Best workflow on a mac to not clip RGB values at DVinfo.net

Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs · July 21st, 2009, 10:25 PM

Hey guys,

First off I am a FCP user
I am trying to work out the best way to edit 5d clips, colour correct them etc and not have the rgb values clamped! I am aware of the bring clips into fcp natively send to colour uncheck broadcast safe and then bring the levels into range. This method is very time consuming and clunky and editing h264 is a nightmare. I have begun trialing neoscene fro m cineform and the cineform codec export with canon 5d limit YUV checked the resulting transcode isn't clipped. My excitement faded a bit when I noticed that the cineform codec is not very RT friendly with FCP unlike Prores despite Prores' bitrate being higher. There is a prores output option from neoscene which would be perfect if it did not clamp RGB also! Anyway I am just looking for input as I am past the process of just fooling around with the camera and am looking for a solid workflow to begin shooting spots, promos etc without losing any of my 5d's 9 stops of DR unless I want to!

Thanks in advance

Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs · July 22nd, 2009, 07:51 AM

Looks like I have found the answer to my problem after some hours of research. It seems that mpegstreamclip v 1.9.2 converts the h264s to prores without clamping/clipping the rbg levels and stores them in the 0-100 range so you dont have to adjust levels in your editor/colour corrector to bring the luminance into range. I found that v 1.9.2 does this & thus eliminates more post work, however i tried the 1.9.3 beta and that does not clip the rgb levels however it is like the colour route, ie you can open the clips in FCP and you have info both in the superwhites and superblacks that you have to adjust into range.

Hope this helps someone and makes sense it is late at night!

Evan Donn · July 22nd, 2009, 01:33 PM

I was under the impression this was fixed for most people with the latest quicktime update. It didn't work for me for some reason, so I've been going the streamclip route. Do you have the latest quicktime installed? If so, and you're still seeing clipping, I wonder what could cause this?

Nigel Barker · July 22nd, 2009, 02:18 PM

This problem was fixed months ago with a QuickTime update & as far as I understand it MPEG Streamclip basically just uses QT to do all the conversions anyway.

Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs · July 22nd, 2009, 03:12 PM

This has not been fixed for me even with latest quicktime & FCP updates otherwise I wouldn't have been looking so hard for a solution. I dont use compressor to do the conversion as it will clip the values, if I bring in H264s straight into timeline in FCP they will clip. Anyway has anyone else had these issues? I am not so fussed now as I have found a solution with streamclip and it is faster than compressor anyway I did time trials! ( Just have to remember when batching to set simultaneous actions to " 4 ". )

Evan Donn · July 22nd, 2009, 04:59 PM

That's the same problem I'm having. I've tried re-installing QT but no change. MPEG Streamclip may use quicktime for decoding but it's clearly doing something different as it doesn't clip for me, and since it works I haven't worried about it much.

July 21st, 2009, 10:25 PM	#1
Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs Tourist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 4	Best workflow on a mac to not clip RGB values Hey guys, First off I am a FCP user I am trying to work out the best way to edit 5d clips, colour correct them etc and not have the rgb values clamped! I am aware of the bring clips into fcp natively send to colour uncheck broadcast safe and then bring the levels into range. This method is very time consuming and clunky and editing h264 is a nightmare. I have begun trialing neoscene fro m cineform and the cineform codec export with canon 5d limit YUV checked the resulting transcode isn't clipped. My excitement faded a bit when I noticed that the cineform codec is not very RT friendly with FCP unlike Prores despite Prores' bitrate being higher. There is a prores output option from neoscene which would be perfect if it did not clamp RGB also! Anyway I am just looking for input as I am past the process of just fooling around with the camera and am looking for a solid workflow to begin shooting spots, promos etc without losing any of my 5d's 9 stops of DR unless I want to! Thanks in advance

July 22nd, 2009, 01:33 PM	#3
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	I was under the impression this was fixed for most people with the latest quicktime update. It didn't work for me for some reason, so I've been going the streamclip route. Do you have the latest quicktime installed? If so, and you're still seeing clipping, I wonder what could cause this? __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

July 22nd, 2009, 04:59 PM	#6
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	That's the same problem I'm having. I've tried re-installing QT but no change. MPEG Streamclip may use quicktime for decoding but it's clearly doing something different as it doesn't clip for me, and since it works I haven't worried about it much. __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

July 22nd, 2009, 07:51 AM	#2
Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs Tourist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 4	Looks like I have found the answer to my problem after some hours of research. It seems that mpegstreamclip v 1.9.2 converts the h264s to prores without clamping/clipping the rbg levels and stores them in the 0-100 range so you dont have to adjust levels in your editor/colour corrector to bring the luminance into range. I found that v 1.9.2 does this & thus eliminates more post work, however i tried the 1.9.3 beta and that does not clip the rgb levels however it is like the colour route, ie you can open the clips in FCP and you have info both in the superwhites and superblacks that you have to adjust into range. Hope this helps someone and makes sense it is late at night!

July 22nd, 2009, 02:18 PM	#4
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	This problem was fixed months ago with a QuickTime update & as far as I understand it MPEG Streamclip basically just uses QT to do all the conversions anyway.

July 22nd, 2009, 03:12 PM	#5
Samuel Tatsuo Phibbs Tourist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 4	This has not been fixed for me even with latest quicktime & FCP updates otherwise I wouldn't have been looking so hard for a solution. I dont use compressor to do the conversion as it will clip the values, if I bring in H264s straight into timeline in FCP they will clip. Anyway has anyone else had these issues? I am not so fussed now as I have found a solution with streamclip and it is faster than compressor anyway I did time trials! ( Just have to remember when batching to set simultaneous actions to " 4 ". )