logo colors don’t match: Illustrator & Motion

[Mark Spencer]

Matt,

I did a test – I create a new Illustrator doc (CS4) – made some text, gave it color (did one all RGB=127, one R=127, G/B=0, and one a random color), save them as .ai, imported into Motion, and checked the color in both the Color controls at the top left of the Canvas and in the color picker (by making a shape and select a color well in the HUD to bring up the OSX Color PIcker). In all cases, the color numbers matched perfectly. When I changed the shape color to match the grey .ai file, it matched exactly.

However – when I changed shape color to match either of the other .ai files that weren’t neutral gray, the shape color was slightly different from the .ai file – the RGB numbers in the color picker said it was exactly the same, but the RGB numbers in the Color controls tell the real story – the RGB values were slightly shifted. Quite disturbing! However, I did find a fix – if you deselect the shape, then reselect it, and again click the color swatch in the HUD, the OSX Color Picker values will update to match the Color controls in the Canvas – you can then type in the correct values, and your shape color will match your .ai color.

—
Mark Spencer
Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
Apple-certified Master Trainer
Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
https://www.applemotion.net

[Mark Spencer]

Here, I’ve made a video quick tip to explain how to deal with this issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsiVZGNt-1U

—
Mark Spencer
Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
Apple-certified Master Trainer
Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
https://www.applemotion.net

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[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Mark. That post and video is awesome and helps a great deal. But one problem I’m still having is that the colors do not transfer from AI to Motion. The AI color reads as 0, 71, 135. But Motion is giving me a read out of 41, 79, 135. Its not bring the AI colors in correctly.

Did you get my test files? I understand your process in MOTN of drawing a new shape and getting that color to match. But what about MOTN not even brining in the right color from AI to begin with. I’ve tried creating a new AI doc and bringing my logo. Changing the spot color to RGB builds and still no luck. MOTN still interprets the color wrong. I can’t figure this out.

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Mark Spencer]

Matt, when I brought in Illustrator artwork, the colors matched exactly, as you can see in the video. There must be something about your file that’s causing the issue – try with a fresh Illustrator file and just add a shape or text like I did and see if it works correctly as a test. I was using CS4 and Motion 4, let me know what you are using.

—
Mark Spencer
Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
Apple-certified Master Trainer
Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
https://www.applemotion.net

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks. I’ll try that. I’m on CS3 and Motion 3. Upgrades are coming my way soon. Hoo-ray!

One thing it could be is that all our clients logos come from the as print ready files. Meaning CMYK or spot colors. I understand the color process very well, as my background is print and publishing. So with those files, I’ve tried converting them to the RGB equivalent and basically re-coloring the logos to RGB for use in MOTN.

I’ll run a few more test like you said and let you know where I net out. Thanks again. Heck, I’ll even try bring in the original CMYK file and see what I get.

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Mark just ran a test as you suggested. I pretty much re-created your video. Worked like charm! So, I then tried it again with my clients logo. Didn’t work the first time, but on the second go, the color readouts from AI match MOTNs. The blues came in as 0, 71, 133 and MOTN matched that. There must be something with the spot colors, CMYK to RGB conversion or something.

One thing I did differently this time was saving my AI files with embedded ICC profiles. That might have done it because we get all our Eizo displays calibrated and profiles set up for print work. I need to get out of that world and back to the RGB side of things. I’ll have to switch my working spaces for CS3 suite back to RGB when working with video and CMYK for print.

Thanks for your help. You are the MOTN master!

OS 10.5.5, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 9 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Mark Spencer]

Hey, that’s great – glad you found a way to make it work.

—
Mark Spencer
Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
Apple-certified Master Trainer
Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
https://www.applemotion.net