Software Field Monitors, Part 2
May 27, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Figure 1. Adobe OnLocation’s Preview and Waveform Monitors and Digital Video Recorder.
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As I discussed last issue, one of the coolest product categories in the HDV@Work space is software programs that provide video scopes, a large preview monitor, direct-to-disc recording capabilities (DDR), and other features. In this issue, we'll take a closer look at two products in that category. Adobe OnLocation CS3 is the grandfather of software field monitors, and it still has the broadest scope-related feature set of the group. Its interface is based upon the dials and levers found on the actual devices, which can get jarring, and it lacks some advanced functions found on other products, such as the ability to add metadata to captured clips and save workspaces. Still, given the price (free with Premiere Pro CS3), the most significant deficit is that it doesn’t run on the Mac.
Figure 1 shows OnLocation’s Preview and Waveform Monitors and its Digital Video Recorder. Rather than having separate waveform and histogram scopes, the Waveform Monitor has five adjustable modes, including histogram, and you can open multiple windows as I have to display both.
One of OnLocation’s coolest features is the splitscreen view, which can display a partial screen from a captured file in the DVR and a partial frame from the live feed, which simplifies matching framing as well as brightness and color values. In Figure 1, the left half of the preview monitor is the top clip in the DVR, with the right half from the live feed. You can see from the arm of the African American model that the framing is off, and that the blue sky is subtly different in the two shots. Absent a splitscreen view, you’d have to shoot and capture the video and compare the two clips in your editor to notice the difference, which is cumbersome and time-consuming.
OnLocation’s feature set is too lengthy to address in this drive by, but let me note some of those that I find particularly helpful. First, you can display two sets of configurable zebra stripes, which I usually set at 75 (for Caucasian faces) and 100 (for absolute whites). You can see how this helps me ensure optimal facial exposure in Figure 2.
Figure 2. I love having two sets of configurable zebra stripes, here showing good exposure on the face of country singer Jeanette Williams (I know, I know, what about the contrast with the background).
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Note the Zoom button in Figure 2, which zooms in to assist focusing, which is especially useful when shooting in HD. I also like the program’s DV Quality monitor, which detects when your audio or video exceed certain levels. If you study the waveform monitor in the Digital Video Recorder in Figure 1, you’ll notice the red flags that indicate pops, which looked worse than they actually turned out to be (thank goodness).
Speaking of the DVR, note that you can synch the recording function to the record button on your camcorder, so once you press the magic button on your camcorder, you also start recording on the computer. You can also set up a rolling buffer, say of 15 seconds, that gets added to the start of each clip when you start recording, a nice failsafe feature if you start recording a few seconds too late. Finally, Adobe includes setup cards with OnLocation and procedures for calibrating your monitor and setting focus, exposure, and white balance at the shoot.
What didn’t I like? Between you, me, and the fence post, I think the device-centric interface paradigm is getting a bit tired, especially given that an ever-shrinking percentage of users have ever seen standalone tools such as waveform monitors or vectorscopes, much less used them. Even after using the product multiple times over multiple years, I have to consult the manual to perform simple operations like switching the Preview window from DVR to live. That said, OnLocation works very well, provides a great range of functionality and is free with Premiere Pro CS3, so it really is tough to complain.
