Final Cut Pro 10.6.5 Corrupted Library / Project

 FCP has been pissing me off all day today 😡. After having a problem earlier with a Project Snapshot that I could not move, nor delete; FCP refused to Share on export and nothing happened...

I had to create a brand new Library, import my cuts / Projects, and all Media, while omitting the f$%ck@#p 🤬 Snapshot of course. And here goes a couple of hours.

Then I had to restart the computer because FCP still didn't want to export anything 😤.

Finally after restart it's behaving normally again. It's exporting, and the exported files look good. Pffui!.. 🥵

Final Cut Pro 10.6.5 The Operation Couldn't Be Completed. Invalid Argument. Error Message

 FCP 10.6.5 is giving me a hard time. I've created a Snapshot of a Project. I want to move the Snapshot from the Event it resides currently, into another Event.

FCP does not comply and gives me this error message:

The Operation Couldn't Be Completed. Invalid Argument.

Workaround: Duplicate the current Snapshot, then the new Snapshot can be moved to the other Event without problem.

Only... I cannot delete the original! FCP is being stubborn and I can't move this Snapshot to the trash. Something is rotten.

Pixelmator Pro 3.2 "Lumière"

 Pixelmator Pro is out with version 3.2. It adds video editing capabilities, integration with Apple Motion, and more! Very, very cool!

Now is the time to buy this great piece of software if you haven't already for a mere $19.99 (50% off.) Current users like me get to update for free!

Pixelmator Pro 3.2

Released on December 6, 2022

Pixelmator Pro 3.2 introduces some incredible new ways to create designs with full support for video layers, adds support for popular video formats, includes all-new video and social media templates, brings major improvements to Motion document support, and more.

New Features

With full support for video layers, you can now edit videos and create stunning video designs with all the same tools you use to edit images.

Use the new on-canvas controls to easily control video playback, set video start and end frames, select poster frames, and more.

Work with a number of popular video formats, including MP4, QuickTime Movie, and even moving image formats such as animated GIFs and PNGs.

Quickly create eye-catching designs with cinematic social media story templates and 4K movie title templates.

Video Layers Support

Video layers in Pixelmator Pro work just like any other layers — you can mask or crop them, add effects, change colors, and more.

Find useful information about video length in the video layer description.

Work with videos with transparency, compressed using HEVC or Apple ProRes 4444 codecs.

Import Live Photos from the Photos browser and edit them as photos or videos.

Use quick video editing settings in the video layer shortcut menu, and the menu bar, or use handy, on-canvas controls.

Easily start and stop video playback, mute, and unmute audio.

You can also press the Space bar on your keyboard to play all layers, or Option + Space to play only the selected layers.

With additional video editing settings, adjust the length of the video, scrub through individual frames, or select a poster frame.

For compositions with multiple video layers, use Advanced Settings to delay, loop videos, or choose the behavior of the first and last video frames.

Use playback delay to specify when each of the videos in a composition will start to play.

Keep your videos playing on repeat with Loop or Bounce effects.

Enjoy top video playback performance and a smooth, real-time video editing experience, powered by AVFoundation.

On devices with Apple silicon, harness the power of M1 and M2 chips to edit and export videos of up to 8K resolution.

Optimize videos for export with options for adjusting video size, quality, and frame rate.

When exporting to QuickTime Movie format, make the most of additional video compression formats, including HEVC and Apple ProRes.

Enjoy automatic video color management thanks to ColorSync integration.

Use Quick Export to quickly export videos to MP4 file format.

Export original, unedited videos from Pixelmator Pro by choosing Format > Video > Export Unmodified Video.

Automate video import, editing, and export with AppleScript and Shortcuts apps.

Motion Support Improvements

Enjoy support for video layers and many other improvements when exporting to Motion.

Motion projects will now keep the custom fonts included in Pixelmator Pro documents.

Basic vector clipping masks are now supported.

Color adjustments and effects layers are now supported.

Grain, Vignette, Black and White, and Gradient Map adjustments and effects will now be replaced with equivalent filters in Motion.

RAW layers will now open as bitmap layers in Motion.

To emulate nondestructive gradient and color fills from Pixelmator Pro, shapes will be used in Motion instead.

Fill and Gradient Fill styles now open as Fill filters in Motion.

Positioning of layers with complex transforms has been improved.

Other Improvements and Fixes

You can now show or hide layer handles by choosing View > Layer and Selection Handles from the View menu.

Arabic texts would sometimes be displayed incorrectly. Fixed.

In some situations, Pixelmator Pro would stop responding when upscaling images using Super Resolution. Fixed.

I Bought A Dell S2721QS 4K Monitor, My Review

 Dell S2721QS, 4K 60Hz, 2021, 99% sRGB, 8bits+FRC, $249 on Amazon.

OK, this is the first one I bought from my list of 15, because it was the least expensive 27' 4K 8bits+FRC monitor, and I wanted to see what I could get out of a budget Dell display.

It arrived from Amazon quickly. I immediately plugged it and... Noticed something odd.

On the default settings there is a visible color shift across the screen. It's bluish on the left, yellowish on the right. No! 😫

I asked my friends and family to have a look at the screen displaying a full screen white image, and they all saw the defect. So it's fairly obvious, not anodyne in any way.

I fiddled with the menu, nothing really helped. There isn't much in terms of customization anyway except for a User Colors setting, i.e. RGB sliders, Brightness and Contrast adjustments.

Otherwise, the screen is really nice. It's bright - way too bright on the default settings - crisp, compared to my old HD monitor, with a very smooth and stable image. The stand is adjustable, but it's kind of wobbly.

Time for calibration.

100% sRGB, 74% Adobe RGB, 84% DCI-P3, it's decent.

Not too bad. Not too great.

After calibration the color shift is somewhat less visible, but I can still see it! Darn! 😖

Let's measure the uniformity:

Not so great uniformity... 

So three negatives points for this Dell S2721QS model:

• Color shift across the screen
• Shoddy uniformity
• Wobbly stand

I don't like the suboptimal uniformity of this Dell, and I'm even more bothered about the color unbalance. There is definitely a yellowish blob tint on the right and a cyan tint on the left. These two problems compound badly to make the screen look cheap/bad.

Dell, Dell, did I get a lemon? Possibly some units are better than others? Maybe. I don't know if I want to try and order another one just to see. Probably not.

I will be using this panel for a little bit, overall though I would not recommend this model, and I think I will ultimately be returning it.

Do you have a S2721QS? Does it look good to your eyes? Do you see a color shift like I do? I'd be interested in knowing what's your experience.

I Need A New Computer Monitor. My List Of 15 Contenders For Creators Like Myself

 OK, I am in need of new computer monitors. One of my old ViewSonic monitor had a breakdown. One of the lamps is busted, the bottom of the screen is now dark, and it's not coming back. I need a replacement.

I've been using two identical Viewsonic 24' (1920 x 1080) monitors for a while. I'm OK with the dual monitor setup. I feel that I need 27', or maybe even 32' at this point.

Resolution should be upped from full HD to QHD (2560 x 1440) for 27', or even 4K. Since I'm using Macs, 5K would be great, but the price of 5K monitors is too high.

As a film/video editor and finishing artist, I am picky in terms of uniformity, both for color and luminosity.

Finally I am a frugal guy, and I really don't want to break the bank, so I will keep the price under or near $500. Sounds impossible... We'll see.

I've gathered information on the web, and I've rounded a few suspects:

A) 27' QHD 2560 x 1440 monitors:

Asus PA278QV 2020, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits, $294 on Amazon

Benq PD2700Q, 2020, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, DeltaE<3, 8bits+FRC, $297 on Amazon

Asus PA278CV, 2020, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, DeltaE<2, 8bits, $319 on Amazon

Dell U2722D, 2020, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, 8bits+FRC, $349 on Amazon

Dell U2722DE, 2021, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits+FRC, $405 on Amazon

B) 27' 4K 3840 x 2160 monitors:

Dell S2721QS, 2021, 99% sRGB, 8bits+FRC, $249 on Amazon.

LG 27UP650-W, 2021, 95% DCI-P3, 8bits+FRC, $249 on Amazon

HP U28, 2020, 100% sRGB, 90% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits+FRC, $324 on Amazon

LG 27UL850-W, 2019, 99% sRGB, 8bits+FRC, $376 on Amazon

LG 27BP85UN-W, 2021, DCI-P3 95%, 8bits+FRC, $447 on Amazon

Asus PA279CV, 2020, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits+FRC, $447 on Amazon

Dell U2720QM, 2020, 99% sRGB, 99% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits+FRC, $464 on Amazon.

Dell P2723QE, 2022, 99% sRGB, 99% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, DeltaE<2, 8bits+FRC, $525 on Amazon

C) 32' 4K Monitors:

LG 32BN67U-B, 2020, 95% DCI-P3, 8bits+FRC, $399 at B&H

LG 32UN880-B, 2020, 95% DCI-P3, 8bits+FRC, $399 on Amazon

I feel a 32' monitor has to have 4K resolution. Unfortunately this limits the number of models available under $500.

So there, that's my list of 15 monitors with decent specs, under/near $500. If you have any other ideas, please share!

I now need to select one and give it a go. I feel like it's gonna be a 27' 4K display for me, I'll keep you posted.

SDI Standards: SD, HD, 3G, 6G, 12G What Are They?

 Broadcast equipment, monitors for example, have HDMI, or SDI, or both inputs/outputs.

When they sport SDI (Serial Digital Interface) inputs, they are characterized by a specific standard, set by SMPTE, ex. "SDI 3G".

What does that mean? Well it's a combination of supported transmission bitrates and video formats.

To simplify:

8bit video signal

SD SDI supports legacy NTSC 480i and PAL 576i formats at a speed of 270Mbps max.

HD SDI supports 1080i and 720p at a speed of 1485Mbps max.

10bit video signal

3G SDI supports 1080 60p at 2970Mbps max.

6G SDI supports up to 2160p30 ("4K") at 6000Mbps max.

12G SDI supports 2160p60 at 12000Mbps max.

24G SDI supports 4320p30 ("8K") at 24000Mbps max.

Audio is always embedded, and color subsampling varies, most often is YCbCr 4:2:2 with standardized colorimetry (ex. Rec709.)

Now, practically, a 4K monitor will need a 6G+ SDI input to accept a 4K signal via SDI. Else a "lesser G" SDI input will only receive HD signals, and any 4K signal will have to be connected to the HDMI 2.0+ input.

Example:

This "BM 4KS" line of Lilliput monitors have 3G SDI, so no 4K signal via SDI, only compatible with HDMI input.

This "BM 12G" line, and this "Q 12G" line of Lilliput monitors have 12G SDI, so 4K signals can be routed to either SDI or HDMI inputs.

The main differentiation between SDI and HDMI in post being HDMI has a greater latency, which might or might not be a problem for your application.

More info about HDMI on Wikipedia.

More info about SDI on Wikipedia.

DaVinci Resolve 18.1 Continues To Have A Bug 🪲 In Video Monitor Look Up Table

 When applying a LUT to the Video Monitor, it should only affect the output, in my case the SDI out from the UltraStudio Monitor 3G.

Unfortunately it also affects the Scopes in the Edit and Cut Pages even though No LUT Selected is selected in the preferences for the Scopes Look Up Table.

Bizarrely, and thankfully, the Scopes are not affected in the Color Page, at least that's where it's most important. 

SMPTE Bars looking correct on the Scopes

When No LUT selected for Video Monitoring

SMPTE Bars displayed incorrectly on the Scopes in the Edit and Cut Pages. Why?

In the Color Page at least the Scopes look correct.

Note the LUT applied to Monitoring only, not to Scopes.

That's a BUG 🪲 that's been plaguing Resolve version after version for long time:

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=51358

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?t=69732&p=389301

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=159257&p=863595&hilit=Video+monitor+look+up+table#p863595

Why has this inconsistent behavior not been fixed by now BMD? 😡