Transfered P2 footage is darker

[Steve Eisen]

Are you viewing this on an external broadcast monitor?

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

[Darren Clevenger]

No. We only have a consumer HDTV connected for confidence monitoring. I’ve checked the raw files and they look good so it’s only once they are in FCP that they darken like that.

[Shane Ross]

FCP isn’t designed to show color accurate images.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Daniel Martinez]

I am having this exact problem as well. When I use Log and Transfer and I choose in preference to import P2 as a ProRes422HQ, it imports as a DVCPRO HD and the video is super dark. When I look at the video in QuickTime it looks correct. How am I suppose to color correct this footage if I cannot see it correctly?

[Shane Ross]

If your camera shoots DVCPRO HD…FCP will only import it as DVCPRO HD. Only AVCIntra P2 comes in as ProRes.

[Daniel Martinez] “it imports as a DVCPRO HD and the video is super dark. When I look at the video in QuickTime it looks correct.”

QT and the Canvas don’t show the same colors. But you don’t trust either for color correction.

[Daniel Martinez] “How am I suppose to color correct this footage if I cannot see it correctly?
“

Proper monitoring. Capture card or IO device to an HDTV or broadcast monitor.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Michael Misconi]

I have a similar problem. The footage is darker in FCP than it is in the Log and Transfer window. Here’s a photo to prove it.

This is a new problem. I have been shooting on HVX-200s and importing to FCP for almost 5 years and never had this problem before.

Any suggestions? FCP is using DVPROHD as its compressor.

[Shane Ross]

Neither is accurate. And FCP doesn’t do anything other than re-wrap the footage into a QT wrapper…it isn’t recompressed or anything. If you want to know what your footage REALLY looks like, you need an IO device and HDTV…or play it back from the camera to an HDTV.

But it is dark.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Andrew Johnstone]

Hmm.

I am also dealing with this issue. P2 footage on import looks 1/2 a stop a stop darker by eye both in P2 CMS and in FCP.

I am not sure I follow the logic about not trusting FCP or QT for colour correction, is that not what we are supposed to be using FCP/Color for?

Monitors make a difference, but my studio monitor is well/reularly calibrated. I ran a test and output some RAW footage from the timeline to QT and the material looked fine, so there is something fishy going on. I’d post a sample here, but have hit another snag. It seems that Lion has crippled QT’s Export facility and I can now only export an audio file rather than being able to do a quick down size to 480p for the web. Anyone know what that is all abotu?

Andy

[Andrew Johnstone]

A little more digging on this dark P2 footage issue and I have come up with this thread on DVX forum:

https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?170715-P2CMS-Avc-Intra-plug-in-smack-head-against-wall

I am also not able to view AVC Intra directly on my MBP – the image is blank on P2CMS player. I am then left wondering if part of the reason that material looks dark/dull/not right on import etc may be down to the fact that machines for post-prod require some serious horse-power to manage/run/edit P2 material properly.

Certainly when the material is exported to QT from FCP after the edit it all looks peachy.

Thoughts?

[Andressa Furletti]

I was having the same problem and I was sure it had nothing to do with display settings. I didn’t have that problem before and I’ve been using the same computer, software version and display for at least 3 years. I found this on the Apple forum and it worked for me:

In FCP go to the menu Final Cut Pro > System Settings.
Click on the Playback Control Tab.
Set the Gamma Correction to Approximate.

Mine was set to accurate, I have no idea why. Maybe an update chaged the settings, I’m sure I didn’t mess with that. Anyway, now it works. I hope it works for you as well!

Best to all.