Scenes in RedCineX good, Adobe Premiere Pro too dark - WHY ???

[George D.]

I need some help and advice here.

After shooting some scenes with our RED-One and downloading them into the Windows7 PC, they look fine in RedCineX, but in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 they are so dark I can hardly see the image.

What am I doing wrong? Is it a setting in the camera, the PC, or the difference between RedCineX and CS5, or what?

All help is appreciated.

Thanks.

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[Tom.Wong]

did u check the metadata in premiere to make sure it's not set or defaulted to a lower ISO?

 

[George D.]

Thanks Tom, but I'm just learning this program, and I'm not sure how to do that.

I did look under Window and opened the Metadata screen, but there was nothing that I could see that has even ever been changed, etc. In fact, I did not even see a setting for ISO. So, whether it was defaulted or not, I can't tell.

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[Emyr R. E. Pugh]

CS5 can't interpret Redcolor2 and RedLogFilm, so if you have either of those set in Redcine-X for those clips then the footage will look dark or the color will be off. As far as I know, only CS5.5 can handle RedLogFilm and Redcolor2. Alternatively, select the clip in the Premiere Pro project, right-click it and there's an option there called 'Source Settings' where you can alter the metadata for the clip; check that the ISO there is the same as it is when you view the same clip in Redcine-X; if not, change it using the slider to whatever looks best to you.

 

[Johnny Friday]

George, how are you monitoring on each? are you using Rocket card and SD out for RCX and your computer monitor with Premier or same computer monitor on both? AND are you using PC? i ask because if using Mac....Premier only outputs 8bit and if you monitor (as i do) from Rocket card to another monitor and then back on Premier via dvi out...completely different results.....but i am using different monitors as well....AND i suspect you are using Redcolor and Redgamma yes?

Also, when your clips are in the viewer of Premier Pro...right click and then set your Playback settiings and Paused settings. I usually set to 1/2 on playback and full on paused. BUT, you'll see a difference in quality for sure on the screen. And these settings depend a lot on what your computer has under the hood.

 

[George D.]

George, how are you monitoring on each? are you using Rocket card and SD out for RCX and your computer monitor with Premier or same computer monitor on both? AND are you using PC? i ask because if using Mac....Premier only outputs 8bit and if you monitor (as i do) from Rocket card to another monitor and then back on Premier via dvi out...completely different results.....but i am using different monitors as well....AND i suspect you are using Redcolor and Redgamma yes?

Also, when your clips are in the viewer of Premier Pro...right click and then set your Playback settiings and Paused settings. I usually set to 1/2 on playback and full on paused. BUT, you'll see a difference in quality for sure on the screen. And these settings depend a lot on what your computer has under the hood.

Hi there Johnny,

Thanks for answering. I hope you're not getting too water-logged down there.

I use a Windows7 Pro PC, and I do not have a Red Rocket Card yet; can't afford it. Also, I do have two monitors, but they are exactly the same brand, size, and resolution. Same computer, same monitors for both RCX & CS5.

Yes, I'm shooting in RedColor.

I have my CS5 set for 1/4 on playback and full on paused.

Doing what Emyr suggested seems to work, but there is no option for taking the ISO higher than 2000. What if I shot at ISO 6400? Does that mean I'd be up the creek?

BTW - I had asked in a previous question about quality of ISO 6400. Some said it was OK, others not. Well, I did a test, and ISO 6400 puts out an AWFUL image. Totally unacceptable for my purposes. Way too noisy, way too grainy. My rule of thumb from now on is going to be, if I can't capture the scene at 800 ISO or less, then I'm not shooting it. Period.

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[jimhare]

Hi George, couple of things:

1 Red Color/gamma 2 are really really nice and worth pursuing, particularly if you are non-technical. Gives a well rounded starting point. May be worth considering an upgrade to CS5.5.

2 Yes, ISO 6400 is way too high for clean and gorgeous results, but 800 is too conservative. I think you'll find that 1000 is great and 1500 still gives very good results. If you can light for 800 the. You'll never be disappointed but extra oomph is there when you need it, just not 6400 worth.

Jim