Hello,

I would like to know why my video looks so dark. Here is an example:

http://207.44.160.90/~admin8/images/example1.jpg
http://207.44.160.90/~admin8/images/example2.jpg

Maybe those picture won't help because I cannot show you what the video looks like on my LCD screen. On the LCD screen it has more blight color and picture looks sharper. When I import the footage into VV4, picture looks dimmed, and weired. Maybe PC isn't interpetating DV footage correctly (I forgot, but there is this number thinggy that goes from 0 to 255?)

Thank you

That doesn't look dark to me. That looks quiet good, actually. Maybe your monitor isn't properly adjusted, it's probably too dark. Look at some black and make it brighter just until the black starts to turn grey...

But, that is shot in a concert setting, so of course it's going to be darker. Unless you add more light or boost up the gain, then it's going to be dark.

You really have to beware of LCD's, especially the tiny one on the camera. Depending on the brightness setting and the angle of view you can get a really inaccurate picture. If you are using the LCD when you shoot in a dark room, be sure to turn the brightness down to somewhere around 70%.

But LCD's are tricky. The brightness and contrast changes a lot depending on the angle. While filming, be sure to tip the screen until it appears to show the maximum amount of contrast, and NOT the brightest image.

Another thing you can do, Anne: Look on the side of the lcd screen and you will see these little slash marks. Make sure when you review footage you line your eyeballs up with the middle slash marks which will put you head-on to the screen which will give you the most honest look at your footage. But like Boyd alluded to: everything looks great on the lcd's.

Good to see you are still shooting. The second pic of the soloist is a great screen grab. When can we see some long-form footage?

Hi Anne,

It sounds to me like perhaps the brightness on your LCD monitor is up too high and not properly representing your true exposure? What camera are you using? If you are using a GL2, refer to page 44 of the users manual to see how to adjust the brightness of the LCD monitor. One way to do this is to activate the internal color bars and hook up the analog video output of the camera to a decent NTSC video monitor. Once you have proerly adjusted and calibrated that NTSC video monitors levels so that it is accurately displaying the color bars
http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm, then compare the output of that monitor to the LCD monitor on your camera and adjust the brightness on the LCD monitor as needed so that they match as much as possible. Now, you will have a more "WYSIWYG" image displayed on your LCD monitor on your camera. Once you get over this learning curve adjustment, you should be able to produce more accurate and consistent images with your camera. I know that some Sony handycams have a setting for the LCD panel which makes it extra bright, not a good idea if you want "WYSIWYG". For instance, when I used to shoot with the VX2000/ PD-150, I would back down on the LCD brightness control down to one or two notches, again comparing it to a properly calibrated external NTSC monitor to make sure it was set to the correct brightness level. Once you have set both monitors with color bars, it's a good idea to compare them with some properly lit and exposed footage as well, just to make sure.

Please do write back and let us know how it is working for you,

- don

I noticed the same thing with my Vegas captures also, a lot of them seem darker than they should be. The last was a wedding dance with no light. Aperture open, +15db gain, looks fine in the camera, and when I play to tape, just dark in Vegas. I just lightened it up in post, however, I haven't done any output with it yet. Maybe I'll check my brightness setting on my monitor as well.

I've never seen a camera LCD or a computer monitor give TRUE exposure info. I know that on my 150's the image in the LCD will be brighter than real because I have the LCD set up bright, I know when I capture in V4 OR Scenalyzer it will be dark so when I capture I watch it thru a production monitor. I edit with it also so I don't go and do stupid things thinking my exposure is off and it's not.

It's not the camera giving us false pictures on the lcd, I can play my camera over the tv, and I get pretty much the same quality picture on it. Capture to Vegas, and everything is darker. Yes, I did try upping my monitor brightness, no difference.

Right now, I'm wondering, if I brighten my captured video, in Vegas, will it be too bright on my output? Could there be a setting in Vegas for capture that we are overlooking?

Harry,
Since I've been using Vegas I have noticed that the video seems to be darker in the computer monitor BUT in output while watching my production monitor it looks fine. Actually, there were a few things I might have been able to tone down. One thing I almost always do is the day after an event I rewind the tapes, use a small palmcorder hooked up to my big screen TV and FF thru watching for obvious stuff. The image is fine but on my 150 it always looks a little brighter since I keep the brightness level up on the LCD. Just easier for me to see in the dark. What I'm saying is if it looks good on the TV leave it - a computer monitor is terrible for judging exposure. If I use a different NLE it looks less dark than Vegas but it still prints to tape fine.

Thanks. I think what I'll do, just for peace of mind, is to print one clip to tape from Vegas and see how it looks.

Harry,

I don't use VV4 but I'd guess it has both a software waveform monitor and vectorscope. Use those to set your levels and then confirm your settings on a properly setup video monitor that you know displays SMPTE color bars correctly.

If you don't know how to use a waveform monitor, I think the Tektronix web site still has a decent tutorial on video measurements. I think Video University has an explanation on how to set up a monitor with color bars.

Fundamentally, you won't have control over DV input like you would over analog video. You have to manipulate it in software.

this is quite a common problem and very irritating as it affects stills created in say photoshop and brought into nle, when looked on tv they are brighter!

seems like tv's and computer monitors use different gamma settings

try reducing the gamma on your computer monitor to a setting which compares to what you see on the tv

Yes they do. That's why I was so pleased when Canopus provided an output driver for Photoshop with the last upgrade. Just press a function key and the active window is displayed.

Not faultless but it was a throw-away.

Still, one can automate the conversion of photos for your editing needs and photoshop will run through them very rapidly.

I'm going to move this thread to the PC editing forum as the information is useful to everyone using a PC (or Mac)

I knew that I could adjust the brightness/contrast in post, no problem there. However, without having tried it yet, if I capture a scene that is not too dark, shows dark in Vegas, lighten it up in Vegas, will it bee too bright in my output back to tape or DVD?

When I switched to V4 one of the 1st things I did was to capture a clip of a known quality. Something I had captured before in another NLE, run back to tape and was clean, meaning no adjustments to it at all. When I captured it in V4, or by using ScenalyzerLive and put into V4 it appeared dark. I looked at it on my TV monitor and it appeared fine. I ran it back to tape untouched and played it on a 42" tv and the exposure and color appeared fine to me. I take it that V4 gives clips a slightly darker look at least on my equipment, so knowing that I now know what it is I may or may not have to do. I would suggest to anyone who has any doubts about the quality of the output of any NLE to run a small test clip before tackling a big job, you might just save yourself some grief and pain.

You were right, Don. I just loaded one of my really dark clips and played back to tape. Even though I can't see anything in Vegas, it comes out perfect going back to tape. Will I get the same output results when I render to MPEG 2 and burn on DVD?

I should never have doubted you. . . burned one that looked dark in vegas to dvd, looks as good as it did in the camera.

Thanks

Harry,
I'm glad it worked out for you.
Anytime I get a new piece of equipment, hardware or software, I always put it thru some paces with a known entity before I put it into production. That has saved me from losing any more hair however it has caused some gray :)

So is there any way to lighten up Vegas' preview screen without
actually changing the footage?

Rob,
I think the only way might be to adjust the computer monitor your using.
It's funny, when I used Studio7 the preview was dark but not as dark as Vegas.
As I said though, on a TV or production monitor the footage looks fine, so I guess it's like looking at an LCD on a camera, I have mine set up brighter but maybe yours is 3 notches darker so if I looked at yours and was trying to adjust exposure I might think the exposure on your camera needed to be changed when it really didn't need to be. There doesn't appear to be a rhyme or reason just call it going by the seat of your pants.
Nothing beats good guestimation :>)

I get the same thing because I have my computer tweaked down, since much of the content on the Net is set higher than you'd want on video.

I ALWAYS check my footage on my studio monitor. You can use a cheap TV, too, and get a better image than you will on the computer monitor. Hook your firewire cable into your camera and turn it on to VCR playback. Then output from the camera to the TV. Make sure you have the (external preview) button turned on in Vegas.

So maybe RaggadyAnne (remember her, the original question?) should hook her camera up to a professional monitor, play back a tape, and compare the picture on the monitor with her lcd, and try to tweak the lcd to match the monitor.

Whaddaya think?

Hook a TV up to your computer, as a monitor, and adjust your computer monitor until it looks about as bright. Video is ALWAYS darker on computer monitors, and it never looks as good as on a TV (usually beacause of interlacing reasons..).

Televisions (monitors) and computer monitors operate in different color space and Gamma. I'm sure there are PC programs to calibrate your monitor and build custom profiles for your computer monitor. At the very least you can change the gamma, brightness and contrast to better match your video scenes.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Televisions (monitors) and computer monitors operate in different color space and Gamma. I'm sure there are PC programs to calibrate your monitor and build custom profiles for your computer monitor. At the very least you can change the gamma, brightness and contrast to better match your video scenes. -->>>

He's right. The exact figures are as follows. In Photoshop Level's terms, the whitest white NTSC can produce is 235 (thats 15 points away from 255) and the darkest dark is 16 (16 points from pure black 0). To fix the stills you take from DV footage open Levels dialogue box and change the input sliders of your white and black point to 16 and 235. If it still seems a bit dark, tweak the gamma (grey point) center slider. Hope this helps.

As far as footage looking dark in your NLE, adjust your video card's Overlay in advanced options under Properties> Settings> Advanced. Barring your using a PC and not Mac.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : So is there any way to lighten up Vegas' preview screen without
actually changing the footage? -->>>

You could apply a TRACK or PROJECT filter to brighten the image, do all of your editing, and then remove the filter before the final render.