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Last updated 12/21/2009
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command have been replaced by the Kodak 2383 and Kodak 5218 profiles used with the Simulate Output command.
Proof Colors has been replaced by Output Simulation. If you open an After Effects 7 project that uses DPX Scene and
DPX Theater color profiles in the Color Profile Converter effect, After Effects CS3 or later does not automatically
update these profiles to the new equivalent profiles (Kodak 5218/7218 Printing Density and Kodak 2383 Theater
Preview). Instead, the profiles are listed as Embedded. You can convert your project by manually assigning the new
profiles in After Effects CS3 or later. However, if the same profiles were assigned to the footage or selected in Proof
Colors in After Effects 7, they are automatically updated to the new profiles in After Effects CS3 or later.
Color management tips
Be sure to read the helpful text in the Interpret Footage, Project Settings, and Output Module Settings dialog boxes.
This text helps you to understand the color conversions that will be done as you interpret footage, composite, and
output rendered movies.
Make sure that your work environment provides a consistent light level and color temperature. For example, the color
characteristics of sunlight change throughout the day, which can alter the way colors appear on your screen, so keep
shades closed or work in a windowless room.
Online resources about color management
Trish and Chris Meyer provide an overview of color management in an article on the
For step-by-step instructions on using color management to create movies for the Web, HDTV, motion-picture film,
and other common media, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ae_colormanagementpaper.
For a video tutorial on color management in After Effects, go to the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/vid0260.
For information on color profiles, see the
Charles Poynton provides an excellent set of resources on
terminology.
Calibrate and profile your monitor
When you calibrate your monitor, the profiling utility lets you save a color profile that describes the color behavior of
the monitor. This profile contains information about what colors can be reproduced on the monitor and how the color
values in an image must be converted so that colors are displayed accurately. After Effects and your operating system
can use this information to ensure that the colors that you see on your monitor look like the colors in the output movies
that you create.
Note: Monitor performance changes and declines over time; recalibrate and profile your monitor every month or so. If
you find it difficult or impossible to calibrate your monitor to a standard, it may be too old and faded.
1
Make sure that your monitor has been turned on for at least half an hour, giving it sufficient time to warm up and
produce more consistent output.
Make sure that your monitor is displaying millions of colors (24 bits per pixel) or higher.
2
3
If you do not have profiling software that uses a hardware measuring device, remove colorful background patterns
on your monitor desktop and set your desktop to display neutral grays. Busy patterns or bright colors surrounding
a document interfere with accurate color perception.
International Color Consortium
his website
USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Artbeats
website.
website.
regarding color technology and color
287
Color
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