Is After Effects changing my C100 footage?

iggy097

iggy097

Well-known member
Ok, so I shot a wedding today with my C100 - in Cinema profile.
Footage looks like it should, slightly washed out, average C log stuff before grading.
Now, I imported a slider shot clip into After Effects to stabalize, and when I looked at it, the clip sure looked different in the preview window, almost like it had already been graded with curves. Thinking maybe it was just the preview window, I rendered it out uncompressed to see, sure enough, the footage is different, like the preview, like it had been curve corrected.
I then took the footage dropped it into Vegas and split the screen so you can see. The uncorrected ( raw ) is on the left, the After Effects ( ungraded, just dropped in and rendered out ) is on the right.
I've also attached my After Effects settings.
Does AE do something funny with Clog stuff?
When viewing it on the card, or on the computer, it looks like it usually does, even after dropping it into Vegas, still has that low contrast look.
Every time I drop Cinema profile stuff into AE is when it happens.
I've even attached the raw C100 footage in the Dropbox if anyone can confirm.
Ideas?
I don't have time to try with any other profile right now, it's late, and I have the 2nd day of the Cambodian ceremony tomorrow.
If someone could take a look that would be awesome.
Side note, I actually really like the "grading" that AE does... odd.

Link to footage in Dropbox - Raw footage - http://db.tt/TEs2uNW0 and side by side - http://db.tt/pXjaB4AK

ss3.jpgss2.jpgss1.jpg
 
I imported your footage, exported an uncompressed QuickTime movie, brought that back into AE (running CS6 on Win8) and compared the two side by side in Windows Media Player. A screen shot showing the before and after would be helpful in determining if I'm seeing what you're seeing, as all the footage looks the same to me.

I work with the C100 in AE all the time but can't offer more insight, as my workflow doesn't involve direct importing of .MTS files into AE (I transcode to PR422 and color-grade in 16bpc color space).
 
Capture.jpg

Shot on the left is rendered out of After FX, shot on the right is right out of the camera.
After FX seems to have added some kind of curves or something.
 
And for the last, Image 1 is raw out of the camera, Image 2 is after it's been through After FX, nothing added. Image1.jpgImage2.jpg
 
I'm guessing Gamma correction, or more accurately different gamma settings being the culprit. I'm not familiar enough with your workflow to suggest a fix as I normally do what atomick does and ProRes everything.
 
Narrowed it down, I believe to something in the color profiles when rendering it out.

- Edit
So, something is going on with importing this C100 footage into AE.
When going into AE - and right clicking footage - Interpret Footage - it shows as Embedded Profile HDTV ( rec.709 ) Y'CbCr.
Not sure if this has anything to do with it. I've tried changing the color settings to almost everything, and it still renders out either lighter or darker than original footage.
Now, if I drop the footage into Vegas first, and render it out of Vegas into an uncompressed AVI as I usually do, THEN AE will correctly render out the clip with no color change.
This leads me to believe that AE is somehow misreading or unable to interpret the footage right out of the camera.
Does that make sense? I have a work around, I just don't know why it works.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top