Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

The place for questions about shooting with Blackmagic Cameras.
  • Author
  • Message
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostThu Oct 14, 2021 9:49 am

Hi,

just purchased Video Assist 7" 12G for my Fuji GFX100 to record BRAW footage. Works fine but the image on the monitor is way too contrasty. This is with "auto" on "Record HDR format overwrite". If I turn it to "REC 709" it gets better but the colors are quite off. Other settings give more or less same overly contrasty image as "auto" setting gives.

I have also Atomos Ninja V and when I set monitoring on "PQ" I get nice image straight out of the box. I bought video assist to get BRaw recording instead of ProResRaw.

If I output normal REC709 footage from GFX100 to VideoAssist, it looks great. Problem is only with BRaw. I have latest firmware both on camera and on monitor.

Any help?
Offline
User avatar

carlomacchiavello

  • Posts: 2587
  • Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 6:04 pm
  • Location: italy

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostSat Oct 16, 2021 8:24 pm

May be that recorder see a wrong color space?
Have you tried to check on resolve file output and change color space interpretation? You could do a LUT to see correctly preview in monitor and later shoot correctly. If you shoot a small file in both device you could align in resolve and export LUT. Could you do and upload files?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostSun Oct 17, 2021 7:57 pm

Hi, thanks. Footage is ok in resolve. I don't know if Lut is possible solution, because the picture is already too contrasty. I think this is some kind of bug as there is no way to see low contrast version in Video Assist.
I'm kind of new here, so I don't know if Blackmagic is reading this or should I make some kind of bug report somewhere else?
Offline
User avatar

Robert Niessner

  • Posts: 4948
  • Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:51 am
  • Location: Graz, Austria

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostMon Oct 18, 2021 6:37 am

samireivinen wrote:Hi, thanks. Footage is ok in resolve. I don't know if Lut is possible solution, because the picture is already too contrasty. I think this is some kind of bug as there is no way to see low contrast version in Video Assist.
I'm kind of new here, so I don't know if Blackmagic is reading this or should I make some kind of bug report somewhere else?


I've no experience with your combination, but do you have the 3D LUT activated for the monitor?
If you are sending an HDR signal to the monitor it might get already interpreted and displayed as it should be. But if the 3D LUT option is active it will apply another LUT onto the image - making it too contrasty.

User manual p. 13 (for 3D LUT ON/OFF setting):
https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/ ... Manual.pdf

Also have a look at p. 37
Saying "Thx for help!" is not a crime.
--------------------------------
Robert Niessner
LAUFBILDkommission
Graz / Austria
--------------------------------
Blackmagic Camera Blog (German):
http://laufbildkommission.wordpress.com

Read the blog in English via Google Translate:
http://tinyurl.com/pjf6a3m
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostMon Oct 18, 2021 8:06 am

Thanks Robert. 3D LUT is off. If turned on, display gets totally crushed on contrast. I think this is a bug. I have some time left that I can return the monitor, but I really hope I get this working before it.

To me, it seems that nobody has really tested this combination before they released the firmware for GFX and also for Video Assist. The end result is flawless, only the monitoring has the problem.
Offline

Nick Heydon

  • Posts: 139
  • Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:41 am
  • Real Name: Hayman

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostMon Oct 18, 2021 8:23 am

What does it look like if you playback the recorded footage on the VA?
Have you double checked the contrast/saturation/brightness settings on the VA?
Are there options on the camera to set how it's displayed?
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostMon Oct 18, 2021 10:17 am

Thanks Nick. Playback is same as monitoring.

Camera has only one option for Black Magic Raw. If I output Flog or any other non-raw format, there is no monitoring problem with contrast.
Offline
User avatar

Robert Niessner

  • Posts: 4948
  • Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:51 am
  • Location: Graz, Austria

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostMon Oct 18, 2021 11:52 am

You can use the email form on the support site to open a ticket and bring it to the attention of the support team:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/contact/email

This forum is centered around user to user support, only occasionally BMD stuff is posting here, too.
Saying "Thx for help!" is not a crime.
--------------------------------
Robert Niessner
LAUFBILDkommission
Graz / Austria
--------------------------------
Blackmagic Camera Blog (German):
http://laufbildkommission.wordpress.com

Read the blog in English via Google Translate:
http://tinyurl.com/pjf6a3m
Offline

CaptainHook

Blackmagic Design

  • Posts: 2054
  • Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:50 am
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
  • Real Name: Hook

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostTue Oct 19, 2021 2:50 am

Hi, are you able to provide a sample Blackmagic RAW clip that looks okay in Resolve but not as expected on the Video Assist? You can PM a link to download if you would prefer not to post publicly.

Also just to quickly rule it out - what are your Contrast/Brightness/Saturation controls on the Video Assist LCD set to?
**Any post by me prior to Aug 2014 was before i started working for Blackmagic**
Offline

PhotoKratky

  • Posts: 2
  • Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:04 am
  • Real Name: Herbert Kratky

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostTue Oct 19, 2021 10:11 am

samireivinen wrote:Hi,

just purchased Video Assist 7" 12G for my Fuji GFX100 to record BRAW footage. Works fine but the image...
May I ask which HDMI cable you are using? I'm asking because the same configuration (GFX100 with firmware 4.10, Video Assist 12G with firmware 3.5) does not work for me when I try to use BRAW (ProRes works fine)...
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostTue Oct 19, 2021 11:58 am

Hi,

thanks. Here's the link for BRAW and also the stills of the backs of different monitors:

https://klik.galleria.fi/kuvat/art/BlackMagic/

After the link there is GFX100 outputting BRAW to Video Assist 12G and NINJA V for comparison. Video Assist Contrast/Brightness/Saturation controls on 50%, no 3DLut. There is two examples with "Record HDR format override" set to "Auto" and "REC709". On "Auto" colors are ok, but whites and blacks get crushed. On "REC 709" contrast is ok, but the colors are way off. Using Ninja V and recording ProRes RAW and monitor set to "PQ", colors and contrast look like they should. There is also picture of GFX100 back screen just for reference. I shot these stills with same manual settings to get better screen comparison.

There is also short BRAW clip that works just like it should in Resolve.
Offline

Nick Heydon

  • Posts: 139
  • Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:41 am
  • Real Name: Hayman

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostTue Oct 19, 2021 12:35 pm

Perhaps not the answer you're looking for, but you could use the REC709 setting, and then push the contrast and/or saturation up on the VA display. Not ideal, as then other cameras will look overly saturated, but at least it will get you to where you want to be for now.
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostTue Oct 19, 2021 1:05 pm

Thanks Nick, I tried it but the colors are very ugly that way. But thanks anyway :)
Offline

PhotoKratky

  • Posts: 2
  • Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:04 am
  • Real Name: Herbert Kratky

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 8:14 am

PhotoKratky wrote:May I ask which HDMI cable you are using? I'm asking because the same configuration (GFX100 with firmware 4.10, Video Assist 12G with firmware 3.5) does not work for me when I try to use BRAW (ProRes works fine)...
To answer my own question, the problem was solved by a factory reset of the Video Assist, I suspect that a custom LUT that the previous owner had installed was causing the trouble...

Kudos to the Blackmagic Support who got back to me in less than 24 hours :)
Offline

samireivinen

  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:22 pm
  • Real Name: Sami Reivinen

Re: Video Assist 12G + GFX100 BRaw preview too contrasty

PostFri Oct 22, 2021 12:15 pm

I put these tests on one file for easier comparison:

Image

full res:
https://klik.galleria.fi/kuvat/art/Blac ... g?img=full

If looked carefully these charts there is significant loss in dynamic range and in color reproduction on the Video Assist monitor compared to Ninja V.  Nearly all different lighter tones are crushed into one single tone and the same goes for different darker tones. Also the colors are off. I probably should have included some real world footage with skin tones as it is very obvious that something is not right. Changing brightness, contrast or saturation settings do not help. There is just no separation in darker and lighter tones on the monitor. It seems that there is some kind of bug on the Video assist as the picture on the monitor is simply way off and cannot really used anything other than checking focus. Judging white balance, colors and contrast is just impossible at the moment.

In these examples Ninja V is receiving ProRes RAW video signal from camera. And Video Assist is receiving BRAW from camera.

Return to Cinematography

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: John Thorborg and 92 guests