Photomechanic and previewing CO files

I use Capture One 7 in a sessions format for all my NEF files, but I typically use Photomechanic to both ingest from cards and to peruse files at later times.

I'd like to ask what the appropriate settings in Capture One's preferences>metadata should be in order to make sure that any IPTC metadata/color flags/etc set in Photomechanic are not altered in Capture One. Also, my understanding is that I'll be better served with Photomechanic if Capture One is/can make use of separate xmp sidecar files. What needs to be set in order for this to occur?

One other thing I'm noticing is that when I'm in Photomechanic looking into a capture/selects folder in Capture One, the colors of the images are quite a bit off. Skin tones are extremely red, etc. I don't know if I should be troubleshooting this as a color profile issue, or something going amiss with the jpeg previews?

Could anyone advise me as to how I should have the preferences in Capture One configured to make the most out Photomechanic for previewing?

Thanks!

Chawn