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View Full Version : colour correcting Canon gl2 to look like dvx footage



ade4all
11-18-2007, 05:32 PM
I've been given some gl2 footage to cut into a documentary i am filming using dvx in progressive f5 mode (default). I am rubbish at colour correcting & levels etc & am trying to get the gl2 footage (which i have made progressive in after effects) to fit in with the dvx stuff as best i can. I know it will never look exactly the same & each scene may need different levels (all ouside natural light footage) but has anyone had any luck trying to match these cameras & if so could you let me into your secret. Im also aware that after effects is probably better for colour correcting than prem pro so if you have a solution that way then all the better, tho prem pro would be quicker & easier. i've got after effects 6.5 pro & prem pro 1.5 & cs3. Many thanks if anyone can help

Sorry for the double post but i thought i need to ask the question in both premiere & after effects. Mods you may delete one if you think i'm being too cheeky

ProfessorU
11-20-2007, 03:38 AM
It's going to depend on WB and other settings on the GL2. Try bringing the two shots into AE and color balance them to neutral. Find something white and balance highlights until all the RGB values are the same, then repeat for gray and black, then repeat the whole process for midtones and darks, then fine tune by repeating the whole thing one more time. Once those line up, you should be able to eyeball gamma and I think the DVX footage might need about .5px gaussian blur to match, unless you're shooting letterbox, in which case you'll need to take some detail out of the GL2 footage.

ade4all
11-20-2007, 11:26 AM
hey thanks for the tips, will give it a go. because it's a documentary I don't want to go overboard on the match up but it would be good to get them fairly close - I guess from what you're saying I'm going to have to alter the dvx footage too. My dvx footage was preset daylight white balance but the canon footage was apparently on auto everything but looks about right on white balance. thanks again for the advice, is a good starter to understand colour correcting a bit better

ProfessorU
11-20-2007, 04:36 PM
Once you do that a hundred times, you can just eyeball it and get shots to match pretty quick. If the footage is shot right, you might not have to do any color balance fixes at all.