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Question

Premiere Pro interprets wrong color space for MP4 files.

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
March 29, 2018
6 replies
10860 views

I noticed that Premiere Pro make wrong color space interpretation for some type of .MP4 files. This produces big color shifts for imported clips.
.MP4 files with 0-255 luminance range at 8 bit which should look exactly as .MOV files, but in Adobe products they interpreted differently for some reason.

Here is raw ARIB color bars outside GH5 with correct Adobe interpretation (for .MOV 0-255 and 10 bit/16-235 MP4 files):

And here is wrong Adobe interpretation with noticeable color shift for 8 bit/0-255 .MP4 files (look at greens, yellows and reds):

This issue affects only MP4 8bit files with 0-255 luminance. Any MOV files or .MP4 files, but recorded with 10 bit, or any other luminance levels (16-235/16-255) interpreted correctly.

That's not a camera issue, because In software like Davinci Resolve or video players these files looks identically. But in Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop .MP4 files has wrong, shifted colors (looks like they're in Rec.601 space).

This huge issue especially for Panasonic Lumix cameras like G7/G85 and GH4/GH5 which shoot videos in .MP4 at 0-255.

Tested on few different PCs (Win7,Win10 x64) with latest updated Premiere Pro CC. Tested with Lumix G7, GH4 and GH5 cameras.

I can upload raw sample clips with Color Bars for your own test if you need.

Hope, Adobe Tech Team will check this, because I think precise color science is the one of the main features for software like Premiere Pro. Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

T

tommyh69406657Author

Participating Frequently

Is there any fixes of this major issue in the new CC 2019?
Look at the link above, I'm totally not alone, and it happens with many different cameras.

Warren Heaton

Community Expert

Yes, the unexpected color value shift with the MP4 file appears to be corrected with CC2019.

I downloaded the files that you posted back on Mar 29, 2018 and imported them into After Effects CC2019 version 16.0.0 (I believe there has been one update, but that might be for Premiere Pro).

GH5 ARIB WRONG Colors.MP4 matches GH5 ARIB CORRECT Colors.MOV.

Out of curiosity, I tried these files in QuickTime Player X, Compressor 4 and Final Cut Pro X. The MP4 appears as expected in QuickTime Player X and Final Cut Pro X. It would not import into Compressor (whatever's allowing AV Foundation Frameworks to support the contents of the MP4 wrapper must not be updated yet).

This is a little off topic, but I'm am totally missing QuickTime as a system driver for time based media. If the application had the QuickTime logo, you pretty much knew you could bring the file from Electric Image to After Effects to Final Cut classic then to Flash or wherever.

-Warren

J

joer72002444

Participating Frequently

Unfortunately, it looks perfect for me in AE, but when I import in Premiere, color space is still wrong. Very frustrating as our DP keeps telling me that Final Cut X is way superior.....not that I'm gonna switch, but makes Adobe look bad.

Kevin-Monahan

Community Manager

Hi tommyh,

File any potential bugs here: Premiere Pro: Hot (30 ideas) – Adobe video & audio apps

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio

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tommyh69406657Author

Participating Frequently

Hi Kevin,
Ok, thanks. I did this here: Fix wrong colors in MP4 0-255 files – Adobe video & audio apps
That's pretty annoying bug, which I hope will be fixed in the next updates.

Grigor Poghosyan

Participating Frequently

The problem maybe coused becouse of some other software not running properly or not with the recent update. I had similar problem and it was solved after updating Quicktime player

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tommyh69406657Author

Participating Frequently

As I said, Adobe software is up-to-date. Quicktime was discontinued for Windows, but on my PCs still installed latest version of it. Anyway, I don't think that the issue is in updates. For me, it looks like Premiere Pro reads metadata in a wrong way for this specific type of files for some reason.

E

excited_Genie16B8

Legend

I recommend getting rid of QuickTime completely. It's not required for Adobe software to function properly, and has actually caused issues with Adobe software when installed.

Use the following to Uninstall it. Choose the Automatically remove residual files checkbox.

IObit Uninstaller - Best Free Software Uninstall Tool for Your Windows XP/7/8/10 PC

Warren Heaton

Community Expert

I haven't cut any footage from the GH5 yet, but doesn't 10-bit color require shooting ALL-Intra instead of 8-bit Long GOP? if you're talking MP4 files at 4-2-0 color space, you're also always talking 8-bit color.

Not sure if this is helpful or not.

Warren Heaton

Community Expert

Quick update... just checked the specs... 150Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) (LPCM) is in there. So... never mind.

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excited_Genie16B8

Legend

One is 8 bit and one is 10 bit. That could be the difference you're seeing.

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tommyh69406657Author

Participating Frequently

No, in my screenshots both footage are 8 bit. The only difference is file extension. Also, these files show proper colors in any other software (like Davinci Resolve), but in Adobe products for some reason MP4 files (0-255 8 bit) interprets with color shift.

Here is complete list from my tests:
.MOV 8 bit 0-255 - CORRECT colors
.MOV 8 bit 16-235 - CORRECT colors
.MOV 10 bit 0-1023 - CORRECT colors
.MOV 10 bit 64-940 - CORRECT colors

.MP4 8 bit 0-255 - WRONG colors (looks differently than all others)
.MP4 8 bit 16-235 - CORRECT colors
.MP4 10 bit 0-1023 - CORRECT colors
.MP4 10 bit 64-940 - CORRECT colors

As you see Adobe can't interpret correctly only one type of these files (unfortunately, it's the most popular for Lumix camera shooters)
In Davinci Resolve all these files are identical, without any color shifts.

Additional info:
.MOV files are MPEG-4(QuickTime) AVC/PCM
.MP4 files are MPEG-4(Base Media / Version 2) AVC/PCM

Here you can check raw footage (both are 8 bit 0-255) with correct (.MOV) and wrong (.MP4) colors in my case:
Adobe MP4 Colors Issue - Google Drive

Please, let me know if both files looks exactly the same on your side. Thanks!