Colors wrong after export

[Thorm88]

Hi folks!

I upgraded my pc yesterday and upgraded from 15.4.1 to the latest 22.1 version, now I am having severe issues.

In the preview screen my colors are perfectly edited and look original as they should but when I export my edit the colors are clearly wrong (way too much red, exposure seems to be off too). I am not a newbie, I know about color spaces and export color space but all of them are set correctly to Rec 2001 HLG! However, even though everything is set correctly, the colors in my final render dont look like my preview. What am i doing wrong?

I would appreciate fast help, my client expects my delivery soon but unfortunately I can't downgrade to version 15.4.1 because adobe doesn't offer a download of that pp version anymore. 

[Ann Bens · Accepted solution]

Premiere Pro V22 - Understanding Color Spaces, HDR, and what that might mean to you - YouTube

[Thorm88]

Thanks, this fixed it for me, but why is adobe not telling their users that they have to do this? This is insane, a standard user is never going to figure this out and will just give up and get another product instead. The idea that you have to reinterpret your entire footage and sequence to rec 709 before editing is bonkers. It used to work just fine with older versions of premiere. I am speechless, what a terrible terrible idea!

Regardless, thanks for the help!

[R Neil Haugen]

No, it's bringing modern user-controlled color management into Premiere, so we can choose to work in Rec.709 or two forms of HDR, HLG and PQ.

Yes, it's a pain in some ways to have to learn new tools. Yes, they hid the blame controls!

But my UserVoice request for an Essential Color Management Panel has now been changed to "in progress" ... so maybe someday soon we'll see an actual dedicated separate panel for color management. That will make it a lot easier to track what's going on, to check and to change things.

Neil 

[Thorm88]

I understand what you're saying but sry, I have to whole heartedly disagree. Color management or whatever you wanna call it was a thing that people could do prior to this change already, I do color correction and grading work since 7 years now in PP, never had any problems with it. 100% happy customers. Until now, and it not only caused me a lot of headache and frustration but also screwed up my project and deadline for me. My client is upset now and I feel embarrassed. Thanks Adobe!

But where do I even start? This change is just a really bad idea out of the box.

After one entire day of research on this topic, I have spotted hundreds of threads of frustrated people who ran into this issue as well and it comes with a reason. What you have to do in order to make things work normally again is totally counter intuitive, you think you're doing everything correctly because your files are set in the right color space, however, that is what actually causes the problem in the first place.

Why is adobe not stating that anywhere? This is so cryptic and messed up, premiere pro should have a info window pop up on startup that explains this or at least some sort of official statement online that people can actually find when they search for this issue. I can't possibly imagine what they were thinking changing colorwork to this.

Never change a running system but if you absolutely have to do it, THINK BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING, so you don't screw over people. This is a prime example for exactly that.

[R Neil Haugen]

Prior to Pr2022, you couldn't do CM in PrPro. It's a new feature in last year's series ... and with it came a host of issues.

It's actually pretty simple if you know the steps and do them correctly. I've tested a ton of user files they were having troubles with, and only found two where the format/codec was not being accepted by Pr in a way you could work with it. Those needed t-codes prior to import.

ALL other situations, I've been able to get the user working without troubles after getting them fully knowledgeable as to the CM practices and controls. Some of which seem hidden, some are confusing in the way the wording comes across. And thankfully, my UserVoice request for a full-on panel is finally in-progress, which will make this a LOT easier for us all to work in.

The places where it's probably best explained are these ... I wrote the top three, the fourth is an official Adobe piece but still worth looking through.

FAQ:PremierePro 2022 Color Management for Log/RAW Media

A User Guide: Color Correction in HDR in Premiere 2022

How to Set Monitors for HDR work in Premiere Pro 2022?

HDR workflow in Premiere Pro User Guide

IF your clip CM is correct for the sequence CM and the export CM, it all works.

If any one of those is incorrect, it doesn't. That's it. And yes, you have to understand what stuff actually does, not what it sounds like it does, to get it to work. That's been a big problem.

Neil

[Fiscal26024333b2n2]

LOL... the fact that Adobe's answer pals have to send legitimate users to a YOUTUBE video by someone else in order to fix your problems and answer questions that are CRITICAL to professional production, rather than just explaining this to users when the problem arises due to their "upgrade" - or better yet, just not have such a ridiculous problem injected to begin with - is downright hilarious, and also pitiful.  Sounds like less of an "upgrade" and more of an update+downgrade (kind of like Windows 11). 

Adobe, you have become an absolute LOLCOW and we have lost all respect for your previously considerable cachet in the industry.

[R Neil Haugen]

So you decided to comment on a several years old thread ... when things have changed dramatically since that version?

The 2022 version first introduced some major steps of the changes that have been released over time to update color management capabilities of the app. So it was expected there would be user issues, as before, there wasn't any capability for users to set CM.

But as of the 2022 version, users had to start setting CM themselves. Yea, a lot of folks who'd never done anything, and had no concept of CM, had to learn. Nothing odd about that. 

And since then, each major version has introduced new changes which are discussed here and online elsewhere in their help and posts on this and the public beta forum. As expected, there's been major changes, and each time users get new capabilities, they also have to learn new steps as part of the routine of working.

Fascinating, if at this time perhaps a useless comment. But it's always fascinating when someone jumps in on an old thread.

[Media Editor]

Before you upgraded you should have done some research to determine if there are any issues in upgrading.

[Fiscal26024333b2n2]

Oh yeah - 'cause it's our job as users to make sure the company doesn't completely BRICK our system or projects when they push their dubious "upgrades" onto us (often, without a whole lot of choice, as detauked by OP).  Nice job, Corporate Apologist esq.  People like you are the reason these companies feel entitled to walk all over us and jeopardize our portfolio.

[ANATOLY21970513o1nj]

I have this issue only recently.
Also been working with PP for 7 years. 
The last 1 year worked with HDR videos in Rec.2100 HLG format.
The source footage camera DID NOT CHANGE.
However, today when I work with 2100 color space and then export it in H.265 -> the exported colors are TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

PLEASE HELP! 

Look at the screenshot: 
- the exported color tone is completely different (reddish midtones AND blue-ish highlights)
- the source video has no adjustments, it's just freshly dropped on the timeline with Sequence Settings Rec.2020HLG.

[R Neil Haugen]

What is the project graphics white set to? I notice the 100IRE/nits setting in the Export dialog, and I'm presuming that is what this project has.

Would you try setting that in the Project settings to 203, which is the more normal option for most usage? See if that makes a difference.

And past that, do you have the preferences option for Display Color Management set to on?

What happens if you re-import the file into Premiere? Does it look the same as within Premiere above?

Neil

[Fiscal26024333b2n2]

This company and their products have become an absolute joke.  I wouldn't waste my time asking for their help anymore.  If there isn't a YouTube video already created by someone else to fix it, then apparently, you're SOL!  🤣

Luckily for those creators, they were still able to export their solutions, lol