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MOV vs AVI
I am using Adobe Premiere CS5.5 on a PC…Windows 7. When I export a timeline to an MOV using the same parameters that I use for an AVI, the color on the MOV is quite diminished. The format is Quicktime…the codec is NTSC DV Widescreen. When I play the MOV video in Adobe Premiere it looks as good as the AVI…but when I play the MOV in Quicktime it is awful, the colors look faded. Any idea what is going on?
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8 Replies
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Hi Harvey,
First I would have to ask why you chose the NTSC DV codec. If you are exporting for further editing, I would recommend QT Animation or PNG, or if you don’t have a RAID system that can handle the data rate, high quality H.264. H.264 is also the best option for playback on Windows.
As for the faded color, it’s a common problem with the Quicktime player in Windows. It handles the gamma incorrectly, making the blacks appear much lighter. You can search for Quicktime gamma fixes, but none are a perfect solution. My advice is using Windows Media or VLC for playback.
Vince Becquiot
Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area -
Vince,
Thank you very much. The people I work for want the NTSC DV25 Codec…so I am sort of stuck with that. Given my limitations I think I will stick with AVI’s and just not attempt the Quicktime files. What you described is exactly what happened.
Harvey
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[Harvey Goldberg] “The people I work for want the NTSC DV25 Codec…so I am sort of stuck with that. Given my limitations I think I will stick with AVI’s and just not attempt the Quicktime files.”
Does it matter to your client what wrapper you use? If they’re Mac/FCP people, they might prefer QuickTime.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
Chances are your file is actually fine. Do a search for “QuickTime Windows Gamma issue” — although it is not, strictly speaking, a gamma issue, it is a long-known bug in QuickTime playback that wrecks the colors on Windows. As far as I know, there is no accurate work-around, other than playing back the file on a Mac system, or not using QuickTime as a wrapper.
-Jeff
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I work for ABC News and we are totally PC based. I use Adobe Premier but the rest of the company uses Avid. Some of the editors perfer Quicktime over AVI’s but this gamma problem makes me think that I am sticking to AVI’s.
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From what I learned here I think you are right Jeff…I will stop using Quicktime as a wrapper. There are a couple of other options that don’t degrade the color like this. Thanks everybody for your help.
Harvey
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To clarify: The “gamma” problem (as I understand it) only affects desktop display. The actual data in the file is OK. So, QuickTime within Premiere is fine, even the same file that looks washed out on the desktop in QT Player.
You can demonstrate this by compiling an MPEG-4 clip; play it back via Windows Media Player, then use QT Player. You’ll see a difference.
-jeff
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I think you are right Jeff…usually the Quicktime files import into Avid without a problem…but every so often, they have that washed out, gamma problem look. I can’t figure out why, so I think the best bet is to just avoid them.
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