COLOR workflow, some basic questions

MaxZenk

MaxZenk

Active member
Hello there!

We shot a short on the Canon XH A1, so HDV.
We were trying to edit on two systems (PC and Mac), but shortly became aware of all the inter-system-codec-troubles, so we finished the editing on Premiere.

Now I'd like to do the color correction in Apple's Color.
My friend exported the final cut as tiff sequence (we did 1920 X 1080 square pixels).
It took the files, imported to FCP (duration 1 frame), put them into a sequence which I set to correct aspect ration and Apple ProRes 422 HQ.
I exported the timeline, hence baked the sequence and put it into another timeline, there i chopped the short up into its shots using the blade tool (I suppose that's not the most comfortable way to do it, but it worked :))

Then i sent the sequence to Color.
Trouble starts now: The image already in color is way brighter than in final cut.
I am aware of the gamma shift problems within QT (without completely understanding them), but why is it already this way around that the footage is way brighter?

I thought FCP shows the footage darker, then it is, but after having baked the movie, I exported it and compared the exported file in prores422 with the original tiffs, and they looked identical.

I'm not working - as you probaly already have realized - on a nice setup, I'm simply using my calibrated Eizo S2431.

The point I don't get is:
How am I to correctly color correct, when the image in Color already looks different (without any change of course) to the footage in FCP?

I have activated my calibrated profile for desktop and also imported the same profile as LUT in Color.

Does anybody know how to proceed?
Thanks for any advice, help highly appreciated! :)

Max.
 
the little I've used Color, the images looked the same to me in FCP & Color.

maybe export the sequence to Pro-Res, or another supported format of Color, before going into Color?

also use the vector scope in Color & the other tools which can show you what actual levels of the video, instead of just depending on your monitor
 
Thanks for the answers.
I did the sequence in Prores (as described above), animation codec, and 8bit uncompressed, no success.
A proper monitor solution would be nice, but does not change the fact that technically the image in Color is way brighter than in final cut without any effects applied.

Any other ideas? :)
 
FCP shifts the gamma of footage in the Canvas window to approximate the look of the material on an NTSC monitor. Color was initially created by another company that Apple bought, and it's creators probably assume that if you are using Color for your color correction, then you will have an appropriate monitoring setup. Color, it seems, doesn't shift the gamma for computer monitor display purposes. This is why the Color image looks different than the FCP image.

Why are you jumping through all of these hoops to use Color on a system without a proper monitor setup? I would much rather do final color correction on a Premiere, Avid, Vegas, or Edius system that had a proper external NTSC or Hi-Def Monitor, than to do it on a FCP System with no proper Monitoring capabilities. You are kind of wasting your time.
 
Jim2000 said:
FCP shifts the gamma of footage in the Canvas window to approximate the look of the material on an NTSC monitor. Color was initially created by another company that Apple bought,
I guess that is why the interface looks and behaves TOTALLY different than FCP. COLOR is just too much for me right now. Plus I have elcheapo monitors
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the answers so far.

As said above, I sent the sequence to Color from FCP.
Jim, I think you did not quite understand my problem. Checking my outputs from Final cut pro, there is not just an optical gammashift, but a physical measureable, which is not what FCP is supposed to do.

Color (actually) never applies a gamma shift when recognizing the input as qt file, at least it is supposed to, this is what is kind of driving me nuts.

Why are you jumping through all of these hoops to use Color on a system without a proper monitor setup?
Click to expand...

Excluding the statement about monitoring, this is a good question.
The process should be straight forward, but I didn't expect such difficulties.
I guess I have learned that working between two systems (mac, pc) can be really frustrating. ;)
 
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