Blackmagic Forum

Hey Folks,

I have the strangest thing with DR Studio, maybe a bug or maybe user error..I am new to DRS...

Check this out... this is a screenshot of the DRS Timeline and then the output (4K mp4). I have brightened and colour corrected the BM RAW from the Pocket 6KPRO and even though it shows up on the timeline, it does not export how it shows up, it exports dark? and this is even darker than it was actually filmed (the exposure was pretty much spot on as I used the false colour guide?

Any ideas how to fix this...? It only seems to have started since the upgrade yesterday to 17.2?

The first step is to make sure you're seeing the image accurately, without any alterations.

That's best achieved by using an I/O device like a Decklink. Without that, take the export to a calibrated display and view it there.

Basically, you have to get the video off the computer and onto a calibrated display before you can know if the issue is in the actual footage, or just the way it's being played back.

Jason, take your rendered video and import it into Resolve. What does it look like? If it looks the same as it did when you edited it then the player you are using to view it is at fault.

Jim, we can't all rush out to get a Decklink card and calibrated display when we encounter a problem like this.

Well, I'd agree about the Decklink, but if one doesn't have a calibrated display to hand, then one isn't quite ready to do this job.

You need that for QC. If it isn't connected to your edit system via I/O card, then it better be somewhere else close by so you can take the export over for review.

if one doesn't have a calibrated display to hand, then one isn't quite ready to do this job.

couldn't agree more. not just resolve either. since i started with nle's, a calibrated (or as close to calibrated) monitor is essential.

from media 100 onwards, pc screens in general have been notoriously unpredictable when it comes to colour accuracy.

if you make a living from video, then delivering the clients a properly colour corrected product is a no-brainer. the cost of a i/o card is relatively cheap in the scheme of things. i was using a bm intesity pro (the original HD one) for 10 years or so. i see the latest 4k is $240 or thereabouts. really not that much if you're producing professionally...

Jim Simon wrote:Basically, you have to get the video off the computer and onto a calibrated display before you can know if the issue is in the actual footage, or just the way it's being played back.

Hardware solutions is for people unable to manage their software color management stack. You could just use MadVR with your player of choice and get perfect color management on your PC. You're just too lazy to learn and prefer to flood the same old copy and paste answer all over this forum for the last 20 years.

Your reply is technically plain wrong. You just try to elevate your personal preference to the ultimate cult anyone else has to follow.

http://madvr.com/

peterjackson wrote:Hardware solutions is for people unable to manage their software color management stack. You could just use MadVR with your player of choice and get perfect color management on your PC. You're just too lazy to learn and prefer to flood the same old copy and paste answer all over this forum for the last 20 years.

No, @Jim Simon is 100% right from my perspective. If you doubt me, read page 2515 of the Resolve 17 manual, "Limitations When Grading With the Viewer on a Computer Display." This explains why it's unwise to try to use a computer display for final color correction.The same problem exists with the "Clean Feed" output, since it's not color managed.

Don't try to make judgements on uncalibrated GUI displays. That will lead down a perilous road of pain and suffering. And if you do look at anything in the GUI display, don't compare it to what you see in Resolve.

The Clean Feed can be perfectly adequate if you're only editing in Resolve and don't need to make any precise color judgements on the fullscreen preview display. If you do need to see accurate color, you really need a color-managed output with a Blackmagic display device, plus a calibrated display.

Software solutions will not make a cheap monitor with an inaccurate panel work like a proper monitor that can be calibrated accurately to a specification.

No argument about the panel / display.

It's about the chain what's feeding it. You really don't need a Decklink card unless you need some of its features like proper HDR. Calibration works just fine in Resolve via display LUT and does in MadVR and any proper software. It really doesn't matter what the manual says. It's what you can measure and demonstrate.

All this BS about the OS, GPU, drivers and players altering anything is really a thing of Mac users to lazy to understand how their system works.

On Windows and Linux you create calibration for Resolve and your player. VERIFY that it measures correctly and you're done.

Obviously you need a proper display / panel. But the there is nothing wrong with a PC driving that panel instead of a Decklink card, unless you need some particular features only available via Decklink.

Marc Wielage wrote:.If you do need to see accurate color, you really need a color-managed output with a Blackmagic display device, plus a calibrated display.

You need a good display and proper calibration. Until there we agree. There is no need for this calibration to happen in the panel itself and there is no need for a dedicated BM GPU. It's just an easy way for people on Mac OS to bypass Apples color management madness.

On Windows there is nothing you need to bypass. There is no system wide color thing. Each app does it's own color management.

All that Windows provides is an optional API to query a display profile for a display if one was assigned. Optionally this could then be used by the app to do its own color management.

Neither Resolve nor any video player uses that. They want 3D LUTs you explicitly need to create with something like DisplayCal and a measurement probe.

Create a display LUT for Resolve and for your player (I'd recommend MadVR) and verify that it is correct using your preferred probe and management system (I use DisplayCal).

HDR is a different story. That's probably where I'd agree an getting a Decklink card, also things like NobeDisplay exist.

And yes, using VLC is a bad idea. It doesn't have any color management. No idea why people here use it so much. It's nuts to use it to judge colors on Windows (no idea what does on Mac).

MPC-BE + MadVR + 3D Calibration LUT is an accurate choice. Many others exit.