question concerning copying footage from cam to computer....

Sithxace · #1 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 10:24 PM

i got the nice cam panasonic ag-dvc30, has the LCD settings all balanced in the middle. Picture looks great, now when i copy it to pc thru vegas or anythijng else, the footage is so much darker. This wucks!

any copy program thats great and fizx this? like i could easily adjust the LCD settings in cam to match the computer, but darker just means night shooting will look even worse! grrr

shiner · #2 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 10:36 PM

It's usually the case that the footage looks great on the LCD and ends up looking dull, darker and lacking in contrast on the PC. Just make sure your PC monitor is calibrated correctly and then set the LCD on your camcorder up as near to possible to your PC monitor.

Being in NTSC land you can try changing your colour levels in the editing programme to 16.0.235 instead of 0.0.255, this might help

Sithxace · #3 (**permalink**) 03-24-2006, 03:10 AM

it just sucks for senarios like im in a hurry, my panasonic will automaticallay detect and adjust all the settings...and now i have to manually do it no matter what or i would get a dark picture from the automation... there has to be a way

Mark W · #4 (**permalink**) 03-25-2006, 09:45 AM

DV (and HD?) has a very poor contrast range and it is important to get exposures spot on. Using all auto will often result in poor results on difficult scenes, like a bright sky.

Has the camera got a zebra pattern generator, if so I suggest you use this and set exposure manually.

As said it is also likely that you may need to set up your preview monitor.

LCDs on cameras are abn unreliable way of getting a good exposure in my view. Have a gander thru the eypepiece, it may give a more reliable view.