Any Vegas Users Interested In Color Correction Tutorials?

[David Jimerson]

I think Photoshop people have a big advantage, considering that many of the same tools are available.

The burn, dodge, add, subtract, etc., compositing modes in the tracks act the same way they do in PS. Think of tracks as layers.

Now, there may be simpler ways of doing things, but at least those options are there.

 

[Alex DePew]

I would love to learn more about CC. I am on Premiere Pro 1.5 though. Are the tools , numbers, etc. close enough for me to follow? Don't worry though I won't muck up your pretty Vegas thread with my Premiere postsrogar-Evil(DBG):

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

OK, I found two clips for a recent project I was working on that I think are perfect examples of very flat colors. To try to meet everyone's expectations I am posting 4 files (and will have these up in about twenty minutes).

File One: JPG of Interior Shot
File Two: JPG of Exterior Shot
File Three: 24p Widescreen AVI of Interior Shot (18meg)
File Four: 24p Widescreen AVI of Exterior Shot (18meg)

EDIT:

Here are Full Rez still images. Sorry about not having these up earlier, but I didn't know how to capture full rez until three minutes ago:
Exterior Full Rez Image

Interior Full Rez Image

I will also set up FTP access on our server in case people want to upload anything for the hosting... Just please PM me if you are going to upload anything.

Here are JPGS of the Interior and Exterior shots:

EDIT:

OK, everything is uploaded and set up... To start with I am going to work with some of the still images and see what I can come up wtih.

What does everyone say if we start by playing with the interior shot?

Jeremy

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I can;t say I can lead per say; but I'll participate and offer my pennies !

 

[Matt Grunau]

DOwnloaded the jpgs. The first one looks like it may be fun, but the second looks like it's gonna be a bit tough.

Cool thread.

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

OK well here is my first attempt from about 10 minutes of screwing around. I wanted to go warmer on the bedroom interior shot, try to give it a sense of warmth, summer morning thing. I ended up really crushing the blacks. The steps I took were pretty simple:

Step - Plug In - Adjustment Made
1 - Levels - Input Start 0 Input End .504 Output Start 0 Output End 1.000 Gamma 2.725
2 - Brightness & Contrast - Brightness -.39 Contrast .22. Contrast Center.50
3 - Color Balance - Red Highlight to .1250
4 - Color Corrector - Low: Angle 307.9 Magnitude .354 Mid Angle: 126.4 Magmotide .366 High Angle: 200.9 Magmotide .913
5 - Brightness & Contrast - Brightness -.10 Contrast .20 Contrast Center .50

Results:

I'm not crazy about it, but it's a start at least.

-Jeremy

 

[Robert Eldon]

Are we using only the Sony Color Correcter or any of the Sony Video FX?

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

Are we using only the Sony Color Correcter or any of the Sony Video FX?

I figure anything that comes standard with Vegas is fair game. I have a couple of additional pluggins, but to keep this as much as a learning process as possible for everyone, I think that just the standard plugins are the best bet.

 

[Matt Grunau]

I am a little confused. Are we going for basic color correction, or for a particular mood?

Also when it comes to correction, I have been trying to get everything neutrally balanced, and then after that was done, I thought one was supposed to change the mood with color/contrast. Is my workflow incorrect?

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

I am a little confused. Are we going for basic color correction, or for a particular mood?

Also when it comes to correction, I have been trying to get everything neutrally balanced, and then after that was done, I thought one was supposed to change the mood with color/contrast. Is my workflow incorrect?

Personally I think that either option is cool. We can do general color correction or we can go for a mood.

With the one I did I went for a mood, but we can do either...

EDIT:
Rapier, I didn't read your post close enough. Yeah I agree that it should be the neutral and then mood on top of it. We should start with just doing frames as basic as possible and then add mood once we have a good example set for how to balance to nothing.

 

[Kaz]

One for night, one for morning. 20 minutes total.

CC
Brightness/Contrast
Color curves
Color Balance (on warm shot)
Glow
Sharpen

 

[Matt Grunau]

Personally I think that either option is cool. We can do general color correction or we can go for a mood.

With the one I did I went for a mood, but we can do either...

EDIT:
Rapier, I didn't read your post close enough. Yeah I agree that it should be the neutral and then mood on top of it. We should start with just doing frames as basic as possible and then add mood once we have a good example set for how to balance to nothing.

Thanks.

And can people please post actual settings for the effectws instead of only the effects used?

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

And can people please post actual settings for the effectws instead of only the effects used?

I agree that settings are greatly appreciated. It takes a little while, but I think if we're working to help each other then it's worth while. The only thing you can't post levels for is the Sony Color Curves, which is a ***** to control accurately (for me at least)

-Jeremy

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I'm working on them now but really would rather have some FULL REZ to work with !

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

Anyone wanna tell me how to get a full rez image out of the AVI file?

 

[Kaz]

The AVI I downloaded was full rez (but I posted half-size).
Yankee, your preview should be on Best (full) when you save your snapshot.

 

[Robert Eldon]

Night Time:

Step - Plug In - Adjustments
1 - Levels - Input Start .100, Gamma .814
2 - Color Corrector - Low 319.8 .264, Mid 350.1 .630, High 308.2 .276
3 - Gradient Map - Cool, ???

Results:

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

Sorry about the non full rez... I had it set to best auto

I will go through and get them reposted, sorry about that everyone.

I figured I would try to go for one more neutral before I crash. My colors aren't as vibrant as Hudsons (how did you do that with the pillows, your yellow is much punchier than mine. Mine is sort of flat and I can't brighten it. I think I know that you did a similar S curve in the Color Curves, but I don't know what to do about the whole yellow aspect. My orange is on track, still a little muted, but your purple is also brighter... C'mon, setting dude!), but this is what I did.

Color Curves - See Settings below
Brightness & Contrast - Brightness 0 Contrast .20 Contrast Center .5
Color Balance - Red .0280 Green .0280 Blue .0965

 

[J.R. Hudson]

No no no Thats cool Jeremy (I did not see the AVI first time out)

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

Exterior Full Rez Image

Interior Full Rez Image


I'm really sorry about that everyone, but I learned something new