I am finishing a project for broadcast for which the main source is a 444 HDCAM SR feature which I am converting to 422 for finish on a Classic Symphony.  I have noticed in the past that this color space conversion seems to make the image very dark and a lot warmer than I would like.  A have tried adjusting video output settings on the deck, but nothing seems to effect the image that is being output on the FC ports.  Does anybody have any suggestions for getting more natural looking color in this workflow?  Should I just make corrections in the Symphony after digitizing or is there a deck solution?  I should mention that I do not have access to a DS or HD scope (I'm not a colorist) and am really just looking for some general guidelines here.

Many Thanks

Hi

Make sure that all TBC settings (video levels) are at their default position.

Capture color bars from the SR tape, add these to your timeline and open the color correction tool.

Check your Luminance and Vectorscope levels in the CC, and make sure that they correspond correctly to the color bars on tape (75% or 100% color).

444 to 422 conversion shouldn't affect your levels or color balance at all, unless there's something seriously wrong with your setup. Are you using standard HDSDI to feed the Nitris, or do you use an AJA dual link card?