Color problem from mov source to x264 output (using MeGUI)

[bLusiLv]

i was editing my T2i footage and now have a .mov video AE encoded to photo-jpeg at 100% which i believe is lossless. after that i encoded it to h264 using megui (mp4 container), but ouput video color/contrast lil bit enhanced than the source, which i dont want to happen. i have a bit flatness look in the source which gone in the result. i've been using HQ profile such HQ-slow,slower, and even my own settings with bitrate range from 2000-5000, but the result's color are the same. on avisynth script i didnt touch the default but in the extra setup i deselect everything.
how to maintain the original color/contrast?
for now the only way is to render using mainconcept's h264 directly from AE, which resulting the identical result with my mov, so i set it about the same size and bitrate (sort of) with my megui's outputs but without 2pass.
this is the comparison screens:
source (mov)
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/4349/sourcer.jpg
megui result (x264)
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/5914/afteruz.jpg

[Blue_MiSfit]

This looks like a TV vs PC luma levels issue. Some googlage should reveal the solution.

Also, PhotoJPEG is not remotely lossless - just as a sidenote :)

[Shevach]

Perhaps your JPEG source is in 4:2:2 or even 4:4:4 format while H264 is in 4:2:0.
Therefore some color information is lost.
Another idea is slightly different color spaces in JPEG and H264.

[Dark Shikari]

Perhaps your JPEG source is in 4:2:2 or even 4:4:4 format while H264 is in 4:2:0.
Therefore some color information is lost.The difference is in luma, not chroma. This is a PC<->TV luma levels mismatch.

[bLusiLv]

well, i can fix the color in the player (mpc) by adding this to ffddshow's avisynth script
ColorYUV(levels="PC->TV")
im not using Levels(0,1,255,16,240) bcz its still slightly different. but what i want is the video itself that has the color, not changing the after. i tried encode it with adding ColorYUV(levels="PC->TV") on megui avisynth script. but the result still the same. can i actually do this?

anw, from what i've read here (http://vjforums.com/showthread.php?t=12587) i learned that photoJPEG at 100% is practically lossless..=)

[bLusiLv]

thanks for reffering the issue now i understand about luma but..
im getting confused here..
i will make this one based on quicktime player, bcz if i open with mpc it will have luma issue (normal in quicktime player = ColorYUV(levels="PC->TV") in mpc).
i was matching the color on my AE workspace with the rendered movs viewed in quicktime player. the photojpeg mov slightly different because the gamma issue, but i've fixed it following this tutorial http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2008/06/fix-quicktime-gamma-shift/ then save it as new fixed mov.
and another mov i rendered was using avid dnxhd, the result is identical with the color on my AE without any issue. so right now on my quicktime player the color of
original photojpeg mov not the same as both dnxhd mov and AE.
but,,
fixed photojpeg mov = dnxhd mov = AE = perfect.

but why when i open the fixed photojpeg mov and original mov with media player classic the color is the same, there's none of them look fixed and i dont know how to get the fixed look on mpc. (this open with mpc just for comparison)

so i tried encode using megui again, with the source from the original mov, fixed mov, and dnxhd mov. and i added this avisynth script line
ColorYUV(levels="PC->TV")
to fix luma issue caused by encoding.
and the results, i opened them (mp4 x264) in quickime player, all are the same. its like the original photojpeg mov encodes which having gamma shift issues but if i fix them, the color will identical to the AE.

i really confused now since i dont know how to achieve the "fixed gamma shift" looks after encode. what did i do wrong?

anw, from what i've read here
http://vjforums.com/showthread.php?t=12587
photoJPEG at 100% is practically lossless..:rolleyes:

[Yellow_]

Can you be a bit clearer in your workflow. There is a lot in your post that is just going to screw your full range luma in the Canon files whether thats in playback or encoding it's all going to confuse what is a simple issue.

QT Player = bad

Canon MOV to DNxHD = bad

AE pre CS5 handling of YCbCr video = bad

Canon MOV's to Image Sequences with anything other than AVISynth = bad

QTInput AVISynth Plugin = bad (with Canon for full range luma flag on)