FCPX Preview Video Too Dark

Question

Level 1

10 points

FCPX Preview Video Too Dark

Hello,

yesterday I tried to install MacOS Mojave. For some reason, the upgrade did not work and I had to restore my Mac from a Time Machine backup.

Now, when I use FCPX, the preview window displays the video file way too dark. The problem occurs across all Libraries and is just limited to FCPX.

This topic has already been discussed relatively recently in these two topics; however, nobody seems to have found a fix.

FCPX 10.4.3 Preview Window Dark

Video too dark in preview window

I have the same issue and have already tried resetting the FCPX preferences and restarting the Mac.

I have also tried reinstalling FCPX, to no avail.

Does anyone have any new insights into this issue? What else could I do?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018), macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)

Posted on Oct 11, 2018 2:51 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 11, 2018 11:03 AM in response to TZ92

I'm in the same boat! It's been happening for about a week or so, and it's extremely frustrating. I can't color grade at all, and it's driving me nuts.

The clips look fine coming out of the camera and when I export, but the Preview window is extremely dark.

My display is set to the default color profile. I'm using a 2016 MBP (the 2.7 gHZ with a Radeon 455 model), and it's worked for the last year perfectly.

I've got some screenshots attached.

First: the look of my preview window:

Second, another look of the preview window:

Third: the look of the exported video

Obviously, they look terrible, but I can't do anything about the color or exposure, since it's not accurate.

What is going on?

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Answer 2

Oct 11, 2018 11:28 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Here's a screenshot of the original:

Looks like the exported clip.

I restored my machine from a Time Machine backup and it's been like this ever since (just over a week ago). I've uninstalled, trashed preferences, and reinstalled the program, to no avail.

EDIT: Software version 10.4.3. OS version 10.13.6.

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Answer 3

Nov 9, 2018 9:48 AM in response to TZ92

Hi, I have had the exact same issue when using FCP X 10.4.3 after restoring from Time Machine, I just resolved the issue by following some of the guidance here: Resolve an issue in Final Cut Pro X - Apple Support

This resolved the issue:

6. Verify installation of Pro Video Formats

For some reason these components were not restored when restoring from Time Machine back-up and have to be re-installed manually. Here is the link to the relevant download:Pro Video Formats 2.0.6

I re-installed FCP X first, this made no difference to the issue but I then installed Pro Video Formats, and this resolved the issue

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Answer 4

TZ92 Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 15, 2018 12:38 AM in response to chinomage19

Thanks for the responses so far.

Fortunately, I finally got Mojave (10.14) to run and now the problem is solved... so the update to Mojave did it for me.

chinomage19: It is unfortunate you are in the same boat. I hope the upgrade to Mojave will fix the problem for you, too.

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Answer 5

Oct 16, 2018 11:31 AM in response to TZ92

I'll give it a whirl later on today, but that's odd. Actually, I had upgraded to Mojave and then downgraded back to HS (was having a few issues with some of the audio programs I use on stage) by wiping and restoring from a Time Machine backup. And that's when the issues cropped up.

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Answer 6

Derkman

Level 1

4 points

Oct 17, 2018 2:10 PM in response to TZ92

I am in the same boat. I cannot figure this out. When I export a clip it looks fine. In the FCPX preview window...extremely dark. This started happening last week for no apparent reason.

I'm running FCPX 10.4.3 on an iMac with High Sierra.

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