Color Correction Process

I've digitized Terabytes of my video. Much of it needs white balance correction. (lots of old Video 8 and even VHS material)
Typically what I have is an hour and sometimes 2 hours of media where some of it needs to be white balanced and some not.
I want to correct the parts that need it and I want the correction to be applied to the original material. So I need to correct the white balance on various portions, but not all and not with the same corrections. I want to wind up with a master file of the original captured tape, but with the necessary white balance corrections.
What is the best process for doing this?

I think the only way you are going to accomplish this is:
Put captured clip in a timeline. Apply color correction where needed. (Use the blade tool to isolate the parts that need correction.) Export the timeline self contained. Delete the original clip.
FCP is a non-destructive editor. The media is the media and just sits there while you tell fcp how to play it back.

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Color correction technique

After editing my project and publishing to a DVD , I've been a liitle disappointed in the color saturation of my final project when viewed on my TV. The video just appears a little flat.
Can someone guide me through a good color correction process that might help with this.
What role do the color bars play in calibration ?
Just as an FYI I don't have a broadcast monitor..I guess I could use a TV ?

It is possible that there could be nothing wrong with your FCE produced DVD.
Could it be that the colour settings on your TV are poor compared with your computer monitor?
Have you tried the DVD on other (possibly better) TVs?
How does your DVD compare with the normal TV programmes? It should be of a similar quality. If it is not then maybe there is some fault in your technique, either in the filming or post production stage etc.
Ian.
PS. Have you tried boosting the Contrast and Saturation on your TV?

5930K vs 5960X for AVCHD editing and color correction?

***I have also posted this in Hardware Forum because I'm not certain which forum will be the best place to ask. Mods, I apologize if this is a no-no and of course you're welcome to remove the one you deem inappropriately placed. Thanks**
Hi guys, getting ready to have a new custom system built (probably iBuyPower, not sure yet). I would love your input on choosing the ideal processor. I have read benchmarks and forums on both the Intel 5960X and the 5930K. Most benchmarks are only concerned about encoding times, not the actual editing and color correction processes. I realize that encoding (exporting) would be generally faster on the 8-core 5960 compared to the 6-core 5930. HOWEVER, all my source material is AVCHD and for that, higher clock speed does make a big difference during the actual editing. So let's forget about encoding/exporting right now and ONLY think about the actual editing. Let's also assume I will not overclock, or if I do then never more than 20%.* I 'm not a gamer and this workstation is ONLY for editing. I use Premiere Pro CC 2014.x and always keep it up to the latest version.
Since the 5960X is only clocked at 3.0 Hz. I'm concerned that editing and color correcting AVCHDs will be not as smooth as one would expect from a $1000 chip. The editing process is quite complex, with multiple video layers (all AVCHD, either 60p or 60i), picture-in-picture, color correction (mostly GPU-accelerated ones such as the Three Way CC and RGB Curves), and so on. It's not simple cuts and a few transitions. In fact, the work required on those AVCHD files is very much beyond what AVCHD is meant for but it is what it is.
So, considering all that, would you STILL fork out the extra cash to get the 5960X versus the 5930K, and if so, why?
I thank you in advance for your opinions and insight!
Current planned system specs (highlights)
- Win 8.1
- 5930K or 5960X (help!)
- Asus Rampage V
- 32 Gb 2666 RAM
- GTX 780 (possibly will invest in a Titan X 12 Gb if funds allow)
- Intel 730 SSD (480 GB) for OS and programs
- I will use my current set of 5-6 SSD drives for sources, scratches, misc pull files, exports
Thanks again for your feedback!
PS: I would like to emphasize again that the actual process of editing and color correcting AVCHD files is what matters most to me here rather than getting the absolute fastest encoding times.
* I realize that both chips are unlocked and made for overclocking. I've overclocked for years but frankly, I was never that comfortable with it, lots of crashes and instability - and that was at low overlock levels of around 20% or less. I do not want manage overclocking or thermal management or worry about frying the chips. If at all possible I would like to run the chips at stock, or as close to stock as possible. However I'm also open to suggestions about that.

Actually the 5960X will clock the turbo speed for all cores if you set it that way which is one of the things we do with our systems. All Intel chips that are not locked can clock to their turbo rating for all cores if set that way. Even without setting all cores to the peak turbo ratio they will turbo to a clock speed higher than base when all cores are active. It's just not the peak turbo ratio. That has to be manually set. Turbo occurs anytime the system load reaches beyond a low level regardless of what your doing. The system boards and bios effect that. You can also disable a setting in the bios and the system will always stay at it's peak clock ratio. The 5960X clocked at 3.9 will easily outperform the 5930K with all codecs due to the cores and cache.
We can configure the systems with any hardware available in the market. However we cant include all those items on the website right now without making it far harder for people to configure systems. The hardware options we list are there because they are tested to work with the video and audio hardware/software and the reliability. We also support the systems as a solution for the life of the system. We have price the systems for that support which is part of the price difference. The options you are looking at wont have near the same support or expertise with the hardware and software together hence why your asking the questions here.
Eric
ADK

Best Color Correction Tutorials?

I have finally realized to get video that absolutely pops and stands out is to spend hours Color Correcting? - Would you agree or disagree with this statement?
What tutorials have you seen that really helped you learn the color correcting process? Any videos or online books I could go to or buy?
What is the easiest or best way to go about color correcting.
Jay

Yes.
Steve Hullfish's Class on Demand Basic Traing for Color
http://www.classondemand.net/media/apple-training/basiccolor.aspx
Easiest and best are almost always mutually exclusive. Best is to use Color.

Is there a way to batch process color corrected RAW files to tif files?

I got over 160 color corrected RAW files from my photographer when I thought I was getting TIf or PSD files. I need to put them into an indesign doc to send out for printing. Is there a way to convert all of these in one fell swoop without messing up the work that has already been done? I didn't allow in my timing to save each one individually since i didn't know I was going to need ot do this. I am really unfamiliar with batch processing, so no idea how to best go about this, or if I even can. Please help. I am working in Photoshop CS6. version 13.06 x 64

An easy way is to open Bridge, select the images then click on Tools/Image processor. You can then save as jpg, psd, or tiff.
Hope this helps.

Batch processing web pages from jpgs made from color corrected Camera Raw files

I processed and color corrected a set of photos shot in camera raw, then saved as tiffs. Then I set Photoshop to Batch process them into a web slide show. The images turned out looking like the raw files before processing....kind of desaturated, since they were shot on a grey day. So then i re-saved the raw files as jpgs and hypersaturated them to see if that would produce better results, but it did not. They looked almost as grey as the original raw files. I usually add saturation to files that will end up on the web, because ImageReady always seems to desaturate color.
I'm running Mac OS4.1 and CS2.
Thanks, Suzanne

Suzanne,
Try
converting your images to the sRGB color space before processing and/or saving them for web display. ALWAYS. Remember to use CONVERT to profile not
assign

Color correction batch process

I have a set of about 2400 images taken by a Nikon D700 from a stationary position of a stationary subject over the course of a few days with different lighting and color conditions. I need all of the images to match so that I can load them into a program to create a 3-D model of the object (essentially by stacking the images). So far all attempts to adjust the color have failed to produce a uniform set. Any suggestions for how I can go about accomplishing this task?

I probably should have given a little more information about what I'm trying to do here. The images were taken in RAW format. The change in lighting conditions is not only due to the changing sunlight, although that plays a role. The real problem is that there were different light sources throughout the procedure with different spectra so the color profiles of each image (or more accurately of blocks of pictures within the set) are different. I've tried setting the white balance to the same level for each image, running batch auto-tone, auto-color, and color match to a reference image, but there are still noticeable changes between blocks of images in the set. I think the problem is that the auto-tone and auto-level processes normalize each image to itself but don't take the whole set into account. When using color match to a reference image the results are a little better but different parts of the subject of the image seem to reflect different kinds of light in different ways so even if I use a selection from one part of the image to be adjusted the rest of the image still looks different between blocks of images.
After looking into some of the theory behind what needs to be done here it seems that I need to find reference colors that are present in each image but that are as statistically independent from each other as possible. Then, I need to pick a reference image and adjust the levels of the reference colors in the entire image set to match those in the reference image.
I'm not sure if there is a function in photoshop that accomplishes that type of computation, or if there's another approach to color correction, but if anyone knows anything about this type of work any guidance would be much appreciated.

Color Correction Time, Process, Etc...

Hi,
I know that my 1 hour documentary needs color correction but how long will it take for me (a newbie) to do it with Color? Can Color "analyze" and correct the film in some auto mode or must I go through each cut/clip?
Also, how is it that I can even think about doing correction with Color when there's that company with a million dollar Divinci to do it right?

+"I know that my 1 hour documentary needs color correction but how long will it take for me (a newbie) to do it with Color? Can Color "analyze" and correct the film in some auto mode or must I go through each cut/clip?"+
How long it will take depends on how much color correction is done to it, what codec you are rendering to, your machine specs, etc...Unfortunately, there is no "Make it look good" button (not to be confused with the Auto Balance button). That's the 'art' part of color correction. How well did you drive the first time you got behind the wheel? Took a little while to get the hang of it, right?
+"Also, how is it that I can even think about doing correction with Color when there's that company with a million dollar Divinci to do it right?"+
How good of an artist do you think Van Gogh would be if he used a 10 dollar paint brush instead of a 1,000 dollar paint brush? Cost of the tools is not directionally proportionate to the talent.
My suggestion, read the Color manual or you will end up spending more time trying to figure out why 'X' is happening, than actually working on your project.
Good luck!

How to batch process (color correct) multiple MXF files?

Newb here with a question I cannot find an answer for. I'm very new to CS5.5 and am very frustrated with something that should be a simple procedure, at least it was with my last NLE.
I am shooting amateur hockey games using a Canon XF100. Typically I shoot at 720 60p and with all the starts and stops of the game there may be 30-40 MFX files for a game. I'm having no problems importing into CS5.5, the files all show up on the timeline.
I want (need) to be able to color correct ALL these files at once using the fast color corrector and/or the 3 way color balance. For the life of me I cannot seem to do this and I cannot find any answers despite many hours of searches.
Last night I did (after much mucking around) manage to 'nest' the files and do the color correction but when I went to export to Media Encoder (to render as MP4 file) I kept getting error messages and was unable to proceed. This happened 6 times, the encoding would start and then after about 20 minutes, and some progress, it would give me an error message.
Can someone please, pretty please!, explain a simpler way to do this? I feel like I am missing a very obvious step and I'm probably just phrasing the question incorrectly.
Many thanks in advance.
Dave
Adobe CS5.5, Windows 7 Premium
Intel i7
9 GB Ram
500 GB Velociraptor HDD
Dual 27" monitors

Unfortunately, you're doing it exactly in the right way. I just nested a sequence and applied the Fast Color Corrector to the nest and it exported beautifully. Could you try nesting and color correcting a short sequence with clips other than the MXF files generated by the Canon XF100 using the same methodology? I'm trying to see if it's your footage is the issue or something else.

Camera Raw 5.5 VS Adobe Lightroom (color correction)

Hi, does somebody know if discarding the advantage of making layers of Photoshop, is the Adobe Lightroom color correction controls superiors to the CameraRaw PS Interface correction controls ??? I mean for color correction purposes is Adobe Lightroom better tan PS's camera raw interface ???? because for me both controls seem to be pretty much the same thing, does anyone know something about it ??
Thank you in advance !

RicardoAngelo wrote:
I mean for color correction purposes is Adobe Lightroom better tan PS's camera raw interface ???? because for me both controls seem to be pretty much the same thing, does anyone know something about it ??
Both Camera Raw (most recent version) and Lightroom (most recent version) share the EXACT same processing pipeline...however, there are subtle differences in usability. For example, ACR 5.6 has a Point Curves Editor...Lightroom doesn't. Lightroom has a powerful capability to control output size and resolution which Camera Raw doesn't have...
Bottom line is they are two horses of a different color but each is capable of performing the same tricks...so use whichever app allows you o accomplish what you need to do in the shortest and easiest process...

Color correction challenge, PP5.5 Mac, ProRes to WMV

I'm eager to complete my transition from FC Studio to Production Premium CS5.5, but I'm challenged to ensure consistent color in my ProRes to WMV workflow. Any advice would be appreciated.
My shooting gear: EX1R, w and w/o Nanoflash
Editing gear: 2008 MacPro (3.1), OSX 10.6.7, 10 GB RAM, ATI Raedon 4870
Workflow (FCP): Acquire footage, edit native (XD CAM EX/XDCAM HD22), render sequence to ProRes 422, transcode via Quicktime 7 Pro/Flip for Mac to produce WMV files for my PC clients.
Workflow CS5.5 (intended:) Acquire footage, edit native (XDCAM HD 422 via Nanoflash), output sequence to ProRes, transcode to WMV via Quicktime 7 Pro/Flip for Mac HD. After I put a "trial" sequence together in PP5.5, I adjust footage with 3-way color corrector. Here's where the fun starts:
Process: I attempt to create a "master file" from the sequence, using AME with output set for Pro Res. The next intended step would be to open the file in Quicktime Pro 7, then encode via Flip for Mac to produce a smaller WMV file for my clients.
Outcome (1) The results look as though color correction was bypassed completely. After much trial and error, I discovered that when I encoded using ProRes 4444, color corrections were preserved. Yet when I transcoded from 4444 to wmv, (2) the resulting files appeared to have no color correction. No good.
I'm stumped! I thought I was on to something when I noticed the "preset" for outputting XDCAM HD422 was not set for "progressive," but it appears to make no difference.
Sidebar: I experience the same issue regardless of use of XDCAM EX or XDCAM HD422 files. With the latter, I've edited clips in MOV and MXF format. Same outcome.
Until I get this workflow issue sorted out, I'm stalled in completing my transition to PP. I'd like to have acquired gobs more RAM and an Nvidia Quadro 4800 card already, but I need to know that I've fixed this issue first.
Any suggestions most welcome.
Sincerely,
Tom
Raleigh, NC

I finally figured it out! If there are any other FCP to PP traitors out there like me in Mac land, here's a workflow that results in WMVs matching the color corrections created in your PP sequence:
1) Edit native. In my case, I'm working with "XDCAM HD 422," the result of linking a Nanoflash set for 100 mbps/long gop to my EX1R. Both FCP and PP "read" them as 50 mbps files.
2) Export media to AME, checking the box, "Match Sequence Settings." With little delay, this produces a file with an mpeg extension (the mpeg-2 codec). In Quicktime player, this yields silent footage with no audio. Bummer. End of story, I thought.
3) But this time, I brought that same "black" file into Apple Compressor. Using the Flip For Mac plug in, I exported to one of my "regular" settings, 2-pass, VBR, 640x360. The result: a perfect color match with my color corrected PP sequence.
I'm sure there are alternatives to bringing a file that won't play in Quicktime into Compressor. I'll try Quicktime Pro and Streamclip next. But the point -- I think -- is to not bother with any more intermediate formats/files than one has to.
Sighs of relief here.
Tom

Color Correction Novice rounding home stretch w/ a Q

Hi,
So far, I've received some valuable advice & tips for my 1st attempts at color correction, esp since my production falls outside the normal applications. The help has been great!
I went thru my production and did scene by scene corrections, which lost most of its intimidation with enough practice. I still havent tackled the Keyframe approach to having corrections shift during the course of a scene - I'm hoping to escape without having to do that.
Heres my question -
I did all the corrections, with a calibrated external monitor, and then had the program render all the video effects. Then I chose "print to video". When the program ran, the colors were a little different overall than what I had set in the program (less orange, more pink) and in a few scenes (orig underexposed, but corrected in the process), the color shifted more radically, esp in the shadow / black values which fell greenish.
I didnt see any of this as I was correcting, and the signal path was the same when I printed to dvd, same monitor w/ no calibration changes.
Is this normal? Maybe these shifts happen more discreetly in reg productions, mine is a live stage shoot with a lot of red light.
Thanks for all the help, & Happy New Year
Duane
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Hi,
Thanks for all the info, I'm starting to look at ways of sending what I have to people who need to see it. The project will likely still require some tweaking so this isnt a final mastering step by any means. Just looking for something that looks as good as what I see on the monitor after rendering.
Its looking like (from the lasts posts) that 'out thru firewire -> dvd recorder' isnt the best choice & if I can keep it in the computer & flow it directly to its burner, the opportunities for problems can be minimalized.
I tried exporting to quicktime, that resulted in an FCP Quicktime file that took 3 hrs to create & was almost 13 gig. (program is 50 min) so it looked great but was too huge to put onto a disk.
If anyone has guidance in this area, I'd appreciate it. I'm gonna poke around in those options & then likely post a further question seperately on this subject. I want to get it onto a dv disc via toast 6 (I see Quicktime w/ Compression is an option so I'm gonna explore that)
Thank you all again for the correction help, in that 13 gig version, it looked really great (no green in shadow artifacts ! )
Regards,
Duane
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.2)
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.2)
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.2)

? about image resolution/color correction when apple prints photo book

My first time making a photo book. I color correct and sharpen all of my images in Adobe Lightroom 2 first. Then I save the jpegs and import into iPhoto to make a book. Is there an option for turning off auto color correction when the file is uploaded to apple for printing? Is there an accurate way to tell how the photos will print on the specific paper they use? Also, what print resolution should the photos be set to? Is 180 dpi enough? Thanks in advance.

first read the Apple pages - http://www.apple.com/support/photoservices/preparation_tips/ - and all of its links
Second - I suspect you will be disappointed. Based on reports on these forums almost everyone who uses iPhoto exclusively to preprocess photos is extremely happy with the results. very often people you over process their photos using a third party program (including Lightroom, Photoshop, etc) are unhappy because the printing process is optimized for point and shoot cameras and iPhoto processing - it is NOT a professional desktop book process
There are no options re color correction - it is built in again aimed at sRGB, point and shoot cameras and iPhoto processing
Plus there have been reported incompatibilities between iPhoto and Lightroom
The print resolution is what it is - if it will be less than 180 dpi you will get a waarning - it can be greater
The papers they print on are specified here - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3412
LN

Color Correcting in Final Cut general question

I am finding I'm at the end of a long process with my feature film and I'm preparing to output and yet again I've run up against a wall of my ignorance...
1. It's a dv film I don't want to just output the film and then apply a color correct as I'm afraid of a lot of clipping...so I'm doing the individual clips through the film and I'm finding a lot of them I have to limit the rgb to 90 some go as low as 88, some are just fine at 100 or 97...it was shot on the dvx100 and I looked up the dvx and see it is geared for superwhite...but I want to prepare my film for broadcast...I wonder though if this is why I'm getting a lot that I have to limit the rgb to 90??? I wouldn't have known to tell the DP please don't use the superwhite settings.
So am I doing this right?
After I output the whole thing, do I color correct the quicktime again when I letterbox it (it's 720x480 to be letterboxed to 1:85:1) before encoding it for the mpeg2? Or if I'm doing it this way is it not necessary?
Thank you

Also is it stupid to do this when I already went through the film and applied color correction as what is bothering me is a lot of the color correct with the range check shows that little arrow that shows it's on the edge...those are the clips I'm bringing down to code because a lot of them the rgb is too hot...for just preparing a professional dv is it necessary to do what I'm doing?
I really want to prepare it once and not do different color corrects again so if what I'm doing above is correct for broadcast quality though it's going to look more muted on a dvd but maybe that's my confusion as many of the bright hilights giving it that look are on the verge or are clipped.

I just LOVE Color Correcting in FCP X

Don't ask me about the technical stuff but for some reason, I can now get great color (colour really) from some clips I shot back in 2006. The stuff I shoot these days is usually very consistent but these old clips muddy and have severe colour casts.
The new Color Board in FCP X seems to cope really well.
Being able to drag either of the four buttons to the colour that needs adjustment, slide it up or down for a rough adjustment, and then a tiny bit to the left or right to perfect the job is so user-friendly.
I disliked the old color wheels on FCP Studio, where it all seemed much less precise unless you were able to move a mouse in a perfect circle.
Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

My on-going off-and-on project has been editing and moving my old home movies to DVD so they can languish away digitally instead of as VHS tapes. (This includes quite a few Super-8mm films which were converted to VHS in the mid 80s, so its still all VHS.)
Sprinkled in with this are more current home movie projects such as "How we spent our year" Travelmentaries (commonly called vacation movies), and an annual DVD of our Boy Scout Troop outings for the year.
First I have to say, this has all been hobby and goes along in fits and starts. FCP 3 got old and clunky when it had to be pushed thru Rosetta like a meat grinder, and I messed with iMovie until FCE 4 came along. If I had dedicated myself, probably would have finished all the VHS stuff long ago, but mostly worked on stuff when it occurred to me that peeps in the Super-8 stuff, for instance, might actually enjoy seeing it all again 40 years later. And the color correction stuff was tedious and wearing, making anticipation of the next project less inviting.
In all this, doing a limited amount of color correction and sharpening worked pretty well. But I have to say that having all the parts (color, saturation, exposure) right there working the same with the same 4 "grab and drag" method has actually made the whole job far less imposing.
The one thing I miss about the color wheel, however, is that whatever color over-tinted the clip, dragging the "button" directly away from it pretty much settled the problem. For instance, if shot inside with the yellowish incandescent tinting, blue was the color needed, and it was opposite yellow.
It took a bit to get used to the color bar's method of removing yellow in maybe light tones area and adding a little blue, perhaps, in the mid-tones. But I also quickly found that by playing with the exposure in either area, I can sharpen those old fuzzy VHS tapes -- something I never noticed was happening until I tried it. The sharpen effect works pretty good as a start (used unsharp mask in FCE), but the color bar really sharpens things up, if not overdone.
Personally, I find I am anticipating spending lots of time on my "restoration" projects now, all because of the ease of use and power of FCPX. I finally finished one I started (converting the VHS tapes to DV) in 2009, although in all fairness, it was an extra four hours left over after having processed at least as much at the time. (To make things less intimidating, I have also moved the VHS player and now convert the tapes directly to disk using an otherwise now unused Canon DV camera as an AV to DV convertor.
But I am certainly one of those apparently targetted by Apple with the new FCPX at the expense of losing their loyal professional base. And the Color Bar's ease of use is a major part of that.

Color Correction Process

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