When colors look off

Doodles are made in standard-display colors (SDR, sRGB). If the original is HDR or log footage, depending on how your editor combines the two kinds of color, the doodles can look too bright, washed-out gray, or a different color.

Please read first. The menu names and steps below summarize the known workflow; they weren't checked by opening each program. Names and locations can differ by program version, operating system (Windows/macOS) and interface language. If you can't find a menu, search for its name. Let us know about anything wrong and we'll fix it.

Is my video HDR?

Recent iPhones record in HDR (HLG) by default (Settings > Camera > Record Video > HDR Video). Drop it into Video check and the 'Color' row shows HLG or SDR. The editor also tells you at the top when you open an HDR video.

Video colors in the editor are converted by the browser for a standard display, so they may differ from the real original. Use the editor for position and timing only, and judge color in your editing program.

Putting the PNG sequence on an HDR timeline

On an HDR timeline, how many nits standard (SDR) graphics white maps to is a program setting. The recommended value (BT.2408) is 203 nits; at that level, white doodles look naturally as bright as paper or a white shirt in the HDR footage.

Premiere Pro: if the HDR sequence settings have a Graphics White value, choose 203. Its location varies by version.
DaVinci Resolve: with Color Management on and an HDR timeline color space, set the PNG clip's input color space to Rec.709 (sRGB). If white is too bright, check the SDR white reference (nits) setting.
If it's still glaring, change the doodle color from pure white (#ffffff) to a slightly darker white (e.g. #e8e8e8).

Log footage (S-Log, C-Log, V-Log, Apple Log, etc.)

Log footage is shot deliberately flat and brought back with a LUT or grading. The common mistake here is applying the LUT to the doodles too.

Apply LUTs and grading only to the original clip, and keep the doodle PNG track separate above it.
If you apply a LUT to everything with an Adjustment Layer, put the adjustment layer between the original and the doodles.
In the editor, log originals look flat. Pick doodle colors with the final graded image in mind, or check in your editing program and export again.

Colors in the composited mp4

For the composited mp4, the browser converts the original to standard (SDR) video and lays the doodles on top. So:

With an HDR original, the result is SDR. Highlights are less bright and colors shift slightly.
If you cut an HDR original and this mp4 together on one timeline, the color jumps at the cut.
If you need to keep HDR, use the PNG sequence. Compositing with HDR kept will be added once browser support is broader.

Other issues

Dark smudges around the edges: an alpha interpretation problem. → 'If things don't line up' in Importing PNG sequences
White doodles disappear on a bright background: turn on the shadow in the default style and raise its opacity, or change the doodle color.