How do you color correct in AE?

F

FilmBoy77

Veteran
is automatic duck the only way you can color correct when going from FCP to AE CS3?

if i have a 5 minute quicktime short film how do i go about color correcting each scene?

i've only been using AE CS3 for about a week and a half now.
 
You could export a quicktime file using the animation codec or Photo JPEG at 95-100%, import that into After Effects and slice up the file at each cut (essentially putting the edit points back in so you can color correct each cut). Then do your color correction that way. An easier way would just be to use COLOR if you have Final Cut Studio 2 but if you prefer After Effects, you can do what I said, use Automatic Duck, or try this method in the link below. I found it in another post....

http://www.creative-workflow-hacks....o-after-effects-scripting-without-the-hassle/

I haven't tried it, but if you do, let us know how it works.

Thanks! I hope this helps!


Triple E Productions
Editing, Color Grading, Visual FX, Motion Graphics. Reasonable rates, AWARD WINNING work!
paul@triple-e-productions.net
www.triple-e-productions.net
 
Daygola814 said:
You could export a quicktime file using the animation codec or Photo JPEG at 95-100%, import that into After Effects and slice up the file at each cut (essentially putting the edit points back in so you can color correct each cut). Then do your color correction that way.
Click to expand...

how would i "slice up the file" in AE though? it doesn't do that right?

i wouldn't be slicing up every cut, but really just each scene. i only have 3 scenes in this 5 minute quicktime file.

is there a way i can set some type of markers that tells AE not to apply color correcting beyond that point on the timeline or something?

i like the color corrector in FCP but i REALLY like what i can do in AE since i have been using photoshop for so many years and it has some similar functions.
 
There's several ways you can do it. One is create a new Adjustment Layer and apply the effect on there. An adjustment layer will only affect the layers that is underneath it, so you can shorten and lengthen it at will. You can even draw masks on the adjustment layer and have the CC affect only a part of the image.

Another ways is to use the shortcut Ctr+Shift+D, which will make cuts in the footage similar to how the razor tool works in NLE.
 
hmmm thanks for the quick reply i'm going to try both methods....what's the best way to export without losing any quality?

i've seen some people say you will lose quality and others say if you're losing quality on export then you're not doing something right.
 
exporting as a quicktime movie using the Animation codec will yield a lossless export. I mean that literally. I can cut between QT Animation and source footage without seeing any difference at all (unless I color corrected... but in that case I'm supposed to be seeing a difference anyway... duh). Thats all that I've used, but other will tell you alternate methods of getting lossless renders. Exporting in an image sequence can yield lossless results as well (I think?).

Just a little note: I would recommend either one of the two methods jade provided. Adjustment layers are great because you can always go back to your un-graded source footage in an instant without losing any of your CC work.
 
You can also try (for smaller file sizes) Quicktime in PhotoJPG format. That should give you smaller file sizes than Animation but you wont see any generation loss and it can withstand several generations before there is any aparent generation loss.
I've also used, with great results, Uncompressed AVI cuz I'm on Windows.

Definitely use Adjustment Layers. Great way to go!

Hope that helps!


Triple E Productions
Editing, Color Grading, Visual FX, Motion Graphics. Reasonable rates, AWARD WINNING work!
paul@triple-e-productions.net
www.triple-e-productions.net
 
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