Color shifts

[Evan S]

Ok, so I know there are problems with quicktime not reading all the color info from RED files, but I'm seeing workflow issues with figuring out how to interepret a 'look'.

1 - In a RED application (In my case RedAlert) I create a Grade and save the files, including exporting out a ProRez file.

2 - Let's skip the discussion of the Proxies, since it is widely discussed that they are wrong right now - but as you see by the attached picture, when opening up the ProRez in Quicktime it is dark, and in Final cut it is bright.

I'll even bypass the Quicktime discussion for now. But what concerns me most is FCP. It seems that there is a gamma shift. I'm running Leopard (not Snow) and checking on/off the quicktime compatibility (in Quicktime prefs) is making no difference at all.

If I wanted to finish with the ProRez, is there a path that allows me to set the look in RedAlert and see the SAME results in FCP? Or do I need to degrade further with a second color pass in FCP? How do I know what is 'correct'?

 

[BradWright]

Are you sending them out to a calibrated broadcast quality monitor for grading? You can't use your computer screen, as each application uses it's own way of interpreting color info. You need an independent reference point outside of your computer screen.

 

[Philip Hodgetts]

You can apply an RSX file in FCP's log and transfer window, (or one of a number of preset looks) otherwise the color interpretation is at "default" (ie not what's set in the camera).

But that only works if you're bringing in RED files as R3D native QT or convert to ProRes.

Philip

 

[Luca Immesi]

In Snow Leopard there' s a good gamma consistency between R3Ds and trascoded Prores 4 (I use Clipfinder) imported in FCP. Some applications in SN have some bugs and problems (if I use Motion all my quicktimes go mad) but I'm happy about how they resolved the gamma issue.