Help! AE colorspace, what is None?

[Ivan Eldredge]

Hello Grant, let’s try to go over all of your questions:

“If AE’s colorspace is set to none, and you are working with, let’s say Sony S-Log3 footage. If you use the footage to create the comp, what colorspace does AE use? Does it assume S-Log3? What does it mean to be none?”

When the colorspace in After Effects is set to “None”, it means AE is not color managing anything. It won’t make any assumptions about the footage’s color profile; it will simply interpret the raw values of the footage as they are.

Additionally, when set to “None”, AE will use your project’s color management settings, typically either Linear Color or Gamma 2.2, depending on how you’ve configured the project. Be aware that this will result in AE making a linear interpretation of footage that may have been shot in a log color space, such as S-Log3. This can lead to improper dynamic range interpretation, incorrect gamma, or other color artifacts (such as dull or overly flat footage).

“Is ‘None’ a default limited colorspace?”

Yes, it can be considered limited because AE isn’t taking advantage of its color management features. When the project is set to “None”, AE does not apply any color space transformations. In the specific case of log footage like S-Log3, it will perform a linear interpretation of the log data, which can lead to clipped highlights, loss of detail, or incorrect color rendering.

“Do you need to switch to color management and specify S-Log3?”

Yes, for footage shot in log formats (like S-Log3), it’s important to enable color management in AE and set the appropriate working space based on your final output or delivery format (e.g., Rec.709 or Rec.2020).

To ensure AE interprets your footage correctly, you should also manually interpret the footage as S-Log3 by going to Interpret Footage → Main, and under the Color Management tab, choose the correct input profile, which would be S-Log3 in this case. This allows After Effects to convert the log data to a display-referred color space correctly, avoiding the reading issues described above.

“What if you’re using a ProRes 444 export of Sony S-Log3 footage in a None colorspace project?”

ProRes files do not embed metadata that tells AE which log format (like S-Log3) was used for encoding. So, if your project’s colorspace is set to “None”, AE will treat the ProRes file as raw linear data without any color management. This could lead to incorrect gamma and dynamic range interpretation, similar to the issues described with S-Log3 footage.

To handle this correctly, you would still need to manually interpret the ProRes footage in AE, assigning it the S-Log3 profile (via Interpret Footage → Main → Color Management). This will ensure that AE knows the footage is in S-Log3 and can apply the proper conversion to your working color space.

Hope this helps!
Best,

Ivan Eldredge G.

[Grant Pichla]

Hi Ivan,

Thank you! All the work we do is basic VFX cleanup, keying, and comping of rec709 assets into log footage. We always deliver final exports back with the same log look, never delivering with a transform to rec709.

So a follow up question 1: knowing that Aces color space / gamut is super wide, how does that color space / gamut compare when using None or unmanaged? Is AE using a wide gamut when unmanaged, or is it more like a smaller rec709 gamut? Is there any risk of somehow clipping or limiting color when using None vs something like Aces or Adobe Wide Gamut Rgb?

The 2nd question, in this Sony slog3 example, would chroma keying behave better when using a color managed workflow vs none? When we use none, we apply a color profile converter to the slog3 footage to get a rec709 look for the key, which is the used as a matte for the original log footage.

Last question if you don’t mind – would chroma or luma keying work noticeably better if we work in Linear mode?

Thank you so much!

[Ivan Eldredge]

Hello Grant, thanks for the follow-up! Let’s dive into your questions:

1. How does AE’s “None” colorspace compare to ACES or other wide-gamut color spaces like Adobe Wide Gamut RGB?

I’ll use an analogy to help explain color spaces in video. When you work with “None,” you’re essentially working with either linear color values or Gamma 2.2. It’s like having a picture painted with thousands of colors, but your view (due to the lack of color management) is limited to seeing only a few hundred of them.

Also, since you’re using linear color values in this mode, you won’t have or be able to take advantage of the subtle nuances and dynamic range present in log color spaces like S-Log3.

2. Would chroma keying behave better in a color-managed workflow vs. None?

Yes, definitely. Using the same analogy, working in a color-managed workflow is like seeing the full range of colors in your picture, those thousands of colors are now visible and accurate. This ensures that color translation is precise, allowing AE to correctly interpret the footage and give you better results when chroma keying.

In contrast, with “None,” you’re limiting your view to only a portion of the available colors, making it harder to pull a clean key, especially with log footage that requires proper color interpretation for accurate keying.

3. Would chroma or luma keying work noticeably better in Linear mode?

Working in Linear mode is like seeing the picture of the analogy above with proper lighting, where colors and light behave as they do in the real world. This makes the transitions between colors much smoother, helping chroma keying produce cleaner edges and more accurate blends.

For luma keying, however, Linear mode might not be as beneficial. While the lighting is accurate, you might lose some of the subtle brightness variations that are crucial for precise luma keying, especially in log footage, where those details are important for a clean separation.

I hope this clears everything up. Thanks again, and best regards,

Ivan Eldredge G.