Exported file over-saturated

[drmdzh1]

I'm working on a project that was created entirely in v22. Shot on a iPhone 12.

When I export - I've tried 3 different codec and it happens the same with all of them - the resulting quicktime or mp4 file is blown out and over-saturated. I could work around it if the information was still there, but the blown out parts are gone.

I tried the "set color space to Rec.709" thing, but that didn't help.

[Ann Bens]

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

FAQ: How to fix saturated/over-exposed HLG/HDR clips

Making your iPhone 12 and 13 footage look normal

[drmdzh1]

Thank you for these. I have looked through them, although ot had a chace to work through them yet. One thing however, is that these seem to imply that the footage from my phone will look bad in premiere. However, this is ot the case. The footage looks great in premiere. It's only when I export that the chage occurs.

[Phillip Harvey · Accepted solution]

It looks good in the timeline because your timeline is probably set to the same color space. In your case it's not until you are exporting that you are changing the color space of the media, so that's when the issue is being introduced. You have to address the conversion at some point in the process otherwise you're just putting it off until the end. All the other info put in here is going to tell you how to address it at the source clip.  

Just for added context of the different places where color space is a factor:

Source Clip Color Space > Sequence Color Space > Export Color Space

[drmdzh1]

Thank you!

[Ishan Y]

Hey drmdzh1,

Sorry about the issue. Did setting the color space of the footage to rec709 make any difference in the preview? Is it only the export file that is overexposed, or is the preview overexposed as well? Could you go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and let us know what the working color space is set to? Also, let us know what your export settings are. 

Thanks,

Ishan

[drmdzh1]

Ishan, 

Setting to Rec709 changed the preview a little but, however, it's not in preview that I have the issue. The preview looks great, it's on export. In the attached image: lop left - in premiere; top right - export without changing settings; bottom right - rec709 fix.

Working color space is rec. 2100 HLG. 

I was exporting QT prores 422 HQ

AND I JUST NOTICED... it's set to Export Color Space Rec. 709... but I can chage it to 2100 HLG. Perhaps that's the problem? I will try that and see.

Thanks very much.

thanks!

[R Neil Haugen · Accepted solution]

We're in a vastly more complex 'age' to get video out than a year or two ago. I teach pro colorists, and most working pros still have yet to deliver a single HDR project to a client. And I work for some of the earliest adopter HDR colorists, the guys who Dolby Labs hired to create the Dolby Labs training materials for colorists creating DolbyVision HDR in Resolve.

Even for pro colorists, staying in Rec.709 is vastly less complex and complicated. HDR is still very much the Wild Wild West, as the streaming services, YouTube/Vimeo/browsers, screens, operating systems ... all do very much different things with the same signal content. It is not totally predictable what anyone will see at this point once you send your program out "Into the Wild".

And there is NOT ONE monitor under $17,000 currently that actually leaves the signal alone in HDR work. All consumer screens from TVs through monitors are constantly adjusting the image signal to either 'enhance the viewing experience' or to protect the screen from damage due to burning in of too bright pixels.

So you can 'set' something at X level at this time on the scopes, but you had playback paused and the monitor modded the levels to protect itself. Now it playback it doesn't see the need to adjust levels, and your carefully set brightness level is 10-30% off from what you thought you'd set it to.

And yes, this is A HUGE issue. And very frustrating. My friends with the $20,000 to $35,000 monitors have glorious screens to grade HDR on. I cannot possibly justify such a cost in my business. So I'm still looking for when a screen is both 1) cost below $4,000 or so and 3) capable of at least sustained 600 nits levels without lifting blacks and 3) are at least visually close in color from edge to edge and 4) after calibration, I can run a full profile to check and establish that both for Rec.709 and for HDR work, that the levels are tightly within tolerances and it is reliable to work with.

There are a couple screens that at this time, can seem to pass those requirements, but ... for both screens, which use the same actual panel ... you may need to send 2-4 of them back, until you get one that will allow for tight and stable calibration. I'm not in a 'major market' area, so having a place where I can buy/return for replacement/return/return/KEEP! a monitor isn't ... easily available.

Preferences settings

And most users ... especially everyone working on a Mac ... should first set the Preferences option for "Display Color Management" to on by clicking in the box. Only leave that off if you are 1) working in Rec.709 and 2) have a very tightly controlled professionally calibrated and profiled monitor setup for pro-level Rec.709 work.

And if you don't understand that last sentence (most won't realistically, that's colorist level CM stuff) ... you don't have a pro-level Rec.709 setup, and need to have the DCM option "on".

And if you are working in HDR, make sure you set the Preferences option for extended dynamic range to 'on', and that your system/OS and your monitor are set to HDR, probably to HLG.

That said ... let's looks at Rec.709 with mixed/HLG/PQ media.

• Setting the Timeline Sequence Settings to Rec.709 isn't enough.
• You MUST go to the Project panel, select the clip/s in the bin, right-click/Modify/Interpret Footage, and at the bottom in the CM section, change the Override-to option to Rec.709.
• Then make sure your sequence CM is Rec.709, and you use standard presets ... ones that do NOT have HLG or PQ in the preset name.

Then you can work with those clips in a Rec.709 process 'normally'.

How about an HLG/Rec.2100 process?

• First, all clips should be color managed to Rec.2100/HLG in the Project panel.
• The Seqeunce settings must be set to Rec.2100/HLG also.
• The scopes (you must use scopes to check your levels at least, saturation also!) panel must be set to either Auto or HLG (right-click in the Scopes panel for those settings) and showing HLG in the lower left corner.
• Scopes scales should be set to 10 bit, in the lower right corner of the Scopes panel.
• For exports you MUST start with a preset with HLG in the preset name.

Then you should be able to work in an HLG - HDR process start to finish.

Neil

[drmdzh1]

Wow, thak you so much. I saved this entire answer to refer back to!

[Phillip Harvey]

I like saving these kinds of responses as well. Always appreciate the time you put into explaining these types of things, and as a non-color savvy editor that helps out other editors, it helps me out to be able to better understand/explain things in more detail. Especially because as you know, the color space confusion is pretty common now that iPhones are recording in HDR by default.

[drmdzh1]

Does all of this also hold true for After Effects?

thanks

[R Neil Haugen]

Ae has had CM controls for some time, so ... you need to make sure that the ones you have in Ae work with whatever you're doing in Pr. They aren't named the same, different settings, so it's a bit puzzling at first to get them properly matched.

The Ae forum is a good place to get additional advice there, though I can help ... some.

Neil