FCPX Color Issues

[Reuben Ross]

I have been experiencing the exact same problem when exporting from Motion 5. Color looks great in Motion, then significantly darker when the exported file is opened in MPEG Streamclip or uploaded on Vimeo. If I open the file in Quicktime, it looks exactly the same as it did within Motion.

One possible solution is to mess around with your display’s color profiles. For example, if I set my display to the HD 709-A color profile, what I see in Motion is almost identical to the exported file when viewed in MPEG Streamclip.

[Thomas Strand]

The best information I have gathered on this is that FCPX and Quicktime are tweaking gamma. From all that I have read there is really no way to deal with this. I have read a couple of posts by people saying that using a different color profile on their monitor has helped. I am not sure how that solution would work for me since I calibrate my monitors color with Spyder and do not rely on the visual solutions provided by Apple.

You would think that since FCPX and Compressor are both Apple products that the video would look the same in both programs. Since my master export from FCPX looks dark in Compressor that is my first clue that FCPX is not showing me an accurate rendition. What I see in Compressor is very similar to what I would see on Vimeo if I uploaded directly to Vimeo without adjusting my gamma in compressor.

So, I need to now brighten my image in Compressor when optimizing and outputting a format friendly to Vimeo. Except I hate how poorly Compressor works for this. You can not accurately determine color and contrast.

Enter Adobe Premiere. I now import my master file into Adobe Premiere. Which also shows the file as being dark. In Premiere I have access to the full range of color correction tools, especially RGB Curves. And I have a good visual reference as to what changes are being made to my video. Premiere also has a very advanced set of presets for exporting optimized files. It is like Compressor on steroids. What I export from Premiere is much more color and contrast accurate.

I know, you are now thinking “why the hell doesn’t he just edit in Premiere”. To that I would say, “it is a daunting program if you learned on FCPX”. I do not want to relearn a new program and I relay like the editing process of FCPX. Since I already am have access to the line of Adobe products due to my use of Photoshop I did not have to purchase Premiere. That would have been a different story for me.

If somebody has a better solution I would love to hear it. I do video on such a limited basis but I do understand color management from my extensive work in delivering still images. However, it has become obvious to me that video is much trickier to color manage. For instance, my videos all look different when viewed on Vimeo in different browsers. However, my still photos all match across different web browsers. What I have not been able to figure out yet is the color profiles being embedded into the videos and if that can be altered.

[Thomas Strand]

An interesting read on this matter. Although I am not sure it helps. It also does not explain why Compressor would show the video darker than FCPX. If Colorsync runs throughout the Apple workflow Compressor should recognize it as well.