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Match Colors in AE to QuickTime X
I am grading something in After Effects that will only ever be watched on computer screens. The final distribution format will be h.264 .mov files. My problem is that I cannot get what I see in AE to match the way the video looks in QuickTime X. I’ve tried all kinds of different combinations of project color profiles and output simulation settings. But it never matches. When I export the video and convert it to h.264, it looks different from what I see in After Effects.
The only time I can get it to match is when I upload to YouTube. YouTube seems to ignore color profiles and thus video on YouTube looks exactly like it does in AE when no color management is activated (no profile in the project settings). Unfortunately the video will go to Vimeo, not YouTube. And Vimeo SEEMS to assign a 1-1-1 Rec. 709 profile to every HD file that is being fed into their system (as does QuickTime X, when a 1920×1080 file has no internal profile). When I select Rec. 709 in AE as a profile for the project though, it looks different from the QuickTime X/Vimeo version, not matter what output simulation I turn on.
This is driving me nuts! Help!
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10 Replies
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I had the same problem. You exactly do whst Adobe says in this instructions if you are in CS5 or 5.5- that worked for me. There is a similar solution for the CS4 version.https://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/05/prores-4444-and-prores-422-in.html
Poor english…
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I am aware of the article you linked but it seems to only describe two specific bugs. One related to ProRes 4444, which I don’t even use, and one related to the combination of ProRes 422 and certain capture cards, which I don’t own and which is different from my problem.
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I think that for the H264 codec, it is enought marking the square where it says that Match Legacy After Effects Quick Time Gamma Adjustments in the Project Settings. And you’re right, the Adobe solution is for the Prores 4444 only, sorry.
Poor english…
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First of all, I should maybe mention that my ProRes MASTER looks exactly like the final h.264 distribution, which looks exactly the same way in Vimeo and QuickTime X. The only thing that looks different is After Effects.
Regarding your suggestion: Checking the legacy setting has ABSOLUTELY no visible effect.
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Yes. Because this is for exporting only, I think. I suppose that you are assigning the same color profile to the footage in the project tab, with Interpret Footage, Color Management. Perhaps you can change the codec of your master in the capture. The AE-Prores problem is a nightmare by which now, I capture my footage in DPX sequence through Premiere Pro. Sorry. And get luck.
Poor english…
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Unfortunately, none of this seems to help.
Am I really the only one who outputs to QuickTime and/or Vimeo and who does not get matching colors?
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If you’re using Quicktime X for playback, you will be unlikely to get proper colors. Do a forum search for Quicktime X and you will find that the collected wisdom is that Quicktime X “sucks big time” (technical term). The color management is non-existent or even, possibly, malicious. Completely uninstall X, use Quicktime 7, and your life should improve.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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The problem is that everybody will see it like it appears in QuickTime X. In a large part because video on Vimeo looks exactly like it does in QuickTime X. It may be that QuickTime X sucks, but since that is what people watch the footage with, I will need to match it in grading.
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My best suggestion then would be to pull Quicktime X up with it paused on something you’ve rendered out. Then pull up the AE comp that had rendered it. Put an adjustment layer on top and add color correction plugins until you get the AE comp looking like the final output. Now you can do all the work you want underneath the adjustment layer and you’ll know how it’ll look on final export.
If all else fails as far as getting the encoding to look right, at least you’ll know what it’s gonna look like and can work from there.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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I guess that is, if not an elegant, at least a very reasonable solution.
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