Obviously taste is important. There is "right" and "wrong" if you have to meet levels specs for a broadcaster for example, but not for YouTube stuff. @NickHope

"But not for Youtube stuff" does that mean Levels doesnt matter for Youtube projects?, also @wwjd how do i get 16 - 235?

It matters but they'll publish whatever levels you upload.

@NickHope i also tried the preset and the sun shining on some footage looked really "bright, shiny, golden" like it was stinging my eyes but it looked real beautiful on the darker areas

So knock down the highlights a bit then, on those brighter clips or on all of them, by increasing the input end back to 1.000 or whatever. Or use different FX settings per event, rather than per track. The highlights clip on YouTube playback* (i.e. "blow out" to just white, with no detail) when the luminance goes past 235 on the histogram, or 100 on the waveform (if you have it set as I described above). As said previously, you may want to let specular reflections (e.g. reflection of the sun on water) go past 235, but in clouds for example, you or more likely to want to retain the detail by keeping them under 235.

*In most playback scenarios

Ive got my levels set to 16 - 235 by using the com to stud rgb, now im fiddling with your settings, it is a pretty dark game so that brightness in the dark is really good, ay cheers buddy :)

I feel like this fits the scenes quite nice, its got a little little dark element and the brights are fab, got some saturation to light the scene...maybe this is my preset for Youtube, maybe ill have to tinker a little more

Another way of doing it:

- Set Pixel format to 8 bit (if footage is 8 bit)

- Adjust levels from studio RGB to computer RGB, like this:

- Grade in full screen:

Done. It'll match YouTube now...:)

Another way of doing it:

- Set Pixel format to 8 bit (if footage is 8 bit)

- Adjust levels from studio RGB to computer RGB, like this:

- Grade in full screen:

Done. It'll match YouTube now...:)

I do have my projects in 8 bit, so @adis-a3097 all i need to do is enable that check mark in the settings then i wont need to add a levels to match youtube?

Here's another look. It's something no one learns overnight.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/pc-to-tv-levels-a-comedy-of-errors--107325/

@Musicvid that was a explanation i understood, so your saying 16 - 235 is good as it fits most playback options universally and adjust the bright and darker areas to taste?, i believe that the 16 - 235 shirley looks awesome in my opinion

I'm not sure you're understanding the basics. Find a greyscale image that shows 0-255 shades, put it in a vegas project look at it on your computer you should see detail in blacks below 16 and in whites above 235, now render using 16-235 studio rgb conversion and upload to youtube. The video on your computer and on youtube should have the same grey levels because the YT video player expands the brightness levels back out to 0-255

Another way of doing it:

- Set Pixel format to 8 bit (if footage is 8 bit)

- Adjust levels from studio RGB to computer RGB, like this:

- Grade in full screen:

Done. It'll match YouTube now...:)

I do have my projects in 8 bit, so @adis-a3097 all i need to do is enable that check mark in the settings then i wont need to add a levels to match youtube?

Yes.

The thing is that Vegas normally doesn't do what your average video player or browser player does (making things more contrasty by clipping the range above 235, and truncating it under 16), so if you make Vegas do that while you grade, you won't have to use "Levels" plugin to simulate. And it works only in full screen. You can check it: normal preview - washed out, full screen preview - contrasty.

Good luck! :)

What i do now is i put the FX "broadcast colors" on the out put of the preview window so it does the fx after everything then i add my saturation and corrections, i learned of this technique from a awesome guy Movie Zen and it works out really really good

does Broadcast Colors cruelly CLIP the blacks and whites? I found that annoying to grade with, thus the AAV COLORLAB http://aav6cc.blogspot.com/ one button 16-235 and it gently keeps everything tween there - unless you get crazy. One other slider lets you grab center and brighten or darken everything at once.

https://bayimg.com/EApLHAabG

does Broadcast Colors cruelly CLIP the blacks and whites? I found that annoying to grade with, thus the AAV COLORLAB http://aav6cc.blogspot.com/ one button 16-235 and it gently keeps everything tween there - unless you get crazy. One other slider lets you grab center and brighten or darken everything at once.

https://bayimg.com/EApLHAabG

 

Well, anything found in "illegal range" gets "cruelly" clipped by your video player or browser player anyways. So, you won't notice "Broadcast Colors" do it's thing if you make Vegas show only the 16-235 range. Plus, there's that "Smoothness" slider in "Broadcast Colors".

WYSIWYG...:)

All i know is that a guy said on a Youtube video that "broadcast colors" keeps the video 16 235, if put on the preset "extreme consecutive" instead of using levels

There are differences, and to see them, use the Video Scopes (histogram). Broadcast Colors are a legacy from analog days. Whether one clips or tapers the endpoints is a matter of personal taste. Some networks are less picky about chroma slop than others.

Applying the Computer->Studio RGB filter at the output guarantees legal output, without introducing (additional) clipping.