Chapter 06
Matching screens to camera
Screens in shot rarely look right straight out of the box. They are too bright for the exposure, too blue next to tungsten practicals, or two different models side by side that never match. Scenic grades the picture on each screen from the Controller, so you can fix it from the video village without touching a display's own menus.
The grade is applied by the Player to everything it draws on that screen: slides, video and test patterns.
The picture controls
The dock has three sliders, each with a number you can type, a − and + stepper and a reset button.
| Control | Range | Neutral | Step | Keys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 0 to 100 % | 100 % | 5 % | ⌘] / ⌘[ |
| Contrast | −50 to +50 % | 0 % | 5 % | ⇧⌘] / ⇧⌘[ |
| Colour temperature | 2000 to 12000 K | 6500 K | 100 K | ⌥⌘] cooler / ⌥⌘[ warmer |
Every change goes out at once to the selected screens, with no confirmation. A slider only moves when you drag its knob: clicking the track does nothing, so a stray click cannot jump a screen to full brightness.
Each card shows its current grade, such as 60% · 6500 K · C+0%.
Colour temperature
6500 K is neutral daylight: no shift. Lower numbers warm the picture towards tungsten amber; higher numbers cool it towards overcast blue.
| Setting | Looks like |
|---|---|
| 3200 to 4500 K | Warm: tungsten, halogen, a screen in a lamp-lit room |
| 6500 K | Neutral |
| 7500 to 12000 K | Cool: daylight through a window, shade, a cold office |
If your crew thinks in warm and cool rather than Kelvin, Settings ▸ General ▸ Color temperature ▸ Percent shows the slider as −100 (warm) to +100 (cool).
When the selected screens differ
If the screens you selected have different values, the slider reads Mixed · relative. Dragging it then moves each screen by the same amount from where it is: two screens at 60 % and 80 % brightness, dragged down 10, end at 50 % and 70 %. Typing a number instead sets every selected screen to that number.
Gamma Controls
For finer matching, open Gamma Controls under the sliders. It shapes the picture in three ranges:
- Black: where black sits. Lift it so a screen's blacks match the set, or crush it to hide a backlight.
- Middle: the midtones (gamma).
- White: where white tops out.
Choose a range, then use the sliders for all channels together or for red, green and blue separately. Tick Apply Gamma to turn the curve on; untick it to compare with and without, without losing your settings.
Gamma presets keep a curve you like, such as "Camera A tungsten" or "Booth LCDs". Choose Custom in the preset menu, adjust, then press the save button and name it. Presets belong to the Show, so every Controller can apply them.
RGB Gains, in the same section, set each channel's level from 0 to 2, for a display with a colour cast. Reset Grading puts brightness, contrast, colour temperature and gains back to neutral and leaves gamma alone; the gamma reset button resets the curve.
A matching workflow
- Send a pattern. Put Camera Color Card or Grayscale Ramp on the screens (overlay row ▸ Test). The grade applies to the pattern, so you grade what the camera sees.
- Set brightness per group first. Select a group and bring its brightness down until it sits in the exposure. Most screens in shot want far less than 100 %.
- Set the colour temperature per group to match the practicals and the lighting.
- Then fine-tune single screens. Select one screen and nudge it to match its neighbours in the monitor.
- Use Gamma Controls last, for blacks, midtones and a stubborn cast.
- Save a gamma preset for each kind of display, so the next setup on the same monitors is one choice.
- Turn the pattern off and save a Snapshot. The grade is part of it.
Grading and Snapshots
A Snapshot saves each screen's grade, including gamma and gains. Recalling it puts the grade back with the content. If you recall a Snapshot to reset a scene, the grade comes back exactly as it was at the take you saved.