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“Computer RGB to Studio RGB” doesn’t fix my color problem – what else can I try?
Hi,
I’m using Vegas Movie Studio 12.
I’m shooting with a Canon Powershot S100 compact camera. It produces H264 encoded MOV files.
https://imgur.com/a/yhaiy#0 <– see here for 3 sample images
Image (1) is the original.
Image (2): When I insert one of these files into a project and export to H264, the colors look quite different than the original. It has less contrast.
Image (3): When I apply, “Studio RGB to Computer RGB”, the result looks much closer to to the original. However: There’s still a significant difference. The image has way more orange tones than the original.
Why does “Studio RGB to Computer RGB” not fix my color problem?
Thanks!
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5 Replies
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[Lukas Muller] “Why does “Studio RGB to Computer RGB” not fix my color problem?”
Because it doesn’t operate on color. What plug-in is that a preset for? Levels! It only adjusts the luminance levels from Studio levels to Computer levels.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I see. The question is, why do my colors change when I encode in x264?
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I don’t know. It could be that the H.264 encoder is expecting the 601/709 color space and your camera’s QuickTime files are not using that color space? This is just a guess but interpreting the wrong color space will alter colors.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
[Lukas Muller] “I see. The question is, why do my colors change when I encode in x264?”
Many factors. As JR said, the color space interpretation can differ. Your device is a still camera first and video device second.
Also your camera records full range, 0..255 (technically 1..254) and not video levels. The levels conversion in Vegas compresses that range into 16-235. Then a video player on a computer device expands that back to 0..255. This is not a perfect conversion. Some data/levels are lost. Also the conversion to video levels and the inverse operation in the playback device software may not be perfect inversions of each other. I am not sure about MS12 but Vegas uses .060 and .920 in the Computer to Studio levels conversion.
Small levels differences, which directly affect contrast, can show as saturation/color differences.
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Thank you both for your suggestions!
I did some more experiments.
To recap, there were two issues:
1) Studio/Computer RGB conversion
2) Slight color shift(1) Studio/Computer RGB:
I found out the problem is in VLC player!
When I play my original MOV file, as it came from the camera, VLC player erronously applies an extra Studio RGB conversion. Effectively, it throws away some range, and washed out white areas get larger.
Other players (Zoom Player) play the files correctly.
This means, I actually don’t need the “Studio RGB to Computer RGB” conversion in Vegas! The exported files already have the correct range.(2) Slight color shift:
This is still relevant, as seen in the screenshots from my first posting https://imgur.com/a/yhaiy#0 .
It seems to be a colorspace issue indeed.
Is there a way to fix this, apart from manually playing around with the color sliders?
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