Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 247)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
242
Color management and color profiles
Color information is communicated using numbers. Because different devices use different methods to record and
display color, the same numbers can be interpreted differently and appear to us as different colors. A color
management system keeps track of all of these different ways of interpreting color and translates between them so
that images can look the same regardless of the device used to display them.
In general, a color profile is a description of a device-specific color space in terms of the transformations required to
convert its color information to a device-independent color space.
In the specific case of working within After Effects, ICC color profiles are used to convert to and from the working
color space in the following general workflow:
1 An input color profile is used to convert each footage item from its color space into the working color space. A
footage item may contain an embedded input color profile, or you can assign the input color profile in the Interpret
Footage dialog box or interpretation rules file.
2 After Effects performs all of its color operations in the working color space. You assign a working color space in
the Project Settings dialog box.
3 Colors are converted from the working color space to the color space of your computer monitor through the
monitor profile. This means that your composition will look identical on two different monitors, as long as the
monitors have been properly profiled. This conversion does not change the data within the composition. You can
choose whether to convert colors for your monitor using the View > Use Display Color Management menu
command.
4 Optionally, After Effects uses a simulation profile to show you on your computer monitor how the composition
will look in its final output form on a different device. You control output simulation for each view through the View
> Simulate Output menu.
5 An output color profile for each output module is used to convert the rendered composition from the working
color space to the color space of the output medium. You choose an output color profile in the Output Module
Settings dialog box.
The file format for color profiles is standardized by the ICC (International Color Consortium), and the files that
contain them usually end with the .icc filename extension. After Effects comes with a large number of color profiles
for color spaces for common (and some not so common) input and output types.
For information on color profiles, see the International Color Consortium website at www.color.org .
After Effects loads color profiles from multiple locations, including the following:
• Mac OS: Library/ColorSync/Profiles
• Windows: WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color
When you create or install new profiles, put them in these folders. You can create a custom ICC profile using Adobe
Photoshop.
When you choose a profile—for input, output, or simulation—you will not see the motion-picture film profiles
unless your footage is Cineon footage or you select Show All Available profiles. If your footage is Cineon footage, you
will see only the motion-picture film profiles, unless you select Show All Available Profiles.The DPX Theater Preview
and DPX Standard Camera profiles provided by After Effects 7 for use with the Proof Colors command have been
replaced by the Kodak 2383 and Kodak 5218 profiles used with the Simulate Output command. Proof Colors has
been replaced by Output Simulation. (See “Simulate how colors will appear on a different output device” on
page 248.) If you open an After Effects 7 project that uses DPX Scene and DPX Theater color profiles in the Color