Rendering via Adobe Media Encoder change output colors

[Axl_Rozz]

I know this is an old topic, but I can't find anybody talking about this specific one:

CONTEXT AND MY ALL LIFE WORKFLOW

Let's imagine I need to export my video in H.264 mp4 because I need them to be a small file. In order to do this, my workflow that I've been using without a problem was: Pre-render in After Effects, changing the video output module to Apple ProRes 422 HQ, Clicking the "Queue in AME" button, then once it's added on the Media Encoder Queue, I check if the format is H.264, and that the setting is "Match source High Bitrate". Then I click the play button. I've been doing this the exact same way for almost all of my projects. Obviously by doing an mp4 colors tend to change a bit, but they never was too serious.

THE PROBLEM
So everything was fine until today. I exported my mp4 file as I used to and was ready to send the material when I noticed the huge change in my colors. I had my After effects project opened, so I placed my Quicktime Player window next to the After Effects project and noticed that they were hugely off. At first I thought to myself, "well maybe it's been like that since I started the project and never noticed", so I checked a Work copy I've made from 6 days ago but the colors looked fine and a lot more accurate to what I had inside After effects. So I thought maybe I made a mistake and choose the output Apple ProRes Low Res or something but after doing a second render the problem was still there. I spent hours playing with the color output settings, my color workspace and some other render color settings resulting in 3 or 4 new renders which had slighlty changes of color, but the main desaturated, washed out colors problem was still there in all of the 4 versions.

THE WEIRD THING AND MY KINDA SOLUTION

So I thought "Maybe the mp4 encoding is msseing up with my colours" so I decided to stop using Media Encoder and render a .mov file via After Effects Instead. Same Apple ProRes 422 HQ output module, but instead of clicking the AME button, I clicked the render button. To my surprise, the .mov render I've just made solved the color problem, and now my colors were the same ones as my original after effects view, but to my misfortune, .mov files tend to have a big file size and I really needed in the smallest possible size. So I Had the idea of dropping the .mov exported file into Media Encoder and turning it into an mp4. My expectatives were low because I thought exporting the mp4 was the problem in the change of my colors.I dropped mov file, choose the H.264 format, check the "Match source" setting (As I used to do everytime) and exported it. To my surprise now I have a mp4 file with good colors and good file size. My problem was solved and I'm saved for now, but my curiosity needs to know If this is a bug or something.

I continued testing things, and i noticed that when I do my workflow of "Queue in AME" (The workflow which does the color thingy) If i click on the H.264 format on Media Encoder in order to open the Dynamic Link window (The one which looks like the Premier Export window) I noticed on the top left corner the Origin and Output tab which enables you to switch between the origin video and the output video you are encoding; that's were I noticed the color were changing. My After Effects Origin had the colors right, but there was something on the Media Encoder Dynamic link which was messing with my colors. I tweaked every single setting inside there but that color thingy was still the same, making me to assume it's a problem between linking After Effects with Media Encoder Right? Why does colors look right when exporting the video on After effects alone, and at the end encoding it on Media Encoder? It doesn't make sense. Is this a bug? Am I doing something wrong? 

I know i've approached a viable soultion, but I don't think this solution is a good workflow, because it makes the process of rendering an mp4 more tedious than just clicking a "Queue in AME" and that's it. 
Had you had experiences like this lately? What do you think? 

[Breana25355723tmwi]

I've had this same issue too, but I'm still losing color quality when I try to export the MOV file too. Ugh.

[Pete_Colorist]

Wow second time writing this. Adobe is now amateur hour, that costs over $600+ per year and I’ve paid that for 8 years. DaVinci is $300 once, go figure. 

Premiere was doing this for the 2022 and 2023 versions, maybe 2021 as well can’t remember. I used to edit in Premiere, then send to DaVinci Resolve to color grade, then back to Premiere for exports and it worked perfect.

Premiere over the last 2-3 years is so unreliable with it’s color shift, that I stopped round tripping all together - just export straight from DaVinci. Then use Media Encoder for whatever versions from the master.

I am a pro. I have a Mac Pro 7,1 with a BMD Ultrastudio 4k outputting to an LG Pro OLED BP95E - this monitor is what many colorists in LA are doing their Rec709, HDR and Dolby Vision masters on. I know what the video is supposed to look like.

Yesterday, I did three exports of our feature film’s teaser in Media Encoder for a guy from Paramount to look at today. The color was so far off that it is literally insane. Going from 4k DCI Scope Pro Res 4444 master to 2k 4k DCI Scope Pro Res 4444, should look identical. It doesn’t. I had to go back to DaVinci to do the exports.

At this point it is becoming a total waste of time and money. I mean for goodness sakes you can’t even monitor a 2.39:1 timeline, because Adobe doesn’t output the right resolution to external monitor. DaVinci and Avid both do. Now even media encoder can not output accurate color, it is insane.

Adobe just does not care. Their programs are actually worse than they were just 3-4 years ago, slower with inaccurate color and super buggy. My recommendation is do not output any mission critical video work from any Adobe program at this point.

I don’t think Adobe is going to fix this issue. It has been years now and getting worse by the release.

Below are two pics. I can’t show the talent or the whole scene, but you can see the loss in saturation, brightness change, contrast change and color shift even in these screen shots. The top is accurate (from DaVinci) and the bottom is not accurate (Media Encoder). Both are 2k Pr4444 from the 4k Pr4444 Master file.

I have to move my company away from Adobe products all together, maybe Avid? Who knows, but color shift on export is the biggest problem a video program could possibly have. I would not trust video exports from Adobe programs all together now.

Sorry mate, I don’t think there is any work around aside from sending it to DaVinci and exporting there. I don't think you can do that from AE unfourtunately, but you can from Premiere.