Inspiring

Question

After effects importing or exporting wrong levels on video

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
April 17, 2018
4 replies
3045 views

I have been editing my GH5 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 V-Log L videos and noticed that when I export the videos to DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:2:2, they end up looking washed out compared to how they look in After Effects. Here is what I mean

Edited Clip in AE:

Exported clip in Media Player Classic:

As you can see, the exported clip looks like it has less contrast and a bit washed out which isn't what I want, I want the video to look how it did in AE. Media Player Classic and Quicktime display the exported video the same way when I play it back.

I could be wrong, but what I think is happening is that the video on import is being set to video levels and exported to full data levels. When I import a clip into Davinci Resolve it has the option to let me choose whether it is in video or data levels and when I choose data levels it displays the blacks and white levels correctly but video levels seem to look more like what After Effects is showing.

I have set the color depth at 16-bit and 32-bit. Working Space is None,I have tried checking Match Legacy After Effects Quicktime Gamma Adjustments and without, nothing changes how the final video looks. Is there a way to fix this as I would like to see correct full 0-1023 levels being displayed in AE so I can correct the contrast properly. Can anyone help?

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DMMaxAuthor

Inspiring

I think I may have figured out the cause of what I was getting. Instead of exporting my video to Quicktime DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 HXQ, I exported it to Quicktime DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:4:4 HQX and when I did that, the video contrast and levels looked how I wanted them to when playing it back on QuickTime Player or Media Player Classic.

I wanted to see if this was the case, so I took the rendered video and imported it to Davinci Resolve and set the video it to data levels, again it looked fine, so I am pretty sure the issue is the DNxHR 4:2:2 codec which was causing the washed out look, not my settings, so maybe some issue with AE and DNxHD/DNxHR 4:2:2 codecs?

I would have liked to export to DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 to retain the quality of the video as the 4:4:4 codec creates huge files (1min 30 video is around 18 GB where as the 4:2:2 version is only 8 GB in size), but if is causing this issue, I can't do that. Unfortunately on a PC there is no ProRes codec option or I'd render to that and I don't see many other 10-bit 4:2:2 codec options. I think so far my only option is to export the video as a DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:4:4, then import it into Resolve and export it as a DNxHR 10-bit 4:2:2 video as I tried that and it worked.

Roland Kahlenberg

Legend

AE now uses Rec709 to add color profiles for imagery without color profiles. If you want to output to sRGB, then set your Working Space to sRGB. When rendering, in the Output Module, ensure you are sRGB selected for your movie's output profile.

Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV

Roland Kahlenberg

Legend

Hi Roland,

I don't want to set the working space to sRGB. Reason is that I shoot in V-Log L on my GH5 and from an interview video from Panasonic I saw before they said their colors for V-Log L are closer to how Rec 2100 colors look, but in a Rec709 color space, so changing the color space in AE alters not just the gamma, but seems to dull the colors and doesn't make them look right, so I don't want to change that.

Your last post actually gives even more reason to have a Working Space, instead of none. And the Output Module's Color Management is supposed to allow you to optimize your output for your intended delivery platform. It shouldn't take you longer than 5 minutes to test a short clip, for each of the following workflows.

1) Set Working Space to Rec709 and Output Module to sRGB

2) Set Working Space to none and Output Module to sRGB

3) Set Working Space to Rec 709 and Output Module to none

Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV

DMMaxAuthor

Inspiring

Hi Rick,

Thanks, I have now read through the Color Management information. I don't want to change the Working color space as it alters how the colors look, not just the gamma and have set settings based on the information, but no matter what settings I have tried, I cannot get the exported video to match what I am seeing on the preview window in AE and I don't know why, it always looks low contrast on export as I mentioned in my first post. I am exporting to QuickTime DNxHR 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 if that codec makes a difference to what I am seeing in the exported video?

DMMaxAuthor

Inspiring

Hi Dave,

I don't actually use Davinci Resolve much as I only have the free version and can't directly import the 10-bit 4:2:2 videos from my GH5 (only the studio version allows that), but I was just making a point that in Resolve I can get the video to look it what it did when it was recorded by setting data levels, but don't have such an option in AE.

I was using Sony Vegas Pro 14 to make my videos and After Effects to do the corrections to them and add any effects I need as Vegas is limited in what it can do, and it was displaying the exported videos the same way as they looked in QuickTime Player and Media Player Classic, so my final videos don't have the right contrast, which is what I would like to fix. I am using a Color corrected Dell Ultrasharp Monitor, set to sRGB as I am making these videos to eventually upload to YouTube so want the videos to display the right contrast in sRGB.

R

Rick Gerard

Community Expert

You need to study up on color management and implement a workflow that works for you. That is the only way to get consistent color balance across applications and media players. Just type Color Management in the Search Help panel at the top right corner of AE, do some studying, and then test a few workflows. It all starts in the Project Settings.

Dave_LaRonde

Inspiring

When you make stuff in AE, it always gets used in another application. You haven't said for sure where your stuff is going NEXT -- you've hinted at DaVinci. What's the workflow?

And you should know that just about every viewer on Planet Earth displays video differently, so you can't rely on them. You need to concentrate on the next application -- if it's okay there, you should be good.

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