Set-up levels

I

izoneguy

Veteran
I have been going nuts this week. I installed the P2 viewer on my PC. That is handy. I also have 17" PB with FCP.
I download the P2 cards to the MAC. Then I can edit in FCP.
I have played with the demo version of Raylight in Vegas and After Effects. A .mov rendered from FCP and loaded in After Effects PC looks normal. A Raylight movie loaded in the same AE project looks lighter (demo version??) and then a .mov rendered in AE MAC loaded into the AE project PC looks darker than the .mov rendered from FCP. As far as I can tell the P2 footage viewed from the P2 PC viewer should be correct?? What is going on and where is a reference??
 
More info:
I am having a problem with FCP and set up output levels.
It looks like the 1080 DVCPRO HD 60i set-up is adding Gamma??
I am toggling between Footage shot on my HVX.
I am editing the transferred P2 footage in FCP and
monitoring firewire out from 17" PB.
Then I am running an S-vid out from the camera and comparing the footage shot on P2 and the output of FCP. The FCP footage is lighter?? Just a touch but enough to be a concern.
Any ideas what FCP is doing to the P2 footage??
 
No, I am monitoring a 1080 timeline from FCP through firewire.
And then I am outputting S-video from the camera
and looking at the same clip by going A-B between
the two. Unless FCP is doing something to the levels on
firewire output it looks like the levels of the P2 clips are getting
raised when put into a QT file. I noticed the difference in levels when looking at the clips with the P2 viewer on a PC. The output file from FCP looks a little raised in gamma??
There is no way to adjust the P2 clips coming into FCP like you could with a tape deck. So what is everyone doing to match video??
 
Plus the bars from FCP for 1080 don't at all match the bars from the HVX???
The NTSC bars are more accurate. Which should we use???
Hello Panasonic, ??
 
I've noticed similar things.
Playback is different depending on workflow -
Are you playing back from the camera, an NLE, a copy burned back onto a P2 card, etc
And as another set of variables are you playing back through component, DVI, composite, Y/C, etc.

All seem to introduce their own variables regarding black level at least ( which also affects saturation) and perhaps the big bugaboo - noise itself.

Well that's why they invented Color Bars.
Regarding picture levels it seems advisable to always record bars and to always include them somewhere easy to get to on your files if you know you will need to set up monitors with them.

If you have recurrent common workflows and monitors that you can save pre-sets on, then save presets for each workflow.
Otherwise remember to reset your bars every time.
This can be a pain in the ___ with the Dell.

Regarding Noise - this is a subject that needs more research.
 
I don't output anything to tape.
I still put bars from the camera on the timeline as a
reference. What i am asking is this.
Same monitor. Output component from my DVD burner.
My DVD burner has an S-vid in and firewire in.
I am outputting firewire from my laptop.
I can see a perfect image on my Sony SD monitor switched to
16x9. Then I output the camera to the S-vid.
I can A-B back and forth between the Quicktime created in FCP from the P2 and the image recorded on the cameras P2 card.
Same image and the output from the laptop is lighter, about 10 IRE.
Does this mean the rendered files I am outputting are 10 ire higher or is it a firewire level input issue?? I will work with the camera bar
clip some more and see what it looks like on other systems.

(Could it be the RGB vs. YUV issue)
Should we set-up the prefs to RGB before importing P2??
I will look again at that tomorrow.
 
Otherwise remember to reset your bars every time.
This can be a pain in the ___ with the Dell.

Why? Im waiting for my Dell...whats wrong here?
 
I am fairly sure that there are different gamma (default) settings between the Apple product and a normal PC setup.

and, as has already been stated, there are many variables . . . but I don't think the P2 files are at issue because you are downloading the same "ones and zeros" to both products.
 
The Dell doesn't have convenient presets ( if I'm wrong point them out someone please) for different color, brightness and contrast settings, so every time you change what you are monitoring the look goes haywire. I can't even get 2 set-ups for my computer and the HVX.

This bugs me. Actually the whole menu business in that monitor drives me nuts and they don't give you a manual.
Anybody know where to get a manual for the Dell 2405???

Re: HVX guy
All these different workflows may be giving you different Gammas, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are only giving you different Black levels. At least it would be nice if that's all it was.

This is a big pain to track down but it might become pretty common with all the computer work we will be doing now.

What is your monitor?
If it is a Panasonic 17" the waveform will tell you what is really going on.
It might help to record a chip chart (or something similar) in addition to Bars to track what's going on.
I would look at a standard you can eveluate easily and see if a simple monitor adjustment make them look the same.
First - See what happens if you adjust the black pluge on the color bars for each varient & Cross your fingers.

I can't follow all your flowcharts there but you may have to make some adjustments in more than monitoring - Let's hope not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top