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NickiDoane
Participating Frequently
February 2, 2022
Question

Why Do My Premiere Pro Exports Look Washed Out? [QT Gamma Compensation LUT]

  • February 2, 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 303518 views

Hi There, 

Months ago I found a download here I think for the QT Gamma Compensation LUT ... I just updated my mac and now the file is a .cube and I don't know how to change it to a usable file again. Help? Does anyone know where I can find the file again to download & use?

 

[Moderator edited subject line. This issue relates to how a video exported from Premiere Pro might look different from how it appeared inside Premiere Pro. After export, the video may appear "too light" or "washed out". ]

    7 replies

    Fergus H
    Community Manager
    Fergus HCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 1, 2025

    Hi all, 

     

    Premiere Pro exports appearing washed out is a commonly reported issue. It is caused by differences in gamma between devices like televisions, Windows and macOS computers, and viewers in different applications. 

     

    We have written an article that explains the cause of this issue and provides guidance on how to handle it: 
    https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/why-do-my-premiere-pro-exports-look-washed-out.html

     

    Regards,

    Fergus

     

     

      T
      team_4346
      Participant
      February 4, 2025

      proper colour no shown

      R Neil Haugen
      R Neil Haugen
      Legend
      February 4, 2025

      With such a minimalist post, I can't even guess at your problem. Or a fix. Details matter ... complete details. 

       

      And as this is a long-running older post that started in a completely different and now outdated color management system, START A NEW THREAD. Please.

      Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      M
      MikeB555
      Participant
      October 19, 2023

      OK I've tried this for a few hours now and read all the replies. But my issue seems to be different... 

       

      The exposure seems much higher... the colors seem more bright and vibrant not washed out. 

       

      When I use the gamma compensation it makes it "more normal" but still unusably bright. Does anyone have any ideas?

      M
      MikeB555
      Participant
      October 19, 2023

      I don't know if this is very good but this seemed to solve the issue... https://youtu.be/cN8CHBhvyJs?si=Rz-oONMa1PuRMPG7

      M
      MikeB555
      Participant
      October 19, 2023

      Ok so this didn't work either... it now makes lines across the video like old school box TV's used to do. 

      F
      Fredrik29834637r1ag
      Participant
      May 12, 2023

      Hi, 

      Hi, is there any new solution to this on a mac? After exporting with "The Gamma QT Lut", the movie becomes darker and more saturated as mentioned earlier." Very grateful for tips.

      F
      Fredrik29834637r1ag
      Participant
      May 12, 2023

      I reply myself here 🙂After reading Neal's earlier post, I will be running without "The Gamma Lut". When checking the reference in VLC, the films look good. Thanks Neil.

        H
        Hasadiah280695422fww
        Participant
        May 18, 2023

        How do you get away from using the Qt Gamma Comp LUT?

        T
        Tom28342070zxad
        Participant
        February 9, 2023

        I downloaded the LUT (which appears to be a load of text, but it works) from the link below then set export to h.264 (high-resolution 1920x1080) went to effects in the export window, selected the LUT from where I had saved it, and it worked perfectly.  Thank you for the advice!!!

          J
          JJRiley
          Known Participant
          February 28, 2023

          Hi - how did you get Media Encoder to recognize the LUT? I placed the cube files in a location and selected them, but it says there is a low level exception (see screen shot). I tried saving the cube file on my desktop as well as our video server, but it won't apply. I used the vimeo preset first and then tried the match source high bitrate preset, but it still shows as none. Thanks for the help.

          R Neil Haugen
          R Neil Haugen
          Legend
          February 28, 2023

          They have a bug where that line says "none" even though the LUT is applied ... so if you complete the export, is it applied?

           

          And of course ... if that LUT does get applied, understand the file will be very dark when viewed on a non-Mac display. Due to the underlying nature of the problem.

           

          Neil

          Everyone's mileage always varies ...
            chrisw44157881
            chrisw44157881
            Inspiring
            February 2, 2022

            i am not aware that the lut doesn't work with mac. premiere reads the file so it should still work.

            download lut here:

            https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/quot-why-does-my-footage-look-darker-in-premiere-quot-color-q-amp-a/td-p/4788414

             

            just place it in location here:

            https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/faq-premiere-pro-lumetri-color-custom-lut-directory-and-location/td-p/4785911

             

            and render out with lut.

              Z
              zensei24321378vihf
              Participant
              July 18, 2022

              Is this still a thing that needs to be done in July 2022 with latest Adobe?

                M
                Michael Muench
                Inspiring
                March 10, 2025

                Why are you still trying to use that LUT? Have you tried the QuickTime/gamma 1.96 option in Premiere's color management?

                 

                Oh, and have you properly setup all the color management settings now in the 24.x series?

                 

                As nearly everyone who's posted here having troubles has unfortunately not set their color managment up consistently. Well, very understandable, as so many things are new.

                 

                Although I do wonder why so many Apple users expect Adobe to somehow magically fix what Apple chose to break ... and quite uniquely so. As it isn't just "PCs" ... it's all of broadcast standard systems that Apple chose to ignore.

                 

                The issue is two parts, a display transform and a color space transform. Apple chose to apply the listed camera transform for Rec.709 as the display transform, of gamma 1.96. Which "the standard" says is supposed to be a mathematical tranform using the bottom of a gamma 2.4 curve, which is what everything else uses for Rec.709 display.

                 

                And I found out recently, from the testing of a noted color scientist type, that clearly the conversion applied to Rec.709/sRGB files by ColorSync on the Macs doesn't properly remap the sRGB colors within the P3 of the monitor space either. So that is where the slightly desaturated view comes in.

                 

                You can't display a file with two separate gammas, and a poorly done color space transform, so it looks similar on systems using those two differing displays. And that means that you cannot produce a file to look 'exactly' the same on a Mac Retina (without Reference mode) monitor and any broadcast spec display.

                 

                In fact, a Mac with Reference modes, using the HDTV setting, will see the same gamma 2.4 display for Rec.709 video as any other b-cast spec system ... including TVs.

                 

                So it's really a pick your poison for users. If you need to pass broadcast QC, you gotta use a display to correct on, that is correctly set for Rec.709 with gamma 2.4.

                 

                If you worry only about Mac users without reference modes, in web viewing, then probably the QuickTime gamma 1.96 setting is what you want. But do so knowing that all Macs with reference modes, and all non-Mac screens, will see a very different image. Probably too dark, crushed blacks and maybe clipped whites, and over-saturated.

                 

                Or do what most colorists do, and as expected, the majority of them are total Mac geeks ... and ticked as Hades at Apple. No professional media is produced at the gamma 1.96 setting ... period. All professional Rec.709 media is produced with a monitor setup to sRGB,. D65, 100 nits brightness, gamma 2.4.  (Occasionally gamma 2.2.).


                Hey Neil, 

                but you can't export Gamma 2.2 from Premiere Pro since the the Color Managment is only a display but not an export option. So we can only export Gamma 2.4 at the moment. Using that LUT helps you to export something color corrected for Social Media for example that comes in with 2.2 Gamma. Then PP will turn it into 2.4 and when you add the LUT on export you will at least get a fake 2.2 again that looks like the original. 

                N
                NickiDoaneAuthor
                Participating Frequently
                February 2, 2022

                Nevermind having a moment - it's fine.

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