful blue background. Looks like the Facebook video you shared is exactly that, as seen by the colors prevalent in the specimens. Try it. It works for me.
Greg

Chas
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#9 Post by Chas » Sun Jan 23, 2022 2:05 pm

Some holes punched around the edge of a coloured gel should illuminate the foreground with white light and give the background a coloured hue:

Milk bottletop unstained wood.jpg
Milk bottletop unstained wood.jpg (61.05 KiB) Viewed 3189 times

That was taken using a filter made from a milk bottle top ( the holes were made with hole-punch pliers):

Bottle top tinted  dark stop.jpg
Bottle top tinted dark stop.jpg (28.21 KiB) Viewed 3189 times
looks awful ...but it worked :-)

Javier
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#10 Post by Javier » Sun Jan 23, 2022 3:45 pm

Wow, very nice!

MichaelG.
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#11 Post by MichaelG. » Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:35 pm

Well done, Chas

Very effective !

MichaelG.
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Greg Howald
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Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?

#12 Post by Greg Howald » Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:18 pm

That's 😎 cool!

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