Weird color shift Premiere Elements 2019

[Howard Simcox]

Really frustrated. I shot a series of talking head videos this weekend on a Sony ZV1 for use on my website. Once the lighting was set, I started and stopped the camera with no setting changes.

To edit, I moved all the raw clips (MP4's) off the memory card to my Dell. I opened up Premiere Elements 2019 and got to work editing my three videos. Finished first and second and am happy with the results.

But this am, I came in to work on the third video. As is typical, I name the project in Premiere Elements, (say Video 3), then grab the raw MP4 clip I want and drop it into the Project Assets bin. But today, when I then move the clip down to the video timeline to begin editing, the tint/saturation has gone crazy and I’m extremely red in the face with a visible haze around me. I can’t fix it. I have made no setting changes to Elements since I successfully edited video 2. The raw MP4 clip displays with perfectly normal color, so something is happening once it gets moved over to Elements. I did a system restore to a date last week to see if it was some type of a driver update yesterday that made things wonky, but no success.

I have attached screenshots of the original MP4 and the image once its appears on the timeline.

Anyone?  Thanks, Howard

[Ann Bens]

If you have hardware acceleration checked: turn that off. See how that goes.

On a side note: files generated by the Sony are called source files.

Raw files are quite different.

[Howard Simcox]

Thank you Ann, but my Dell, per my research has one of the newer Nvidia graphics cards that does not allow any disabling of the hardware acceleration mode.  

[Bill Sprague]

I think Ann may be suggesting you turn it off in Premiere Elements preferences.  Go to Edit > Preferences > General.  

Another possible issue is a mismatch between your project settings and your source footage.  What you see during editing is your computer's best effort at a real time preview.  If projects settings are not right, you could have compromised preview quality.

[Howard Simcox]

I will try that.   A. If project settings are off, how are they reset?  B.  How would project settings get mismatched after successfully completing my first two videos?

I think Ann may be suggesting you turn it off in Premiere Elements preferences.  Go to Edit > Preferences > General.  

Another possible issue is a mismatch between your project settings and your source footage.  What you see during editing is your computer's best effort at a real time preview.  If projects settings are not right, you could have compromised preview quality.

By @Bill Sprague

[Bill Sprague]

Project settings are normally set automatically when you put your first item on the timeline.   Consequently you should start with a 'primary' clip.  They can also be forced by selecting from the list and then checking the 'Force' box on the New Project screen.  

Premiere Elements does not intend for you to change project settings once stated.   Steve Grissetti found a work around or 'hack' and he describes it in this YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eyx0tkzkuc

Basically you select and delete your entire video putting it on the 'clipboard'.  Then you use a better clip to set the project, delete that clip and paste your work back in to the project.

[Ann Bens]

If hardly any editing has been done, I would start over with a new projest instead of changing project settings.

[Bill Sprague]

If hardly any editing has been done, I would start over with a new projest instead of changing project settings.

By @Ann Bens

I agree Ann, but Steve's unusual workaround actually works!  

[Ann Bens]

I know it works but just to avoid issues.

[Howard Simcox]

Thanks for all the suggestions, but no success.  I shot another short video clip as a test and it loaded into Elements and there were no color issues at all.   I turned off hardware acceleration, and I tried the Youtube method discussed here, but the clip that has been giving me trouble remained red, oversaturated and hazy whenever it hit the timeline.  Since this was not priceless footage, I just reshot the segment and did my editing with the new clip which caused none of these issues.  Thanks again.