Hi!
Yep, still after years with Vegas Pro 10 I'm asking the same question! :) I'm still unable to wrap my head around this problem and would like to try and make sense of it to myself once and for all!
I've created a workflow that works with DVD and web based video delivery but lately I've had to deliver videos to be transferred to Digibeta and Blu-Ray. But let me explain my workflow as it stands now:
1) I bring my footage (Red One or Panasonic GH1) to Vegas Pro 10
2) I color correct
3) I render to WMV and upload to Vimeo and Youtube
(This is very simple so I use this for all my personal projects)
or
1) I bring my footage (Red One or Panasonic GH1) to Vegas Pro 10.
2) I color correct and apply Sony Levels FX with computerRGB to Studio RGB preset
3) I render to AVC or MP4 / Mpeg2 and upload to Vimeo or Youtube / or burn a DVD
(This method is I use if I need to provide a client who uses a Mac or needs a DVD)
So this works and I get the results I'm after. Now my problem is that I still don't fully understand what I'm doing. I've read the Glenn Chann tutorial about 100 times all the way through but it's just not clicking for me. Partly because english is not my mother language but also there's a few fundamentals that I'm not fully understanding. So! The questions:
A) How do I find out what codec decodes to which color space? Do I take the footage to Vegas and look at the histogram. If it goes below 16 and above 235 I can say "this is cRGB?" If not I can safely assume it's sRGB?
B) The codec doesn't always decode the same way right? If I play it in Quicktime Player or if I put into Vegas it can look different, so does this mean the player/NLE has a setting for how it decodes the color space? Or is this random?
C) But even if it doesn't always decode the same way it still fundamentally is in the same color code no matter what? The player/NLE just decodes it wrong or correctly and this is something one just needs to know?
D) Do I really need to know how my client will be using the file I'm going to provide to him? I've sent files to TV stations and they've been broadcast in the wrong color space. I want to learn to make sure this doesnt happen because of what I've done.
E) An example: I need to send a Quicktime file with DXnHD codec to a client. Original footage was shot with Red One camera. Workflow: R3D files imported to Vegas Pro 10. Color corrected. Rendered out to Quicktime DXnHD. The rendered file looks good viewed with quicktime player and it looks the same if I import the rendered file back to Vegas. The files look like they are all in cRGB mode, blacks go below 16 when I look at the Vegas histogram and whites go above 235.
What can I expect if the client decides to put it in a Mac NLE and put to Digibeta for screening. How about if they decide that they're just gonna render it to a DVD and project it from that? How do I take this into account?
Phew. You guys have helped me so much throughtout the years it's unbelievable, I aks your help once more! What I would really appreaciate is to go through this step by step if anyone has the patience for that :) I need to understand things bit by bit and once I understand a few fundamentals I'm sure the big picture will reveal itself to me!
Thank you!
Sami
Yep, still after years with Vegas Pro 10 I'm asking the same question! :) I'm still unable to wrap my head around this problem and would like to try and make sense of it to myself once and for all!
I've created a workflow that works with DVD and web based video delivery but lately I've had to deliver videos to be transferred to Digibeta and Blu-Ray. But let me explain my workflow as it stands now:
1) I bring my footage (Red One or Panasonic GH1) to Vegas Pro 10
2) I color correct
3) I render to WMV and upload to Vimeo and Youtube
(This is very simple so I use this for all my personal projects)
or
1) I bring my footage (Red One or Panasonic GH1) to Vegas Pro 10.
2) I color correct and apply Sony Levels FX with computerRGB to Studio RGB preset
3) I render to AVC or MP4 / Mpeg2 and upload to Vimeo or Youtube / or burn a DVD
(This method is I use if I need to provide a client who uses a Mac or needs a DVD)
So this works and I get the results I'm after. Now my problem is that I still don't fully understand what I'm doing. I've read the Glenn Chann tutorial about 100 times all the way through but it's just not clicking for me. Partly because english is not my mother language but also there's a few fundamentals that I'm not fully understanding. So! The questions:
A) How do I find out what codec decodes to which color space? Do I take the footage to Vegas and look at the histogram. If it goes below 16 and above 235 I can say "this is cRGB?" If not I can safely assume it's sRGB?
B) The codec doesn't always decode the same way right? If I play it in Quicktime Player or if I put into Vegas it can look different, so does this mean the player/NLE has a setting for how it decodes the color space? Or is this random?
C) But even if it doesn't always decode the same way it still fundamentally is in the same color code no matter what? The player/NLE just decodes it wrong or correctly and this is something one just needs to know?
D) Do I really need to know how my client will be using the file I'm going to provide to him? I've sent files to TV stations and they've been broadcast in the wrong color space. I want to learn to make sure this doesnt happen because of what I've done.
E) An example: I need to send a Quicktime file with DXnHD codec to a client. Original footage was shot with Red One camera. Workflow: R3D files imported to Vegas Pro 10. Color corrected. Rendered out to Quicktime DXnHD. The rendered file looks good viewed with quicktime player and it looks the same if I import the rendered file back to Vegas. The files look like they are all in cRGB mode, blacks go below 16 when I look at the Vegas histogram and whites go above 235.
What can I expect if the client decides to put it in a Mac NLE and put to Digibeta for screening. How about if they decide that they're just gonna render it to a DVD and project it from that? How do I take this into account?
Phew. You guys have helped me so much throughtout the years it's unbelievable, I aks your help once more! What I would really appreaciate is to go through this step by step if anyone has the patience for that :) I need to understand things bit by bit and once I understand a few fundamentals I'm sure the big picture will reveal itself to me!
Thank you!
Sami