Contrast before and after exporting

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jean,

No worries, often like you, we are all here scrambling around in the dark, which is what helps finding solutions 🙂

I am a great fan of of WYSIWYG, but that is not always what happens when you throw fileformats and encoder together to ruin your piece of art.

Just for clarity, you are blowing up HD to 4K H.265, whilst running the new file at 100 Mbps?
That is a lot to ask of the original format.
What happens if you do a ProRes export out instead of H265?

Initially I would look at what player that you are using to play the exported file back on?
From your screenshot, would it be right to assume that you are using the same screen for both “versions”?

What happens if you import the exported file back into Davinci, as in does it look the same or like the way that you want it to look (without adding any grade to it)?

And, have you tried to export the file as a HD MP4 file running at 10Mbps to see if that maintains the look that you want?

Hope that this helps?

Atb
Mads

[Jean Tertrain]

Hey Mads,

First, thank you for your kind and lucid feedback.

I’m at the moment exporting a ProRes file as you suggested, I will see how it goes 🙂

You are right that I’m blowing the file as much as I can, as the film (48 minutes) will be uploaded to… (suspense and suspense) Youtube, with it’s nasty compressor.

So I’m trying to get it there, in the beginning, as information rich as I can.

__

Which brings me the following question, in my case, with shots shot mainly on iPhone (SE 2020, if it has any importance), does it matter really that I select, a .H264 or a .H.265 (latter which I read was giving higher quality in 4K), and mostly, does it matter that I select 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps ?

🖥

As you said, maybe all the information is already exported in a 10 Mbps file… but I’m trying to be sure, as again, the Youtube compressor is a doom to already poor information videos.

Thank you a gain a lot for reading me and for your help 🙂

Jean

[Michael Gissing]

Gamma shifts on playback are very often a factor of the playback software. I would not export a file as a .mov as quicktime is not a good file wrapper. Check the render file back in Resolve to see if there really is a shift between the timeline and the render. So render your file as .mp4 .

Do not use Quicktime player. I never use it and it is notorious for getting gamma settings wrong. If you are on a Mac or really any computer, use VLC player.

[Jean Tertrain]

Thank you Michael.
I found out that the problem was that I did not have the 709A option clicked on (both in my project and in DVR settings).
So would you export it now, for the best quality : in ProRes HQ or MP4 H264 (OR H265) ?

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jean,

I still value ProRes 422 HQ or 4444 as the most stable master format.
There are other formats, but ultimately it depends on your distribution channel, and if there is a client who have given you specifications for what they want?

From the ProRes you can transcode to DCP, H264 or H265.

Make “private view” uploads to YouTube to see what you like best, before publishing – do make sure to watch on different devices, or you might still get disappointed.

Atb
Mads

[Jean Tertrain]

Thank you very much for the help Mads.

Atb

Jean

[Michael Gissing]

I advise against ProRes as a mastering codec. It’s proprietary and uses QuickTime as its container. For master files I prefer DNxHQX 10 bit or DNx444 12 bit and in an mxf container. These are non proprietary and cross platform codecs that we can all generate. If Apple made their codecs available for free to be cross platform to generate then I can see why it might be useful as a delivery codec. But they aren’t and there is an internationally accepted better alternative with DNx.

ProRes4444 has given me grief in the past with gamma errors and there is no reason to use a codec with an Alpha channel for a master, so it’s a waste of data space.

[Jean Tertrain]

Michael, a lof of thanks.

Which one is better between DNxHQX 10 bit and DNx444 12 bit ?

Can I use these for uploading my video to Youtube (or Instagram) with the best quality I can get out of my sequence ?

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jean,

There is a great list of formats that YouTube will accept here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/troubleshooter/2888402?hl=en-GB

Although it is not clear about file sizes.
Have to admit that I am surprised, but then again, last time I uploaded anything it was MP4 transcoded from a master format.

12Bit is in theory better than 10Bit, but question is whether you are the only one that will notice?
And, how much space (money) you have for storing your masters on a drive (HD/SSD/Large-scale raid/Cloud)?

You can always upload to YouTube without publishing, and check if you are happy with the result.

Atb
Mads

support.google.com

Supported YouTube file formats - YouTube Help

Supported YouTube file formats - YouTube Help

[Jean Tertrain]

Thank you again Michael et Mads.

So if I understand correct : DNxHQX 10 bit and DNx444 12 bit are not suitable for Youtube ?

I would like to know what is the best one I could use in general and for Youtube, if I may ask.

I have at the moment a lot of space on my disk (1To).