If I'm not incorrect, but don't the Zebs do an average-out "scan" of what is there on the viewer? EP or the camera's LCD?

And yes, the Vegas Scopes tell me by just how much too. Zebras are kinda sledgehammer? I suspect even when setting to 70% > 100% they are an average?

And yes, I can normally see just how badly I've shot something. LOL!!

Grazie

but are they not good for a guide? Not everyone has perfect eye sight and this would definitely help . Obviously they are good for something otherwise nearly every pro sumer cam wouldn't have Zebras.

don't the Zebs do an average-out "scan" of what is there on the viewer?

No, they show specifically which areas exceed a certain value.

...they show specifically which areas exceed a certain value.

On my JVC 550, I can preset them to either 70%-80% (flesh tone) or 100%.
I do a lot of studio-type interviews so I generally leave it at the former.
If I'm doing exteriors, then I'll switch it over to the 100% setting.

Mike

so wouldnt that be advantageous to have in Vegas to assist with finding blown out areas that may not be so apparent to the eyes? I have seen plenty of footage that doesnt at first blown out but when looking at the scopes easily see where the areas are blown out.

An alternative would be to add the broadcast safe filter on. It will legalize your levels and if it's doing something bad to the image (since it will clip or compress highlights), then you can go in and fix that.

2- I think FCP is unique in that it has that... other NLEs, color grading apps (incl. Color), and hardware legalizers don't have a feature like that. IMO the feature is not super useful.

Blown out areas are pretty easy to see. Anywhere that is pure white or even close to it is going to clip. Highlight areas on colored or detailed objects where the color or detail is gone are blown out areas--it's pretty obvious.

Except under most controlled conditions, i.e., studio shoots or exteriors where the range from light to dark is low, you're always going to get blown out areas. It comes with video.

And like you said, you have the zebra pattern in the camera, so you should know before you get to post what is and isn't over exposed.

But as an editor, youre not always dealing with video you shot or control of the camera. Some of the time you get video from clients that you have to work with and cannot control what the cameraman does.

I cannot tell looking at the preview window when levels reach 106. 110 to 120, yeah.

IMO, it is useful to some maybe not all. Still dont see what it would hurt to have it available.

I'm guessing that the feature would be quite simple to code so, sure, I'd like to have it in Vegas.

You can drop the broadcast safe/colors filter on. If it looks good, then you're fine. If it doesn't look good, then you know you need to fix things.

As opposed to...
If you do it like FCP, then the zebras will indicate how much overexposed area you have. With the zebras on, you don't know if the image will look good after adding the broadcast safe filter. (Or if you just added the broadcast safe filter to everything, the zebras will never show anything.) So you add the broadcast safe filter and you end up with the situation above (in the first sentence of this post).

It's not really particularly faster. A situation where it would/might be faster is if:
A- You have a hardware legalizer between FCP and your broadcast monitor. It would show you right away what is getting affected by the hardware legalizer. (But likely most Vegas users don't have one.)
B- You don't intend on adding the broadcast safe filter to everything. Which you can get away with if making DVDs. Some DVD players will clip illegal values (below black and above white), so the zebras would be helpful in showing shots where this clipping might happen. And then you fix just those particular shots, instead of applying broadcast safe to your entire project.

I've got Hamlet s/w for this.

Well it does serve a purpose as apparently many FCP users use this feature. I dont see what it would hurt to include it into Vegas especially for time crunch situations.

How would having it save time? And that's an honest "I don't know" question.

Because I dont always have time to sit and watch a timeline back with scopes not to mention that on my laptop, I dont have enough real estate to view scopes large enough along with the timeline etc...

Its just a request, I dont see why it would hurt.

I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring with patrick on this one. I've seen this feature and find it potentially useful to me when I'm working on a single screen or on a laptop on the go (happens plenty). I think there are some other things that I would see happen before this. Higher color bitrate depths for improved color work, and the like. This is however something I still would like to see.

What I'd like to really see, is Vegas expand a little more in the compositing area, it would be one heck of a tool set then. With all the sony software out there, they just don't have a solid compositing solution and since combustion is dying and I really would rather not mess with AE (for as long as they'll let that sell outside of the entire suite ... probably not too long the way adobe's running things). An improved text tool, and a little more openness to 3rd party plugin developers (I'm not entirely clear on what the problem is there, but it's definitely something because we don't get many) would also be above this, but this zebra thing is indeed something I'd like to see never the less.

Yes, David, I understand why you would say that.

.......I dont see why it would hurt.

dont know how it could hurt,, use it or turn it off ,,submit it on the feature request

pretty sure this has been on fcp for years

Can I ask, what is Hamlet s/w
And does it show what needs to be, or not to be, fixed?

Zebras are useful in cameras for setting exposure but they're a pretty blunt tool, most cameras let you adjust the level they work at. Camerapersons use them because they've got more than just exposure to worry about plus on good cameras the viewfinder is B&W.
Having said that one thing I really like on my new toy camera is false color exposure metering. It's a great not only for setting exposure but I can see it having a lot of use for adjusting lighting.
But, as smick as it looks once the footage is shot I really can't see it having much use. What's clipped is gone and what isn't is best looked at with scopes. Not saying we shouldn't have zebras in Vegas or even false color metering but I just don't see it as useful. If you're wanting to check lots of footage for overexposure / clipping what would be useful is what we have in SF for audio, clipped peak detection. Just run the footage through this and it drops markers wherever you've clipped.

Bob.

"Just run the footage through this and it drops markers wherever you've clipped"

... good one !!

... and while at it , why not a flashing area where the whites are severely burnt, like what we have in SLR cameras in preview mode ? Much like a zebra but less annoying IMO, and switchable too ...

Can I ask, what is Hamlet s/w

That would be this software.
There's a demo version so you can try it out to see if it does what you wnat.

Mike