Color Grading and Source / Program / Reference monitors

Richard Allen Crook

Richard Allen Crook

Well-known member
I know that you can gang the reference monitor to the program, which is useful for using the scopes, but it kills me that you can't gang the source monitor to the program monitor. It would be nice to see a side-by-side of the color graded frame and the original frame, and not have to sync it up manually.

I there any way to do this?
 
Sure thing...

1) Duplicate your finished sequence (or, at least the current version--you'll have to repeat this process if you change edits later, and want to CC again). Either go to Edit > Duplicate with the sequence selected in your bin, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+/. Name it something that will help you remember that it's the copy without any color correction applied.

2) Control + double-click the duplicated sequence to load it into the Source Monitor. This loads the sequence as though it were a clip. Make sure the CTI is parked at the first frame of the sequence.

3) Open your original sequence (the one you'll be applying CC to) in the Timeline window, by double-clicking it. Make sure that the CTI in the Timeline/Program Monitor is at the first frame of the sequence. Assuming your sequence doesn't start with black, you should now see the same frame of video in the source monitor and the program monitor.

4) From the flyout menu in the Program Monitor (it's the button with four little horizontal lines stacked up and a small downward pointing arrow just to the left of the stack, located in the upper-right corner of the panel), select "Gang Source and Program".

Now you can scrub through either the Timeline, Source Monitor, or Program monitor, and they'll stay in sync. If you play them back, they won't both update, but when you pause, the frames will update.

You'll probably want to tear out the effects control panel, as it's usually docked in the same frame as the Source Monitor. Either drag the tab and place it in a new frame, or hold down Control as you release the mouse button to make it a free-floating panel.

Unfortunately, there is no way to gang the program monitor to the reference monitor AND the source monitor at the same time. However, you can open up the reference monitor and use the timecode readout to get to the same frame as what you're viewing in the Progrma monitor.

Hope that helps!
 
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