ABSTRACT
A scene file is a method of recording the operational settings on a digital camera. In use it is like a floppy disk on a computer and can be removed from the camera with the stored values and then, when required, loaded back into the camera to provide the memorized values. The operational variables on a camera such as filter position, white balance, gain, speed of response of auto-exposure, shutter speed, electronic contrast control, the slope of the transfer characteristic (gamma), and its shape at the lower end (black stretch) or the upper end (highlight handling and compression), and the matrix, all affect the appearance of the image. The same shot can change radically when different settings of several or many of the above variables are reconfigured. If for production reasons these variables have been adjusted differently from their standard settings (e.g. a white balance arranged to deliberately warm-up the colour response), it may be necessary, for picture continuity, to replicate the customized appearance over a number of shots recorded at different locations, or on different days. The scene file allows an accurate record to be kept of a specific set of operational instructions.
