Colour Correction....

I

Indy

Well-known member
I'm using Final Cut Pro 5 and am having real problems with colour correction... FCP is fine its just that I don't understand colour correction. At the moment I'm just 'twiddling' the knobs until I find something I kinda like which is obviously not the way it should be done.

There is a book due in the Apple Pro Training Series that deals CC but I wondered if anyone could offer any advice?

Looking in the clips section there are some trailers with CC that makes me green with envy so theres obviously serious talent here!

Any help greatly appreciated!

Indy...

In sunny (for once!) London
 
What filters are you using?

I tend to use:

•3 way color corrector
•Gamma corrector
• De-interlace if necessary
• Desaturate highs and lows ...sometimes.

With the 3-way, I tend to drop the blacks and whites down and then boost the mids in order to retain brightness. Of course it all depends on the shot.

I always use the visual "3 circle" color corrector screen unless I am keyframing. Then just drag the blacks, mids and whites towards whatever colour you fancy. You can do some good effects by drag the highs t say blue and the mids towards yellow. Have a play and see what you like.

I set gamma corrector somewhere around 1.1-1.2 normally.
 
Indy said:
FCP is fine its just that I don't understand colour correction. At the moment I'm just 'twiddling' the knobs until I find something I kinda like which is obviously not the way it should be done.
Click to expand...

Why not? :)

Soon you'll get used to what each of the sliders does and will automatically know which to pull and where to get the look you want. Noone can really teach you that, it's all about personal taste.
 
Thanks... I think!

What I'm trying for is to get to a point where I know if I want a 'bleach bypass' look then I need to do X or if I want another type of effect <insert favorite CC effect here> I need to do Y.

I've been 'fiddling' with the knobs far too long and its still all 'chinese' to me!

Any pears of wisdom you wish to impart?

Indy....
 
Thanks MMM, some interesting points to get started with!

Are you working in MiniDV?

Indy...
 
Most of my footage is DV, but I also do 16mm and Beta. Personally I prefer DV to Beta SP, and I find it will hold up fine for a single recompression to DVD. I don't like DV on the big screen though. I don't think it has the resolution.

I need to upgrade my system to HD in the not so distant future, but I am just waiting for things to settle down a little first.
 
Have you had a look at your scopes and lightning? If you want precision then you may want to read your manual about how to use the scopes. Vectroscope, lighning, waveform etc.

Good luck..
 
Use scopes to check a shot is legal though, they don't tell you if it "looks" good. Your eyes are best for that.
 
Make sure you calibrate your computer screen/ monitor first:

Go to System Preferences> Displays> Color> Calibrate

Doing this should make your coloring adventure way more accurate
 
Bikefilms, I took your advise and calibrated my 17" apple display, and surprise, surprise, my footage looks much darker. However, it looks darker now than it does on DVD replayed on my TV. Does that sound right/possible/likely?

Thanks.
 
camattingly said:
Bikefilms, I took your advise and calibrated my 17" apple display, and surprise, surprise, my footage looks much darker. However, it looks darker now than it does on DVD replayed on my TV. Does that sound right/possible/likely?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I found that the standard calibration was way too dark on my old CRT. My TFT does it automatically through DVI and is far better. I think it is to do with the differing gamma settings of TVs and video monitors. A broadcast or professional monitor is the best things to have and trust as long as calibrated properly. Use scopes to check legality of the shots.
 
You can't get accurate color correction results using computer monitor and need an external monitor.

THat said the three disks in FCP represent the low end middle and high end. In other words black, middle greys and whites. So if your blue sky need to be bluer notice what happens to the sky is you increase saturation in the whites compared to the middles and blacks. I'd adjust the middles first, but to tell you why would mean you'd need to connect to my brain. You really have to play around. Perhaps Ill introduce a DVD teaching color correction on FCP
 
Walter_Graff said:
You can't get accurate color correction results using computer monitor and need an external monitor.

THat said the three disks in FCP represent the low end middle and high end. In other words black, middle greys and whites. So if your blue sky need to be bluer notice what happens to the sky is you increase saturation in the whites compared to the middles and blacks. I'd adjust the middles first, but to tell you why would mean you'd need to connect to my brain. You really have to play around. Perhaps Ill introduce a DVD teaching color correction on FCP
Click to expand...

Walter, I'd be your biggest fan if you did a tutorial on FCP color correction
 
Thats a great article especially the part about keeping it leagal. Folks think they can just do anything they want with levels and color and don't find out till after they try to watch it on a TV that they can not.
 
proper software

proper software

i remember some kind of thread concerning with good software for color correction..
can anyone link me the right thread?
otherwise any hints about cool CC software (for PC)?
thanks

ed
 
does anyone use reference photos?

like take a still from another movie with the color you want and just fine tune yours to match that?
 
Just read the manual. Click help, and find the chapter about color correction. THe FCP manual might be big, but it is a very good read and very user friendly. You'll know all you need to get started...
 
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