Exposure Problems when capturing

[Mike Sun]

I'm not sure if anyone else experiences this but when I capture my footage to my computer, via Premiere, I noticed that the footage looks a lot darker than what I am seeing on my viewfinder/LCD screen. I also get this problem when I view the footage back on my TV

Is this normal or is my monitor/TV calibrated imporperly? If that's the cause, what can I do? For instance, even with I set the brightness on my CRT monitor to max, it makes no difference.

The brightness on my DVC30 VF/LCD screen is set in the middle (default) so I don't understand why the footage is a lot darker.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks!

-Mike

[Rob Lohman]

None of those systems are calibrated AT ALL (in regards to proper video
etc.). This is the reason why professionals at least have calibrated broadcast
monitors in the editing room and it would be wise to have such a monitor
on set as well (when shooting video). The only other thing you can do to
look at the quality of your signal is to look at waveform and vectorscopes
(either in hardware or software).

Unfortunately there is no easy way to match your monitors or tell you what
it should look like. If you can't afford a calibrated monitor then perhaps you
can rent one and see which of your screens is closest and try to get that
to match fully? Then you have a reference screen (kinda) of your own
(although you probably never get it exactly right).

It could be that the screen on your camera is set too bright if the footage
looks too dark on all other screens. With a waveform monitor (some NLE's
have them, like Sony Vegas) you could check when you are hitting maximum
white and see if the onboard LCD screen (on the camera) tops out earlier or
not...

[John Hudson]

I do agree with Rob; however...

I understand not everyone is in a position to have a Production Monitor in house nor on-set. You an still Calibrate your computer monitor and television to a degree; meaning, with calibration it will bring you better results than just ignoring this fact.

You need to go into your NLE and open up your SMPTE Color Bars (NTSC). Check some of these links for general guidance:

http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~wvg/color%20bar.htm

Those are of course mere guidelines and aside from calibrating your Computer Monitor; what are your camera settings? Is your IRIS Auto set to Underexpose? If so, by how many stops? Are you using your Zebras while shooting? If so, I'd reccomend exposing for highlights.

Don't rely purely on WYSIWYG in on the LCD. If will always be off.

Can you post a grab of this footage?

[Mike Sun]

Originally Posted by John Hudson

Can you post a grab of this footage?

Hey John,

I managed to get a screen capture to show the differences from what I see in Premiere and my camcorder VF/LCD as to what I see when I play it back on Windows Media Player (i.e. darker). I had trouble screen capturing what I see if I use Windows Media Player, so I took picture with my Canon digital camera and adjusted the brightness relatively to what I see on windows media player; I used the same F-stop and Shutter on my camera and please excuse me for not properly setting the white balance :D

Do you experience the same issue? Just to let you know I don't have any professional equipment. I'm using my DVC30 and Premiere Pro on a Viewsonic G71F+ monitor.

This is what I see on my camcorder and in Premiere:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...reworkarea.jpg

This is what I see on Windows media player and my home television:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iereactual.jpg

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[Mike Sun]

Originally Posted by Rob Lohman

None of those systems are calibrated AT ALL (in regards to proper video
etc.). This is the reason why professionals at least have calibrated broadcast
monitors in the editing room and it would be wise to have such a monitor
on set as well (when shooting video). The only other thing you can do to
look at the quality of your signal is to look at waveform and vectorscopes
(either in hardware or software).

Unfortunately there is no easy way to match your monitors or tell you what
it should look like. If you can't afford a calibrated monitor then perhaps you
can rent one and see which of your screens is closest and try to get that
to match fully? Then you have a reference screen (kinda) of your own
(although you probably never get it exactly right).

It could be that the screen on your camera is set too bright if the footage
looks too dark on all other screens. With a waveform monitor (some NLE's
have them, like Sony Vegas) you could check when you are hitting maximum
white and see if the onboard LCD screen (on the camera) tops out earlier or
not...

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the input, but as a recreational user, I don't think I can currently afford a calibrated broadcast monitor. Do you know if Premiere Pro has a waveform monitor?

[Rob Lohman]

Mike: unfortunately I don't know since I do not use that software. However,
I seem to recall that later versions might have this (Premiere Pro).

John has some excellent advice as well, why not follow that first? It's always
good to at least get your devices calibrated "somewhat".

[Mike Sun]

Originally Posted by Rob Lohman

Mike: unfortunately I don't know since I do not use that software. However,
I seem to recall that later versions might have this (Premiere Pro).

John has some excellent advice as well, why not follow that first? It's always
good to at least get your devices calibrated "somewhat".

Rob,

Thanks, I just tried John's method. It doesn't quite solve the problem but so far it seems a bit better than before.