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Add Waveform Monitor and Vectorscopes
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Joined: 9/13/2016(UTC) Posts: 112 Location: Ukraine Thanks: 6 times Was thanked: 5 time(s) in 4 post(s)
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Very useful and necessary function! It's time to add it to the software!
To use additional devices or software is not always convenient and not very practical. Everything that works with video and audio has this function by default.
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+1 Scopes would be yet another feature to make vMix a serious professional tool.
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Joined: 1/13/2010(UTC) Posts: 5,208 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Was thanked: 4290 time(s) in 1520 post(s)
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Hi,
Scopes and waveforms require a lot of technical knowledge to get the most use out of them. I think it would better suit vMix users if instead we automated the tasks usually achieved by analyzing these displays.
Perhaps colour coded systems or similar, for example would it help to have a simple number display showing the current black and white levels as simple numbers? And maybe a bar graph to show overall balance?
Along these lines, users may not aware that in Input Settings -> Colour Adjust under Black/White stretch there is an Auto button which will automatically conform the image to close to optimal 0-100 IRE.
Regards,
Martin vMix
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Martin I'll do you a deal, do a basic colour vector scope and a luminance waveform and I'll do a tutorial for everyone :)
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Joined: 4/14/2013(UTC) Posts: 264 Location: Australia Thanks: 35 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 36 post(s)
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As mentioned in my post #14 a simple false colour display in PV showing a user defined luminance band would be a great start for exposure calibration. It would usually be set to 70-80% for skin tones, similar to the old viewfinder zebra display but the user could also check the black level if set to display 0-5%.
To emulate the primary function of a vectorscope when lining up it would be flagging what pixels are close to monochrome, R=G=B, ie whites are white, black is black.
thanks Peter
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Joined: 1/13/2010(UTC) Posts: 5,208 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Was thanked: 4290 time(s) in 1520 post(s)
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So it seems false color is what all the cool kids are using to adjust exposure these days instead of the waveform monitor. This is a good video on the topic: http://www.thehurlblog.c...r-cinematography-online/Would you all agree this is a better idea to implement in vMix? Regards, Martin vMix
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admin wrote:So it seems false color is what all the cool kids are using to adjust exposure these days instead of the waveform monitor. This is a good video on the topic: http://www.thehurlblog.c...r-cinematography-online/Would you all agree this is a better idea to implement in vMix? Regards, Martin vMix Martin I think whether you use false colour or waveform/vector depends on what you want to use it for. False colour is great for post work and grading but it's purely for exposure. The impression I get from a lot of the comments is that people who are switching from traditional switchers to vMix want scopes to colour balance cameras and check colour and exposure from external sources much as they would with a Tektronix. I know some prosumers may feel like these things are alien hieroglyphics but they're really quite simple and very useful to learn if you do your own editing as well as streaming. :)
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Joined: 1/13/2010(UTC) Posts: 5,208 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Was thanked: 4290 time(s) in 1520 post(s)
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I understand that, I was speaking specifically about the waveform monitor first, seems to be no benefit to that vs the easier to understand false colour.
For the vectorscope, maybe something like the RGB Parade would be simplest
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It depends how accurate you want your camera line-up to be.
To ensure you get even light input on each camera across a greyscale you need a waveform to set max white and black but also see whether the grey steps are even and matched across the cameras.
Likewise RGB parades are ok but not as easy to achieve true grey as a vectorscope.
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I would prefer an RGB parade but any display would be welcome.
The false colours replacing the whole image as shown in the link is a negative. I would like to see the original image as well as a highlighted band or two so the preview display remains useful.
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Joined: 5/18/2015(UTC) Posts: 150 Location: Australia
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To my knowledge, I have not seen any live broadcasting organisations using the ‘false colour’ technique as part of the exposure and/or colour grading toolkit. Waveform, vectorscope and RGB/YUV Parade continue to be the references used by video professionals and enthusiasts alike. Quote Admin: “...waveforms and vectorscopes are so technical, users almost need a video engineering degree to understand them.” Having trained numerous high school students in the operation of the Tricaster/ATEM, the scopes do not present a steep learning curve to understand. Concepts are easily grasped and used in every day productions. Consider perhaps, implementing such a feature request as a paid extra plugin or standard-alone feature to vMix, which could use NDI for connectivity or an application hook using the power of the GPU. That way you can monetise your investment in time and resources, and permit Users to make the choice as to whether they wish to include such a feature into vMix. There are several affordable SDK’s available for inspiration. For example: http://www.rumblehouse.c...ltiscopecompact-plugins/
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BETech wrote:To my knowledge, I have not seen any live broadcasting organisations using the ‘false colour’ technique
That doesn't mean it isn't a better and or faster way of setting exposure, just means it is still quite new and broadcasters seem to be quite slow to adapt to new technology. By contrast the advent of digital cinema has caused a rethink of a lot of these processes relatively recently for filmmakers. Have a look at the video I posted, Shane seems to make the case that false colour is easier and more accurate to use for exposure than waveforms and I can't see any downside to going that route. I should point out that the IsoCorder Pro already has the traditional waveform/vectorscope functionality and is at a price point that won't break the bank for broadcasters: https://www.newtek.com/software/ndi-isocorder/I am more interested in next generation tools that will help those new to streaming improve their video. Regards, Martin vMix
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Both NewTek IsoRecorder Pro and Connect Pro have waveform/vectorscope tools. (In case one works better for your needs than the other.)
Kane Peterson NewTek
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BETech wrote:Consider perhaps, implementing such a feature request as a paid extra plugin or standard-alone feature to vMix, which could use NDI for connectivity or an application hook using the power of the GPU. That way you can monetise your investment in time and resources, and permit Users to make the choice as to whether they wish to include such a feature into vMix. There are several affordable SDK’s available for inspiration. If this is a thing which could be implemented satisfactorily via an external application (eg. taking video feeds via NDI), then I can understand Martin wanting to concentrate his time on things which can only be incorporated within vMix itself, and I'm sure the "possible things to do" list is constantly growing. I say this as someone who uses waveform monitors for any level/gamma correction work while editing and, yes, they'd be nice to have in vMix, but I can also see the attraction of an external application using the various NDI feeds from vMix (inc camera sources), particularly if all the colour/level adjustments for each input can be controlled remotely via the API. That way you can split off the Vision Engineering task to another (laptop) PC where the camera inputs could be monitored/measured/compared and adjustments made. OK, such a 3rd party app doesn't exist yet, but it's certainly a possibility.
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Joined: 4/18/2016(UTC) Posts: 223 Location: United Kingdom
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False colour is no good for camera line-up.
Unless I'm reading that wrong, I can't justify $1000 for a small add on to $700 piece of software.
Martin I understand your wish to push the boundaries of new features but vMix is at an 'iPhone moment' in broadcast. It is reliable, flexible and definitely value for money and could become the default mixing/streaming product for the broadcast industry but not without standard broadcast features such as waveforms and vectorscope.
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Joined: 3/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 482 Location: Kansas City, MO USA Thanks: 151 times Was thanked: 75 time(s) in 57 post(s)
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I will throw in my 2 cents :-)
In reality, in vMix itself, a waveform/vector would be of very limited value. There is already plenty to do for the operator and to think that the vMix operator (director/producer) is also going to shade cameras, is sort of ridiculous.
What I would like to see is a separate application that is a cuts only version of vMix with waveform/vector and output. With Stream and Record. This could be used on a second PC that is the "Video" position in a production facility.
This would spread the workload in a production that would also work with any broadcast equipment. This would be a product that even traditional production facilities would buy for their workflow.
Steve
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