Quicktime output washed out

Hi all,
The web seems rife with theory about this, but can someone explain why my output from the FCP timeline to a quicktime movie (using current settings, DV, HDV, doesn't matter, even ProRes) is washed out? The Enable Final Cut Color check does not fix this problem.
What's going on here?

Thanks Steve, Steven and Todd for your responses. I am sorry that I hadn't mentioned my OS is Windows Vista with AE CS3.
Steve : In the output module, I selected Quicktime Movie format and by default the codec is H.264 which I think is the culprit for making the washed out mov. I then followed your advice to use Animation and the result was great! I'll try different settings for a better result. But I wonder why H.264 yields such a poor result as most movies nowadays use this codec.
Steven : I tried switching on "Match Legacy After Effects Quicktime Gamma Adjustments" in Project Settings, and left everything default, but the result was the same, e.g. the color of the rendered mov was lighter than the original.
Todd : I'll read carefully the information on the link that you mentioned.
Best Regards
jusko

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Quicktime MOV washed out

Hi, I had a movie edited in AE and rendered with format of Quicktime movie while everything remained default. But the color of the rendered movie was washed out when played in quicktime player.
If I rendered the movie with Windows Media format, the rendered movie was OK.
Was I missing something in the output module settings for quicktime mov?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards
jusko

Thanks Steve, Steven and Todd for your responses. I am sorry that I hadn't mentioned my OS is Windows Vista with AE CS3.
Steve : In the output module, I selected Quicktime Movie format and by default the codec is H.264 which I think is the culprit for making the washed out mov. I then followed your advice to use Animation and the result was great! I'll try different settings for a better result. But I wonder why H.264 yields such a poor result as most movies nowadays use this codec.
Steven : I tried switching on "Match Legacy After Effects Quicktime Gamma Adjustments" in Project Settings, and left everything default, but the result was the same, e.g. the color of the rendered mov was lighter than the original.
Todd : I'll read carefully the information on the link that you mentioned.
Best Regards
jusko

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I'm running on OS10.3 and just transfered my avid sequence into a quicktime reference file. The image, however, is coming out all washed out...how should I configure the settings in order to avoid this on my apple?
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Thanks Steve, Steven and Todd for your responses. I am sorry that I hadn't mentioned my OS is Windows Vista with AE CS3.
Steve : In the output module, I selected Quicktime Movie format and by default the codec is H.264 which I think is the culprit for making the washed out mov. I then followed your advice to use Animation and the result was great! I'll try different settings for a better result. But I wonder why H.264 yields such a poor result as most movies nowadays use this codec.
Steven : I tried switching on "Match Legacy After Effects Quicktime Gamma Adjustments" in Project Settings, and left everything default, but the result was the same, e.g. the color of the rendered mov was lighter than the original.
Todd : I'll read carefully the information on the link that you mentioned.
Best Regards
jusko

Quicktime movie washed out in Safari

I'm having a problem with my quicktime movie published in Safari. The movie looks good on Firefox but washed out on Safari. I cant seem to find a way to stop this from happening. I copied the movie from the Safari version on the web to see if it was Safari and played it out on the desktop and its washed out. The original was HD and very clean. I converted with H.264 in compressor and the final movie looked great. Sure would like it to look as good as the H.264 on my desktop. Any suggestions would be great.
Erik
Sample.
http://mediaartproductions.com/Media_Art/Welcome.html
Message was edited by: Erik Naso

No, this isn't a rookie thing. I believe the problem lies within the new quicktime update, the last one did the same thing. However, this is a frustrating problem, but my suggestion is to wait a few days, and see if apple picks up on the problem and releases a fix.
DON'T UNINSTALL QUICKTIME USING PACIFIST!!! I tried that and had to reinstall my operating system. I don't know why, but it is not advisable.

H264 Quicktimes are washed out

Hi, whenever I export a quicktime for the web - for youtube or websites etc - it is washed out, lighter and with less contrast compared to the original. Can anyone help me correct this?
Thanks!
Oliver

I've had the same problem and I've come to discover that it is not the video but Quicktime itself. The way to solve it is to go into the Quicktime preferences and check the box for "Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility". Once that is done the videos authored from FCP should look like they are suppose to. I'm at a loss as to why this needs to be done, I would think Apples premiere editing software should look as good as it can it it's proprietary player without adjustment.

PSCS3 print output washed out

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The closer that your Monitor profile is to sRGB, the more likely you are to get a close match between Hex colors and your JPEGs when you view a web site in Safari. However, neither Dreamweaver nor Firefox are Color Managed so anything that you see displayed in them will be displayed using your Monitor profile (which will probably be different from everyone else's on the planet). And 98% of the people who subsequently view your site are going to be using non-color-managed Browsers and uncalibrated monitors so they will see something entirely different. Virtually all monitors now in use display "Millions of Colors" so the use of web-safe Hex colors is no longer necessary. I use GoLive in preference to Dreamweaver and in GL, I can specify colors using RGB values. Because my monitor is very close to sRGB; Safari, Photoshop and GoLive display the same RGB mix of colors almost identically. For example: If I specify the same 68R; 136G; 85B in GoLive that I used in Photoshop, it is then automatically translated by GL into html: <color:#"#448055";>. Safari then displays the html color as a visibly identical match to the way that I see it in GoLive and Photoshop. But Firefox does NOT That is what we are up against with web work.

Quicktime exports are washed out, low contrast

Hey-
This sounds like a classic gamma problem, but i don't know where to look to fix it. Basically, my edit looks one way, but when i export the quicktime of the timeline, playback in quicktime is washed out, drab, low contrast, and has less saturation than it does in the edit in FCP.
Anyone know how best to address this? is this a gamma issue IN FCP? I expect, when export my quicktime, that playback in the quicktime player and on other computers (i've looked at it on a windows machine as well) will look the same way it does in my FCP edit, and it doesnt.
Help, and thanks!

Chris
afraid you are mistaken, looking at the file on a PC will be quite different to looking at it on a mac and I am thinking this may be where your issues start.
(Sorry if the following is sucking eggs)
Go to your display preferences/color and check what is set there, return to a default profile or even better calibrate your displays. The way QT displays a files is different to the way FCP does, (citation needed). Also typically a mac is set to a gamma of 1.8 whilst a PC is set to a gamma of 2.2. This used to be a real problem creating mpg1 content for PC's, had to create a gamma setting specifically for display on a PC. I must admit that I am now creating wmv's, (Flip4Mac) for insertion in Powerpoint and corporate web and gamma is no longer an issue.
As you said classic gamma problem, also try using one of the prepackaged compressor settings with no tweaking.
Tony

Washed-out Quicktime Renders...

Whenever I export a clip from FCP in any other codec than Animation, the result is always a washed-out looking clip (even when working within the same codec).
The loss of quality is about 15-20%. I've had the same problem for some years now. I first realized this when exporting from FCP, I tried then to export from AE, Commotion, etc., and the result was always the same. I came to the conclusion that it must be something to do with the QT core (since all these applications use it). My HD has already been re-formatted and both OS and all applications have been re-installed. I have two computers and it happens in both of them. I ended up rendering everything on animation which is an OK solution for SD but a nightmare for HD. Every time I render a clip it quadruples it's size!!!
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
E.C.

First off, Apple doesn't read these forums for the most part. Not the people who deal with the making of FCP at any rate. It is a community they created for people to help people.
Second never ever EVER judge the quality of the footage using your computer monitor. Not the Final Cut Pro Canvas, Quicktime player, After Effects window...nowhere. ONLY on a broadcast monitor attached to the system. My clip I have in FCP, looks the same this way when viewed in FCP, from After Effects, Shake...even QT player.
What you are seeing is the differences in the ways various applications show the footage.
BUT...there is something that is happening. I will quote a post on another forum, because the thread is REALLY long and this post happened near the end.
Jude Cotter:
"The problem is RGB vs Y'CbCr.
When you import a Y'CbCr file into a RGB application like Shake or AE or Motion, it maps 0 percent values to 0 and 100 percent values to 255. This means that any luma or chroma values outside super black or super white get clipped, and that the values inside these units get adjusted accordingly.
Older versions of FCP also apply gamma adjustments on import (as Stu says) but FCP 5.1.2 has a new system for handling gamma - it doesn't apply extra gamma correction on output anymore, and there is a user selectable preference for import gamma handling.
But if you are moving to or from RGB applications and FCP (in a broadcast environment), you need to understand the changes that being applied and pre-compensate.
I've only just started to get a handle on this, so I'm not the font of all knowledge on gamma in FCP. If you need to understand this stuff (most people don't, really) I can recommend a new book called The Encylopedia of Color Correction by Alexis Van Hurkman"
Here is the thread:
http://www.lafcpug.org/phorum/read.php?1,168873,169120#msg-169120
Shane

Compressor DPX output from Prores (4444) QT is washed out, can I fix this?

Hi all,
I've been trying to use compressor to convert quicktimes to DPX, but have noticed that the DPX files rendered out are all washed out.
I imagine this is because compressor is doing a video/lin to log conversion. Is there anyway to avoid this? I simply want compressor to do a file conversion so that the DPX look as closeas possible to the original prores source.
I've looked through the settings, but there isn't much to play with. Anyhelp would be very much appreciated.
JT

plus one. for now i use color, works well actually but being able to export "linear 0-1024" dpx from the fcp timeline would be nice, and of course saves a render step. gluetools seems to work but unless you use it a lot a bit too expensive.
/mattias

Quicktime export, colors washed out

I think this question has been asked before but I just couldn't find a good explanation in the archives. Wondering if anyone knows why, when I export my movie out of FCP to h.264 and then playback in quicktime, the colors become much more muted and washed out. This has been happening for awhile now, and its been driving me nuts and now I have a project that is absolutely going to hurt because of it.
I want the bright vibrant colors that I see in my canvas in FCP -- what gives? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Yeah, sorry, this was actually a graphic created in Motion 3 then sent to FCP to sync with some audio and other sound effects. The entire workflow is HDV 1080p24, compressed to various sizes of h.264 and meant for web only. Because it is meant for the web, I have bypassed a calibrated monitor and am just doing all the work on my Apple Cinema displays.
Like I said, I can take the exported h.264 version from FCP, open it in quicktime and hold it up right next to my FCP canvas and the luma and chroma values are noticeable muted, less vibrant, and just not as much fun to look at.
I have played around with the general settings in Quicktime, specifically the "Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility" option, but still no change. I have read other places about this being a gamma issue once the movie is played back in Quicktime, but I really don't know what that means.
All of my software is about as up to date as you can get.

Washed out color in QuickTime videos on Windows machine

I recently shot a video for my church using an older Sony camera in HDV format. I edited the video in FCPX, and the colors looked fine in the FCPX timeline -- bright and rich. I exported the file using Compressor in H.264, 1920x1080 for projection in the church, and in .mp4, 640x360 for website display. The colors looked fine in the church projection (the QuickTime file was run on a MacBook), and they look fine when the website version is displayed in a browser running on a MacBook. However, when I view the video in a browser running on a Windows machine, or simply display the video in QuickTime on a Windows machine, the colors look totally drab and washed out, like a nasty grey filter was applied. I know it is not my Windows computer display, since other web videos look just fine. If you want to see what I am talking about, check out http://www.newsongchurch.com/ministries/small-groups/index.html.
I spent hours one day researching this issue in old discussion groups posts. I tried a lot of different suggestions that I found:
--Encoding using x264encoder and changing the settings for the "nclc atom" and "gamma 2.2"
--Use JES Deinterlacer to change the same variables
--Increase gamma settings in Compressor
I must have exported the video 25 times with different settings and nothing seems to work. It is incredibly frustrating to work for days shooting and editing a video and then have it look like poop on Windows machines (which is what most people will use to view this video). In the 6 or so years I have been using Final Cut, I've found that it takes way longer to find the right export settings than it does to edit!
Does anyone have any thoughts about how I can make this video look the same on both Macs and PCs? Please let me know if you need more information about my project. Many thanks in advance!

I have both my PC & Mac running through the same display, the Mac digital and the PC analog, easy enough to switch between using the monitor front panel.
They look about the same to me, I had a custom calibration on the PC which had the gamma raised so it looked a a little washed out but only by a small amount, changing to a standard calibration and they looked nearly identical.
What I would like to see is the gamma lowered by a small increment and the contrast raised by the same amount.
The contrast alone might do it but I would try both.

Washed out colours in DVD SP, but not in iDVD?

I was using iDVD to burn my projects and decided to go pro and use DVD SP 4 at work. I had some help putting the project together and burnt off a DVD. All works fine, but the colours are definately more washed than when I burnt the same quicktime through iDVD 6.
The footage was captured from PAL DIGI Beta, using the blackmagic capture card and codec and used uncompressed in both projects.
Even the title screen of the DVD SP project is washed out compared to the iDVD one. I've viewed both DVDs on an LCD imac and a CRT sony trinitron.
Any ideas?
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I am not sure if the two applications encode the same - iDVD may use different settings to encode the video when compared to the settings in DVD SP or using Compressor which can change the output/how it looks - that may be what is happening.
You can take the exact same movie and place it in different encoders, or the same encoders with different settings, and the end result will look different.
Compressor overview
http://dvdstepbystep.com/qc.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/fasttrackover.php

Enable Final Cut Color Compatibility Further Washes out HDV!

I'm having a hard time with this.
Outputting a reference Quicktime movie (for later use in compressor, non self contained, HDV 1080i60) creates slightly washed out looking footage. Clicking the "enable FCP color compatibility" checkbox further brightens the footage! What's going on?
My monitor is at 1.8 gamma, is that checkbox further brightening my footage by bringing it up from where it's at to 1.8? This is really driving me crazy.

Hi
Please tell more (or I'm not clever enough to get it)
Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility
In QuickTime Player 7.6 (Mac OS X.4.11)
Under Preferences there are three symbols in my version
General/Full Sceen/Record
And I can't find anything alike here
Nor under the title QuickTime-preferences
which opens System-preferences and the QuickTime menu
Still nothing as FCS color compatibility.
Am I looking in wrong direktion ?
Yours Bengt W

Dialog programming, data being washed out in TAB Control

Hi,
     i am working on dialog programming , in which i am using Table Control for user input (data is not coming from database table) . everything is going well till assignment of data to internal table but when
control goes to PBO by any means like pressing ENTER etc. then data being washed out.
PROCESS BEFORE OUTPUT.
MODULE TC_CONTROL.
LOOP AT it_data
         INTO wa_data
         WITH CONTROL tc_control
         CURSOR tc_control-current_line.
    MODULE tc_control_get_lines.
ENDLOOP.
PROCESS AFTER INPUT.
LOOP AT IT_DATA.
    CHAIN.
      FIELD WA_DATA-FREPS_N.
      FIELD wa_data-TOEPS_N.
      FIELD wa_data-PRCH_A.
      FIELD wa_data-SRVC_AMT .
      FIELD wa_data-ACCNT_C.
      FIELD wa_data-AMT_D.
      FIELD wa_data-NARR_X.
      FIELD wa_data-CRPRD_N.
      MODULE tc_control_modify ON CHAIN-REQUEST.
    ENDCHAIN.
ENDLOOP.
*Abap program
MODULE TC_CONTROL OUTPUT.
DESCRIBE TABLE it_data LINES tc_control-lines.
ENDMODULE.                 " TC_CONTROL OUTPUT
CONTROLS: TC_CONTROL TYPE TABLEVIEW USING SCREEN 1000,
          TC_CONTROL1 TYPE TABLEVIEW USING SCREEN 1000.
DATA:     G_TC_CONTROLS_LINES LIKE SY-LOOPC,
          G_TC_CONTROLS_LINES1 LIKE SY-LOOPC.
*&      Module tc_control_get_lines OUTPUT
      text
MODULE tc_control_get_lines OUTPUT.
g_tc_controls_lines = sy-loopc.
move-corresponding it_data to wa_data.
ENDMODULE.                 " tc_control_get_lines OUTPUT
MODULE tc_control_modify INPUT.
move-corresponding wa_data to it_data.
MODIFY it_data
    FROM wa_data
    INDEX tc_control-current_line.
append it_data.
clear it_data.
ENDMODULE.                 " tc_control_modify INPUT
Please suggest me any clue.
Thanks in advance
vijay dwivedi

Hi ,
I have understood the problem.
In your ABAP code replace all the occurrrences of wa_data with the structurename.
Use the TABLES keyword to declare the structure .That structure will be same as
reference table of the table control .
Here the structure is SPFLI.
Check the bellow code , it will resolve the issue.
ABAP code - -
program zsdn.
tables spfli. " Declare the structure
data : it_data like table of spfli with header line,
*wa_data TYPE spfli, " commented
w_i type i.
*CONTROLS TC_CONTROL TYPE TABLEVIEW USING SCREEN 100.
controls: tc_control type tableview using screen 1000,
tc_control1 type tableview using screen 1000.
data: g_tc_controls_lines like sy-loopc,
g_tc_controls_lines1 like sy-loopc.
module tc_control output.
describe table it_data lines tc_control-lines.
endmodule. " TC_CONTROL OUTPUT
module tc_control_get_lines output.
g_tc_controls_lines = sy-loopc.
move-corresponding it_data to spfli.
endmodule. " tc_control_get_lines OUTPUT
module tc_control_modify input.
move-corresponding spfli to it_data.
modify it_data
from spfli
index tc_control-current_line.
append it_data.
clear it_data.
endmodule. " tc_control_modify INPUT
module status_0100 output.
set pf-status 'STAT'.
* SET TITLEBAR 'xxx'.
endmodule.                 " STATUS_0100 OUTPUT
module user_command_0100 input.
case sy-ucomm.
    when 'BACK' or 'EXIT' or 'CANCEL'.
      leave to screen 0.
endcase.
endmodule.                 " USER_COMMAND_0100 INPUT
*&      Module POPLATE_TABLE OUTPUT
*       text
module poplate_table output.
if it_data is initial.
    select * from spfli into table it_data.
endif.
endmodule.                 " POPLATE_TABLE OUTPUT
Screen code (Scr no 1000) - -
PROCESS BEFORE OUTPUT.
MODULE status_0100.
MODULE poplate_table.
MODULE tc_control.
LOOP AT it_data WITH CONTROL tc_control CURSOR w_i.
    MODULE tc_control_get_lines.
ENDLOOP.
PROCESS AFTER INPUT.
MODULE user_command_0100.
LOOP AT it_data.
    MODULE tc_control_modify ON CHAIN-REQUEST.
*    ENDCHAIN.
ENDLOOP.
Regards
Pinaki

H.264 mp4 Export Washed Out

I can't seem to export an H.264 video without it being washed out. Lower contrast, lower saturation, very noticeable. As if there's a hidden conversion to rec709 or some such that I can't turn off.
PC
Premiere Pro CC
Exporting from Premiere Pro through Media Encoder to H.264 in an MP4 container.
Video appears the same in VLC, QuickTime, and on Vimeo.
I've looked and looked and all the solutions I've seen relate to H.264 within a MOV container. Nothing I've seen works.
Other codecs play back as expected. Definitely not a driver issue.
This is infuriating. Thoughts?

Tried exporting a 10-bit DNxHD and taking it through DaVinci Resolve, exporting an H.264 (mov) using Data Levels, and it exports and plays correctly. As a test, I ran this file through Media Encoder reconverting to H.264 (mp4) and the result plays correctly (at data levels).
This seems to confirm that Premiere Pro / Media Encoder by default (and without an option to change it) export H.264 with video levels. In a day when web video trumps television, it seems at the very least there would be an option to export using data and not video levels, especially when Vimeo and YouTube both request H.264 files. Am I missing something obvious, or this completely retarded?

Quicktime output washed out

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