Coming from Linux to Mac, experiencing dramatic color shifts on rec709 exports

[andruFreebz]

Hi, 

Recently pivoted our workflow to be apple-based after a few years of working exclusively in linux environments.

When exporting the timeline for say, a 422 master, I'm noticing my old workflow of tagging everything video/colormetric via a view transform to rec709 is producing much different results than expected. 

When that .mov is read into flame it looks 1:1 like the timeline color-wise. When viewed anywhere else it is significantly less saturated.  

From what I've gathered it seems like there is some things going on behind the scenes via apple for color management, though I can't seem to find this exact issue recreated anywhere. It seems like more than a gamma shift. The output looks closer to viewing rec2020 transform on the timeline than rec709. 

Is there a workflow to recreate 1:1 what clients would see in suite in a viewable for web? 

[abraham.borbujo]

Hi @andruFreebz,

Probably, you are experiencing the ColorSync issue due to the Apple tagging policies.

Please, check the next articles, in case that could be helpful for you:

Color shifts or appears darker when importing an Apple ProRes clip into Flame

The color tagging of 1-2-1 is not maintained when recompressing any exported QuickTime files from Fl...

Apple ColorSync Compatibility Mode (QuickTime export)

https://www.thepostprocess.com/2020/03/16/color-shift-fixes-from-davinci-resolve-to-mac-displays/

Best Regards,

Abraham

[andruFreebz]

Hi, thanks for sharing this. 

It is helpful to understand what Apple is doing. 

It seems then like this is the purpose of the 'colorsync' option on export, though that option doesn't seem to have an affect on any quicktime deliverables on my end.

Is there a workflow to recreate this tagging trick from Resolve in Flame? 

[abraham.borbujo]

Hi @andruFreebz,

Thanks for your answer.

I think you can find a similar workflow like the Resolve one the article The color tagging of 1-2-1 is not maintained when recompressing any exported QuickTime files from Fl...

Please, check the software AMCDXVideoPatcher that can be useful to check and even modify the metadata tags.

You really want to decide if the target of your files is the Apple ecosystem with Colorsync compatibility or any other broadcast or multimedia systems.

Please, let me know if that helped.

Regards,

Abraham