DNxHD QuickTimes (and QuickTime movie info in general)

S

sean90291

Veteran
First question: Is there any way to find out what flavor of DNxHD was used to create a DNxHD QuickTime file? I have various QuickTime movies, and I'm curious whether they were created with DNxHD 10-bit or not. And whether they were created using RGB or 709 color. Etc. But the movie properties in QuickTime just identifies all flavors as DNxHD without additional information (they might be DNxHD 36 or they might be DNxHD 175X, who knows!).

Second question: when importing a QuickTime file into Avid for final output to the web or DVD (not broadcast), should I import as RGB or as 601/709? I did a test and the 601/709 imports are darker/higher contrast, while the RGB ones appear to be lower contrast. These are un-color-corrected files, so I can add contrast and saturation later. However, I'm curious what I should be starting with: the RGB import option, or the 601/709 import option. Does it make a difference which color space the original QuickTime was created in? And if so, I have to circle back to my first question: how do I find out what color space was used for the original QuickTime, etc.
 
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If you import "as source" then Avid won't change what the codec format is and you will be able to tell once imported what the data rate is. As far as RGB or 609/701 it depends on how the originating program rendered. Selecting 601/709 does not touch the values as it assumes you know what they are. RGB will adjust to 601/709 so any black and white values that are not legal will get adjusted. So a 0RGB to 255RGB will become 16RGB to 235RGB which is what is expected of digital television (SMPTE).

If you are doing web only, then bring in with the 601/709 setting since the blacks are probably 0 which is fine for web.



Michael
 
MichaelP rocks. Thanks mate. I finally get it!


When you say choose "as source," do you mean in the Media Creation options, I ensure that the Same as Source box is checked for Render settings? I can't find any other "as source" option.

s.
 
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The dialog pops up when you do the import and if the project settings are different than what it sees in the file.

Michael
 
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