Quicktime and gamma in non-color-managed projects – Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Color
Last updated 12/21/2009
Color profiles are said to be scene-referred if their tone-response curves are based on the conditions in the typical scene.
Color profiles are said to be output-referred if their tone-response curves are based on the conditions in the typical
viewing environment.
By default when you use color management, After Effects automatically adjusts the contrast of images when converting
between scene-referred color profiles and output-referred color profiles. This automatic conversion is based on the
gamma values specified in the HDTV video standard.
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To disable this automatic color transformation, deselect Compensate For Scene-referred Profiles in the Project
Settings dialog box (File > Project Settings).
The Compensate For Scene-referred Profiles feature also exists in Adobe Photoshop CS4, but this feature does not exist
in other applications. To match the colors in other applications—including After Effects CS3 and earlier—disable this
automatic conversion. When you open a project created in After Effects CS3 or earlier, the Compensate For Scene-
referred Profiles option is deselected.
Each instance of the Color Profile Converter effect can also be set to either compensate for scene-referred profiles, not
compensate for scene-referred profiles, or use the setting indicated by the project’s Compensate For Scene-referred
Profiles option. (See “
Color Profile Converter effect
For an in-depth description of the automatic compensation for scene-referred profiles, see the Adobe website:
For additional information about the compensation for scene-referred profiles, see
Trish and Chris Meyer provide an article on the
regarding scene-referred and display-referred color profiles.
QuickTime and gamma in non-color-managed projects
After Effects 7.0 and earlier used QuickTime codecs to decode several kinds of media, and the gamma adjustments
performed by QuickTime on Windows were different from the gamma adjustments performed on Mac OS. The
gamma adjustments performed by After Effects CS3 and later differ from the gamma adjustments performed by these
QuickTime codecs. Gamma adjustments performed by After Effects CS3 and later on Windows are the same as gamma
adjustments performed by After Effects CS3 and later on Mac OS. Also, by not using QuickTime codecs, After Effects
preserves over-range values in 32-bpc projects.
Select Match Legacy After Effects QuickTime Gamma Adjustments in the Project Settings dialog box to accomplish
any of the following:
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Avoid color shifts when working with projects created in After Effects 7.0 or earlier
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Match the colors in a project created in After Effects 7.0 or earlier
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Ensure that colors in the Composition panel match colors in QuickTime player
The Match Legacy After Effects QuickTime Gamma Adjustments option is selected by default for projects created in
After Effects 7.0 or earlier. You should create new projects without this option selected.
For information on issues related to QuickTime Player and gamma adjustments, go to the Adobe website at
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