Which do I trust?

GenJerDan

GenJerDan

Veteran
In-camera Zebras, DV Rack Zebras, or the DV Rack waveform?

The three never agree on what's blown out. They don't disagree by much, but...

Of course, the simplest solution is keep all three below that point, but sometimes ya just gotta get as much light in there as possible...
 
In-camera doesn't show what's "truly" blown out, it shows anything that exceeds 105% (the signal may still be valid up to as much as 109%). So the in-camera zebras are more conservative than the waveform or DV Rack zebras.
 
Barry_Green said:
In-camera doesn't show what's "truly" blown out, it shows anything that exceeds 105% (the signal may still be valid up to as much as 109%). So the in-camera zebras are more conservative than the waveform or DV Rack zebras.
Click to expand...

Aren't they user-settable? I'm pretty sure mine are at 80 & 100.

Ah. Unless you mean the 100 setting doesn't show you 100, it shows you what is exceeding 100.

Well, judging by the lack of detail available in some footage I shot, despite the area being below-zebra on both DVX & DV Rack, I'm probably better off being even more conservative in my shooting.

(Of course that nasty areas aren't being helped any by the CC I'm trying...)
 
100 shows you anything that's at 100 or higher. But the signal can go to 109. So 108 will show up as zebras, but that doesn't mean it's absolutely "blown out" yet.
 
I've found that the HVX zebras are useful for most blow out warning questions, but don't always pick up small areas such as jewelry or other small specular problems, including the bridge of the nose -- that show up on waveform monitors. Depending on their size in the frame of course.
 
I would trust the waveform monitor over all of them. In the end, it's the DV output from the camera that you will end up working with, and since DV Rack is working with that signal, it would be better than the in-camera zebras.

Then the waveform monitor will usually show you a better idea of what's blown out. If all else fails, open a captured clip in Avid's waveform monitor and compare the two. I would bet the Avid waveform monitor is more accurate than the DV Rack.
 
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