Add full support for Rec. 2100 (PQ)

[Desolation]

I noticed my videos don’t look good in sRGB, could we please get full HDR support? I noticed in the road map that you are adding SMPTE 2084 PQ HDR, but I would like to request that full HDR support is implemented.

Some of us simply want to upload high quality videos and some applications just don’t look good in sRGB. When I did export, I noticed some artifacting and such when I exported Rec. 2100 (PQ). I don’t really care for color correcting or such, I just wanna be able to export high quality videos that look exactly what I’m seeing rather than the washed out sRGB that OBS is showing.

[shotcut]

You can already do it if your source is HDR and do not need preview. In Export, start with a 10-bit preset, then in the Other tab change/add:

mlt_image_format=yuv420p10
colorspace=2020
color_trc=smpte2084

You also need to avoid certain effects before version 25.12: track compositing/blending, transitions, filters without the #10bit tag. With 25.12 you can use a 10-bit processing mode and do track blending as well as transitions, and there are many more 10-bit safe filters.

With the x265-based HEVC preset, you can add metadata:
x265-params=master-display=G(8500,39850)B(6550,2300)R(35400,14600)WP(15635,16450)L(10000000,50):max-cll=1000,300

You should get the exact values from the source.

For more simplicity and external HLG HDR preview see

Editing HDR Source Clips

Introduction Some users report that their clip looks “washed out” or “pale” in Shotcut compared to media players. This is often because the clip is encoded as High Dynamic Range (HDR). Shotcut has very limited support for editing HDR, and most users do not want to bother with HDR output. So, HDR clips can be converted to SDR that Shotcut can edit. Identifying HDR Clips To identify HDR clips in Shotcut, open the clip and view the Properties panel. In the properties panel, look for the “Color t…

HDR export options are not explicit in the UI until embedded preview works because without that, there will be confusion and bug reports. And I have not been able to figure out how to get embedded HDR preview working with the current software architecture of the app.

[Desolation]

I’m gonna be honest, I’m a complete noob when it comes to video editing. I’m not a professional, so most of this is going over my head, but I’m trying to understand. [Edit: I shouldn’t say complete noob. I know how to click the basic stuff, edit the volume, and do simple stuff that normal users can do. Like cutting up clips, deleting cuts, merging, a little bit of sound level adjustment using the gain, clicking on the format in the export. I leave the presets alone because I have no clue what that is and anything further than that simple stuff is nothing I been taught. I am slowly learning as I enjoy making videos that I want to make.]

@shotcut

With the x265-based HEVC preset

I do not see this in the export presets. Can you use the exact name for the export presets please?

@shotcut

you can add metadata:
x265-params=master-display=G(8500,39850)B(6550,2300)R(35400,14600)WP(15635,16450)L(10000000,50):max-cll=1000,300

I just add a new line and copy/paste, correct? I’d be using whatever OBS uses for Rec 2100 (PQ)

@shotcut

You should get the exact values from the source.

Click on the source tab and then what to click on?

@shotcut

For more simplicity and external HLG HDR preview see

I have no clue what this is. You lost me.

[shotcut]

@Desolation

Can you use the exact name for the export presets please?

It means ten_bit > HEVC Main 10 Profile and the x265 reference means turn off Export > Use hardware encoder. You can use the hardware encoder, but it will not include the HDR10 metadata. Without the metadata, the player or transcoder will usually make a sensible default assumption, probably the close to what I suggested.

Click on the source tab and then what to click on?

The info is not available in Shotcut. You can get a popular free, open source tool called MediaInfo. For a PQ HDR10 sample that I have it shows:

Mastering display color primaries        : Display P3
Mastering display luminance              : min: 0.0000 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2
Maximum Content Light Level              : 1000 cd/m2
Maximum Frame-Average Light Level        : 640 cd/m2

To be honest, I do not know how to convert the mastering display values. The ones I showed are for BT.2020, but P3 is common in the film industry.

However, the max-cll=1000,300 I gave is easier to adjust from the above output. cll = Content Light Level, and the second value (300) is the Frame -Average Light Level. From that MediaInfo output, one would use max-cll=1000,640.

As you can see PQ HDR10 is a bit complicated, because it is considered “absolute” and needs this metadata. But HLG HDR, which I usually work with, is relative and does not.

I have no clue what this is. You lost me.

Shotcut cannot show HDR video as HDR within its window. The only HDR preview Shotcut offers today is through a Blackmagic Design hardware device with model names “DeckLink” or “UltraStudio.” And with that I only have working the other popular HDR format: HLG (as shot by Apple iPhone and GoPro HERO13 Black, for examples). But, like I said, you can edit PQ HDR10 as described above.