How to keep bright white background broadcast safe?

[Ferret Lady]

I'm slowly trying to learn how to colour correct in FCP right now.. I have the application Color but if you read my previous thread you'd know i was having a lot of issues getting my project into it, so for now i'm using the color corrector 3 way...

my music video has a LOT of scenes that were filmed infront of a white backdrop.. and there are at times shadows, or wrinkles, which I was getting rid of by raising the whites.

now i'm looking at the broadcast safe check by going to range check > excess luma, and finding that all these scenes are WAY off the charts.

this video is for an artist who had previously had videos played on tv in latin america, so I wanna try and make this broadcast safe but i dont know how to do it without losing the effect of the bright white background.

I've seen lots of videos of people standing infront of just a white background, so how do they do it and stay broadcast safe? it seems like i have to lower my whites so much that the background becomes GRAY before it's broadcast safe.....

any tips? advice? i know i am a total newb when it comes to colour correction but i'm trying my best here and watching a lot of tutorials but stumped with this one...

thanks guys...

[Batutta]

Easiest way is to go to filters>Color Correction and add the Broadcast Safe filter to your clip. The default setting is conservative, which will clip your whites into the safe zone.

[Ferret Lady]

thanks Batutta, but when i try adding that filter, it makes the white background look kinda pixelated, like some parts are slightly blueish, others are white... but it's definitely not a solid white background like i want...

[Zak Forsman]

the broadcast safe filter in FCP is not 100% effective. I've had things rejected using that filter that shouldn't have been. Color on the otherhand has a broadcast safe function that is reliable. It will definitely pass a professional QC.

If there is any way to get your project in Color, you'll have the peace of mind knowing you're truly "safe".

[Ferret Lady]

for some reason i can't get it to open properly in Color.. it opens the sequence in the middle of the timeline, it's all jittery at the beginning of every clip and I can't see the entire timeline, it only plays through a couple of the clips in the middle.. it's totally weird, i started a thread about it a few days ago in hopes of figuring it out but never did. that's why i'm doing it in FCP instead. not ideal, but I gotta get this video done for these guys...

i've been keyframing garbate mattes all day... so lets say there is a guy standing infront of a white curtain.. but there's a few wrinkles in the curtain and it's not solid white.. i make a copy of that clip, drag the copy above the original in the timeline, then put a 8 point garbage matte around the guy. then i totally up the white levels in color corrector 3 way on the BOTTOM clip.

maybe i should put some color solid mattes on the bottom instead?

[cheezweezl]

don't use the broadcast safe plug in fcp whatever you do. it works like an audio compressor constantly analyzing and correcting your footage. the end result is a highly visible effect and you will get noticable artifacts and stair stepping in your gradients. go with color or go fix your clips by hand in fcp. if you use a 3 way to blow your BG and then have an excess luma issue, apply a second 3 way and bring the whites back down. this won't bring your wrinkles back.

[Ferret Lady]

thanks cheez! i nested it and then added another 3 way like you said and it fixed the problem..

note to self... never use white background again... ha ha

[murraymile]

Check your vector scoop. Then use your proamp tool in your image control folder. Don't get use too just dropping filters like "Board-cast safe crap". Get use to controlling your own image. Understand what your tools do and why you are using it. Research is a great tool for success.

[murraymile]

thanks cheez! i nested it and then added another 3 way like you said and it fixed the problem..

note to self... never use white background again... ha ha

Well, you can use a white background, just make sure you have a motive. Just a side note, but if you're shooting on a white BG, then have a strong wardrobe team that color coordinates to your atmosphere / location.

-Murray