Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 327)

326 Part IV Logging, Capturing, and Importing
The Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope can examine Y´C
B
C
R
(also known as YUV) color
values if the codec you’re using supports Y´C
B
C
R
processing. In this case, super-white
and oversaturated colors will be represented. Y´C
B
C
R
values will be used to analyze the
signal whenever possible (for example, when using FireWire with the Apple DV codec).
When using third-party video interfaces, however, the ability of Final Cut Pro to use
Y´C
B
C
R
values varies depending on the video codec being used. If Final Cut Pro cannot
use Y´C
B
C
R
values because the required video codec doesn’t support Y´C
B
C
R
processing,
then an RGB conversion of the original Y´C
B
C
R
signal will be used instead. As a result,
the areas on the Waveform Monitor above 100 percent white and below 0 percent
black will be grayed out, to notify the user that super-white and oversaturated color
information cannot be displayed. As a result, the RGB values displayed may be
somewhat less accurate.
To use the built-in Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope to adjust your
clip settings:
1 Make sure your video deck is connected to the video interface in your computer.
2 Cue the videotape to the color bars recorded at the beginning of the tape.
3 Choose File > Log and Capture, click the Clip Settings tab, then click the Video Scopes
button.
The Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope appear below the Log and Capture window.
On the left is the Waveform Monitor, which displays the brightness levels of the color
bars within the video frame as a graph. Each “step” of the graph corresponds to one of
the color bars. The goal is to adjust the brightness and contrast so that the levels of the
bars match their ideal targets, shown in purple.
Note: Don’t worry if the graph appears to be “noisy”; this is normal for analog video
played back from tape.
Waveform Monitor Vectorscope