Color management: Flow chart from Greenscreen to Youtube

[Greg Sage]

Well, that’s really more what I’m talking about. I mess with the footage quite a bit, and am more concerned with it looking good than necessarily looking “correct.”

Doing basic white balance, and shooting with supposedly flat settings on camera, but no MacBeth chart or anything.

Really just trying to work out the technical settings going from camera to Youtube. Camera is what it is. Not ideal, and not 4:2:2, but GH2 is what I could afford.

Specifically, I’m wondering about setting from AE on out… so project settings, render settings, compression settings. Since ultimately using Media Encoder for the last step with the built in YT preset, if I get the first two right, that should take care of itself.

So, am I right so far in that I should be doing:

PROJECT SETTINGS
________________

16 bit
sRGB
Linearize color space
Adjust for embedded

RENDER SETTINGS
_______________

?????????

MEDIA ENCODER SETTINGS
______________________

YT 1920×1080, 8Mbps preset

[Greg Sage]

I’ll answer to the best of my ability. If I need to be looking at something else, just let me know.

The files coming off the GH2 are .MTS files which are 1080p AVCHD.

So… is that an AVCHD file in a .MTS wrapper?

Can’t control the file type off the camera, but from that point, I can choose everything else. If it needs to be transcoded, re-wrapped, or whatever, I can choose the settings.

So… convert to ProRes422 and .mov before editing? mp2? I’ve been quite unhappy with the keys I’ve gotten despite good lighting and the use if Intra-Frame 1080p setting on camera… not sure if my choice of conversion formats could have affected that.

I’m also combining that footage with jpg files, and png files half of which I create, and half of which I find. Then combining that with c4d output. Again, I can choose any output settings I want for the C4d stuff since I’m creating it.

Really, the only limitation I have in there anywhere is how the files come off the camera… which is avchd files in a .mts wrapper. Everything else can flow however I set it up.

Does that help, or do I need to be looking at some other aspect?

[Greg Sage]

ok

so just 16 bit, no color management?

Is there something in particular I need to be aware of in process of transcoding? Settings available somewhere? Preferred program?

[Greg Sage]

Sorry, I think I’ve mentioned too many things confusing the issue a bit. I have no intention of using FCP.

I’m using the Adobe suite, and with so many layers and effects going constantly, it’s done almost entirely in After Effects.

This should be a very easy thing to figure out. I only have one item I don’t control output details for… the GH2 footage which is AVCHD .mts files.

Everything else like C4d footage, I can specify any output I like.

Videos are being done in AE. I only mention ProRes because other people have suggested I use those settings.

This should be a very straight forward issue as there are very few variables. It’s just the same workflow over and over:

Flow = GH2 to After Effects To Media Encoder to Youtube with whatever the optimal steps are in between to get best use out of the greenscreen footage, and best possible viewer experience on YT.

I’m not saying I should use Pro Res. I’m asking what I should be using.