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Video and Data Levels – Avid Media Composer Workflow Issue
Shot on 7D
Imported into Avid REC709 (16-235)
Online to DnxHD 175 10bit
AAF import to Resolve
Monitoring REC 709There seems to be a discrepancy in the way Resolve interprets video and data levels.
Some clips look extremely crushed in Resolve when compared to edit in Avid (all filters had been removed). I am looking at the output from the blackmagic card but the difference is obvious on the GUI display as well.Back in Resolve in the Media Pool I looked at the clip attributes. Under the levels section of clip attributes the auto setting was selected. It was auto selecting video levels. I changed the clip attributes to data levels and the clip looked as it did in Media Composer.
To test this, I rendered a flat pass of the clip and in the Delivery page I selected video levels. I brought the render back into Resolve to check against the original clip.
The clip looked identical to the original clip in Resolve only now the auto setting in clip attributes is of course defaulting to video levels. When I brought that same clip into Media Composer and After Effects and the blacks were lifted compared to the original clip. It appears that Avid and After Effects are reading data levels.
I rendered another flat pass of the clip with data levels out of Resolve and it displayed properly in both After Effects and Media Composer as the original clip but in Resolve it was crushed as before.
Why is Resolve interpreting the clips levels so differently as in Avid?
Where in the workflow could this have occurred?-Lee
2008 MacPro 2 x 2.8 Quad Xeon
16GB RAM
1. ATI Radeon HD 5770
2. Nvidia GeForce GTX 470
3. none
4. Blackmagic monitor to Flanders
Tangent Element
OSX 10.9.5
Resolve 11.1.1 -
8 Replies
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I’ve encountered this problem as well.
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Avid’s desktop display is set to show extended range, so blacks are actually grey, and whites are a bit lower. In other words, if the 7D looks nice and contrasty on your desktop in Avid, it’s actually wrong and crushed in terms of image values.
This is why it’s helpful to use an interface and look at the image on an external monitor, both for Avid and resolve. If the image is handled properly, and both are setup correctly, then the image should be consistent.
https://JuanSalvo.com
https://theColourSpace.com -
Thanks for the reply.
The output from Resolve, Media Composer and After Effects are all being viewed on the same external monitor via the blackmagic card. The project settings are set to REC 709 in all programs. The difference is how the media is displaying between the programs not on the GUI monitor with the same media.
I’ve not had this issue before on any projects edited in Avid, Final Cut, Premiere. I’m not familiar enough with the inner workings of Avid to determine reliably where that is occurring. My only guess is Avid has imported/exported the clips with the data levels. Perhaps the media is getting flagged improperly in whatever method Resolve uses to determine the levels.
2008 MacPro 2 x 2.8 Quad Xeon
16GB RAM
1. ATI Radeon HD 5770
2. Nvidia GeForce GTX 470
3. none
4. Blackmagic monitor to Flanders
Tangent Element
OSX 10.9.5
Resolve 11.1.1 -
Are you transcoding or linking to the original files?
https://JuanSalvo.com
https://theColourSpace.com -
Relinking to original camera files (H264) was done in Avid. Media was then consolidated and transcoded to DnxHD 175 10 precisely in the manner described starting on page 383 of the Resolve manual, then AAF import.
I should have known something was up when every single clip of the hour long program came into Resolve perfectly. 😉
2008 MacPro 2 x 2.8 Quad Xeon
16GB RAM
1. ATI Radeon HD 5770
2. Nvidia GeForce GTX 470
3. none
4. Blackmagic monitor to Flanders
Tangent Element
OSX 10.9.5
Resolve 11.1.1 -
Ha! I think you need to tweak the source setting on the AMA in avid, to preserve full range. But the over/under data should still be available to you in resolve and simply pulling lift up/gain down will restore them. Are you doing “auto” when you render or manually setting your levels? What is your monitoring setup in resolve?
https://JuanSalvo.com
https://theColourSpace.com -
Sorry for the delay in responding. All is well.
It would seem I fell victim to a more convoluted and murky version of, “It doesn’t look like that on my monitor and I didn’t shoot it like that.”
The title of this post should be, I let myself be bullied by the DP.
2008 MacPro 2 x 2.8 Quad Xeon
16GB RAM
1. ATI Radeon HD 5770
2. Nvidia GeForce GTX 470
3. none
4. Blackmagic monitor to Flanders
Tangent Element
OSX 10.9.5
Resolve 11.1.1 -
[Lee Eaton] “The title of this post should be, I let myself be bullied by the DP.”
Arrgh. Right. Like they NEVER tweak the monitor on-set, and ALWAYS have a waveform display handy.
jPo
“I always pass on free advice — its never of any use to me” Oscar Wilde.
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