Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 330)

Chapter 23 Using Color Bars for Video Calibration 329
IV
To adjust color on source tapes using flesh tones:
1 Cue your tape to a section that has a well-lit facial closeup.
2 Check to see if there’s a spike on the Vectorscope near the Flesh Tone line.
3 Adjust this spike so that it falls approximately along the Flesh Tone line. While doing so,
be sure to check the image quality of your clip on a broadcast monitor to make sure
that your adjustment is accurate.
The Flesh Tone line is only meant to be an approximation; it’s more important that the
shot look correct than that it fit this line exactly.
“Legal” Broadcast Colors
A mistake beginners often make when creating graphics for video is to use colors
that are vivid on the computer display, but have chroma and luma that are outside of
the “legal” range of color that can be broadcast. Broadcasters must adhere to these
specifications or risk fines from the FCC. Therefore, if you submit a tape with signals
out of specification, it may not be accepted.
Many graphics and compositing applications have a “broadcast safe” filter that you
can use to limit the color range of a graphic so that it will broadcast properly without
distortion. However, you should only use these filters as a last resort. It’s best to be
aware of the specifications of the video signal and keep your chroma and luma values
within proper limits.
The Flesh Tone
line is here on
the Vectorscope.