[Terry Griffey] "The source is XDCAM EX 1080-30p coming from FCP6.0.2. The output from Color is ProRes."
First off, is this working? XDCAM is not a supported format in Color at this time. While the footage may import correctly into Color, that does not guarantee it will render out correct, even if you are rendering to the ProRes codec.
[Terry Griffey] "Am I correct that broadcast safe must have the luma and chroma within 0 to 100? Perhaps I am misunderstanding the Parade scope?"
Yes, turning on Broadcast Safe is the easiest way to achieve this, you can adjust your floor and ceiling as desired.
[Terry Griffey] "How do we perceive color levels below 0? Why does the scope report values below digital 0?"
There is SuperBlack which can dip far below 0. For instance when we did our first testing with Good Eats about 4 years ago, I was receiving footage that was -7 black in the darkest areas. FCP supports the output of SuperBlack. The only way to clamp off the blacks at 0 is to turn on the Broadcast Safe Filter and set your floor at 0.
[Terry Griffey] "The Color manual addresses chroma levels over 100 and can easily see the "clamping" of chroma over 100 when applying the broadcast safe filter on un-corrected chroma source but see no visual effect on the very,very dark areas with little or no detail."
If you're just below 0 you won't see anything. Blacks don't generally dip much more than -5 at the worst. Chroma and highlights tend to be much more extreme off the scale. I've seen as high as 120+ for highlights and 110 to 115 for Chroma. When that's clamped, you see an immediate difference in the appearance.
If you need to deliver a broadcast safe project, then just turn on the Broadcast Safe feature, it's the easiest way to do this. I like that it clamps off material so then I can see it immediately and fix the colors.
Color's scopes are very very accurate as I've tested them against hardware HD scopes so you're seeing a very good representation of your image.
But again, have you actually tested and rendered out your clips and sent your timeline back to Color yet? XDCAM is not supported and may not work correctly.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.
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