Learn how to configure sequence color management in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Each sequence’s color settings enable you to customize color management to meet your needs. Each sequence can have different color management settings for different deliverables. For example, you can duplicate a sequence you’ve adjusted the color of and change the Output Color Space of the duplicate to change the output format to create another deliverable. A common example of this is when grading an HDR version of a program, then duplicating it and setting the output color space to Rec. 709 to create a down-converted version.
When you make a new sequence by default it’s set to Broadcast 709 (SDR) color setup preset, and the Output Color Space defaults to Rec.709. If you want to work differently, changing presets is the easiest way to reconfigure a sequence’s color management settings for other workflows.
To change color setup presets for a new or existing sequence, do the following:
Get started by doing one of the following:
When creating new sequences, open the Color tab of the New Sequence dialog.
For existing sequences, select the sequence, choose Sequence > Sequence Settings, and then open the Color tab of the New Sequence dialog.
Choose an option from the Color setup menu:
Direct 709 (SDR)—The default; intended for mainly SDR workflows using a Rec.709 SDR working color space outputting to Rec.709, allowing SDR media to pass through while wide gamut camera raw and log-encoded sources are tone mapped and gamut compressed on input.
Direct HDR (HLG)—Intended for broadcast workflows using a Rec.2020 HDR (HLG) working color space outputting to Rec.2020 HDR (HLG), allowing HLG media to pass through while other wide gamut media is tone mapped and gamut compressed on input.
Direct PQ (HDR)—Intended for broadcast workflows using a Rec.2020 HDR (PQ) working color space outputting to Rec.2020 HDR (PQ), allowing HDR PQ media to pass through while other wide gamut media is tone mapped and gamut compressed on input.
Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped)—A wide gamut working space that preserves maximum image data when importing wide gamut camera raw and log encoded sources, HDR sources, and SDR sources. Great for creative grading.
Wide Gamut (Minimal Tone Mapping)—Converts SDR and wide gamut media to a shared high-quality working space, with output tone mapping designed to preserve the shadows, mid-tones, and low highlights of both SDR and wide gamut media, while tone mapping the upper highlights.
Wide Gamut (No Tone Mapping)—Intended for a straight conversion of SDR and wide gamut media to a shared high-quality working space, with no tone mapping or gamut compression to alter the highlights. Any part of the video signal above the Output Peak Luminance will be clipped.
Disable Color Management—Disables both the automated input to working color space conversion, and the automated working to output color space conversion, allowing you to work completely manually using LUTs and color adjustment effects.
When you choose a preset, the Output Color Space is automatically set to the default for that preset, but you can change it now if necessary to match your monitor and workflow.
Select OK.
The use of output tone mapping, as configured in the Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped) preset, can have the effect of slightly darkening SDR media that’s being converted to a wide gamut working color space. This isn’t a problem for camera original SDR media that needs to have its color adjusted anyway, keeping in mind that all color adjustments happen before the output tone mapping is applied, so you’re always adjusting the source levels. However, it can be a problem for mastered SDR media that’s been previously graded, which now looks different. Be aware this issue can be minimized using the Wide Gamut (Minimal Tone Mapping) preset, which limits tone mapping to only the highlights of SDR clips, and has the added benefit of tone mapping out-of-gamut highlights.
Creating your own custom color management workflow using the Advanced controls — The available Color Management options should work for most projects. Still, if you have a specific workflow, these settings let you customize how color management works for a particular sequence.
If you have questions about color management in Premiere Pro, reach out to us in our Premiere Pro community. We would love to help.
