Darkness levels different after P2 Log and Transfer

[jdmarlow]

I recently shot some footage, overcranking at 60fps at 720 24pN in a pretty low light situation. My scene files settings had the Chroma level up a bit, and the Master Pedestal down pretty far, but I was opened wide up and (according to the LCD) getting a bright enough image to work with.

I bring the P2 footage into Final Cut Pro today and see that the footage is TOTALLY dark. There's no detail where there was detail before, and the overall images are about 2 x darker than what I saw on my LCD screen.

My LCD screen levels for brightness and contrast remain unchanged and at middle levels. What am I doing wrong here? Why is there such a enormous difference between what my LCD sees and what is actually on the P2 media? Is this just because I was overcranking at 60fps perhaps?

 

[grimrebes]

What camera were you shooting with? Did you check on a monitor? Computer gamma is a complicated beast. I recommend judging the shot both on the shoot and in edit based on a calibrated monitor.

 

[mcvideo]

i had this same issue early in the year... It took me by surprise. I bumped up the levels in post a little. After burning to DVD and playing on my TV it looked ok. Burn a small clip to DVD and test it.
When i shot my video it was perfect on LCD and monitor i was viewing for composition. After logging P2 footage into my PB G4 i saw darker shots.. run the test and see if you truly have dark footage.

ah, i recorded p2 using hvx200 with proper lights.

 

[Jimmy Moss]

I think your running into two issues here.

1. Putting the master pedestal really low can make your footage look kinda dark. I ran into that issue and decided to never go more than -2 and crush everything in post. Usually better to save the detail in the blacks and crush them later then to decide you need it and their not present.

2. Go to your camera settings menu and under "Camera Setup" (its the second option) make sure your P2 setup is set to 0%. I recall my default setting was 7.5%a which makes your LCD screen generally brighter. You only need your setup set to 7.5% if your going out to a tape deck that needs that setup. Kinda silly thats the default but it is.