{"id":2655,"date":"2021-10-06T14:04:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T14:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/?p=2655"},"modified":"2022-06-09T06:59:53","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T06:59:53","slug":"white-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"How to White Balance for Video: A Beginner\u2019s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve ever shot a video and your subjects looked as if they belonged in an alien movie or have a nasty case of jaundice, or the entire thing just has an odd color cast, the chances are that your white balance was, well, unbalanced. Knowing what white balance is and how to get perfect white balance will make a world of difference to your filmmaking and keep things looking natural. Of course, there are plenty of ways to get your WB accurate, too, so your videos can always look picture-perfect.<\/p>\n<h2>What is white balance?<\/h2>\n<p>What we think of as &#8220;white light&#8221; isn&#8217;t exactly white. It&#8217;s a composite of different wavelengths of light from across the spectrum, ranging in color from red to violet. Different light sources contain varying proportions of these wavelengths, making them slightly warmer or slightly cooler, both in temperature and in color.<\/p>\n<p>The temperature of light is measured in Kelvin. The hotter the temperature, the cooler in tone &#8211; or bluer &#8211; the light will look. If that seems counter-intuitive, remember that something white hot is hotter than something red hot.<\/p>\n<p>Our eyes are good at adjusting for these discrepancies in\u00a0<a href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/color-temperature\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">color temperature<\/a>\u00a0and determining what the white balance is to ensure that white really does look white and that what we see isn&#8217;t given a color cast. However, our cameras will record light as it comes. This means that you need to adjust the white balance of a scene to ensure that white renders as white and our images or footage do not appear overwhelmingly blue or orange. You can do this in the settings of our cameras or in post-production.<\/p>\n<h2>What affects your white balance?<\/h2>\n<p>Whatever you&#8217;re shooting, it&#8217;s best to get your white balance right by adjusting your camera&#8217;s white balance settings. You can alter the white balance in post-production, but in-camera is best. However, to get the white balance right, it&#8217;s crucial to know and understand the light temperature where you are shooting, whether you&#8217;re\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/tips-for-shooting-videos-in-natural-light\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shooting in natural light<\/a>\u00a0or other types of ambient light or using strobes in a studio.<\/p>\n<p>Light temperature varies depending on the light source, and if that source is the sun, on the time of day.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2659 size-full\" src="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/bb526d48f1ade74ee7742776c4e5024250fe59fc.jpg\&quot;" alt=\"white balance colors\" width=\"799\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/bb526d48f1ade74ee7742776c4e5024250fe59fc.jpg 799w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ bb526d48f1ade74ee7742776c4e5024250fe59fc-300x117.jpg 300w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ bb526d48f1ade74ee7742776c4e5024250fe59fc-768x300.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \ /><\/p>\n<p><strong>*<\/strong>\u00a0For Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera owners who have been struggling with the &#8220;blue tint&#8221; on their monitors that made colors look off even when they weren&#8217;t, the latest\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/blackmagic-design-camera-7-3-update\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blackmagic Design Pocket Camera update<\/a>\u00a0should help to fix this issue.<\/p>\n<h2>How to white balance a camera<\/h2>\n<p>If you wanted to, you could rely on your camera&#8217;s auto-white balance to judge the light temperature where you&#8217;re shooting. This can be helpful in fast-moving situations where making lots of adjustments and preparations can handicap you. Of course, you can always correct it in post-processing, too. It&#8217;s probably best not to rely on auto white balancing, though, as it can include some oddities. For example, if you&#8217;re trying\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/ir-filters\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">infrared videography<\/a>\u00a0and do it with auto white balance settings, your image can come out looking mostly red.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2660 size-full\" src="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ee8ac2a3b00fae1b3ae42cedaf31e058df4cf51e.jpg\&quot;" alt=\"different white balance colors\" width=\"798\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ee8ac2a3b00fae1b3ae42cedaf31e058df4cf51e.jpg 798w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ ee8ac2a3b00fae1b3ae42cedaf31e058df4cf51e-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ ee8ac2a3b00fae1b3ae42cedaf31e058df4cf51e-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \ /><\/p>\n<p>Most cameras also come with white balance preset options that work for a range of shooting conditions. You can go into settings and select your white balance for daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent and flash lighting. When you have a scene with mixed lighting, it&#8217;s best to use a custom white balance setting, but if you prefer to use a pre-set, set the white balance for the light falling on your subject.<\/p>\n<p>If you know the exact temperatures of your lights, for example if you are using\u00a0<a href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-3-point-lighting-setup\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3-point lighting<\/a>, you can also choose a specific Kelvin setting. Remember: if you\u2019re using multiple lights, they should all be set to the same temperature. Or, you can make a custom setting using a white balance or grey card.<\/p>\n\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"186\" class=\"elementor elementor-186\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b6940b6 elementor-section-full_width cta-middle external elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b6940b6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ae3297b\" data-id=\"ae3297b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c76fe4 elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"3c76fe4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon\">\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"45\" height=\"13\" viewBox=\"0 0 45 13\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M13.7128 4.45274C13.2137 4.45274 12.7223 4.56022 12.2694 4.75984C11.8701 4.93643 11.5477 5.25889 11.3634 5.65046V9.85017H9.58984V2.91719H11.2175V4.39899C11.3327 4.16866 11.4786 3.95368 11.6551 3.75406C11.8164 3.5698 12.0006 3.40089 12.2003 3.25501C12.3845 3.12449 12.5765 3.00933 12.7914 2.93255C12.9757 2.86345 13.1753 2.82506 13.3673 2.81738H13.5823C13.6283 2.81738 13.6744 2.82506 13.7205 2.83274L13.7128 4.45274Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M19.1865 9.48966C18.9024 9.6125 18.6106 9.71999 18.3112 9.80445C17.958 9.91193 17.5972 9.96568 17.2287 9.96568C16.9906 9.96568 16.7603 9.93497 16.53 9.87354C16.3227 9.8198 16.1307 9.71231 15.9618 9.57411C15.7929 9.42824 15.6624 9.25165 15.5703 9.04435C15.4628 8.79867 15.4167 8.52995 15.4244 8.26123V4.27649H14.5107V2.91754H15.4244V0.667969H17.1979V2.91754H18.6567V4.27649H17.1979V7.66236C17.1979 7.90805 17.2594 8.08464 17.3899 8.18445C17.5204 8.29194 17.6893 8.34568 17.8582 8.338C18.0425 8.338 18.2268 8.30729 18.4033 8.24587C18.5799 8.18445 18.7181 8.1307 18.8256 8.08464L19.1865 9.48966Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M19.9315 0.191406H21.7051V7.62343C21.7051 7.87679 21.7665 8.07642 21.8893 8.22229C22.0275 8.36817 22.2195 8.44495 22.4191 8.43727C22.5342 8.43727 22.6571 8.41424 22.7723 8.38352C22.8951 8.35281 23.0179 8.30675 23.1331 8.253L23.3711 9.60428C23.1024 9.72712 22.826 9.81926 22.5342 9.86532C22.2502 9.92674 21.9661 9.95745 21.6743 9.95745C21.1215 9.95745 20.6916 9.81158 20.3845 9.51215C20.0774 9.21272 19.9315 8.79812 19.9238 8.253L19.9315 0.191406Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M24.2998 9.84997V2.91699H26.0734V9.84997H24.2998Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M26.1887 1.08236C26.2041 1.35876 26.0966 1.6198 25.8893 1.80407C25.6973 1.98066 25.4516 2.08047 25.1906 2.07279C24.9296 2.08047 24.6685 1.98066 24.4766 1.80407C24.277 1.6198 24.1695 1.35108 24.1771 1.08236C24.1771 0.767578 24.277 0.521892 24.4766 0.345304C24.6685 0.168717 24.9296 0.0689069 25.1906 0.0765846C25.4516 0.0765846 25.6973 0.168717 25.8893 0.345304C26.0889 0.521892 26.1887 0.759901 26.1887 1.08236Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M30.1276 9.98085C29.5441 9.98085 28.9683 9.88872 28.4232 9.70446C27.9011 9.53555 27.4174 9.26683 26.9951 8.91365L27.6554 7.80038C28.0393 8.07678 28.4539 8.30711 28.8915 8.4837C29.2754 8.63725 29.6823 8.71403 30.0892 8.71403C30.4424 8.71403 30.7188 8.64493 30.9261 8.51441C31.1257 8.39157 31.2409 8.17659 31.2332 7.94626C31.2409 7.70825 31.095 7.49328 30.88 7.40114C30.5038 7.23991 30.1123 7.10939 29.713 7.0019C29.26 6.87906 28.8762 6.76389 28.5614 6.64873C28.285 6.55659 28.0316 6.42607 27.7936 6.25716C27.6093 6.12664 27.4635 5.95773 27.3713 5.75044C27.2792 5.53546 27.2331 5.30513 27.2408 5.06712C27.2331 4.73698 27.3022 4.41451 27.4481 4.11508C27.5863 3.83869 27.7782 3.58532 28.0239 3.39338C28.285 3.18608 28.5767 3.03253 28.8915 2.93272C29.237 2.82523 29.6055 2.77148 29.9664 2.77148C30.4578 2.77148 30.9568 2.84058 31.4252 2.99414C31.8858 3.14769 32.3158 3.39338 32.6766 3.72352L31.9626 4.7984C31.6478 4.56039 31.3023 4.36077 30.9338 4.21489C30.619 4.09205 30.2889 4.03063 29.951 4.03063C29.69 4.02295 29.429 4.08437 29.1986 4.21489C28.999 4.33774 28.8915 4.53736 28.8915 4.81375C28.8838 4.92124 28.9145 5.02873 28.9683 5.12086C29.0297 5.213 29.1065 5.2821 29.1986 5.33584C29.3291 5.41262 29.4673 5.46636 29.6132 5.51243C29.7821 5.56617 29.9971 5.62759 30.2581 5.68901C30.7342 5.81186 31.1411 5.9347 31.4789 6.05754C31.7783 6.15735 32.0547 6.30323 32.3158 6.47982C32.5154 6.61802 32.6766 6.80996 32.7918 7.03261C32.8993 7.26294 32.953 7.52399 32.9453 7.77735C32.9453 8.45299 32.692 8.99043 32.1929 9.38199C31.6708 9.78891 30.9952 9.98085 30.1276 9.98085Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path d=\"M38.0812 9.48966C37.7971 9.6125 37.5053 9.71999 37.2059 9.80445C36.8527 9.91193 36.4919 9.96568 36.1233 9.96568C35.8853 9.96568 35.655 9.93497 35.4323 9.87354C35.225 9.8198 35.0331 9.71231 34.8642 9.57411C34.6953 9.42824 34.5647 9.25165 34.4726 9.04435C34.3651 8.79867 34.3191 8.52995 34.3267 8.26123V4.27649H33.4131V2.91754H34.3267V0.667969H36.1003V2.91754H37.5591V4.27649H36.1003V7.66236C36.1003 7.90805 36.1617 8.08464 36.2922 8.18445C36.4228 8.29194 36.5917 8.34568 36.7606 8.338C36.9448 8.338 37.1291 8.30729 37.3057 8.24587C37.4823 8.18445 37.6205 8.1307 37.728 8.08464L38.0812 9.48966Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M3.43194 1.08203H5.20549L8.62975 8.48334V9.85765C7.24776 9.91907 5.80435 9.94979 4.31487 9.94979C2.8254 9.94979 1.38199 9.91907 0 9.85765V8.48334L3.43194 1.08203ZM1.90407 8.39121C2.71023 8.41424 3.51639 8.42192 4.31487 8.42192C5.12103 8.42192 5.92719 8.40657 6.72567 8.39121L4.31487 3.18572L1.90407 8.39121Z\" fill=\"#FFDA2A\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-509c078 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"509c078\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-b63c6db\" data-id=\"b63c6db\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-88ef02d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"88ef02d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get unlimited royalty-free 4K footage<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-90a8615\" data-id=\"90a8615\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-476808b elementor-mobile-align-justify elementor-align-justify elementor-widget__width-initial external-link-event event-midpage-startfree elementor-widget-tablet__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"476808b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/start-now\&quot;">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Start  Free Now<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1816319 elementor-mobile-align-justify elementor-align-justify elementor-widget__width-initial external-link-event event-midpage-pricing elementor-widget-mobile__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"1816319\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/page\/pricing\/max\&quot;">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Pricing<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h2>How to use a white balance card or grey card<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2661 size-full\" src="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6376130d4021b4bed8ea70a0adfa78377eb8ae72.jpg\&quot;" alt=\"white balance and grey cards\" width=\"799\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6376130d4021b4bed8ea70a0adfa78377eb8ae72.jpg 799w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ 6376130d4021b4bed8ea70a0adfa78377eb8ae72-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\ \ new-blog.artlist.io\ blog\ wp-content\ uploads\ 2021\ 10\ 6376130d4021b4bed8ea70a0adfa78377eb8ae72-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \ /><\/p>\n<p><em>Image by\u00a0<a href="\&quot;https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/User:Katie_Chan_(WMUK)\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Katie Chan<\/a>\u00a0(<a href="\&quot;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/deed.en\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A custom white balance setting is always going to be the most accurate choice, but it is definitely best if your light is mixed. For example, you&#8217;re\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/night-scene-videography\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filming at night<\/a>\u00a0with street lights with different temperatures, or your\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/tips-for-getting-better-lighting-for-your-youtube-videos\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube lighting<\/a>\u00a0involves a mix of natural and ambient lights.<\/p>\n<p>Making a custom white balance setting will vary in process from camera to camera, but the principles are the same. To do this accurately, you will need a white balance card or grey card. These are calibrated targets that are either spectrally neutral or 18% grey so that your camera has a reference. In a pinch, you can use a white piece of paper or wall, but they aren&#8217;t always the perfect color white.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to do it:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Select the custom white balance setting in your camera&#8217;s menu.<\/li>\n<li>Photograph or shoot your white balance card or grey card so that it fills most of the viewfinder or screen &#8211; do this under the lighting conditions where you will be shooting.<\/li>\n<li>Allow the camera to lock onto the settings or import the data into the custom white balance setting.<\/li>\n<li>Remember to reset your custom white balance setting if and when the lighting conditions change.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Adjusting white balance in post<\/h2>\n<p>Even if you set your white balance in camera, checking and tweaking it in post-production should be the first step in the\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/video-color-correction-how-to-do-it-right\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">color correction<\/a>\u00a0process of your footage. Most video editing software give you the ability to adjust your white balance in post-production. Often, you will do this using an &#8220;eye-dropper&#8221; tool. You can select an area that should be white, and the software will correct the white balance. Or you can sample an area that is white or neutral grey and use that as the baseline for making adjustments. If you want, you can fine-tune your white balance using the color wheel or the temperature and tint sliders. The temperature slider controls warmth, from blue to red, and the tint slider adjusts the magentas and greens.<\/p>\n<h2>A quick note on white balance for smartphone cameras<\/h2>\n<p>High-end smartphones will allow you to adjust your white balance settings, which will give your videos a much more professional finish and is great if you&#8217;re working with\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/the-best-smartphone-camera-accessories-for-video-creators\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">smartphone video accessories<\/a>\u00a0such as lights and filters. It&#8217;s also worth spending some time editing your footage, even if you did manage to adjust your white balance and especially if you couldn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<h2>That&#8217;s a wrap<\/h2>\n<p>Getting your white balance right makes a significant difference to the appearance of your work. And even if you&#8217;re going to be\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href="\&quot;https:\/\/artlist.io\/blog\/5-ways-to-color-grade-your-youtube-videos-without-using-a-filter\/\&quot;" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video color grading<\/a>\u00a0to give your project a specific look or feel, getting the white balance right will help produce a consistent finish. If the white balance is off, people notice very quickly. But there are plenty of ways to accommodate varying light temperatures and ensure that white really does look white.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve ever shot a video and your subjects looked as if they belonged in an alien movie or have a nasty case of jaundice, or the entire thing just has an odd color cast, the chances are that your white balance was, well, unbalanced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,219,223,265],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Artlist Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniela Bowker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmallAperture\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniela Bowker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniela Bowker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0482f62ddfb2bf09294104350c1c07eb\"},\"headline\":\"How to White Balance for Video: A Beginner\u2019s Guide\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/\"},\"wordCount\":1136,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Cinematography\",\"Color Balance\",\"Color Correction\",\"Natural Light\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Production &amp; Filmmaking\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/\",\"name\":\"Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Production &amp; Filmmaking\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/production-filmmaking\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to White Balance for Video: A Beginner\u2019s Guide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Artlist Blog\",\"description\":\"Just artlist blog website\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Artlist Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/artlist-blog-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/artlist-blog-logo.svg\",\"width\":143,\"height\":28,\"caption\":\"Artlist Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0482f62ddfb2bf09294104350c1c07eb\",\"name\":\"Daniela Bowker\",\"description\":\"Daniela is a writer and editor based in the UK. Since 2010 she has focused on the photography sector. In this time, she has written three books and contributed to many more, served as the editor for two websites, written thousands of articles for numerous publications, both in print and online and runs the Photocritic Photography School.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/smallaperture\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmallAperture\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/author\/danielab\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist","description":"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist","og_description":"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.","og_url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/","og_site_name":"Artlist Blog","article_published_time":"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniela Bowker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmallAperture","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniela Bowker","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniela Bowker","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0482f62ddfb2bf09294104350c1c07eb"},"headline":"How to White Balance for Video: A Beginner\u2019s Guide","datePublished":"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/"},"wordCount":1136,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Cinematography","Color Balance","Color Correction","Natural Light"],"articleSection":["Production &amp; Filmmaking"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/white-balance\/","url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/","name":"Why and How to White Balance for Video | Artlist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-10-06T14:04:15+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-09T06:59:53+00:00","description":"Find out how to ensure that the color in your videos is always correct by understanding what is the composition of light and what is white balance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/white-balance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Production &amp; Filmmaking","item":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/production-filmmaking\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to White Balance for Video: A Beginner\u2019s Guide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/","name":"Artlist Blog","description":"Just artlist blog website","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#organization","name":"Artlist Blog","url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/artlist-blog-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/artlist-blog-logo.svg","width":143,"height":28,"caption":"Artlist Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0482f62ddfb2bf09294104350c1c07eb","name":"Daniela Bowker","description":"Daniela is a writer and editor based in the UK. Since 2010 she has focused on the photography sector. In this time, she has written three books and contributed to many more, served as the editor for two websites, written thousands of articles for numerous publications, both in print and online and runs the Photocritic Photography School.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/smallaperture\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmallAperture"],"url":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/author\/danielab\/"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856.jpg",1920,750,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856-300x117.jpg",300,117,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856-768x300.jpg",768,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856-1024x400.jpg",1024,400,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856-1536x600.jpg",1536,600,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/edf53633e5a2d90c3a8c3eb12527b0d341a0f856.jpg",1920,750,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Daniela Bowker","author_link":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/author\/danielab\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"If you've ever shot a video and your subjects looked as if they belonged in an alien movie or have a nasty case of jaundice, or the entire thing just has an odd color cast, the chances are that your white balance was, well, unbalanced.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2655"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7320,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655\/revisions\/7320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new-blog.artlist.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}