Hey everyone, I'm Jess Libby, a Motion Designer and Art Director.
The digital world of color can be complex, but mastering color depth will empower you to make informed decisions for your projects.
Understanding color depth and bit depth
So, what exactly is color depth and how do we determine the best one to use?
Color depth, also known as bit depth, is the amount of color information stored in each pixel per channel.
In 8-bit, each channel can hold 256 shades.
That gives us 16.7 million colors, which is plenty for most users, while 16-bit gives each channel 65,536 levels of color.
That's an increase to 281 trillion colors.
Working with 8-bit color depth and banding
Let's take a closer look at 8-bit color depth.
This is the standard color depth for most videos.
It works great for web content and social media.
However, you might hit some limitations when you start adjusting the exposure or working with gradients.
Open the After Effects project supplied to follow along.
The project should open up to the 01_AE Color Depth composition.
This composition is built with many gradients and glows.
Notice how the transitions between these gradients are getting the stepping effect.
This is what we call banding.
It's a visual artifact that appears as distinct, visible bands of color, and it can be a common issue when working with 8-bit color depth.
This color depth doesn't have enough information to handle the subtle color shifts.
Let's update the working color depth from 8-bit to 16-bit.
Switching to 16-bit color depth for smoother gradients
To do this, hold Alt and click on the box that says 8 bpc at the bottom of the Project panel.
This will update the working space to a 16-bit color depth.
Now take a look at the gradients.
There's no banding anymore because of the additional color information.
Remember we now have trillions of colors, we have a much smoother transition.
This gives us richer, more accurate colors.
Let's tweak the levels further.
Click on the adjustment layer name Levels - ADJUST ME and open the Effect Controls panel to tweak the levels.
Take a look on the left.
When I push the levels in 8-bit, the banding is even more pronounced, but on the right in 16-bit, it still looks good even with heavy adjustments.
Working in 16-bit color depth opens up a world of possibilities, offering more flexibility and color fidelity.
Even if the footage or final output is 8-, 10- or 12-bit, you can still benefit from the richness and accuracy of a 16-bit color depth.
Choosing color depth settings when rendering
Speaking of output, let's discuss color depth when rendering.
Go to Composition, Add to Render Queue, click on the Output Module Under Format, open the dropdown and select QuickTime.
Next click Format Options... and navigate to Apple ProRes 422 HQ.
Click OK.
Under Depth you'll see we have Millions of Colors selected.
If you remember, earlier in this video, I mentioned 16-bit color depth will give us trillions of colors.
In order to get Trillions of Colors, click on the dropdown and select it.
Something important to know is that the ProRes 422 codec is limited to a 10-bit color depth.
Selecting Trillions of Colors will allow us to take advantage of this codec's maximum color depth.
If it's important to retain all 16-bits, say for further production or archiving, you can look at image sequences like OpenEXR Sequence or the Apple ProRes 4444 XQ codec.
Even if the final delivery is limited to 10-bits, a working color space of 16 can still make a difference.
Let me show you an example.
Open the composition called 02_Comparison.
Comparing 8-bit and 16-bit results and best use cases
We have two H.264 mp4 clips exported from this project with the depth of millions of colors.
The top one, titled AE Color Depth_8.mp4, was exported from a working space with an 8-bit color depth.
As expected, you can see the stepping and some compression artifacting.
Let's hide this layer by clicking on the Eye icon to the left.
Now you'll see an example exported with the same settings from a 16-bit working space.
Do you see how much better the gradients look?
Having a higher color depth before rendering gives a much better result after compression, and these two files are about the same in size.
Use 8-bit for quick turnaround projects, flat motion graphics or web videos where color finesse is less critical.
Consider 16-bit when you want more control for color grading or working on feature films, VFX-heavy shots, or gradient-heavy motion graphics.
The color precision will give your videos smoother gradients and preserve subtle hues and details that might get lost in 8-bit.
You can continue exploring how changing the color depth affects the compositions in the provided After Effects file.
I also encourage you to try changing the color depth in your own projects, to see if there are any visual differences.
What you’ll learn
Color depth
Color depth, also known as bit depth, refers to the amount of color information stored in each pixel. A higher color depth provides more available colors and a more accurate color representation in your videos but also increases file size.
8-bit color depth
8-bit is the standard color depth for most videos, such as flat motion graphics and web videos. However, when working with certain effects, like gradients, you may need a higher color depth to avoid banding and achieve smoother transitions.
16-bit color depth
16-bit color increases the color information in each pixel from millions to trillions, reducing visible imperfections like banding. However, it also significantly increases file size. This color depth is ideal when you need greater flexibility or higher color fidelity.
You can control how Adobe websites use cookies and similar technologies by making choices below. But note that if you disable cookies and similar technologies entirely, Adobe websites may not function properly.
Cookies are small text files stored by your web browser when you use websites. There are also other technologies that can be used for similar purposes like HTML5 Local Storage and local shared objects, web beacons, and embedded scripts. These technologies help us do things like remembering you and your preferences when you return to our sites, measure how you use the website, conduct market research, and gather information about the ads you see and interact with.
You can make choices in the menu below about what cookies and other technologies you want us to use on Adobe sites when you visit them from this browser. You can always change those choices later by clicking on the Cookie Preferences link at the bottom of the page.
If enabled:
We can improve your experience by tailoring the site and the content to things we think might be of interest
We can better keep track of your preferences — like what language you prefer to use
We will better understand your likely interests so we can provide you more relevant Adobe ads and content on non-Adobe websites and in non-Adobe apps
It will help us improve the performance of our website and those of our partners who use the Adobe Experience Cloud
If disabled:
We won’t be able to remember you from session to session so the experience may not be tailored to your interests
You’ll still have access to the content of the site but certain features that depend on cookies may not function
You’ll still see ads, they just may not be as relevant to you
General information
You can control how Adobe websites use cookies and similar technologies by making choices below. But note that if you disable cookies and similar technologies entirely, Adobe websites may not function properly.
Cookies are small text files stored by your web browser when you use websites. There are also other technologies that can be used for similar purposes like HTML5 Local Storage, web beacons, and embedded scripts. These technologies help us do things like remembering you and your preferences when you return to our sites, measure how you use the website, conduct market research, and gather information about the ads you see and interact with.
You can make choices in the menu below about what cookies and other technologies you want us to use on Adobe sites when you visit them from this browser. You can always change those choices later by clicking on the Cookie Preferences link at the bottom of the page.
If enabled:
We can improve your experience by tailoring the site and the content to things we think might be of interest
We can better keep track of your preferences — like what language you prefer to use
We will better understand your likely interests so we can provide you more relevant Adobe ads and content on non-Adobe websites and in non-Adobe apps
It will help us improve the performance of our website and those of our partners who use the Adobe Experience Cloud
If disabled:
We won’t be able to remember you from session to session so the experience may not be tailored to your interests
We’ll still count your use of our site and services
You’ll still have access to the content of the site but certain features that depend on cookies may not function
You’ll still see ads, they just may not be as relevant to you
Operate the site and core servicesOperate site and measure engagement
Always active
These cookies are required, and they are used to enable the site and related services core functionality. Without them the site could not operate, so they cannot be disabled.
These cookies enable the site and related services’ core functionality and collect statistics about user engagement, such as counting active use to help us understand trends. These cookies cannot be disabled.
Measure performance
These cookies are used to analyze site usage to measure and improve performance. Without them Adobe cannot know what content is most valued and how often unique visitors return to the site, making it hard to improve information we offer to you.
These cookies are used to analyze site usage to measure and improve performance. Without them Adobe cannot know what content is most valued, making it hard to improve information we offer to you.
Extend functionality
These cookies are used to enhance the functionality of Adobe sites such as remembering your settings and preferences to deliver a personalized experience; for example, your username, your repeated visits, preferred language, your country, or any other saved preference.
Personalize advertising
These cookies are used to enable Adobe and our partners to serve ads more relevant to your interests. Without them you will still see ads, but they might not be as relevant to you.
Personalize advertising
These cookies are used to enable Adobe and our partners to serve ads more relevant to your interests. Without them you will still see ads, but they might not be as relevant to you.
