Video is rendered too bright!

Feldspar wrote on 9/12/2019, 11:57 AM

I've read other posts with the same question, but I tried darkening before rendering, changing gamma, both computer rgb to studio rgb and studio rgb to computer rgb. I put a video into vegas 14.0 and it's first frame looked like this: https://imgur.com/y4kfHmD However, after rendering the video COMPLETELY UNCHANGED (I just put it into vegas and rendered it to test this!) it looked like this: https://imgur.com/ToRAZ6h

Comments

Musicvid wrote on 9/12/2019, 3:03 PM

Yes, your examples are precisely as expected.

Vegas previews RGB levels, not output levels. It is a professional feature, not some kind of "error."

Place the Computer->Studio RGB levels filter on the output buss before rendering and your RGB image will play correctly from your YUV render in a player.

Do not "darken" anything. Do not change "gamma." Do not change compositing mode; it is 8 bit. And please do not expect the two to look the same -- Vegas' preview screen is not a player.

Study. Experiment. Learn. Then download the SEMW extension if you like.

Here's an amusing story:

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

karma17 wrote on 9/13/2019, 4:26 AM

@Feldspar In addition to that excellent comedy of errors article, you might find some interesting articles here too:

http://www.glennchan.info/articles/technical/setup/75IREsetup.html

karma17 wrote on 9/13/2019, 4:29 AM

And this one too.

http://www.glennchan.info/articles/vegas/color-correction/tutorial.htm

Feldspar wrote on 9/17/2019, 3:48 PM

Hello as I said before I am not comparing the rendered video to the preview, I am comparing it to the original video. Also, I tried computer rgb to studio rgb and it didn't work.

Feldspar wrote on 9/17/2019, 3:59 PM

I'm just dropping it in with default settings, though. I am not sure how I should change them.

Musicvid wrote on 9/17/2019, 6:59 PM

Hello as I said before I am not comparing the rendered video to the preview, I am comparing it to the original video. Also, I tried computer rgb to studio rgb and it didn't work.

Then something is out of place in your workflow. Start by posting your file properties.

The levels filters don't "not work." They are bulletproof when applied correctly.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

fr0sty wrote on 9/17/2019, 9:37 PM

Improper color space conversion, possibly? Looks like HDR video looks when you try to display it on SDR screens.

Systems:

Desktop

AMD Ryzen 7 1800x 8 core 16 thread at stock speed

64GB 3000mhz DDR4

Geforce RTX 3090

Windows 10

Laptop:

ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo 32GB (9980HK CPU, RTX 2060 GPU, dual 4K touch screens, main one OLED HDR)

Musicvid wrote on 9/17/2019, 11:13 PM

Looks like a vanilla RGB image to me.

But we won't know until ...

Feldspar wrote on 9/18/2019, 11:50 AM

Hello I followed the guide you linked me and this is the file propereties I got. About what you said about them not "not working", you are correct, but I dont know how to adjust the levels correctly and can't seem to find out (which is 100% my fault)
 

General
Complete name                            : C:\Users\Luis\Downloads\pepapigdestroyscapitalism.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (mp42/mp41)
File size                                : 170 MiB
Duration                                 : 3 min 37 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 6 549 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:46
Tagged date                              : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:50
TIM                                      : 00:00:00:00
TSC                                      : 25
TSZ                                      : 1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=25
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 3 min 37 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 6 224 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 10 000 kb/s
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Standard                                 : PAL
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.270
Stream size                              : 162 MiB (95%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:46
Tagged date                              : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:46
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 3 min 37 s
Source duration                          : 3 min 37 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 317 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 408 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 8.24 MiB (5%)
Source stream size                       : 8.24 MiB (5%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:46
Tagged date                              : UTC 2019-05-04 18:56:46

Musicvid wrote on 9/18/2019, 1:31 PM

Your video is 3+ minutes. Can you upload it to Drive or Dropbox? Not to Youtube.

Really, are you remembering to enable the filter once it's in the chain? This does not happen automatically.

Feldspar wrote on 12/20/2019, 9:52 PM

I'm sorry for taking such a long time to reply, to be honest, I just completely forgot about this...
What do you mean with enable the filter once it's in the chain? I thought I only had to drag and drop it into the track, like I do when I want to use chroma keyer. Also, I don't have that specific example anymore, but I put a static image into vegas and rendered it, this was the result.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11j1ofbn18mb16h/SonyVegas.zip?dl=1

Feldspar wrote on 12/20/2019, 10:04 PM

Also, when a part of the video that I render is completely black (as in no video tracks) it will not be black, it will be gray.

Musicvid wrote on 12/20/2019, 10:23 PM

Also, when a part of the video that I render is completely black (as in no video tracks) it will not be black, it will be gray.

Only in the Vegas preview, unless something else is FUBAR, like you turned Dynamic Contrast On and forgot about it. Do you understand that Vegas preview and your player are supposed to be different?

There are excellent articles linked elsewhere in this thread. When in doubt, refer to them. Happy Holiday!

Marco. wrote on 12/21/2019, 3:41 AM

@Feldspar
I downloaded and tested the PNG and the AVI file you offered above. There is absolutely no difference in color and brightness. If you see a difference, then your player is doing a conversion from limited levels to full levels.

Musicvid wrote on 12/21/2019, 7:44 AM

In that case, and you still see a difference (ignoring Vegas' preview), and with Marco's confirmation, I suggest you set your monitor back to its factory defaults, and remove all enhancements and video / photo compensation.

If you are loading images or AVI onto Vegas' timeline, you need to apply the Computer->Studio RGB Levels filter to the output, just before rendering. This is not optional.

Feldspar wrote on 12/21/2019, 8:17 AM

Wow, I didn't even consider for a second that the problem was with the video player. I tried a different video player and it played correctly... I am sorry for this confusion and thank you all for helping me find the answer.

wwjd wrote on 12/21/2019, 8:25 AM

so, which players are you using and which did what?

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 12/31/2019, 12:01 PM

I've found that another influencing factor for me is the setting I choose in Preferences, Display for the Interface Type. If I set it to Dark, I find my work is rendered more brightly when I view in any player on the same machine. Medium seems best for me.

Personally, I'd prefer some Vegas previewing options so "what I see is what I get" covers a variety of deliverables. Generally I render for NTSC TV for whole shows while song clips from the same footage target YouTube and Vimeo. I can accomplish that to some extent with X-Rite recalibration on 2 different machines that share the same monitor if I calibrate brightness and contrast in the video driver on the second machine. But it would be nice to do it all on one machine with a Vegas preview display offset adjustment, preferably without having to exit and reload.

fr0sty wrote on 12/31/2019, 1:23 PM

I've found that another influencing factor for me is the setting I choose in Preferences, Display for the Interface Type. If I set it to Dark, I find my work is rendered more brightly when I view in any player on the same machine. Medium seems best for me.

This is entirely placebo, the two are not connected in any way, but if you've got some tests to show otherwise, I'm all ears.

Last changed by fr0sty on 12/31/2019, 1:24 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

Systems:

Desktop

AMD Ryzen 7 1800x 8 core 16 thread at stock speed

64GB 3000mhz DDR4

Geforce RTX 3090

Windows 10

Laptop:

ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo 32GB (9980HK CPU, RTX 2060 GPU, dual 4K touch screens, main one OLED HDR)

Musicvid wrote on 12/31/2019, 2:03 PM

I've found that another influencing factor for me is the setting I choose in Preferences, Display for the Interface Type. If I set it to Dark, I find my work is rendered more brightly when I view in any player on the same machine. Medium seems best for me.

Personally, I'd prefer some Vegas previewing options so "what I see is what I get" covers a variety of deliverables. Generally I render for NTSC TV for whole shows while song clips from the same footage target YouTube and Vimeo. I can accomplish that to some extent with X-Rite recalibration on 2 different machines that share the same monitor if I calibrate brightness and contrast in the video driver on the second machine. But it would be nice to do it all on one machine with a Vegas preview display offset adjustment, preferably without having to exit and reload.


@Howard-Vigorita

The free SEMW extensions were made just for you!