How do you choose a Developer file for the MegaVision S2 or S3? That depends on two things:
Your perception of the final image is key to what you choose. Lighting that scene may be easy, or it may be difficult to impossible; that will depend on what you want. In Photoshoot software, Developer files control the rendering of the scene, the Developer controls how the camera “sees”. Each Developer file contains a set number of tones, this number of tones is measured as a Density Range value. You could call this number of tones the contrast of the file. Since the paper we print on has a set number of tones it can render, we'd really like to match the number of tones the paper can render with the number of tones dictated by the density range of our Developer file. So what do Developer files do? Why would we choose one over another?
Drama, good color saturation, and very careful lighting are related to lower density range Developer file renderings because the lower density range developer is more contrasty. Smooth transitions, pastel colors and easy-to-light are consistent with larger density range Developer file renderings because they have more tones. The Developer file you choose can be easy to light or difficult to light, it's a lot like the difference between shooting a highly saturated film or a soft, pastel film. Later in this topic we'll describe specifically what each Developer file does and how to choose the appropriate file.
This Developer file choice is made more apparent by the conditions you're shooting in. For instance, if the prevailing conditions are extreme contrast (a backlit afternoon scene and you're shooting on the Batpac) you'll want to predict the use of a flexible Developer file, one with greater density range, one that gives you latitude.
If you're shooting indoors and you have very controllable strobes, you might choose a more aggressive Developer file (lower density range) because you can use lighting to accurately place highlight and shadow values; place the highlight with exposure, then set the shadow with the appropriate amount of fill (this of course depends on what you want because the high key pastel rendering can also be very effective in the controlled studio environment). Matching the Developer file's density range to the paper you want to print on will make the better print.
The Developer file is your friend. Because the saved MEGA file can be developed more than once with more than one Developer file, you can use trial and error to ge the best result. If a rendering doesn't work with a given Developer file, choose a softer rendering. If you like that more aggressive rendering, perhaps you can adjust the lighting to make it work. As your skills improve, you can take advantage of the higher contrast Developer files with their resultant advantages in saturation, adjacent contrast, and ability to effectively render dramatic lighting to the paper target.
Let's look at the naming of the Developer files. The Developer file name is a simple code that contains several rendering attributes that are easily discerned. Developer files can be identified and changed quite accurately. For example, S3 MVS 2505 describes a developer file with the following attributes: First is the camera type, in this case an S3. Second is the 3 letter color code that is reminiscent of the film codes you're used to, where MVS identifies this as a MegaVision Skintone rendering. Lastly, the numbered part of the Developer file name contains 4 digits where the first two digits contain the density range (in this case D 2.5) and the second two digits describe the exposure change from the ccd’s baseline ISO (in this case a 1/2 stop push).
The three letter codes describe the color rendering of the Developer file. Choices are Skintone, Skintone Warm, Neutral, and Neutral Saturated. Special regional renderings will also become available (for instance, the high key pastel rendering common to the asian portrait market).
Density range in the Developer file works in similar fashion to the graded b&w papers you've undoubtedly printed on. The higher density range value renders more tones in the scene. We will have several density ranges to choose from, 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0. Most of these density ranges will have a flat ISO, a 1/2 stop push, a one stop push, a 1.5 stop push, and a 2 stop push to choose from.
You can make a custom Developer file by choosing the Create option in the Setup>Camera Preferences dialog. Choosing Create allows you to load three specific attributes that make up a Developer file. 1. Load a Color Tune attribute (MVS, MVSW, MVN, MVNS) from the Color Tune Folder. 2. Load a density range/iso attribute found in the Tone Tune Folder. 3. Enter a gamma value into the Gamma dialog. Our standard gamma is 2.4 (camera gamma, not display gamma), you can vary this value to get more or less separation of low to midtone values. Save these three attributes to the Developer Files folder by choosing the Save option. Name the Developer file with the Camera type (S2 or S3) followed by the color rendering MVS, MVSW, MVN, or MVNS. Add the Tone Tune 4 digit attribute and the gamma value. This file (for example S2 MVSW 3010/g2.2) indicates all of the attributes your custom developer file contains. Because we've added the gamma value you'll immediately know this is a custom Developer file rather than a stock MV Developer file. Let us know if you have any problems, we'll be more than happy to help.