Color Bar diliemma

[Blade Borge]

I make videos for this web company. Looking through the viewfinder and as a quicktime file, things look exactly how I wanted them to go. I send the company the discs. The company says the picture is tremondously dark. Do I put color bars in front of my files and then have the company adjust? Do I use color bars with the camera and premiere? I'm a little new to that part.

 

[PrestonH]

Color bars can be used to calibrate video monitors and are used at the head of tapes as a reference for material destined for broadcast (among other things). One of you may not have your video and/or PC monitors calibrated or it could be a difference in display gammas inherit between Macs and PC's. It would be nice if each of you could see what the other is seeing at their end. More investigation would be required to determine the cause of the discrepency. Don't know how useful color bars would be at the head of your web-ready files.

 

[Shooter]

It never hurts to shoot some bars (from the camera).

Bring the bars clip into Premiere Pro and take a look on the waveform scope . Check it against the PremPro created Bars and tone.

You are checking white levels and black levels mainly. It is unlikely there wll be a problem with them but not all bars are created equal and are read differently.

The bars are usually of two types. PremPro has bars that run full verical height. Your camera maybe the same. Set up bars for monitors have vertical bars that only run part of vertical height then have other bars designed to assist set up. (Pluge)

On the bars YOU HAVE, you need to know what The white bar level is. Often 75%... so this should show in your waveform monitor as 75%

Black (without set up) should be 0%

Google up the subject