Using Chip Chart or color reference in FCP COLOR

[shortnstout]

Hi everyone,
I've been gettting more into my color workflow lately. I know the basics of the program Color, though I tend to use FCP's 3-way CC because of the quicker turnaround. I've been able to get the best neutral color balance by using a chip chart or balancing the whites and blacks on the slate at the beginning of a shot/scene. But with the program Color, you are leaving FCP and don't really have access to the frame in the shot that has the slate or chip chart. Is there a workflow for doing this sort of thing in Color? Otherwise, all I can think of is just using the 3-way to get some basic neutrality before sending to Color for a grade to achieve a certain look.

Thanks!

 

[bbalser]

Color chip charts don't matter in real color correction workflows. The Waveform and Vectorscope monitors give you all the information you need. Here's a tip from the pros. Follow this workflow, your color grading work will improve and become easier.

First, correct for contrast. Get your whites and shadows where they need to be on the Waveform scope, then tweak by eye on a calibrated broadcast monitor via an HD-SDI connection. Our brains use contrast a great deal in determining visual depth. So this by itself on ALL shots regardless of how great you think they look to start with, will give them more of a 3D feel and better DOF separation. This is more effective for giving visual depth than over using lenses and DOF blurring in-camera by itself. Cameras can't adjust for contrast as powerfully and as accurately as post color grading can.

Second, set white balance, and in Color do it manually for best results. The auto think in FCP's 3WCC is cool and all, but I often adjust it manually in the white color circle. Do this after correcting for contrast, as that process can actually alter hues. At this point, most shots are done. Really good shots will look even better.

Third, set skin tones. Yep, color correct for skin tones of the people in the shot using the skin tone line (45 degree line going from center to upper left) in the Vector scope, and you're pretty much set. If there's no people in the shot, correct for sky blue or the green of flora. Those three cultural "memory colors" must be set for an audience to believe them, then all other colors in the scene will be accepted as correct.

 

[shortnstout]

Thanks for the reply! I figured the color chip charts don't matter much- but was thinking a card with white, black, and neutral gray would be a good starting point to set color against. So far I've been doing this with the white and black on my slate and found it a good starting point, but wanted a more professional tool for this.