Create the HDR Track for Dolby Vision™ Mastering

The HDR track is where you perform the Dolby Vision mastering. By using a track, the mastering becomes a non-destructive process that allows you to always review and edit the content at its full quality before the Dolby Vision effect.

Once your media is imported and your sequence is ready for mastering, you create the HDR track.

To create the HDR track:

Open the sequence.
In Timeline, right-click in the Patch Panel the sequence Primary video track and select HDR > Create HDR Track.

The following video tracks are created over the Primary track:

The PQ track appears first above the Primary track. The PQ track is a single colour management Gap FX. This FX converts the master sequence from its arbitrary colour space to the "Rec.2100-PQ - Display" colour space (though the exact name may be different if you are using your own OCIO config).
The HDR track appears second and above the PQ track. The HDR track is the result of a sequence analysis that creates one segment for every segment on the original track. In addition, an HDR FX is applied to every segment of the HDR track.

You are now ready to start Dolby Vision mastering by editing the HDR FX.

The HDR FX requires media in one of Dolby Vision's allowed Mastering Colour Spaces. The PQ track transforms the colour space of the master track to the selected Display colour space and feeds the media in this specific colour space to an HDR FX.

You can also import a Dolby Vision XML file to create the HDR track. See Dolby Vision XML Import for more details.

About the PQ Track

Dolby Vision mastering requires source content to be converted to use the non-linear electro-optical transfer function Perceptual Quantizer (PQ), also known as SMPTE standard ST-2084. A View Transform Colour Management FX takes care of the conversion.

Make sure the content is correctly tagged since by default the “From Source” mode Is used to identify the source colour space. This allows each segment to potentially be in a different colour space.

On the PQ track, set the Display to a Flame colour space that corresponds to your Dolby Mastering Colour Space. In the default OCIO config, this will be either "Rec.2100-PQ - Display" or "ST2084-P3-D65 - Display" (but the names may vary if you are using your own OCIO config). These displays are compatible with any of the Dolby nit levels.

By default, the “From Rules” View Transform is automatically selected:

If your content is already in the Display colour space no transform is applied; the View Transform is a no-op.
Otherwise, by default your Views setup in Colour Management Preferences are used to convert to the Display space. You may override that and set another View Transform. You may want to adjust the View Transform based on the nit level of your master. For example, the ACES HDR view transforms are available in 1000, 2000, and 4000-nit versions.

Your project must use an OCIO config with a display and view setup appropriate for your HDR workflow. For example, if your sources are in a logarithmic or scene-linear colour space, you need a view transform to convert to an HDR display space. The provided OCIO ACES config is an example of an HDR compatible config you can use if you do not have a custom one. The ACES 2.0 config offers view transforms such as the “ACES 2.0 - HDR 1000 nits (P3 D65)” which work well for HDR mastering.

About the HDR Track

Content visible through the Primary Video track, including gaps and transitions, is analyzed so the HDR FX can be created with the right duration on the HDR track, including multitrack effects.

Dissolve transitions are embedded in the HDR FX segment: no transition icon is seen since the HDR FX manages the Dolby Vision analysis and creative Trims for dissolve transitions on a frame basis.

Non-dissolve transitions from Wipes, Action, Matchbox, and OFX plug-ins are isolated from the outgoing and incoming segments: they require their own analysis and creative trims.

A multitrack video effect, like Gap FX and composites, is managed as a single segment.

To accommodate alternate workflow, you can edit the duration of the HDR FX segments. Do not leave any area of the HDR track without an HDR FX or that area will never get mastered.

Adding Effects after HDR Track Creation

The HDR track must always the last effect in the pipeline. Any FX or transitions must be applied to the content, not the HDR track (or PQ track for that matter).

Editorial Modifications after HDR Track Creation

Even if you should do all HDR work on a finished sequence, you cannot always do so, with editorial and effects modifications coming in late in the game.

If you edit content on the video track below the PQ track, do the following:

Right-click the HDR Track and select Update HDR Track.

This performs an analysis of the modifications done on the content located below the PQ track, and a new HDR Track with updated HDR FX segments is created.
The original HDR Track is muted. Use this track to visualize the differences between the original HDR track and the new HDR track, verifying the new HDR track matches the background content. Once you have validated that everything matches, delete the old HDR track.

Markers indicate how the update went for each HDR FX:

Green: The HDR FX segment has been updated to match the background content.
Red: New background content is detected, and you must perform a new analysis and apply new Trims.

The analysis of every shot is also validated. If there are possible discrepancies, the HDR FX label appears yellow. You can perform a new analysis or use the Keep option to keep using the current analysis,

If you extended the sequence so that it's longer than the HDR track, the PQ Colour Management track is automatically extended to match. The HDR track also updates to match in length and segments, with HDR FX animations updated to match the background content.

Note: Trimmed, slipped, and moved content is supported. Always validate visually any speed changes and trim animations.

Invalid colour space error

If the Player displays Invalid colour space, your master sequence is in the wrong colour space. In most cases this happens because the PQ track is set to the wrong Display colour space.

To fix an Invalid Colour Space message:

In Timeline, select the PQ track.
From the FX bar, set the Display to Rec.2100-PQ - Display or ST2084-P3-D65 - Display.