[Jeremiah Rounds]

[David Roth Weiss] “Almost any monitor can be calibrated to some degree. Just setting the luminance properly with the pluge bar using color bars offers for many a vast leap forward in quality control, because at least they will then know that they have a baseline referenced to a known source. This does not require a lot of money, but it does require some learning. Without it, there is no one on the planet who can even hope that their video is being viewed properly or even close to the way it was envisioned.

So, when people say calibrated monitor, they don’t necessarily mean expensive monitor.”

*steps up on soap box*

Regardless of cost, it is still out of reach if a tangible solution is not provided. Your post could be more helpful if you provided a little more detailed information on exactly how to calibrate a monitor. Or perhaps you could provide a link to a website that discusses how to best calibrate a monitor for use with video…

Otherwise (and please don’t take offense at this, as I mean none), you are just saying, “It can be done, but I’m not going to help you learn how.”

I guess the reason I feel so strongly about this is that I’ve been the guy asking questions so many times and I’ve been given a lot of unhelpful “Go buy more gear or ask someone else” types of responses. If you’re going to spend the time to write a response at all, why not give some helpful info if you know it, or at least point me in the right direction if you don’t have the time? Even a “google this phrase” type of response can be helpful.

*steps down from soap box*

[Jeremiah Rounds]

I love FCP, but it definitely has glitches. I’ve never run into this particular one, but if I did, and had tried everything you mentioned, I’d probably just try exporting the original sequence using “Export>Quicktime Movie” and drop that into the new timeline.

I’m not certain, but I think if you don’t make it self contained it won’t do any further compression and it will still be as usable as the original footage. Not positive about that, though. Probably not the best solution, but it is a quick fix.

[Jeremiah Rounds]

Depending on what camera you are using, you might be able to use the camera as a “Video Playback” device (select it towards the bottom of the “view” dropdown menu). Then, just set it to VTR or VCR mode and record while you play back in the timeline. I used to do that all the time with my DVX100. Otherwise, screen recording software is probably your best bet.

Andrew Kramer (of videocopilot.net fame) uses Camtasia Studio from https://TechSmith.com, for what it’s worth…

[Jeremiah Rounds]

My apologies, if you interpreted that as regarding something you said. I only meant it as a general blanket statement regarding the tendency on forums to recommend using equipment that is pretty obviously out of reach for the person requesting help.

[Zane Barker] “take your project to a system that has a calibrated video monitor”
-Perhaps it would have been a tad more helpful to recommend where the average Joe might find such a system?

Yes, if you have access to pro equipment use it. Nobody is disputing that.

If not though, ask around on forums and maybe someone can help you out with some practical advice.

[Jeremiah Rounds]

In a perfect world everyone would have calibrated monitors. This is not a perfect world and calibrated monitors are expensive. “Get a calibrated monitor,” is not a very helpful response in my opinion.

Still, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

Therefor you must spend time, since you don’t have money. When exporting, select “Using Quicktime Conversion” and go into the options, there, you can apply filters -including Brightness/Contrast. Lower the brightness and consider bumping up the contrast slightly. How much? That’s where trial, error, and lots of time (or not, if you are lucky) some into play 🙂

To reduce the time wasted, you could export a smaller segment (instead of rendering the entire clip) and watch that one on your tv. Once you have the settings you like, render out the entire clip.