“Unless the guy next door happens to be Steven Soderbergh, you’ll probably have a hard time getting good advice about how to master your DV camcorder. Yes, you can pore over every dryly composed paragraph in your multilanguage owner’s manual, but chances are, all that will improve is your French.
To save you from this agonizing peril, as well as sparing those who patiently watch your videos, I’ve put together a collection of DV essentials in my new Digital Video Pocket Guide….
Just in case your pocket guide hasn’t arrived yet from Amazon.com, I’ve assembled my top ten list of DV tips to keep you occupied until the UPS package arrives. Apply one or more of these tips to your movie making, and I guarantee you’ll be rewarded with terrific results.
Tip 1: Limit Your Light Sources
Your eyes and brain can quickly adapt to mixed lighting situations — such as tungsten, daylight, and fluorescent — but your camcorder has a much more difficult time. fluorescent lights often cause a greenish cast, while tungsten makes things orangish; even good ol’ daylight can color your scene blue if you’re in the shade or next to an open window.
How the heck do you deal with all of that?
The best solution is to try to limit your light sources, and then use your camcorder’s white balance setting adjust for the dominate light source. So if you’re indoors with lots of light streaming in the windows and bright fluorescents overhead, then either turn off the fluorescents and balance for the daylight, or pull down the window shades and adjust for the overhead lighting.”
More at http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/06/13/dv_tips.html