Where'd my color go? at DVinfo.net

Jeff Kolada · November 22nd, 2009, 11:55 PM

I'm getting frustrated. I am trying to export a video out for the web, and would like to use h.264 encoding. Problem is I lose a ton of saturation when I do so.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...Picture1-5.jpg

Is this caused by the h.264 codec or am I doing something wrong when I'm exporting? And i'm sure you all know better than me, but what are the best settings for web that will retain the picture quality and color but not be a massive file?

Perrone Ford · November 23rd, 2009, 06:25 AM

One question. Are you on a Mac?

Brett Sherman · November 23rd, 2009, 08:04 AM

It looks to me like a black/white level issue. This can make the colors look unsaturated. What are you using to compress it? It looks to me like the compression program is taking a Quicktime movie with black levels at 16 (and white at 235 - normal for professional video files) straight and converting it to an MP4 with black levels also at 16. For non-professional formats, black should be at 0, white at 255. Good compression programs do this translation automatically. If your compression program has a Contrast filter, you could increase contrast to get the black(and white) levels correct.

Jeff Kolada · November 23rd, 2009, 09:19 AM

Perrone, yes I am on a mac, using FCP.
Thanks Brett, I'll look into that and see what I can figure out.

November 22nd, 2009, 11:55 PM	#1
Jeff Kolada Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 78	Where'd my color go? I'm getting frustrated. I am trying to export a video out for the web, and would like to use h.264 encoding. Problem is I lose a ton of saturation when I do so. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...Picture1-5.jpg Is this caused by the h.264 codec or am I doing something wrong when I'm exporting? And i'm sure you all know better than me, but what are the best settings for web that will retain the picture quality and color but not be a massive file? __________________ Jeff Kolada http://www.jeffkolada.com

November 23rd, 2009, 06:25 AM	#2
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	One question. Are you on a Mac? __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

November 23rd, 2009, 09:19 AM	#4
Jeff Kolada Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 78	Perrone, yes I am on a mac, using FCP. Thanks Brett, I'll look into that and see what I can figure out. __________________ Jeff Kolada http://www.jeffkolada.com

November 23rd, 2009, 08:04 AM	#3
Brett Sherman Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mount Rainier, MD Posts: 428	It looks to me like a black/white level issue. This can make the colors look unsaturated. What are you using to compress it? It looks to me like the compression program is taking a Quicktime movie with black levels at 16 (and white at 235 - normal for professional video files) straight and converting it to an MP4 with black levels also at 16. For non-professional formats, black should be at 0, white at 255. Good compression programs do this translation automatically. If your compression program has a Contrast filter, you could increase contrast to get the black(and white) levels correct.