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color correction in Final Cut Pro
Hi,
I have a question regarding color correction. I’ve just edited a documentary in Final Cut Pro and now I’d like to do color correction. Last night I made lots of adjustments using the 3-way color corrector. The images looked beautiful on the NTSC-calibrated monitor I was using as a guide. But this this afternoon, I made a DVD output and watched it on a computer monitor. It turns out that on the DVD output, the color looks quite bad. For example, what was pitch black on the NTSC monitor is now often a milky, grainy grey…in fact, much of the film now looks as if you’re watching it through a glass of milk(!).My main questions are: how can I get my color correction to look good on a variety of monitors? And is Final Cut capable of achieving good color correction?
Thank you in advance for your help! I very much appreciate it.
Ami -
21 Replies
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Yes FCP is capable of good Color Correction. I use it for broadcast programs as do many here at the Cow. In addition to FCP tools, I use Nattress & Lyric plugins to enhance the 3 way.
Grading can only be done on a properly calibrated monitor. Computer monitors are all over the place with color reproduction and they don’t handle interlaced images properly. Just grade so that it looks good on a proper monitor. Don’t chase your tail trying to make it work on any old monitor.
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FCP’s 3-Way Color Corrector is very good and very much capable (in teh right hands) of basic color correction without the issues you’ve described. Of course there are certainly much better tools, including the Colorista plugin and Apple’s Color. However, what you are describing sounds like more its derived from two very common issues: #1 – improper monitor calibration; and #2 – improper black levels.
Most DV cameras create tapes with 7.5 IRE that need to be adjusted “0”. Did you do that?
And, how did you calibrate the monitor that you used to make your initial color correction?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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I’ve shot and edited dv footage from all sorts of cameras and never seen one shoot 7.5 unless it was a pro camera that had the option and the camera op had deliberately chosen it.
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Like others are saying – trust your properly calibrated broadcast monitor. If it’s calibrated and it looks good while you’re editing – that’s what you have to trust.
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Paul Escandon – Lead Editor @ Outdoor Channel
Producer | Director – Oremus Productions
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Apple Certified Trainer – Final Cut Pro
Adjunct Professor of Media – JPCU
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Please describe how you are feeding signal to your NTSC monitor. If you’re sending video via Firewire out of the Mac to a DV deck or camcorder, then connecting your NTSC preview monitor to the analog output of the deck or camcorder, you’re most likely seeing an image that’s darker than it should actually look. That’s because most DV camcorders and DV decks do not add setup on the analog outputs – they output a black level of 0 IRE instead of the 7.5 IRE black level of NTSC. That’s why your DVDs look washed out; your preview monitor is displaying your footage too dark when you’re doing color correction in FCP.
Unless you use a proc amp or DV equipment that is capable of adding setup on its analog outputs, you aren’t seeing an accurate representation of your footage.
More info here:
https://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html#Setup
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Thank you each for your thoughts on this.
In response to David’s questions, no, I hadn’t heard of adjusting the 7.5 IRE to 0 — I actually don’t know what that is…! We shot on the Panasonic DVX 100 B… so I’m not sure if that camera has that capability, or not.
Second, the NTSC calibrated monitor was calibrated by a professional who does this sort of work all the time, but I can check and see if there’s a chance anything went awry.
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Hmmm… I believe the setup is just how you described — firewire to DV deck to monitor. That’s an interesting thought. I will check out this link — thank you.
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This is another link that explains the problem in a way that’s a bit easier to understand:
https://www.signvideo.com/dv-black-levels-dvd-authoring-mpeg-2-part-1.htm
Good luck!
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[Ami Cuneo] “My main questions are: how can I get my color correction to look good on a variety of monitors? And is Final Cut capable of achieving good color correction?”
You can’t get your video to look perfect on a whole host of monitors. You go for making it look perfect on a properly calibrated broadcast monitor. From there, it’s all up to how each monitor is set up. What you described sounds like an LCD computer monitor that’s set up a bit too bright.
Our company has delivered something in the neighborhood of 200 broadcast masters from FCP in the past 18 months so yes, it is capable of extremely good color correction. If you have Final Cut Studio 2, then you have the absolute best color correcting tool on the Mac market right now in Color.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
[Bret Williams] “I’ve shot and edited dv footage from all sorts of cameras and never seen one shoot 7.5 unless it was a pro camera that had the option and the camera op had deliberately chosen it.”
Almost all DV that comes to me needs black levels corrected to “0.”
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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