Range Check tool in FCP ??

I'm doing some quick color correction in FCP and had a question about keeping the video Broadcast safe.

I turned on the Range Check for Luma and am keeping an eye on the Waveform monitors etc... Now on some of the white graphics cards, my range check reads ! with a lot of the green zebra lines even after applying the Broadcast Safe filter (conservative). My waveform shows I'm under 100, but the Range Check is still ! so which should I go by?

The green zebra lines come up when you are between 90 to 100. Non-broadcast legal luma is above 100. I usually turn off range check and follow the scopes instead.



www.strypesinpost.com

I personally do not use the "Broadcast Safe" filter. It mutilates the gradients and makes chunky pixels appear. Useless filter IMHO. I use a combination of "Levels" and the "3-Way CC" filter along with the waveform / vectorscopes to pull down luma / chroma to legal levels.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

So even if I'm legal between 90 and 100, Range Check will still show up with a ! warning? So I shouldn't go by it?

When you get the green zebra stripes, it's a tick, not a "!" symbol. The "!" symbol usually means you are past 100 IRE/mWs, and it's yellow stripes.



www.strypesinpost.com

Right now I have a still video clip that has a lot of white in it, the Range Check luma has green stripes all over it with a yellow triangle and and ! symbol. I applied the broadcast safe (conservative) to it and it brought the levels below 100 on the waveform but the green stripes are still there as is the triangle. It goes away and become a green check mark after I adjust my white and mid levels, but I worry this is making my whites too grey. I haven't come across anything with yellow stripes yet.

>I haven't come across anything with yellow stripes yet.

Ah. i meant red stripes, with the yellow triangle and exclamation mark. My bad. Usually when it appears there will be a portion of the video with illegal luma levels.

>but I worry this is making my whites too grey.

How does it look on your broadcast monitor?



www.strypesinpost.com

> How does it look on your broadcast monitor?

It looks fine, I was just curious as which to trust, since the Broadcast Safe was supposed to be clamping the levels for me but the Range Check was still telling me I was too bright. I've heard some mixed reviews of the broadcast safe filter so I'll keep to the Range Check and Waveforms to be certain.

Slap the RGB limit plugin on your shot. I use that instead of Broadcast Safe.

Harry.

Even if your video isn't in RGB?

Yep. Works great. You'll see.

H.

Man, that's a hard clamp. Broadcast safe has softer roll off.

Well, yes. But I don't get any crap from QC.

Harry

The new V3 version of The Grading Sweet has a broadcast safer that seems to work a lot better than the standard onboard one. I think there might be a review coming on it, but from personal experience, it does the job properly in one click. It's called the 'Sweet Legaliser' and it claims :
"THE SWEET LEGALISER is the easiest filter you will ever use! It has no controls, it is either on or off and when it is on it corrects video levels to legal chroma, luma and black for broadcast."

My experiments have proven this to be true every time to date.

It's in the standard pack, not the pro pack.

[thegradingsweet.com]

I don't really use the FCP standard safer. Don't find it that useful.

I disagree with using any & all "clamp" plug-ins unless they are checked using the scopes. There is a "Color Correction" Window Layout that includes the Scopes for a reason. Use it.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

>I disagree with using any & all "clamp" plug-ins unless they are checked using the scopes.

My point too. Run broadcast safe/limiters AFTER the shots are corrected, or you may end up introducing artifacts into your shots, not to mention unnaturally clipped highlights or crushed blacks.



www.strypesinpost.com

I'm saying that in all the instances I have tested these plugs in so far, they have been correct on the scopes, at least in PAL.

Sure, you wouldn't use them on a feature with a budget for grading. But for a fast turn around broadcast show, its quick and easy and accurate, with no kickbacks from the station.

"Broadcast Safe" may clamp levels, but it mutilates the information (at least it did to me). I tried it once like 4 years ago on a golf resort spot because I was in a hurry to make air (Uncompressed 10-Bit / 29.97 / NTSC sequence). The artifacts were clearly dancing around. I quickly deleted the plug-in and used the 3-way with the scopes. Took only a few extra minutes of high-speed CC'ing and it came out perfect. Made deadline. No sacrificing quality for speed.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

*sigh*