Gamma handling is different in Shake and Final Cut Pro

Tip: While it is possible to recalibrate Apple displays via the Display Calibrator Assistant in Displays preferences, users should leave the gamma of their monitors to the 1.8 Standard Gamma setting when working in Final Cut Pro. ColorSync settings are not used by either Shake or Final Cut Pro for automatic color calibration or compensation of any kind.

QuickTime Movies Issue
When importing a QuickTime movie created with Shake into Final Cut Pro, users may notice a difference in the displayed gamma of the image. This is because Final Cut Pro automatically lowers the gamma of sequences playing in the Canvas on your computer's display. The gamma of QuickTime images remains untouched when the sequence is output to video or rendered as a QuickTime movie.

Solution
You can load Shake's Viewer Lookup controls into the Parameter tab, and change the viewerGamma parameter to .818 to preview how your composition will look in Final Cut Pro's Canvas window. This only changes how your image is displayed in the Shake Viewer, and does nothing to change the Gamma of the script's final rendered image.

What causes this?
Final Cut Pro assumes that QuickTime movies for codecs that support the YUV color space (including DV, DVCPRO 50, and the 8- and 10-bit Uncompressed 4:2:2 codecs) are created with a gamma of 2.2. This is generally true of movies captured from both NTSC and PAL sources. When you eventually output the sequence to video, or render it as a QuickTime movie, the gamma of the output is identical to that of the original, unless you've added color correction filters of your own.

However, during playback on your computer's monitor, Final Cut Pro automatically lowers the gamma of a sequence playing in the Canvas to 1.8 for display purposes. This is to approximate the way it will look when displayed on a broadcast monitor. This onscreen compensation does not change the actual gamma of the clips in your sequence.

RGB Image Files and Sequences Issue
When importing a still image file or sequence from Shake into Final Cut Pro, the gamma may be incorrectly boosted when the sequence is output to video or rendered as a QuickTime movie.

Solution
Convert image sequences to QuickTime movies using a FileOut node in Shake for Mac OS X, prior to importing them into Final Cut Pro. This makes them easier to import, and also ensures that their gamma won't be changed. For the highest quality, use either the Uncompressed 8- or 10-bit 4:2:2 codec when performing this conversion, depending on the bit depth of the source image files. QuickTime Player is not recommended for this operation, as it may perform an unwanted bit-depth conversion with greater than 8-bit images.

What causes this?
Final Cut Pro assumes that all RGB image files are created with a gamma of 1.8. When RGB image files are imported into Final Cut Pro and edited into a sequence set to 8- or 10-bit YUV rendering, the gamma is automatically boosted to 2.2 in an attempt to match the other video files in your project. This boosted gamma is then used when the sequence is output to video or rendered as a QuickTime movie.

During playback on your computer's monitor, Final Cut Pro lowers the gamma of the sequence playing in the Canvas to 1.8 for display purposes. This is to approximate the way it will look when displayed on a broadcast monitor. The still image clips in your sequence are still boosted when the sequence is output to video or rendered as a QuickTime movie.

Important: QuickTime movies compressed using the Animation codec (which only supports the RGB color space) are also assumed to have been created with a gamma of 1.8. As a result, these clips are also boosted to 2.2 when edited into a sequence set to 8- or 10-bit YUV rendering.

Tip: For more information on setting the rendering options of a sequence in the Video Processing tab of the Sequence Settings, see the Final Cut Pro User's Manual.