imovie hd imports much darker than original

I quote Daniel Slagle:
"Recalibrate your monitor for video production:
white point 9300, target gamma 2.2 (that, according to Display Preference Pane, should give you more accurate preview of your output), save new profile under meaningful name and switch to it, when making movies."

Tip about your system info: "iMac" can be anything from the original 233MHz CRT to the latest 20 inch G5. Please be more specific.

Irene

Good advice from Lennart as always! His suggestion does help to show a clearer indication of how the images will appear on a TV.

From my experience, and from what I've read elsewhere in the forum, the iMovie monitor screen always appears darker than how the video looks on TV. The screen is only meant for monitoring your video and always looks better (sharper, clearer & brighter) on a TV screen. You could try changing your settings under Preferences>Playback to High (better image), but you may then experience less smoother motion on the monitor than when using the Standard setting. Note that these settings only affect playback quality on your iMac and don't affect the export quality of your project.

I don't know about iDVD as my system doesn't support that program. I record my projects on DVD-R directly to a Pioneer DVD Recorder via Firewire and the end result is excellent - the darker interior scenes (eg, wedding receptions) are usually brighter & clearer than as viewed on the iMovie monitor.

John

I do not know what "white point" and gamma mean

System Preferences, Click on Monitor, click on Color (near the top) click on calibrate.

I have asked Apple about calibration ... and they told me not to worry about it.

What do THEY know? 😉

Sorry. It's now called "Displays" not "Monitor".

YOU don't send e-mails via discussions. It's the discussion software that wants to inform you about new postings in threads you subscribe to.

SOME posters have a public e-mail address, most doesn't. Click on a person's name to check.
You are generally discouraged from asking questions privately. In the discussion there is more than one "expert" answering and persons with the same problem may often find the solution afterwards.

Irene

The sending of e-mails can be an automatic feature. Go to Preferences on this Discussion page (under your User name) then click on Subscriptions. There you will see a host of options regarding notification of postings etc. One option even allows you to receive the full text of a posting - not just a link to that posting.

I don't have the iMac you have unfortunately 🙂 Is it the G4 or the new G5? (Tip: Update your Profile - go to Preferences to edit). The best way to get the right angle is to sit at your computer and simply adjust the screen until you strike the midpoint between too light and too dark. I quess the screen shouldn't be angled too severely, but just set in a comfortable position for normal viewing. Maybe more easily said than done!

The calibration on my G3 iMac doesn't seem to work fully, so I set it to the recommended white point and gamma, but also tweak the brightness and contrast slightly. This gives me a slightly brighter monitor screen in iMovie. However, there is no comparison with viewing the final product on a TV screen. Some video editors (certainly professionals) also connect the computer to a TV whilst editing. I think you need an RGB connection (? AVI) between the computer and TV - others may be able to comment on this.

Sometimes, I connect my iMac to my Pioneer DVD Recorder via Firewire and set the iMovie preferences to Play Through To Camera. When creating still frames from video clips, I then get a clearer picture of how the stills will appear on TV (good for when people have eyes closed), The DVD Recorder, of course, is connected to a TV (38cm LCD screen). I also use this method to record projects to DVD-R media (given that my iMac doesn't have a Superdrive & doesn't support iDVD).

Hope this helps!

John

You're welcome Irene! If you've been "making movies and idvds" you are far from "computer illiterate" 🙂

LCD screens typically show the characteristics you mention, ie, change in brightness/viewability when viewed from different angles - unlike the "old" CRT screens (which my iMac has). You're almost putting me off upgrading to a new iMac G5 (joke). The problem shouldn't be as severe as you are describing though.

So, I went back to your initial post and noticed that you are "importing analog movies through a dazzle hollywood dv-bridge". I had forgotten this in all the to-ing and fro-ing. This may be part of the problem re your dark scenes - they shouldn't be as bad as you've been describing (the iMovie preview screen is not that bad).

It might be worth you doing a search in this forum on the "Dazzle" - I vaguely recall others having problems with analogue/dv converters, but the problems may have been different to yours. Further, you may wish to re-post under a topic heading which includes the name of the converter, eg, "Dark imports using Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge" or similar. This might catch the attention of Dazzle users who may have experienced a similar problem. It might be worth including a link to this thread - control click on your name in your original post (or the blue numbers under a posting), select copy link and paste the link in your new posting.

I can't offer any help on the Dazzle, as I import analogue footage (rarely) through my Sony DCR-TRV20E mini DV camcorder using the pass-through mode.

Your idea to "burn a trial project" sounds good. It's the only way you will be able to check the final product. If it's nowhere near your expectations, I would tend to think the converter is the problem.

John

My Panasonic PVGS150 imports movies MUCH DARKER than the replay on the viewer. However, my brother's older SonyDigi8 firewire to iMovie produced BALANCED clips. The clips from the camcorders were from the same indoor wedding shot at the same time.

I called Panasonic, and they said send the camera back. Before I do that, is there something else I am missing?

Claude

The Panasonic PV GS150 is a 3CCD camcorder, whereas the Sony is probably a single CCD. To the best of my knowledge, most 3CCD camcorders do not perform as well as single CCDs in low light situations. I may be way off beam here, but this may explain why your images appear darker. Having said that, I don't know how well your model performs in low light - perhaps an internet search on reviews will provide an answer.

Just on another point - was your camcorder set for automatic exposure before shooting, or was it in manual mode?

John

Thanks for your response. The camera was on automatic.

Yes, it was "low light", but why would the replay colors and brightness be OK on the camcorder viewer, but much worse on iMovie?

The computer display was awful, the DVD was better but still muddy and not true colors.

Claude - I don't know that I can help much more, but I can say that camera LCD screens will generally be brighter (and perhaps clearer) than video viewed on the monitor screen in iMovie.

Appreciate that the screen in iMovie is only a "monitor" and tends to show darker, less vibrant images (? lower resolution) than that viewed on a TV screen - annoying but true! I always notice a real difference when playing through to my LCD TV - particularly with scenes that were not well lit. I connect my iMac via Firewire to my DVD Recorder (which is connected to the TV via component cable) and select Playthrough to Camera in iMovie's Preferences - the difference is often remarkable!

None of this explains why you're seeing poorer results than that achieved by your brother using a Sony Digital 8 camera. You would think that your later model camera with 3 CCDs would perform better - but check the low light specifications for both cameras to be sure.

Claude, how does the camera perform in "normal" light (eg., outdoors)? If you haven't done this already, try another test under "low light" conditions. If you're still not satisfied, perhaps it's time to get the camera checked by the vendor.

One other point I forgot - change iMovie's Preferences to Playback>High (better image). This only affects the playback on the monitor - it doesn't affect the final export quality of the project.

John

John,
I'm off the current topic, but I just had to ask ,does the pioneer support direct connection via firewire?
I don't think you can evenly match a TV with a computer monitor or LCD or plasma. They all have different characteristics. You just get used to the differences & you know with experience the variations. The LCD on the camera may have the brightness boosted. So look at the LCD screen & then look at what your camera is pointed & then you will see if it's the same or not.
Mark