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The ol’ FCPX color display problem again
I recently finished a shoot with two crews — one shooting super-quality Alexa footage and crunching ProRes for me on location. The other shooting 5D MkIII footage that I’ve generated my own ProRes from on import.
The 5D footage is gorgeous, as always (within the usual paramaters of that equipment). The footage looks identical in QT and in FCPX.
The Alexa ProRes “proxies” I’ve been given, look perfect in QT — stunning and accurate — but even in the import window of FCPX and then in the clip browser and on the timeline itself, look like some drunk has been left to move all the pucks on the color board — crushed blacks; heavy saturation; burned out highlights etc.
I can “reveal in Finder”; clip is perfect.
No effects are added (this is a fresh import and fresh project).
No color correction board even applied.
No auto color balance applied.
No new optimized media or proxies generated on import
Viewer set to show “better Quality” and “Optimized/Original”WTF is going on? Can anybody clue me in?
How can the gorgeous ProRes clips look so good in QT and yet SO wrong in FCPX
the only thing I see that looks unusual to me is when I call up the info for the clip in FCP’s inspector and see that next to “Color profile” it says “HD (1-1-1)”, which I’ve never seen before. But then why does QT not also see that as “wrong”, if indeed that is the problem.
I’ve tried changing my monitor calibration/profile. Nada.
The 5D looks great, so…Any help much appreciated.
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6 Replies
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Hi
May be it turned on log processing setting automatically.
Check this:
Hope that helps -
Yup- exactly right. In QT you are seeing the ‘raw’ camera output with no LUT applied. Because it’s Alexa the built-in default LUT automatically kicks in in FCPX. But it will go back to raw if you turn it off in the Inspector.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
FCP Exchange – FCPX Workshops
XinTwo – FCPX Training -
Thank you Eugeny and Noah for your replies.
The “Log Processing” is indeed automatically turned on as ARRI Log C for the raw footage, but that’s not what I’m having the problem with.
On location; in the DIT truck; the guy was ingesting the raw from the Alexas; syncing the supplied audio from sound; un-squashing the anamorphism; running very basic grading for shadows and highlights and only THEN, rendering out 1080 ProRes 4.2.2. “editorial” versions that I could take with me on a drive for FCPX.
I watched him do it. Saved me having to do all those steps myself with full 4K monster, anamorphic files.
It’s THESE 1080 ProRes files that look perfect in QT, but dreadful in FCPX. And of course, as they are ProRes, there is no “Log Processing” option available in the Inspector…
I have the origibal RAW footage. I can re-sync all the audio (there’s a lot). I can do everything I have to do to make a new set of 1080 proxies. But I thought I had already been given them and QT says I have!
It’s only FCPX that doesn’t want to see them for what they are.
I hope that makes sense? The problem at least…
Thanks for your attention and patience in this.
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[Trevor Gilchrist] “It’s THESE 1080 ProRes files that look perfect in QT, but dreadful in FCPX. And of course, as they are ProRes, there is no “Log Processing” option available in the Inspector…”
Sorry for the basic question, but have you looked at the inspector for these clips and verified that log-C processing in not being applied? Standard Alexa files are ProRes unless ARRIRAW was specifically recorded. So depending on how they were processed, there’s still ARRI metadata embedded into the file.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
To all of you; thank you.
To Oliver: yes indeed. The mistake I was making was to NOT switch the inspector to the right set of data, so it appeared that the offending ProRes 1080 clips had no Log Processing setting at all.
Highlighting an Arri Raw clip seems to force FCP to switch to showthe inspector to show that data, but anything else and you have to manually change the inspector to its “Settings” display to reveal (ta-dah!) that indeed the proxy clips ALSO had Arri Log C LUT applied somewhere along the way.
Who knew? (well not me, obviously)
So one click and all my problems are solved. Thank you so much.
Thanks again Eugeny, Noah and Oliver for helping rescue what looked like a nasty weekend ahead. Greatlyappreciated.
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Glad to hear it worked out.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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