Exposing CineCameraActor > Post Process Settings > Lens|Camera > ISO (& Shutter Speed) to Sequencer should have been done a long time ago. Using the camera’s Exposure Compensation isn’t intuitive for those coming from the traditional filmmaking world (Cinematographers, Directors, Editors, Colorists, etc.) as “EV” isn’t common language to use when talking about camera exposure.
As a camera operator/cinematographer of 15 years experience, there are three main camera parameters I concern myself with when setting up a shot (referred to as the Exposure Triangle):
- Lens Aperture (F-stop/T-stop)
- Shutter Speed (Shutter Angle is actually much more common in the film industry! 180-degrees is the most common shutter angle, regardless of Frame Rate)
- Sensor ISO (Sensitivity)
In the last 2.5 years using UE as a filmmaker, I’ve always found it so odd that the CineCameraActor’s ISO and Shutter Speed values are buried deep within the details panel, whereas Lens Aperture is right near the top in the Lens category. To make matters worse, neither ISO nor Shutter Speed are exposed in sequencer. This is frustrating in general (and also makes Aperture racking impossible).
I understand the need to simplify camera exposure into a single EV value for people, however I cannot stress enough how frustrating and unintuitive the current EV workflow is for filmmakers. We should at least get to choose between the EV workflow and the Exposure Triangle workflow, but EV has been given all the attention for some reason.
Ideally, The three parameters composing the Exposure Triangle would be grouped together in the details panel and exposed to Sequencer, as these three (plus Current Focus Distance and Transform) are really the only parameters a VCam operator or Sequence ever needs 95% of the time.