"Current Frame" in Frame Viewer darker than Canvas?

Haven't run across this one before ... have you?

I'm doing some color correction on an new iMac, no external HD monitor. When I open the Frame Viewer in the Tool Bench window to see the "Current Frame" as compared to the "Current Frame w/o Filters," the Current Frame is noticeably darker than the Canvas. Makes Color correction difficult as I'm unsure which is accurate -- the Current Frame or the Canvas.

Any ideas about what's going on here?

Thanks,
Bradley

I should probably also add that the iMac is running 10.6.3 and FCP is 7.07.
Thanks,
Bradley

>I'm doing some color correction on an new iMac, no external HD monitor.

It's going to be tough to grade without a good reference. You need an external HD monitor to grade.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks for your response, strypes,

I agree with your statement that it will be tough to grade without a good reference monitor -- an external HD monitor. And I normally would. But I'm at a friend's and this is for non-professional work -- just to stream on YouTube.

It doesn't even need a whole lot of help. But all that said, my question remains. I've worked in FCP for many years and don't recall seeing a difference between the "Current Frame" in the Frame Viewer and the Canvas. Why would the "Current Frame" be darker than the Canvas?

I can't explain it ... am I missing something here?

Thanks,
Bradley

Just curious, what's the media and where did it come from?

All the best,

Tom

Thanks for your question, Tom.

The footage is DVCPRO 960x720, shot with a Panasonic Varicam a few years ago -- to tape.

Bradley

Very strange. Any chance of a screen shot?

All the best,

Tom

Sure Tom,

Don't get how to attach/upload a file here, but here's a link to a couple of screen shots.

[www.box.net]

Bradley

It's not only darker, but the saturation and the contrast range is quite different. It's almost as if one is color corrected and the other isn't.

All the best,

Tom

Right, Tom, the "Current Frame" is darker and the saturation and contrast range is also different -- the "Current Frame" isn't matching the Canvas. So how does that happen? I thought that the current frame WAS the Canvas.

A correction: I'm using FCP v7.0.2 ...

It's not the Canvas per se, but it's supposed to show the canvas if that's the active window.

I wonder if someone with 6.0.6 can check this.

All the best,

Tom

Right, Tom.

Didn't mean that literally ... I know that the "Current Frame" pane isn't actually the Canvas. But when it is the active window -- and it is -- then the "Current Frame" portion of the Frame Viewer should match the Canvas.

In this case it doesn't. That's what I've never experienced before and I don't get ...

Bradley

It's not set to 'current frame without filters' is it?

No ... It's set to "Current Frame" -- the corresponding green squares are visible in the screen capture.

This really is curious. Just tried this on my MacBook Pro (OS 10.5.8; FCP 6.06) and it all seems normal there. But not on the iMac (OS 10.6.3; FCP 7.0.2).

Time for a feedback bug report I think.

All the best,

Tom

Hi Tom,

Does a "feedback bug report" mean that I should send this issue in to Apple?

If so, could you please offer a link on how to do that?

Thanks much for taking time to comment ...

Bradley

Feedback in the Final Cut pro menu. Give as much detail as you can. Links to your screenshots.

All the best,

Tom

Bradley,

Thanks for your report about this issue.

I can confirm the same behavior, i.e., a 5 to 7 percent difference in RGB values between the Frame Viewer and the Canvas.

I used an Easy Setup to create a ProRes 422 (HQ) at 1080i60 sequence and dropped the color bars (first item in list) into the sequence.

I then opened the Frame Viewer and set it to "Current Frame." The color bars varied between 5 and 7 percent (thereabouts) between the Canvas and the Frame Viewer. I measured this with the DigitalColor Meter.app tool (Utilities folder). Some of the color bars were clearly different even from a simple visual inspection.

This "test" was performed using FCP 7.0.2 and Mac OS X 10.6.3 (current versions of everything) on a 2008 Mac Pro. By the way, this is my "test" system, which I don't use for real work.

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As I am still dubious of the "production ready status" of using Snow Leopard and Final Cut Studio together, I then ran my "test" on my production system, running Mac OS X 10.5.8 (same exact hardware setup).

The results showed no difference between the Frame Viewer and the Canvas.

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So, this seems to indicate yet another "glitch" in using the current Final Cut Studio with Snow Leopard. Who knows if it is a QuickTime or a Final Cut Studio issue (or both). It doesn't seem to be hardware related...

This is why I haven't moved my production system to Mac OS X 10.6.x.

I will report this issue via the FCP feedback mechanism, as well...


-Dave

Thanks, Dave, for your detailed tests and response.

I will report the issue via the FCP feedback mechanism.

And by the way, I suppose this is obvious, but with the FCP/Snow Leopard setup, it's the Canvas that appears to represent the correct levels, NOT the "Current Frame" in the Frame Viewer.

Bradley

Quote
Bradley
And by the way, I suppose this is obvious, but with the FCP/Snow Leopard setup, it's the Canvas that appears to represent the correct levels, NOT the "Current Frame" in the Frame Viewer.

Oops!

Good point. Yes, in my testing the Canvas always displayed the proper colors. The Frame Viewer was off (Mac OS X 10.6.3 + FCP 7.0.2).


-Dave