matching two different clips (actually more for that matter)
- Thread starter JimtheJib
- Start date
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
Magic Bullet is a great tool. but it is a double edged sword in many respects. You can get great looks from it, but many people will instantly recognize the "Bullet" look, and it can also take a long time to render.
What I would try is to save a frame of each clip and open them in Photoshop. Using adjustment layers and blending modes and other Photoshop tricks, make the one look like the other. Photoshop is fast and easy in that regard, and once you have somnething you like, you can then do what you did in Photoshop in any other NLE (mostly) and get the result that way. Yes, that is the more time consuming way in the beginning, but you drastically expand your "tweaking" know how which will improve your video editing as a whole, and you avoid a result which screams "Magic Bullet preset". Also, the rendering time for your own tweaking will most probably be less than MB, so the time differences as a project whole may be lessened.
I am a fan of doing it all by hand. I haven't reached the level of many here, but each and every time I work on a clip, I get a little better, learn more, and in the end become more valuable, because I can go to someone else's computer/software, and replicate a look I want and not be dependent on whether or not they have a specific plug in.
You can get great results either way, but knowing HOW a look is created is more valuable than applying a plugin.
What I would try is to save a frame of each clip and open them in Photoshop. Using adjustment layers and blending modes and other Photoshop tricks, make the one look like the other. Photoshop is fast and easy in that regard, and once you have somnething you like, you can then do what you did in Photoshop in any other NLE (mostly) and get the result that way. Yes, that is the more time consuming way in the beginning, but you drastically expand your "tweaking" know how which will improve your video editing as a whole, and you avoid a result which screams "Magic Bullet preset". Also, the rendering time for your own tweaking will most probably be less than MB, so the time differences as a project whole may be lessened.
I am a fan of doing it all by hand. I haven't reached the level of many here, but each and every time I work on a clip, I get a little better, learn more, and in the end become more valuable, because I can go to someone else's computer/software, and replicate a look I want and not be dependent on whether or not they have a specific plug in.
You can get great results either way, but knowing HOW a look is created is more valuable than applying a plugin.
I use the 'While Balance Eyedropper' feature of the "Color Corrector"
filter in FCP. I use it on all the clips to get the best color across the
whole piece. Fast and works great.
USING THE 'WHITE BALANCE' EYEDROPPER:
1) Drag the "Color Corrector" filter onto a clip.
2) Double click on the clip to cause it to appear in the Viewer
window.
3) Cursor over the 'Video" tab and pull the tab off of the
Viewer. Video will then appear in its own Viewer window.
4) In original Viewer window, click on the "Color Corrector"
tab that should be there after step 1) above.
5) Go to "visual" mode of the color corrector which shows
two color wheels.
6) Click on the little square EYE DROPPER on the left side
of the leftcolor wheel. This turns your cursor into a little
eyedropper to sample WHITE from the video window you
pulled off in step 3).
7) Find some properly exposed white and click on it.
8) Boom-Bang - the image is properly colored.
If multiple clips have the same color exposure as the one
you've corrected you can then copy the filter to them all
and you're done.
filter in FCP. I use it on all the clips to get the best color across the
whole piece. Fast and works great.
USING THE 'WHITE BALANCE' EYEDROPPER:
1) Drag the "Color Corrector" filter onto a clip.
2) Double click on the clip to cause it to appear in the Viewer
window.
3) Cursor over the 'Video" tab and pull the tab off of the
Viewer. Video will then appear in its own Viewer window.
4) In original Viewer window, click on the "Color Corrector"
tab that should be there after step 1) above.
5) Go to "visual" mode of the color corrector which shows
two color wheels.
6) Click on the little square EYE DROPPER on the left side
of the leftcolor wheel. This turns your cursor into a little
eyedropper to sample WHITE from the video window you
pulled off in step 3).
7) Find some properly exposed white and click on it.
8) Boom-Bang - the image is properly colored.
If multiple clips have the same color exposure as the one
you've corrected you can then copy the filter to them all
and you're done.
Blaine
Mr. Hollywood
For matching clips in FCP, Match Hue is a quick way to get close.
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/match_hue_fcp_5_balis.html
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/match_hue_fcp_5_balis.html