Quick Time footage washed out ??? at DVinfo.net

Ray Bell · June 22nd, 2008, 01:46 PM

It seems lots of folks that have an EX1 use Apple products, If your footage seems to
be washed out from an improper gama setting while playback using Quick Time here is
a fix I found over at Video Copilot...

Using mp4 or h.264 when compressing through QuickTime can make the final video look washed out. This is a common problem that seemed to have no solution… until now. The gamma shift can actually be fixed inside QuickTime Pro without re-compressing your video by simply changing a few settings.

Scrimski at CGtalk.com posted a good walk-through. Thanks!

SOLUTION: After rendering into a QuickTime/h.264 file, open it up in QuickTime and select “Show Movie Properties.” Highlight the video track then click on the “Visual Settings” tab. Towards the bottom left you should see “Transparency” with a drop-down box next to it. Select “Blend” from the menu then move the “Transparency Level” slider to 100%. Choose “Straight Alpha” from the same drop-down and close the properties window and finally “Save.”

Benjamin Eckstein · June 22nd, 2008, 01:50 PM

I tried that months ago but it never worked. I did just discover, though, through the Apple forum that if you select in QT Properties the color management tab about Final Cut Pro (can't remember exactly) then it makes everything normal. Kind of a pain because I think you only have that option on QT machines with FCP installed, but it made everything look as it does in FCP.

Craig Seeman · June 23rd, 2008, 06:37 AM

When someone says they are "seeing" something they really need to say what they are using to monitor the playback.

Quicktime Preferences General has a tick box
Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility
When enabled the video is not displayed with ColorSync. Source colors are read with 2.2. gamma and are displayed with 1.8 gamma

Paul Joy · June 23rd, 2008, 11:45 AM

Apples handling of the 1.8 vs 2.2 gamma issue is a constant frustration to me too. They assume that apple users will be using a 1.8 Gamma, so change the display in FCP to simulate a 2.2 Gamma. The problem comes when you set your mac to 2.2 Gamma (as I do) because FCP still ups the gamma resulting in wrongly displayed colours.

Enabling the 'Final Cut Studio color compatibility' does make quicktime display video using the same method as FCP, but when you look at that same video on a PC it will look washed out if your mac was set to 2.2 Gamma to begin with.

I get around this to a degree by having one of my monitors set to 1.8 Gamma and the other to 2.2 and always use the 1.8 monitor for colour correcting etc but it seems a real bodge to get around an even bigger bodge on apples part.

Paul.

June 22nd, 2008, 01:46 PM	#1
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Quick Time footage washed out ??? It seems lots of folks that have an EX1 use Apple products, If your footage seems to be washed out from an improper gama setting while playback using Quick Time here is a fix I found over at Video Copilot... Using mp4 or h.264 when compressing through QuickTime can make the final video look washed out. This is a common problem that seemed to have no solution… until now. The gamma shift can actually be fixed inside QuickTime Pro without re-compressing your video by simply changing a few settings. Scrimski at CGtalk.com posted a good walk-through. Thanks! SOLUTION: After rendering into a QuickTime/h.264 file, open it up in QuickTime and select “Show Movie Properties.” Highlight the video track then click on the “Visual Settings” tab. Towards the bottom left you should see “Transparency” with a drop-down box next to it. Select “Blend” from the menu then move the “Transparency Level” slider to 100%. Choose “Straight Alpha” from the same drop-down and close the properties window and finally “Save.”

June 23rd, 2008, 11:45 AM	#4
Paul Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 627	Apples handling of the 1.8 vs 2.2 gamma issue is a constant frustration to me too. They assume that apple users will be using a 1.8 Gamma, so change the display in FCP to simulate a 2.2 Gamma. The problem comes when you set your mac to 2.2 Gamma (as I do) because FCP still ups the gamma resulting in wrongly displayed colours. Enabling the 'Final Cut Studio color compatibility' does make quicktime display video using the same method as FCP, but when you look at that same video on a PC it will look washed out if your mac was set to 2.2 Gamma to begin with. I get around this to a degree by having one of my monitors set to 1.8 Gamma and the other to 2.2 and always use the 1.8 monitor for colour correcting etc but it seems a real bodge to get around an even bigger bodge on apples part. Paul. __________________ Blog: www.pauljoy.com Company: www.videotrader.co.uk

June 22nd, 2008, 01:50 PM	#2
Benjamin Eckstein Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 380 Images: 1	I tried that months ago but it never worked. I did just discover, though, through the Apple forum that if you select in QT Properties the color management tab about Final Cut Pro (can't remember exactly) then it makes everything normal. Kind of a pain because I think you only have that option on QT machines with FCP installed, but it made everything look as it does in FCP.

June 23rd, 2008, 06:37 AM	#3
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	When someone says they are "seeing" something they really need to say what they are using to monitor the playback. Quicktime Preferences General has a tick box Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility When enabled the video is not displayed with ColorSync. Source colors are read with 2.2. gamma and are displayed with 1.8 gamma