books on color grading?

C

Cheesesailor77

Veteran
I've been doing more research on CC lately and have learned quite a a bit, but I'm really more looking for grading techniques and I'm having trouble finding anything usefull.

Anyone know of any articles or books that discuss grading techniques?

THANKS!
 
i can tell you this much, the order inwhich you apply filters in Vegas/FCP/Premiere/Colorfinesse VASTLY changes the way the final footage looks. CC somethign with like 5 different filters, then without changing the parameters, change teh order in which they get applied, things change alot.
 
i've found quite a bit on "correction", but pretty much nothing on "grading". If you want the correction links, just do a google for "color correction" "FCP color correction" "FCP grading" etc, that's where i found them.
 
Augustine Arredondo said:
Grading and CC are interchangeable terms.
They have the exact same meaning.
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No, they don't. People say CC enough when they mean grading (myself included) that everyone knows what they mean, but they are deffinitly different things.
 
"Color correction is the art and process of enhancing the video image. Sometimes called finishing or color grading, it's the last and arguably the most important step in the post production workflow. Color correction enhances or creates the overall "look" of your film or video. In other cases it is used to fix exposure and lighting problems on the set. In either case, the recipe for success is entirely dependent on the skills of the color correction artist or colorist."
 
I too am very interested in books on the subject. I've always thought grading was something artisticly chosen whereas correction is exactly what the word describes, correcting poorly white balanced shots. I have noticed that CINELIKE-V on the 100B gives me a lot of what I like in-camera. I just got done watching the Casino Royale DVD and it looks a lot like CINELIKE-V to me (of course minus the multi-million dollar camera and set lighting). Nice and warm fleshtones with a very contrasty image. I love in-camera gamma curves. I'm for shooting for the edit. I have more fun shooting than editing.
 
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Augustine Arredondo said:
"Color correction is the art and process of enhancing the video image. Sometimes called finishing or color grading, it's the last and arguably the most important step in the post production workflow. Color correction enhances or creates the overall "look" of your film or video. In other cases it is used to fix exposure and lighting problems on the set. In either case, the recipe for success is entirely dependent on the skills of the color correction artist or colorist."
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Then I guess it just depends on who you ask. All I can tell you is all the information I've found relating to Color Correction has literally been that, Correction. Most often correcting exposure and color balance.

I have not been able to find any information that assumes my footage already has correct exposer and white balance and now it's time to get to business! :D That's what I'm looking for.
 
Augustine Arredondo said:
"Color correction is the art and process of enhancing the video image. Sometimes called finishing or color grading, it's the last and arguably the most important step in the post production workflow. Color correction enhances or creates the overall "look" of your film or video. In other cases it is used to fix exposure and lighting problems on the set. In either case, the recipe for success is entirely dependent on the skills of the color correction artist or colorist."
Click to expand...

augustine, in the world of film, Color correction is a term used to match footage together if they are slightly off of each other in terms of color timing. Color grading is when you take the corrected footage, or perhaps raw footage that needs no correcting and you enhance it to create the look you want.

Dont get confused, this term is thrown around a lot here, and hwoever you heard that from is wrong. May as well let them know.
 
Hey all,

I hate to be all self-promoty, but there's a big chapter in The DV Rebel's Guide about color correction, including the subjective, creative corrections that some refer to as "grading." One of the reviews on Amazon says this chapter alone makes the book worth the price.

Again, sorry if this feels like a sales pitch—just trying to help out, as I myself have struggled to find good material on this subject.

-Stu
 
not at all prolost, I've heard amazing things about your book and your interview on filmmaking central was very exciting

...but I decided not to get it because I don't have after effects :(

Would the color correction chapter still be worthwhile if I'm only using FCP? or maybe, JUST MAYBE colorista (for FCP)?
 
Good point Cheesesailor77, I should disclaim that the book has a heavy bias towards After Effects. But to your question, if you had Colorista for FCP then you would be able to follow along with the grading tutorial, which uses Rebel CC in AE.

I made Rebel CC because I couldn't expect every reader to by Colorista, but the truth is I designed Colorista specifically for DV Rebels. :)

Maybe check out the book at a Barnes or Borders and see if there's enough non-AE stuff for you in there—I think there might be.

-Stu
 
I can tell you that the "DV Rebel's Guide" is definately the best book I've purchased since "Rebel Without a Crew".

I am a Vegas and Combustion User (right now) but the book gave me so much new info that I can use with any product.

Sorry to get off topic, but I just had to chime in because I love this book so much.


ps- Stu...the edges of my book are becoming tattered just like the fake tatters that you put there :)
 
trypt0phan said:
ps- Stu...the edges of my book are becoming tattered just like the fake tatters that you put there :)
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Thanks so much man—that is the ultimate compliment!

-Stu
 
PaPa said:
augustine, in the world of film, Color correction is a term used to match footage together if they are slightly off of each other in terms of color timing. Color grading is when you take the corrected footage, or perhaps raw footage that needs no correcting and you enhance it to create the look you want.

Dont get confused, this term is thrown around a lot here, and hwoever you heard that from is wrong. May as well let them know.
Click to expand...

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner! This is exactly correct.
 
PaPa said:
augustine, in the world of film, Color correction is a term used to match footage together if they are slightly off of each other in terms of color timing. Color grading is when you take the corrected footage, or perhaps raw footage that needs no correcting and you enhance it to create the look you want.
Click to expand...

If this disticntion exists, it's emerged rather recently—the term "grading" has been used interchangably with "timing" since the (photochemical) practice began, with "grading" being predominantly used in the UK and other parts of Europe, Austrailia, etc., and "timing" being used in the states; both refering to the process of evening out shots and/or subjective coloration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_grading

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but rather to suggest that there may not be one definitive answer to the question, at least not when you take a sample of either side of the pond.

-Stu
 
It may well be a regional term with tweaks applied. I think where the confusion enters is here: Color grading and color timing are the same thing. Color correction (in the simplest terms and from a post perspective) would be matching the shots for consistency shot to shot (color temp).
 
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