FIlmmakers: DO NOT BUY THIS - SpyderCheckr

hey everybody joe from home crush here it's been a while huh somewhere in my absence the channel passed 2 000 subscribers maybe the secret to youtube success is to neglect your channel for long stretches regardless i'm back with the second installment of do not buy this quick little videos where i share with you gear that i've wasted my hard earned money on so that hopefully you won't this video is about a simple product that gets so many little things right but completely fails on the one thing that it absolutely must get right i'm talking about

this guy right here data color spiderchecker24 it has one reason to exist to help us get accurate color i bought the spydercheckr over the other most popular chart x-rite's color checker video based on convenience features it's self-enclosed in a protective case that allows it to stand open on a flat surface and pack away without worrying about damaging the sensitive color patches so does the color checker passport but it's too tiny to be useful for setting white balance by the time you place it in a scene under the lighting you need to measure it's the relative

size of a postage stamp the spyder checker includes a quarter twenty mount on the bottom for attaching a stand or a clamp and a retractable quarter twenty on the top to attach my favorite feature the spider cube the spider cube is ingenious it simultaneously captures specular highlights the closest thing to pure white in your scene and has a black cavity for capturing the closest thing to pure black in your scene that's super useful information for color correction and shot matching but none of what i just raved about matters if the damn color patches you know

the part of this thing that makes it so damn expensive aren't damn accurate and if you're shooting video the spider checkers swatches aren't they are the colors that datacolor says they are their quality control is fine every spider checker i've used is equally wrong the problem is that by design the swatches on the spider checker don't actually match the corresponding colors on a vector scope huh no really joe that can't be right data color you had one job okay two your neutral gray patches needed to be neutral check you got that the two two the

six colors of the vector scope seven if you count the skin tone patch those swatches need to line up with the values on a vector scope period and a discussion if they don't your product is worse than worthless it actually does harm how many people have wasted how many hours just like me trying in vain to dial in their picture quality based on the bad data delivered by your product hang your head and shame data color a sinner comes before you rend your garments and stumble to the city gates never to show your face again

as we've helped you with rotten cabbages of course i should also be embarrassed too because even after discovering that it was wrong i continued using the spider checker for years i implemented an obnoxious work around in post because i was too cheap to buy something else and too lazy to give up the convenience features i'm not even sure what finally made me stop punching myself in the head after every shoot but i finally switched x right's color passport video and while it's just a thin fragile card with no protection and nothing to compare to the

spider cube its vector scope patches actually hit where they should on a vector scope not to mention x right's chart is actually 20 dollars cheaper so it really is a no-brainer trust me the other stuff doesn't matter if you can't trust the chart but if a chart isn't convenient to use you know what happens you don't actually use it so i needed to hack the color passport so i'd use it first i taped it to the back of something i need to put in every shot anyhow my clapboard by stapling a leather flap and attaching

a magnet i keep it protected in my bag and by drilling a quarter twenty hole in the clapper i'm able to keep using my chairs spider cube all in all the hack actually ends up being a better solution i'm much more likely to remember to get it in shot the x-rite color passport video and data color spider cube attach to a clapboard your editor and colorist will thank you and if you are your own editor and colorist you'll want to kiss the mirror alright that's it i know you didn't find this video entertaining but if

you found it useful like and subscribe if you shoot on the pocket 4k or 6k consider purchasing my pocket luts if you like good movies avoid tenant and wonder woman 1984 watch seoul in midnight sky instead if you voted for donald trump sorry not sorry 2020 you've got a day left to go yourself in 2021 here's to warmer weather an adult in the white house a vaccine and maybe 10 000 subscribers now get out there and crush it