How much do you charge for color correction?

Richard J. Johnson

Richard J. Johnson

Joystick Member
I just finished a feature length "film" (80min) shot on a DVX100A/LEX. It has been edited already but I am not good at CC. Budget is tight, but I left room for this. I would like to have it color corrected and de-artifacted by someone who can do it better than I can. PM if interested.
 
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I just finished a feature length "film" (80min) shot on a DVX100A/LEX.
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Congrats! No, seriously. That's a major achievement. Well done.

I would like to have it color corrected and de-artifacted by someone who can do it better than I can.
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Are you transferring to film? What format are you planning to finish on?

First, don't use the CCs in your NLE, they don't cut it for professional use. You can do a lot in AFTER EFFECTS, but it will take a lot of time. Apple's COLOR in FCS2 is the best color grading software, IMO, available for small budget productions.

Always try and CC in the highest possible format, like HD or digibeta. If you stick to DV25, much of the CCing effects will look crushed or washed out.

I'd reccomend putting an ad in a film school close to you which has some good equipment, and get one of the senior students/teachers to do it for you. If they like your movie they'll probably do it for free. Remember your hardware is important - try and get a tower (no laptops!) and the best video card possible.

Perhaps if you post 30 seconds or so of your movie here or on youtube, someone might want to do it for you.

GOOD LUCK.
 
Thanks for the great info! I am showing it once on the big screen but I am finishing it for DVD distribution. I Have FCP but I do not have color. I will definitely look into the filmschool aspect. we Have a decent one near my home. Thanks again.
 
Check out the special extended edition of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. On disc 4 there's a section on DIGITAL GRADING which is really interesting. It'll show you some of the things you can do with a high end grader. I'm not sure what they used (maybe a Davinci 2K) but the interface looks extremely similar to Apple's COLOR. You could do everything they do in that section on COLOR.

Keep us updated with your progress!

PS You might want to ask this question in the FCP and/or AFTER EFFECTS forums.
 
I have that DVD and never watched it. But I will in about 20 minutes. I really want apple color but I have to pay full price for fcp2 because I have the academic version of fcpHD. Damn you apple, damn you!!
 
Yeah it's not cheap, but the HD version of COLOR used to be called FINAL TOUCH and sold for $5000. The 2K version sold for $25000. You get them both for free with FCS2 for about $1300. Plus other cool programs like MOTION. Definitely worth it.

But virtually all film schools have FCS2, so that's probably your best bet.
 
filthrich where do you live? you should be able to find someone that lives close to you that has color that will work with you, so you can be close so you can preview often and make decisions in direction. Good luck finding someone and tell us where your at.
 
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