-
Windows icm profile – am I color correcting twice?
Vegas has it’s own color management option and I have it set to Studio RGB for the preview device as well as my monitor color profile.
I don’t have the luxury of a second monitor and use the same for editing and previewing. What I have noticed is that video in the full screen preview window seems a little bit more contrasty than when I view it in the normal editing window. Which version should I believe is correct?
I guess what I need is a clear understanding of the color correction chain so I know what is going on on why.
E.G: Is my video Control Panel icm in Windows being overlaid and therefore correcting twice when in Preview Display Mode? So should I turn off my Windows profile (which of course would screw the profile up for other programs). Or does Vegas bypass the applied Windows icm in Display mode and that is why I see a difference? And what is Studio RGB doing? I really just want to set and forget this stuff and get on with editing.
Thanks for your advice.
Terence
(Vegas Pro 9) -
6 Replies
-
Perhaps you can point out where you are seeing this option. I do not see it in Vegas Pro 9d. I have looked through the preferences and other menu items in Vegas Pro and found nothing which mentions a “color management” option.
Invoking, or not invoking, color management on a PC does not mean that what you will eventually see on a TV or other display device will match what you see on the PC. Video technology seems to use a different color standard. That said, the main difference I see between a properly calibrated display and a TV is difference in luminance. I have not seen significant color differences.
-
The option I refer to is under Options>Preferences>Preview Device: In the pop-up dialog is a tick box for Use Color Management, which when selected gives a further option to Use Studio RGB and a drop down for the Color Monitor Profile.
At the moment I have Studio RGB selected as this appears to be what DVD rendering expects (from my limited and probably defective knowledge) and I have selected the same gamma corrected monitor profile I use under Windows management “because it is there”. But I’m not clear at all on the system architecture of how these elements are being put to use.
Point taken about PC color management not feeding into the final print. I would at least like to be in the ballpark however. As insurance, at the moment I am rendering short sample clips of my project to view on my TV. A lot of running back and forth as you can imagine, but a worthwhile reality check.
-
The color management option is in preferences on the Preview Device tab when Windows Secondary Display is selected as your preview device.
When you select to use color management you can choose which color profile to use. I’m not sure why you would choose to select one other than the profile you have prepared for you monitor, but I may be missing something here.
Jerry
-
Hi Jerry,
We seem to be on a different page, but thanks for your input. Put it down to my lack of clarity perhaps.
In fact you have just re-stated my last response:
“The option I refer to is under Options>Preferences>Preview Device: In the pop-up dialog is a tick box for Use Color Management, which when selected gives a further option to Use Studio RGB and a drop down for the Color Monitor Profile.”
And:
“…I have selected the same gamma corrected monitor profile I use under Windows management.”
So I’m not sure why you think I’m choosing a different color profile for my monitor.
-
I see it now. Thanks for pointing it out as I had never noticed it before. The presence of the option suggests that Vegas is aware of color management. I was taught that, when an application is color management aware, you pick the color space within the application that you prefer to use. You DO NOT turn off color management at the OS level when you do this. I believe that the theory is that the monitor, controlled by the OS, is displaying the image correctly. You pick a preferred color space that will allow you to see what the image will look like within that preferred color space. Your choice of preferred color space, such as Adobe RGB 1998, is guided by the end use of the image. I’m not sure that it make sense to pick the monitor’s icm as your preferred color space.
sRGB is probably used more widely. It is the assumed color space on the Web. I suggest rendering and, if necessary, burning a short video. See what it looks like on your target device (i.e. a TV?). Then, see if one of the color space choices matches that look.
Perhaps someone who understands Vegas color management will comment further on this topic.
BTW, all this assumes that your monitor is accurately calibrated. I do not have much confidence in Adobe type tools that adjust gamma. Accurate color calibration requires the use of a hardware device, coupled with its software, that “reads” the colors that your monitor is displaying, and builds the profile accordingly.
-
Because we were both responding with the same response at the same time (see time stamps).
Jerry
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up