URGENT HELP colors in QT dont match FCP why????

[HVX2006]

Hi,

Can someone tell me why, when i export a non compressed full frame QT and open it next to my canvas on the same monitor there is a color shift, less contrast, and less saturation. It is not like "HUGE" so i am aware many people would not immediately notice, but if you are doing something color sensitive it is blatantly clear. This seams so wrong. What is the point of color correcting in FCP if it is not constant on export. I read on the mac forum that it has something to do with the canvas displaying the footage in a lover resolution in order do allow smooth playback. Bottom line, how can i fix this? If FCP can not display colors they way that actually represent the HD footage, what is the point? Can it play back full quality footage on an external monitor? How does it have to be connected? Via the camera? In my opinion it should be possible to look at a QT and the FCP canvas at the same time on the same monitor and have no difference in color. Am i the only one that thinks so?

Please if someone knows a solution it would be appreciated.

tnx

[gunleik]

Hi. This is probably exactly how things were ment to work.

You cannot colorcorrect or properly judge a video image on a computer monitor.
Ever.

FCP does a (quite bad - on purpose) proxy when creating the image on your canvas.

The only way to judge how this will look, is through an external calibrated broadcast monitor.

This is in most situation is hooked up through a video card through SDI or component. If you are working in DV, you may monitor to a standard TV set through FW out to your camera and s-video from the camera to your TV.

The next "not so bad, but still quite scary" solution is to preview through "digital Cinema Desktop. I would in that case suggest you bought an Apple LCD, as it seems better calibrated for the function. (I have the Dell 24" and the Apple 23" and wouldn't use the Dell for this purpose)

All this said: Watch your scopes. You can get quite far by looking at them when you CC. Just be aware that what you're watching is a Proxy.

Gunleik

[HVX2006]

Thank you Gunleik,

I am completely with you on the HD monitor thing and CC. What i dont get is when both the FCP canvas and the QT clip are viewed on any same screen, that there is a difference in color. While, although you may not be seeing a actual correct representation of the footage, you should be seeing the same off representation for that particular screen and it should be the same between FCP and QT. No? ANything else seems just retarded.

[VaricamLife]

The reason they look different is because you're dealing with different software applications attempting to do different things. Quicktime Pro is simply a video player (and yes I know it has some basic editing functionality). Its not an NLE with NLE considerations. FCP on the other hand is a NLE. So it looks to consider things such as layering video, filters, effects, composite modes, and so on and so forth. Hence the proxy the gun refers to. Its not designed to just sit there and show you pretty pictures, its designed to help you edit movies, so the programmers decided to sacrifice quality in order to make other things work better. And again, QT doesn't have those considerations, and so would have been programmed quite differently. Same company or not, the two software applications you mention are created for way different reasons, so personally I would be shocked if they were to look the same (on a computer monitor anyway).

cheers.