AE to FCP ProRes HQ export settings.

[Tony Mines]

I’m trying to export from AE CS5 to FCP7 on a mac and retain consistency. Ultimately I’m trying to get around the ol’ h264 shift when I upload to web – but I haven’t even got that far yet, I’m still just trying to get consistency between AE and FCP.

My AE project is using the HDTV Rec709 color profile. I exported an Animation file with 16bit color for use in fcp. I used 16bit in case I want to export to ProResHQ and accommodate it’s 10bit color without a shift, and I used Animation because I read here that it doesn’t gamma shift from AE:
https://vitrolite.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/quicktime_gamma_bug/

Treating my AE project as source, and the desired coloration, the result in fcp is a severe lightening or white-wash adjustment, such as I might expect from a bad h264 upload. And if I change the items gamma as you suggest as the easy fix, there is no displayed change.
My FCP timeline in this instance is conformed to the Animation clips settings, and will not allow me to access the sequences ‘video processing’ settings.

The linked article didn’t specify whether ProRes from AE was supposed to impose a gamma shift, so I exported a second, ProRes file from AE, still using HDTV Rec709 as the color profile. The result in FCP from the ProRes is a slight but still noticeable darkening.

The ProRes clip itself has no option to select or change the gamma, but in it’s own conformed timeline, it does allow for a change of sequence settings. My video processing settings here are currently set at 10bit YUV and Maximum White at white – which seemed correct if I’m trying to avoid adjustment?

But I’m getting adjustment already in both cases, and in two different directions. Help?

Specifically, what should I be exporting as from AE to retain consistency all the way to upload (be it to FCP or another re-encoder) and what color processing settings should I be using in FCP, if indeed that even matters?