ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 4 months ago - Jon Rees

I use Lightworks and I've found their support team to be very responsive. Just thought I'd throw that out there

10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I had a look at the export options, and there are basically none for the free version - I imagine you've a lot more flexibility with the paid one. It's darn cheap for what it is even then!

10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Pretty sure it'll be a gamma issue - it's not just lightworks, it is likely the free codec. Try http://byteful.com/blog/2010/07/how-to-fix-the-h264-gamma-brightness-bug-in-quicktime/ to see if that helps

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

Great minds and all that ... just been trying that this afternoon, but with poor results!

I tried various levels of reducing the gamma. Although that makes the (exported) blacks blacker and retains some of the colour, it actually darkens everything. Haven't been able to find any level that does a reasonable job.

I think reducing the gamma pre-export/ render probably doesn't do what we might logically expect it to. It most probably boils down to the mathematical complexities that you allude to.

The problem, as described in that article, seems to be that H.264 actually adds gamma (brings it to 1.8) and that's what seems to be the cause of the damage.

The solution, again in your article, seems top notch. If the website ever gets up and running I'd want to try and download that plugin. Whether it's then possible to install it in Lightworks is another issue! And, if it can be installed, will the free version of Lightworks allow the user to alter the settings as per the plugin? Again, that's another possible deadlock.

All this polava simply because of a crap codec (or so it seems)!

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

Do you think it might be possible to take the exported H.264 file and pass it through something else, like Handbrake, to convert it to something better? Or is the information no longer present in the exported file?

10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

What codec are you using for export?

10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Colour spaces are mathematical complexities - especially if a video is being compressed. I guess you could try a bodge - darken the video and increase saturation and see how it renders on a test clip??

10 years, 4 months ago - Andrew Morgan

Can't guarantee these'll work (since they're from Sony Vegas) but try this as a correction:

Saturation: 1.164
Gain: 1.164
Offset: -18.6

Are you using Windows or Mac btw? Takashi's x264 encoder is only for the Mac unfortunately (there is a PC version of x264 but it doesn't work the same as that plugin).

10 years, 4 months ago - Marlom Tander

Would it really break your bank to pay 14 quid and then use it for the month? There doesn't seem to be any requirement to commit to a long term contract.

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

Yes, SUPER is good and it's free although, as you say, the information is gone. I've decided that, next time I have footage to edit and colour, I will transcode first. I might use ProRes (which hopefully might still work even though I am using a PC/ Windows) and edit on that. As it will be a much larger file size, with little compression (compared to H.264) it may mean that my final exported file will closely resemble the preview in Lightworks. The only difference, and whether it will really be all that noticable I don't know, will be due (mainly) to downscaling from 1080p to 720p (the only option in the free version of Lightworks).

10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Hi Kyri,

Looked into this, I think the problem is that you only get one real export option now in the free version of Lightworks - youtube 720p. The information is gone, although you can try running it through a transcoder like Sorenson Squeeze or eRightSoft's SUPER which will give you a bit more leeway maybe - not ideal, but might get away with it :)

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

Thanks for the info.

I am using H.264/(MP4), which is the only option for the free version of Lightworks!

The article you've linked to is really informative, albeit way over my head. BTW. the link to "Takashi's site" just gives an Error 404 - Page Not Found, which, if this is a prospective solution, is rather unfortunate!

Not sure what else might be an option...

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

I can alter the gain and saturation but there is no "offset" setting to play with.

I'm using Windows and the 64-bit free version of Lightworks.

The PC version of x264 might still be worth a try, would it not? The only question is, will it be installable in Lightworks and, if it is, can it then be used (in the free version)?

My only export option (in the free version) is an H.264/ MP4 file with all settings pre-set (and clearly very lossy and subject to this horrid gamma shift problem).

Ideally I'd like to figure this out so that when I do have an important project I'll know what to do without having to go through all this time-consuming research again!

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

Of course, I've been trying them since last week but so far they haven't come back with anything. They were my first port of call before then coming to SP a few days later to seek help here also.

10 years, 4 months ago - Kyri Saphiris

It used to be £5 per month but they've just increased it to £14! My footage is only test footage anyway so not really deserving of financial outlay. If the plugin option was available then that might have been worth a shot.

10 years, 4 months ago - Andrew Morgan

The PC version of x264 is a command line executable (although there might be a plugin for it, I've just never seen or used one) - the popular video encoder Handbrake uses it in a more friendly fashion although contrary to other peoples opinions, I've never gotten any results out of it I liked - I use either the Mac plugin (for internet encoding) or the PC command line version for Blu-ray mastering.

Re: LightWorks - if the only export option it offers is H.264/MP4 then I'm afraid additional codecs won't help you - sounds like they locked it down pretty good :(