Question / Help Colors too dark!
- Thread starter Apex
- Start date
Adrian Schofield
Member
Post a log please, info at top of the forum. If possible link us some before and after videos
Is the log file that obs is giving me really dark colors
compared to this which is when it was working
2017-06-06 23-44-52.txt
2017-06-06 23-44-52.txt
Dang, SumDim with the douche'ish response. If average, non-expert users are supposed to be able to read and analyze the log files, why even ask them to post them? Let's all dig around in the source code while we're at it, too, to solve our problems, instead of asking for support on the support forum.
Apex, judging from the logs, you changed your video encoder from x264 (CPU based) to NVENC (GPU based). Due to known bugs that you can read about on Nvidia's forum, this can make your colors appear too light or too dark, sometimes on a player-by-player basis (VLC especially). As I understand it, it's because the color range is being widened to 'full' in TWO different places. Going from 'Limited' to 'Full' range will make washed out colors darker (yay!) Converting Full to Full, though, will make the image way too dark, with blacks appearing crushed (boo).
If you're checking your video in VLC and the color seems borked, it may not ACTUALLY be borked; you just need to change some settings with the way VLC works with your video card to play back video. I recommend you upload your video to YouTube to see if the color looks good, there.
If the color really IS extra dark and it's not just your video player making it appear that way, you can go into OBS Studio's settings and set the color range to Limited. This will compensate and bring the color back to normal, I believe.
I had this exact same problem when I switched to Nvenc encoding. Colors look fine on Twitch and YouTube, though. I dug around in my driver and VLC settings to fix the dark colors there.
Good luck.
Apex, judging from the logs, you changed your video encoder from x264 (CPU based) to NVENC (GPU based). Due to known bugs that you can read about on Nvidia's forum, this can make your colors appear too light or too dark, sometimes on a player-by-player basis (VLC especially). As I understand it, it's because the color range is being widened to 'full' in TWO different places. Going from 'Limited' to 'Full' range will make washed out colors darker (yay!) Converting Full to Full, though, will make the image way too dark, with blacks appearing crushed (boo).
If you're checking your video in VLC and the color seems borked, it may not ACTUALLY be borked; you just need to change some settings with the way VLC works with your video card to play back video. I recommend you upload your video to YouTube to see if the color looks good, there.
If the color really IS extra dark and it's not just your video player making it appear that way, you can go into OBS Studio's settings and set the color range to Limited. This will compensate and bring the color back to normal, I believe.
I had this exact same problem when I switched to Nvenc encoding. Colors look fine on Twitch and YouTube, though. I dug around in my driver and VLC settings to fix the dark colors there.
Good luck.
If that's too much work for you, Apex, you could also probably resolve the issue by going back to x264 encoding. If you wanna fix VLC or whatever, Google your issue including the term (Nvidia) and (Nvenc), because that's where your problems lie; Nvidia and Nvenc don't get along with some video players, for some reason -- and since a player is where you're checking your videos, it can be hard to know if recordings are good or not.
Ah, i made an account just to reply to this. Okay so i had the exact same issue and was browsing through forums to get a fix, and couldn't find one anywhere i looked.
So my colours were extremely dark, the contrast ratio off the charts, and in most games it just looked awful. The simple solution to this that fixed it for me was going to the Source proterties of whichever source you're streaming or recording, and turning the "Allow Transparency" OFF, this completely fixed it for me and set the colors back to the original.
Try that.
(the Partial/Full color option didn't work, neither did changing from NVENC to x264, btw)
So my colours were extremely dark, the contrast ratio off the charts, and in most games it just looked awful. The simple solution to this that fixed it for me was going to the Source proterties of whichever source you're streaming or recording, and turning the "Allow Transparency" OFF, this completely fixed it for me and set the colors back to the original.
Try that.
(the Partial/Full color option didn't work, neither did changing from NVENC to x264, btw)
Douche response? It has nothing to do with being a non-expert reading log files. It has everything to do with determining WHAT ARE DIFFERENCES between the two log files.
By removing the time stamps in both log files and then running a comparator on it, HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND OUT WHAT THE CHANGES WERE.
LunaGore
Member
Calm down with the caps, your reply came off brash because it explained nothing and only suggested OP to compare the two, if the OP doesn't know what to look for that would cause this sort of issue they wouldn't know what needs to be changed if they saw differences. Vencabot gave a very in-depth response explaining the issue and pointing out the setting that was in fact changed when the OP said they hadn't changed anything.
A change that modifies other settings "unknowingly" are not easy problems to identify. Even worse if there is no documentation.
The only way you can know what setting changes other settings, is to compare the state between one group of settings and the other.
This is the same methodical approach that has to be taken to arrive at the same conclusion that Vencabot reported. That approach could have taken hours, even days to resolve.
It is not unreasonable to ask the customer to compare two log files. In a paid tech support scenario, do you really think it is proper to stay on the telephone billing the customer many hours trying to find out exactly what change they made to cause this problem? If the customer doesn't know exactly what they did, then how does that help the tech support engineer at all? Some of this has to be put on the customer's time to help assist in fixing the problem. It doesn't matter if they are computer illiterate or technically competent, the same method must be used to arrive at a solution.
If Vencabot did not chime in, the Op would have had to take this approach anyway. So it is no way a douche response by any means. It is straight to the point.
The only way you can know what setting changes other settings, is to compare the state between one group of settings and the other.
This is the same methodical approach that has to be taken to arrive at the same conclusion that Vencabot reported. That approach could have taken hours, even days to resolve.
It is not unreasonable to ask the customer to compare two log files. In a paid tech support scenario, do you really think it is proper to stay on the telephone billing the customer many hours trying to find out exactly what change they made to cause this problem? If the customer doesn't know exactly what they did, then how does that help the tech support engineer at all? Some of this has to be put on the customer's time to help assist in fixing the problem. It doesn't matter if they are computer illiterate or technically competent, the same method must be used to arrive at a solution.
If Vencabot did not chime in, the Op would have had to take this approach anyway. So it is no way a douche response by any means. It is straight to the point.
LunaGore
Member
SumDim do you work in tech support? Because I do, and that's EXACTLY what the customer pays for and I've had a lot of them admit they pay us because THEY don't want to do any leg work and want us to resolve it over the line or send someone out to their business to do it for them.
All I was doing is explaining why you were being called a douche, calm down, not everyone is willing to do leg work majority of people who pop on this forums for the first time to post about an issue demand replies ASAP with a solution to their problem.
All I was doing is explaining why you were being called a douche, calm down, not everyone is willing to do leg work majority of people who pop on this forums for the first time to post about an issue demand replies ASAP with a solution to their problem.
Did I do tech support? Yes I did for several years back in the latter 1980s when the PC technology revolution was just starting. I led a tech support department for a Silicon Valley startup that was bought out by Intel. I don't always look at things from a customer standpoint. I also look at it from many different roles that my career took me. I was a former Lead Q/A Engineer, Lead S/W Engineer, Project Manager, and Tech Exec for Silicon Valley startups and well known consumer brand companies.
So you are talking to someone who was very experienced (retired early) in the entire Engineering product life cycle for consumer software and has the experience to speak from all four angles.
So you are talking to someone who was very experienced (retired early) in the entire Engineering product life cycle for consumer software and has the experience to speak from all four angles.
SumDim, please keep it down you are starting to get annoying the only purpose of this "Support Forum" is for all these guys to get help with OBS and settings they have no real clue about and either dont have the time or dont want to invest time, which is totally fine and thats what forums are for.
Also noone really cares about your history and you dont have to brag about it in almost every Post you do, a simple yes or no would be sufficient in most cases.
Keep the Forum clean and try to either solve issues or dont bother trying.
Also noone really cares about your history and you dont have to brag about it in almost every Post you do, a simple yes or no would be sufficient in most cases.
Keep the Forum clean and try to either solve issues or dont bother trying.
Alpinlol, with all due respect, I'll continue to speak my mind and defend myself on here without you or anyone else telling me what I need to do or not do. When someone comes at me calling me a douche, I'm sure as hell going to defend myself son.
That this one post rubbed one person the wrong way should not be reflective on all the hundreds of other people I've helped. I disclosed the above not to impress upon you, but knowing the mindset, experience and approach to getting things solved. If someone doesn't like my approach to problem solving, that's their problem, not mine.
If I annoy you, then don't read my posts. It is rare when I come out and go off topic but when I do, I have a damn good reason to do so. Now lets go solve other people's problems and end this discussion.
That this one post rubbed one person the wrong way should not be reflective on all the hundreds of other people I've helped. I disclosed the above not to impress upon you, but knowing the mindset, experience and approach to getting things solved. If someone doesn't like my approach to problem solving, that's their problem, not mine.
If I annoy you, then don't read my posts. It is rare when I come out and go off topic but when I do, I have a damn good reason to do so. Now lets go solve other people's problems and end this discussion.