Best mp4 player? VLC looks very different than playing within Premiere

BTW, I have found PotPlayer superior to VLC.

And I am now using Premiere Beta with its new color system which seems, so far, much better than Lumetri and before it

Wow. So tens of thousands of dollars. 

Is it possible, easy to work with a theater - you know, like go there and play what you have to see who it is working?

So what do the professional movie makers do?

​@jimmywalter,

I’ll emphasize what Kevin and Neil include: you must know what equipment you will be using in the theater. And if you won’t necessarily know from one event to another, you need multiple format versions available for the equipment you will have. So, for example, DCP if they have it, and .mp4 for most others. And the color setup and export may be different.

If you have not used the DCP format before, it is not for the faint of heart.

A lite version is still included in PR - I looked only at the 26.3.0 version today. I exported a 3:46 sequence, and it took it quite a while.

Here is a link to an old discussion where I was involved because the PR lite version will NOT export subtitle sidecar, only burned in. And the QuVis website link to upgrade to the Pro version is no longer available. Today, the link in PR (in Export settings/Video section) works, but gets a 500 internal server error.

The free alternative is to use DCP-o-matic (including a player), available here:

https://dcpomatic.com/

Stan

First thing is to realize … there is no such thing as an Absoloute Color Control in pro video production. And yes, I learned this long ago, as … I work for/with and teach pro colorists.

The first most colorists were taught is the factual matter of the beast:

No human will ever see the same image you saw while grading the program. NO ONE. It is not physically possible. As even two identical monitors, carefully calibrated, side by side, fed the identical signal, will produce identical images on screen.

Now through in the differences betwen hardware and software used to distrubute the program … none of which can produce identical results themselves …  the result is the realization that you have no control over what the user sees … ever.

No two “identical” cameras produce identical image files … the color dyes over the sensors are imperfect, the pixel elements are certainly not perfectely identical, and all the hardware bits used within the camera have tiny but notable differences. The same thing goes for display of the images on the other end.

As has been often stated in pro colorist seminars, “You can’t change Gramma’s green TV”.

So what do you do as a pro colorist?

1. You setup your system as tight to the professional standards as possible for the distribution method  to be used by the project you are working on. This requires a proper viewing system, involving a highly accurate, calibrated pro level monitor or projector, in a properly setup room to DO grading in!
2. All changes to the image are done within that room’s setup. And at the end …
3. You release that into the Wild, where you have no control whatsofreaking EVER … and move on to the next project.

So … what is your viewing chain? Is it exactly like your type of distrubution model requires?  You say it’s going to theatrical release … are you working with a pro level projector in a carefully blackened room? If not … well … that’s problematic. As you are not working with the same gear as it will be projected by, and in the same environment for viewing as the final viewers will be.

Kevin suggests using a DCP program, and that it an absolute must. Then take the file from that to a local theater, and have them play it for you in an auditorium, to see what it will sorta look like. Because even then on two ‘identical’ projectors, it won’t be totally identical when viewed. Probably very close but never identical.

Hey Jimmy,

Thanks for the post. As you can see, color matching across devices and platforms can be a crapshoot. Try one of the Free DCP options out there and play it off the DCP player on your computer. I hope that whatever you choose works out best for your screening. See if you can do a test screening ahead of time to iron out all the kinks. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Kevin