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Why Are My Colors So Washed Out (yes, I added QT Gamma Compensation.cube)
Hello Creative Cows,
I am exporting my sequence out of Premier Pro 2020 (iMac 2017) using H.264 and everything looks great in Premier but washed out after exporting.
For the fun of it, I also exported as Apple ProRes MXF OP1a and Quick Time which also causes washed out colors.
I also downloaded a file called QT Gamma Compensation.cube and applied to Effects / Lumetri Look / LUT which did not help either.
Note: When I select Display Color Management (required GPU acceleration) in General / Preferences, it makes my video (colors) look washed out in Premier before exporting.
Does anyone know why this is happening? I would like the nice vivid (bright) colors as seen in my video (timeline) and Export Media preview.
(See snap shots for clarity)
Thanks!
Ed
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16 Replies
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I downloaded the two pictures you posted, and the colors look identical to me on my laptop…?
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One of three things here… you need new glasses, a new laptop or you’re color blind (or all three). : )
I attached side by side — a world of difference.
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Yeah…the screen caps aren’t really showing the difference you’re asking about…
If you are exporting in a QuickTime (.mov) wrapper, just change the export target to an H.264 (.mp4) wrapper.
If you are working with really subtle color gradiations, etc, it will help to check the max quality box in the export settings.
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The Premiere Pro viewer image will not match QuickTime Player, nor a Rec 709 TV. It’s the viewer that’s the issue and how the software interacts with an Apple display and not the file.
The iMac displays – especially newer ones – are P3 D65 with a high nits value. That’s a different color space than Rec 709, although it can look very similar. How does the image look on an external Rec 709 display via an AJA or BMD i/o device? That’s your only reliable guide.
You might also check with a different player, like Switch or VLC.
This post of mine may be helpful:
digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2021/03/07/trusting-apple-displays/ -
Hi. Thanks for the reply. I am not sure if you saw the capture below the other photos — The side by side. (see attached). You can clearly see the difference. Have a nice day.
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Hi Oliver. Thanks for your reply. It’s not a viewing thing, it’s a color thing from Premier. Did you by chance see the side by side of what’s seen within Premier and the export? See attached…
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Sure. The one on the left has slightly darker shadow detail and appears a bit more saturated. That’s exactly what I was talking about and “normal” for Premiere. The reality is that neither is correct. Or rather, “correctness” is relative to the target display system. The only NLE on a Mac that I work with that is properly color managed to the viewer is FCP.
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One thing to consider is whether or not this is out of gamut because of the yellow. I don’t know if it is or isn’t by looking at it. How does it read on the Lumetri scope (unclamped)?
Another way to look at is that if you are working in a standard dynamic range timeline, you are set up for Rec 709, 2.4 gamma, 100 nits. That’s a different color space than your display. Therefore, all application viewers and media players have to apply some type of color management to compensate for the profile of the file versus the color space of the display. This works well within the Apple ecosystem and less well with third-party tools.
Hence, the only valid place to judge the look of your Premiere output or the exported file is how it displays on an external Rec 709 monitor. That’s the only common denominator in this process.
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Hi Oliver, Thanks for all the technical info. A lot of it goes way over my head. I did by chance view the video in VLS Player and the colors lool great (vibrant and nice contrast). Is this just a quicktime thing? I am not concerned about QT but am concerned when I upload it to iPhone and/or TikTok which also appears washed out. I guess there is not much I can do about this at this point unless someone else tells me differently. Have a nice day. Thanks again. Edward
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Unfortunately, there is nothing consistent. Media players will manage the color in different ways and that’s what you are struggling with. If you export an MP4 and play it back through a media player like Switch, you will see an image that’s largely reliable. It won’t necessarily look like the image looks in the Premiere Pro viewer nor on YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, etc. That’s unfortunately just the way it is. When editors only dealt with broadcast TV, there was generally a common standard that everyone tried to achieve. Online content is a whole different ballgame.
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