Cineform in Resolve

Hi all,

We're having a bit of a battle with Cineform and Resolve as we're finding a big colour shift on CF files.

We comp in linear, convert to rec709 on output (TIFF) and encode to low/high quality CF files for offline/online.

Problem is that when we're bringing these CF files (4:2:2 tests and 4:4:4 masters) into Resolve we're getting crushed blacks and a big shift in the bottom end of the image. See comparison of the same frame processed through Resolve, then through Premiere and Vegas.





In this case Premiere is the only one that's on the money. But why? In Resolve the levels are all over the place. The colour shift is apparent in clip previews before anything hits the timeline.

I'm sure there must be something I'm missing here. Anyone any ideas?

Thanks,
Jan.

Are you encoding in YUV or RGB? If YUV, are you set to studio range or video range?

Also you don't say what software you encoding Cineform with and whether the files are in AVI or Quicktime (mov) container.

Either way, Resolve will import the files at 'Video' data levels, by default. Try changing the data level interpretation from default 'Auto' to 'Full' in Clip Attributes. Having examined the Histograms (in Resolve) of the images you posted, I think that might rectify the problem.

Look at scopes- is data really wrongly interpreted or is it just your preview in Resolve GUI viewer?
GUI viewer can be very wrong depending on your setup. You can't rely on it in Resolve.
There may be simply issue with levels, so in Clip attribute set to Video or Data and check then. There may be issue with export itself as I assume your TIFF will need proper conversion from linear to final colrospace.
In the same time if Premiere is showing you correct image then in Resolve it's just a matter of correct interpretation and monitoring.

Thanks guys. In response...

Footage shot (rendered) in linear 16bit exr. Post exports 16bit tiff finals converted to rec709. RGB start to finish.

Tiffs converted to 3DCF files via command line (dpx2cf) at 4:4:4 Filmscan 1, avi container.

Setting data levels to full in clip attributes has indeed solved the problem. Bryan you're a legend. Thanks all!

Bryan you're a legend

Hardly, ('footnote' maybe), but glad you got it sorted.

Thanks guys. In response...

Footage shot (rendered) in linear 16bit exr. Post exports 16bit tiff finals converted to rec709. RGB start to finish.

Tiffs converted to 3DCF files via command line (dpx2cf) at 4:4:4 Filmscan 1, avi container.

Setting data levels to full in clip attributes has indeed solved the problem. Bryan you're a legend. Thanks all!

In this case if you use Cineform YUV option change your levels setting in Cineform cmd (there is 1 if I remember well) to Video as this is going to work better further in the chain.
For Cineform 4:4:4 you can keep it as full, but remember to manually overwrite Resolve interpretation (and let others know that your CF files are full range).
I would also advise to work with MOV container. More reliable and can store way more metadata, including timecode etc.

Thanks for the comments Andrew. I'm curious about the choice of a mov container. Have you found issues with stability using avi? I've been using CF in this way for years and it's always been solid as a rock.

It depends on what you do. It's not really stability related.
MOV is way more robust when you need timecode, reel name, work with non square aspects, etc.
In some cases AVI Cineform files may be read only at 8bit with some tools (specially VFW or directshow based).
In case of Resolve or Premiere both containers should work fine when it comes to getting pure video data, but as I said, MOV can carry way more metadata than AVI. Overall MOV container is also better supported.