Final cut color issue (with magic bullet looks)

I'm not sure if this is a final cut issue or a magic bullet looks issue, but i'm going to assume that it's a final cut issue considering this problem does not exist outside of final cut.

Magic bullet looks launches the same application where the look is designed regardless of the plugin host. What i have noticed is that final cut sends a brighter frame into the looks application than what it displays in it's own viewer. This basically causes any adjustments inside of looks to be useless since everything will change once displayed in the final cut viewer.

When i launch looks from within after effects and import the same look file, it actually matches the final cut viewer display. Meaning i can actually see what i will get when I exit the looks application.
The workaround for now is to do all my look design in after effects, save the look files, and apply them in final cut. This is very frustrating and i'm wondering if there is some sort of setting in final cut that would control this behavior.

I put up a screen shot of the issue at this location. [www.heliconmedia.net]

I have recreated your issue and have notified the Red Giant Software Dev Team. I will post back when I hear something. You didn't post any info on your system settings so I can only speculate that you are not using a client (external) monitor. THAT will be your final output. That doesn't excuse this issue, but you shouldn't have to go to AE just to create a look.

My 2¢...I think it's an RGB vs YUV thing.

BTW...After Effects is not a workaround...it is a Compositing Program and is much more precise & more powerful for FX work. It is my personal choice for work like this. I created the same scenario as the Looks / FCP issue and the look was spot-on in Looks Preview / AE Comp / NTSC CRT Client Monitor.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

My system setup is a pair of 8 core mac pro's. The issue exists on both. One has an ati card X1900 and the other has the nvidia GeForce 8800GT.
I know a broadcast monitor will be my final output, but the image should not differ in the looks window.
Doing the looks in final cut is handy for me since some things only have 4 or 5 after effects sections while the rest of the cut is untouched besides the color. What attracted me to magic bullet in general is the ability to run it in multiple applications so I can be flexible about what order i do things in.

Would be great if they do solve the issue.

I got a response back from the Dev Team. As it is currently Sunday (nobody working at all) and the 2 main developers are on vacation, someone will look into this and get back to me early next week. Hopefully I will have some answers for you then.

BTW...I said "system settings" which means EVERYTHING (machine / OS / FCP version / QT version / Sequence Settings / output settings / etc). I will need these FULL SETTINGS when speaking to the Dev Team so they have a basis for comparison.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Is there any way for me to e-mail you more detailed info about my system config ?

Isn't that an extra step? Why not post it here? I would like everyone here to possibly benefit from the outcome.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Here is basic info for one of my systems the problem occurs on. By the way, this issue existed both on tiger and leopard so i'm not sure it's OS specific.

Hardware:

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version: 1.25f4
Software:

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.4 (9E17)
Kernel Version: Darwin 9.4.0
Time since boot: 2 days 21:04

Graphics/Displays:

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0602
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 3233
Displays:
Cinema HD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported

larkis,

Read my post. You have only provided Machine & OS info. I need:

Quote

(machine / OS / FCP version / QT version / Sequence Settings / output settings / etc)

I am trying to help you but I cannot without the proper info to diagnose your problem.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

My final cut version is 6.0.4, Quicktime version 7.5, the sequence setting in this case is Pro Rez HQ, but before i posted about the issue i tried various formats and settings and the issue happens regardless of sequence settings (8 or 10 bit) so the sequence settings don't seem to be relevant. What seems to be happening is that magic bullet looks does not apply the gamma correction to the image that the final cut viewer does. This also happens with animation codec clips which only support RGB.

Yup...I have recreated the issue on both my machines. Another colleague has informed me that this issue exists on the Avid "Looks" plug-in as well. I am waiting to hear from the RGS Dev Team.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Hi there,

I am having the same problem as you, do you already have a solution. It would be a great help to me.

Thanks anyway

greetings jeroen