Very very dark video in FCP X viewer.

Yes I know but you would think that a lack of VRAM would just degrade performance. But my performance is fine. Speed wise I am very impressed with FCP X. It appears to be MUCH faster than FCP 7 on my machine. My issue with the viewer being dark I think is likely caused by the other requirement of: OpenCL-capable graphics.

I assume my card which is 2 yrs old is not open-CL capabe. It is a real shame like I said above because everything else appears to be more than capable. But this does leave me in the dust for editing. I can not export everytime I want to view the color and brightness appropriately.

agreed. the speed is fine on my machine, just that one issue really is a hinderance.

I will continue to research this until I find a satisfactory answer. As far as I can tell it should not be the OpenCL compatablity which my card actually has the capability to do but Apple has not released the drivers for. All MAC Intel CPUs are OpenCL capable so if the GPU can not pick up the processing the CPU should be capable of processing. Again this would degrade performance but should not shift the color or brightness.

In my further research I have found this issue is not tied to only impacting FCP X this has been observed on previous version of FCP as well.

From what I can tell FCP does it own calculations using different GAMMA settings. Which is why if you recalibrate your monitor, which can affect your Gamma setting, you may see differences in how FCP will interpret the video.

In short I think this is more than just compatability which gives me hope. But I am still waiting for someone more knowledgeable to chime in here....

As I stated the investigation continues. This is a VERY interesting article about how GAMMA values are altered in FCP. I think this is focused on FCP 7 but still gives you an idea where things may be going awry.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2912

Interesting article, Matt. That sounds like it touched on the issues that many of us are having. =

I had the same issue with the dark viewer window, and am using Color Eyes software with a 30" Apple cinema display, I went to systems preferences -Displays and chose cinema HD profile and everything fixed,

except my confidence with color and all that goes with it. I swear I have NEVER chased my tail in installing a new piece of software as this one.

I'm experiencing the dark viewer problem too. For what it's worth I'm using a Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics card, so I don't think it's a compatibility issue. But I've tried switching colour profiles, and it doesn't help. Are you guys (who have found this to work) quitting FCPX before changing profiles, or are you seeing the change happen 'live' with the app open in the background?

On a side note - can we split this thread to separate the gamma issue from the missing channel issue? It really doesn't help to have people confusing the two issues.

I quit FCPX then changed display cal to cinema HD, relaunched program and back to normal. I'm using ATI 5770. Your 2600 is on the not compatible list at apple, but then my Mac Pro 1,1 is not supposed to work with the 5770 either according to Apple.

Huh, yeah! I didn't realise my iMac had got that old! So maybe this is a blessing in disguise, and I can convince my wife I need to upgrade. "For colour reasons".

Actually, I just rebooted, then tried changing profiles again, and got a better result. Switching to ColorMatch RGB, though darker in general that I had my setup before, now unifies the look of footage in the viewer with that in the thumbnails and in Quicktime, etc.

Thanks for your help. Still, presumably, something Apple needs to sort. We can't do without out custom profiles!

johnjamesfoto,

Think I've sorted it. Not satisfactory though!

It is a color management problem. I use a ColorMunki calibration device on my monitor to get some sort of consistency and it seems that FCP X doesn't like the profile that ColorMunki creates. Try going into System Pref's and go to displays and select color then swithch profile to one of the Apple profiles and I reckon it will sort it out.

Not satisfactory because most people want to use calibrated monitors in their workflow.

I am curious about one thing... what did you setting of ICC profile version in ColorMunki (I assume that you own a ColorMunki Photo). I believe you should set it to ICC Profile Version as Version 2, not Version 4. Then re-calibrate ColorMunki Photo. And see what happens in Final Cut Pro X.

When you need to do a digital photography workflow, you need to re-set Version 4 from Version 2, and then recalibrate ColorMunki.

Does this work for you, no? I also own a ColorMunki Photo. I have no problem with it... ran into a little technical issue with inaccuracy representation of ICC profile showing in my monitor in Final Cut Pro X. So I took a look in ColorMunki Photo's ICC profile version... and did a bit of experiment. It works for me. Does this work for you, I hope.

Let us know what works for you.

Hope that helps.

Brian

hvxuser,

hvxuser wrote:

I've turned up the brightness on my Macbook Pro to full and it helps I guess its all about the contrast. With the FCPX 'facia' being so dark maybe its sort of influencing you in an optical illusionary way? Does that make sense??????

Turning up brightness on monitor really a bad idea! Not an ideal digital workflow, both for video (and photo) production workflow. I don't recommend turning up or down brightness level in monitor, use appropriate calibrated device such as X-Rite ColorMunki Photo (or third-party vendors). Additionally, do not consider buying a cheap calibration device such as Huey, it doesn't serve very well.

In closing, I do not recommend maupliating brightness level in monitor.

Brian

MattFromHugo wrote:

I will continue to research this until I find a satisfactory answer. As far as I can tell it should not be the OpenCL compatablity which my card actually has the capability to do but Apple has not released the drivers for. All MAC Intel CPUs are OpenCL capable so if the GPU can not pick up the processing the CPU should be capable of processing. Again this would degrade performance but should not shift the color or brightness.

In my further research I have found this issue is not tied to only impacting FCP X this has been observed on previous version of FCP as well.

From what I can tell FCP does it own calculations using different GAMMA settings. Which is why if you recalibrate your monitor, which can affect your Gamma setting, you may see differences in how FCP will interpret the video.

In short I think this is more than just compatability which gives me hope. But I am still waiting for someone more knowledgeable to chime in here....

MattFromHugo,

I have a question... Do you have a calibration device? If so, what setting of ICC profile version did you select in version 2 or version 4 with calibration device. I didn't see you mention anything about if you own a calibration device or not. Also, I don't know which brand of your calibration device if you own one. However, if you do own one, what is it? IF that is the case, can you double check with ICC profile version setting? I don't know anything about the third-party calibration devices other than X-Rite ColorMunki Photo. It may varies from calibration equip A to calibration equip B in the calibration industry.

Additionally, always a good idea to download the latest software/drivers from calibration device manufacutors.

Hope some info be of assistance, tips and guideline for you. Does this help and work for you?

Brian

Message was edited by: Caramel Macchiato

Thx Brian, works for me. (FCP X + 10.7 + Colormunki + Imac 27" ATI HD4850)

now I have to remind myself to change back to the V4 profile.

Isn't colormanagement a wonderful thing😕

bert

Bert,

Thx Brian, works for me. (FCP X + 10.7 + Colormunki + Imac 27" ATI HD4850)

now I have to remind myself to change back to the V4 profile.

Isn't colormanagement a wonderful thing😕

Glad that this helps and worked for you.

Have an amazing summer day! 😀

Brian

I suspect the problem may not lie with the type of profile, lut or matrix, but rather with the version of the CMM spec used to create the profile.

I normally calibrate my monitor(s) using Spyder3Elite hardware and ColorEyes Display Pro and I have the dark color problem with the CEDP profile but not the Apple provided profile--of course many other color problems cropped up using the generic Apple iMac profile.

In comparing the Apple provided profile with the one I created using CEDP I found that Apple used version 2.1 and CEDP used version 2.0 of the CMM specification. I then calibrated my iMac using Spyder3Elite Version 4.0.2 from datacolor. This software created a profile using CMM Version 2.4 and it works perfectly in FCPX.

Guess that means ColorEyesDisplay Pro, a $175 package, is obsolete.

Having the same issue. Trying to use FCP X with a MacBook Pro and Color Eyes Display Pro. So far, neither LUT based or matrix based profiles have worked in either ICC v2 or ICC v4.

However, if I use any of the installed Apple profiles (the defaults) the problem is solved.

Hopefully either Color Eyes Display Pro or Apple remedies the issue soon.