Color levels in exporting...?

petelms

petelms

Well-known member
Hi, Avid users.

I'm exporting a quicktime reference from Avid Composer to Premiere. This is letterboxed 576p-project.

Please, could someone explain to me which one should I choose from color levels and why? RGB or 601/709? What does these mean? I can see that when I export those quicktime references into the Premiere...sometimes they are darker...what is the right option? :huh:

Also, should I use Avid DV Codec also?

Is the Quicktime reference the best way to export from Avid to Premiere?

2enby1z.jpg


Thank you.
 
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SMPTE Digital Standards are 16RGB - 235RGB while graphics and film are from 0RGB - 255RGB. Exporting as RGB will take your 16-235 range and stretch it to 0-255 which is why you see it get darker. It is also getting lighter in the highlights.

This is because some MPEG2 encoders expect 0-255 and as they compress, they also reduce the range to 16-235 - if you give it an already 16-235 sequence, it will lift the blacks anyway washing them out. Some encoders are already aware of the 16-235 range and will encode accordingly.

For example, if you do a color correction in the Avid for television, you can export as RGB for a film out when exporting sequential TIFFs. It will stretch the image across the whole range to be correct.

If you are using DV, you can use the Avid codec for the other apps to use for decoding.


Michael
 
Thanks, Michael!

So, if I understood your text right, the 601/709 is the right choice for me if I want to edit that footage later in Premiere...? Am I right?

But the thing is that when I import that quicktime reference in Premiere (601/709), it doesn't look as black as it should compared to the other miniDV footage that I have also in that project. I can see the black bars of the letterboxing are not as black as they should. :huh: What I am doing wrong? :huh: Damn, I'm so lost.

God dammet, I have been testing for so long now...tried to burn DVDs and see how it looks on TV...

Thank you.
 
the reason you see your bar is because your black level is at 16. if you want your blacks to be black then they need to be back down to 0.
 
Yep. So, how can I do this in premiere? I know this is Avid-forum. :beer: I guess by using levels, but how do I know it's exactly back down to 0?
 
Just FYI.
Additionaly it also depends on your source footage, If its digital camera originated you will often have values above 235. (in legacy terms its is called super white). This will get clipped in the RGB export but in your case its probably not a worry.
 
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