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Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:24 pm
by scubacanz
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!
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:38 am
by josmann
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.
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:43 am
by viktor j nilsson
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
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:10 pm
by Javier
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.
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:35 pm
by Greg Howald
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
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:16 pm
by scubacanz
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.
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:16 pm
by scubacanz
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.
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 7:14 pm
by Greg Howald
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
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 2:05 pm
by Chas
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 (61.05 KiB) Viewed 3365 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 (28.21 KiB) Viewed 3365 times
looks awful ...but it worked
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 3:45 pm
by Javier
Wow, very nice!
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:35 pm
by MichaelG.
Well done, Chas
Very effective !
MichaelG.
Re: Blue background in videos: How do you do this?
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:18 pm
by Greg Howald
That's
cool!
cool!