Color Balance help?

I've been learning After Effects for several months and I have to say its a blast. I'm already in projects where they require special effects, and from months of just teaching myself
I'm almost finally able to achieve any effect I want, for example: a bomb made to implode the earth's core with a black hole (a still picture from an upcoming super hero comedy series
called "Zack").
Anyways, I'm now learning more advanced color balance, I always knew the basics and I just go with what looks good (which is how it usually works), but I never quite understood. Like curves.
I watch tutorials and see people use a mix of colors to get the color they want. Honestly I don't know my colors in that way, is there a chart guide for color correction?
For the colors? Please help, this is something I want to go more in depth with and learn.
Thank you,
Best,
Kenneth Bordes-Hollon

Get your own copy of the Color Correction Handbook by Alexis Van Hurkman so as to understand colours better.

Similar Messages

MJPEG source color/balance/contrast etc all no good. Someone please help ;(

Hi all,
I'm having an issue and worst of all I don't know if it's Adobe with their 6.0.2 update or my own itchy fingers. But something got screwed up and I can't get it back to where it was. In a nutshell the MJPEG footage in PPro is all out of whack with respect to color balance/brightness/contrast all that sort.
I don't really have a good frame-for-frame comparison I could show so what I did was generate a Bars video in Premiere, then video capped the clip playing in monitor using Bandicam. Portion captured using Xvid looks fine, just like the MJPEG used to look before. One captured using MJPEG is fubar. Not the clip itself, that still is fine and dandy, just looks bad in Premiere. And not only in Source/Program monitor, it exports "washed out" as well. (tried H.264, AVI, the lot)
Here's a composite of the difference:
"M-JPEG IN PREMIERE" is how the footage now looks imported and viewed in Monitor (also exports looking...bad)
"M-JPEG IN M-PLAYER" is what same MJPEG clip looks like playing in WMP (and used to look like in Premiere before this mess)
"XVID IN PREMIERE" is how the Xvid footage looks imported and viewed in Premire
"XVID IN M-PLAYER" is what Xvid looks like playing same clip in WMP
If you look at the "M-JPEG IN PREMIERE", this is totally wrong and it used to look just like the other 3, IOW, no difference.
Also, any video effect (accel, YUV or not) applied to MJPEG source in Timeline crashes PPro on Exit or Save. Every. Time.
Ok, so what I've done to possibly screw things up:
1 For some strange reason I decided to put a 3rd party MJPEG codec on my machine. Not sure why, things seemed to work fine. But, spilled milk. So I used MainConcept because I was happy with their stuff in the past. Noticed no effect on my PPro goings so out it went. Maybe because it was 32-bit codec and I'm on x64 machine.
2 The same happened with Morgan MJPEG x64 v3, didn't seem to make any difference either, out it went.
3 Then window popped up telling me PPro has a 6.0.2 update. Why not, the thing is crashing constantly maybe it got fixed. So after the update is applied I go into my project, it is a total useless mess (not the issue here though) but all of the sudden I view a clip and notice the scene is a complete washout. There was some Luma Correction applied to it to bring it out of the dark somewhat and now it was just horrible. So I checked rest of the project and few others and yup, everything (either with effects or straight up) is just ... wrong, washed out, bland, too bright and all that.
Now, as much as I'd like to hold Adobe responsible for that, I don't believe in coincidences so I'm thinking me mucking about with those codecs is the issue because only MJPEG footage appears to exhibit those problems. Question is, is this something that can be "fixed"? And I don't mean by color correction in post, not gonna happen. I really hope some smart people here can surprise me with a "Hell yea" because otherwise I am facing complete reinstall of the system (since I know for a fact it was OK before) and that will take several days if not a week or two. Not looking forward to this, obviously.
What I've tried:
Just about everything I could think of and few things that did not make sense, too. Different preview formats, MPE GPU/SW, new project, import old project, clean cache/previews, export to various formats; Look thru registry and some codec sniffers to see if there's anything left over from those other 2, all "seems" in order; Uninstalled PPro completely, reinstalled 6.0 from my original media.
No go, things look the same (bad) in Premiere. Again, this is something that "happened", it was never like that before and it's not some monitor calibration issue. So either I did it (likely) or 6.0.2 update installed something that is otherwise not removed by uninstaller and persists after complete reinstall reverting back to 6.0.
Machine specs:
i7 with Win 7 x64 GTX 680 and gobs of RAM,
Please help and TIA for any. I'm in real deep S if I don't get that solved.

When you uninstalled Premiere Pro did you use the adobe creative suite cleaner tool? If not you can try the uninstall again and try using the cleaner tool and the steps listed on this page...
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html
That link is the download link and also the instructions on how to use it.
You could also try to install the BMD MJPEG codec although I know when I had it on my system before my reinstalled windows back when Premiere was still at version 6.0 it made any timeline that had BMD's MJPEG codec in it constantly crash. But it might work.
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/detail?sid=3945&pid=4041&leg=false&os=win
This link will allow you download their desktop video program and installing that program will install the BMD MJPEG codec on your system.
Also have you checked how the files look in another media player like VLC?

How can I convert from color balance in FCE to color balance in FCPX?

Let me start off by saying that I've been having an issue with a project in Final Cut Express - a project I'd put a lot of time into and thought I was finished with. Before continuing on, I encourage you to take a look at my other thread: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18702933?ac_cid=op123456#18702933
Realizing that there may be no one who can walk me through fixing my project as is, I decided to download a trial version of Final Cut Pro X and see if I could replicate my project there and have more success (after all, it was only a matter of time before I switched anyway).
So, in my original project in FCE, I keyed a lot of frames with different color balances. I downloaded the Ripple Training color balance effect to do just that, but the sliders are set up differently. In FCE, they range from -1 to 1. In FCPX, they range from 0 to 1. I'm wondering how I can conveniently convert the values from FCE to FCPX. Being terrible at math has made this much harder.
Just by drawing a diagram, like the following, I can figure out the basics:
FCE
[-1]-----[-.5]-----[0]-----[.5]-----[1]
is equal to:
FCPX
[0]-----[.25]-----[.5]-----[.75]-----[1]
Since I have very specific numbers, not all of which can be easily converted using a basic diagram like the one above, I definitely need some help here. For example, one of the values in FCE is .77. What would that be equal to in FCPX? It's probably something simple, but like I said, I'm stupid when it comes to math.
Thanks to anyone who can provide me with some help here, although I still hope that I'll end up having no reason to redo everything in FCPX.

Well, the "math answer" is .885…but I'm afraid that's not likely to be of much help. FCPX and FCE have absolutely nothing in common, including filters land color correction. So even if you sent the time comverting all your numeric values, I'm guessing you'll wind up with a mess and be very frustrated with all the time wasted in the workaround.
If I read your original FCE thread correctly, I if it were my project., I'd do a test on a short clip in X to see whether yoi can the effects and quality you expect. If you can, great. Build you project from scratch and learn a new NLE at the same time.
Good luck.
Russ

Replace Color - selected areas turn gray instead of desired sample color. HELP?!

Hi, I am using Photoshop CS3 and have a question regarding "replace color."
First...here are the steps I enacted prior to trying to use the 'replace color' function:
1. In RGB Mode - - Selected and filled a shape a color.
2. Ran the selected object through Alien Skin/Impact "Chrome" function.
3. Selected 'adjustments/desaturate.' Did this so that I could then go to Adjustments/color balance..... and then change the entire color of the object to a predominantly red chrome looking scheme.
4. After giving the object a 'chrome' appearance, I wanted to go into the 'white' hilite areas of the object and sample them - and then change them to a bright red color....this is where the 'REPLACE COLOR' function comes in.
5. So I use the color sample eye dropper within 'REPLACE COLOR' and select the white areas I want to change to red...as the 'selection color.'
6. Then, I click down in the lower color box (result color) and sample a color that I want to change the white hilite areas to...in this case, red.
7. This is where the problem occurs - - even though I chose a result color of red...the white areas turn to grayscale within my colored object...so just those areas are gray!!! What the heck??!!
So... how can I desaturate a selected object... then recolor it using 'Color Balance'.... and then replace colors and have the replaced colors actually be a color instead of a gray color?
My file is in RGB mode and everything else is in COLOR.... yet I cannot replace areas within this colored graphic with other colors...it just keeps putting gray tones into the object.
HELP??
Thanks.

Hi Curt - - this occurs even if I select a color within the same file... something about desaturating the file and then adding color back into it...I can't get it to replace color after that.

Selecting Color Balance adjustment layer brings up Levels adjustment layer

Ok, so, all of a sudden I cannot get a color balance adjustment layer to come up. Every time I do photoshop creates a levels layer. Selecting levels makes a levels layer. All of the other adjustment layers seem to be working normally. How do I fix this? I have a deadline and no time to be reinstalling photoshop.

Reinstalling the application seldom helps, and re-installing without trashing your preferences is futile as you end up right where you started.
I understand your frustrartion, but please remember that you are not addressing Adobe here in this user to user forum.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419981?tstart=0
Excerpt from that link:
• Do not be abusive or aggressive in your tone
An aggressive or abusive sounding post will often evoke an aggressive or abusive and unhelpful reply
Remember, you are requesting help from other users, just like you, who are giving their time free of charge. No one is under any obligation to answer your question.
Thanks!

Color Balance Adj Layer Characteristics Changed from CS4- CS5?

Maybe some guru with better connections to Adobe knows the answer to this. (or maybe I just forgot).
I just discovered (and I don't think it is pilot error) that the characteristic behavior of the Color Balance Adjustment Layer is different in CS5 than it was in CS4/CS3. (Much stronger in CS4/CS3).
In addition, there is also an associated behavior that is like a buried legacy mode that is not made visible to the user. Here is what I mean.
If I create an image in CS4 with a single Color Balance Adj Layer, I get an adjusted image.
If I open that same PSD file in CS5, the same image is displayed.
If I use the same base image, yet create the Color Balance Adj Layer from within CS5, the adjusted image is different than the prior two.   So the Color Adjustment Layer acts like it has a hidden legacy mode where the characteristics are one type if created in CS4/CS3 yet a different characteristic if created in CS5.
My mind might be slipping (or my cold has the better of me) because I do not remember this as a documented change and I searched the internet for "What's new in CS5" etc etc. I don't remember anything on other forums about this either.
I guess the good news is, the new characteristic of the Color Balance Adjustment Layer is better behaved with a transfer curve with less clipping for highlights and shadows. Very similar to the better behavior of the change of the Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer going from CS2 to CS3.
Here are some comparison images.
This is the Layer Stack Used with Base Image of simple B to W gradient with CB Layer on top with just the highlights pegged to red. This is the exact same Layer Stack for all of the images shown:
Here is the first image. This was created in PS CS4 and displayed from CS4 with the conditions show above:
This is the same image from above that was saved as PSD with profile and them imported to PS CS5 with same profile. There was no change:
This next image is using the same base gradient, yet then creating the CB Layer from within PS CS5 with the same parameters, only the Red pegged for the Highlights:
Does someone have an easy answer for this. Can someone duplicate this and confirm the change from CS4 to CS5. A test by someone else would either confirm I am off base with pilot error or there is something to this.
And yes, all the images were sRGB and kept in sRGB for creation/display. All Screenshot images were the images brought up side by side on the same color managed monitor.   All Edit > Color Settings were identical.
Thanks in advance for any help
John

OK, Chris, but before I perform my act of self flaggelation for the benefit for all and my extra embarrassment, let me add in some useful information about the Color Balance Adj Layer that could be helpful.
I was working with another individual who wanted a better understanding the color balance adj layer, what is was exactly doing, how the shadows, midtones, and highlights interacted, and the differences with preserve luminosity checked or not, and also why the preserve luminosity was so hard to predict (e.g. did not really preserve luminoisty).
Without going into the deails of all of that, the tidbit I will leave as far as penance for my stupid original post above is that the Color Balance Adj Layer with the Preserve Luminosity box checked does a reasonable job or preserving luminoisty for the midtone adjustments yet definitely does not for the shadow and highlight adjustments.
An easy workaround for this is to just set the Color Balance Adj Layer Blend to Color which preserves Luminosity of the image presented from lower layers while maintaining the Color as best it can from using the CB Adj Layer (It holds the Hue and does its best to keep the same Saturation yet the Luminoisty from the presented image from lower layers takes prescendence). This does a much better job at preserving Luminosity than using the checkbox option.    I usually use this approach and keep the Preserve Luminiosity box turned off.
The error that I made was during the fairly involved exchange with this other individual, at some point I accidentally set the Layer Mask for the CB Adj Layer to 50% gray and did not notice that it had changed from the default white. Much further down the line, when this other individual could not exactly recreate my results, he mentioned working in CS3. Thinking this odd, I pulled up CS3, created the image from scratch (without the erroneous mask change to 50% gray) so therefore I duplicated his results and did not realize the error was in my original Layer Stack. To make a long story short, I went and checked for differences in all system settings, profiles, Color Settings, opacity settings, Blend settings, Layer Style settings (and their options) etc, etc and overlooked a change in the Mask gray level.       When I quickly flashed back and forth between the two documents/stack it finally popped out at me. Mea Culpa.

Best equivalent to Photoshop's Color Balance dialog

I'm trying to understand what's the most equivalent function to Photoshop's Color Balance dialog in Lightroom 2. e.g. suppose I move the Cyan/Red a bit toward the red to make the image more 'redish'. What LR2 action will produce similar results?
thanks!
David
PS: for reference, this is what the dialog looks like in CS2:

Photoshop does Color Balance with far more detail and multiple-input fine tuning options than LR, obviously. I mean look at the screen shot and all the options available there.
But in very general terms, and often, for many photographs and many shooters, this is all the Color Balance adjustment they need, moving LR's Develop>WB Temp to the right would have a similar effect to moving Cyan-Red to the right. Both should warm the shot. (Try moving these sliders while watching caucasian faces shot in outdoor light in the winter in the north... they'll go from pale to a slightly glowing tan to ruddy. Or white t-shirts or snow will go from a white or bluish-white to a pinkish-white in ordinary daylight.)
Just to keep you on your toes, moving the Tint slider to the left in LR's Develop>WB Tint will give a similar effect to moving Photoshop's Magenta-Green to the right. (YMMV of course, but personally, with a RAW shot taken with a Canon camera and no color profile sliders moved in the camera, I find moving the Tint slider in LR rarely helps a shot look better and so I usually leave that one untouched... but I often do warm shots to varying degrees using the Temp slider. I think some greyscale workers, or some color workers going for highly creative effects, like to use the Tint slider more than I do.)
Photoshop's Yellow-Blue would also, I believe, change the warming effect using different tones than Cyan-Red, similar to LR's Develop>WB Temp, again working in the opposite direction. The advantage of having two sliders that can warm or cool an image in Photoshop is that you can adjust the degree of yellow separate from red in warming, to give more or less of an orange tone to your warming as desired.
Amping up those Color Levels windows in Photoshop might give a similar effect to boosting Vibrance or Saturation in LR>Develop, though in Photoshop you can tinker with separate levels for separate primary tones, which in LR you could only try to approximate with Develop>Camera Calibration.
All these sliders may have unintended effects if your monitor and printer are not calibrated, or to the extent that you're using consumer-priced monitors or printers where color balance can be dicey at best.

Why doesn't my Color Balance tool work anymore?

I've been working in Photoshop CS6 for two years and have never had issues with a tool not working. This past week I've noticed the Color Balance adjustment won't work at all. I've tried restarting my computer but that didn't help. I've searched for answers on my own but can't find anything. It seems very odd to me and I really don't know what is going on. Maybe someone knows something I don't know? It's putting my work behind. The only thing I can think of is I recently had my laptop cleaned out so it runs like new again. After that I reinstalled Photoshop CS6. This problem didn't start until I reinstalled it. I'm hoping I didn't do something wrong when installing it. Everything else works just fine.

I pressed the Reset New in CS6 button and it's working now. Crossing my fingers it keeps working!

Wrong color balance on prints from new HP 8500 Officejet Pro

Color prints are too red. We are printing a photo of an earring in which the original colors are all blue and silver-white, but in the print the blue parts have pink tones. How to fix?
HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One Printer - A909g, model number CB023A.
The machine is new. We have not yet gone through the very first print cartridges.
How can we adjust the print color balance?
Thanks.

Mr. or Ms. Miles: Thanks for your reply - I acknowledge you are responding in good faith and trying to be helfpul. However, whether it's Dell or HP or Verizon, I just wonder why, whenever I start a telephone call, chat, email or forum thread with a technical issue, my simple precise question is always ignored by employees of the big company. Your team of incapables in India could not answer my question which is why I posted in this forum.
I asked above what we can do to correct the color balance on prints with our brand-new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless. I even wrote that the machine is so new we have not yet gone through the initial ink cartridges. Your response above was not to tell me how to adjust the color balance -- which is my precise request -- but to ask me a question: to ask whether I have checked the ink levels. All right, I'll answer: yes, we have checked the ink levels, and they are fine. In any case, the machine would not ADD pink to a predominantly blue photo if one of our ink levels were low.
Please make it easy for me just this one time - how do I correct the color balance when I make color prints on our brand-new machine? It is adding pink - how do I fix that?
Warning - when we bought the machine only a few weeks ago, I bought three years' full on-site replacement warranty. If you cannot help me fix this problem, the eventual fix is going to be HP's complete replacement of this machine, at HP's expense. I don't need that if we can get true color out of the machine.
Please focus on my question and answer my question: How do I correct the color balance when I make color prints on our brand-new machine? Thank you.

Auto color balance

Hello,
I'm using Photoshop CS2 on a work computer to edit and upload pictures of vehicles and I use the Auto Color Balance (Ctr+Alt+B) very often. I recently switched computers and installed the same version of Photoshop on my new one and it no longer auto adjusts the color balance, it just brings up the menu to manually adjust photos. Can anyone help me make it auto adjust again?

Yes it will use the last used settings if you use Ctrl+Alt+B, but as far as i know the color balance dialog will still open with the last used settings shown.
Ctrl+B opens the color balance dialog, but with the settings zeroed

Color balance for particles question.

I made a ring using particular and I want to change the color. It's multiple copies with fast blurs applied to them to give
the glow and it's all pre-composed. Now all I want is to change the color as a whole but curves doesn't seem to work on it.
Not even color balance. Is it something with the settings? And I've gotten feedback saying those aren't the best ways to
color correct, like using color balance, but who cares, why isn't it working? I watch tutorials and they use it just fine with their particular layers.
Please and Thank you.
Best,
Kenny

Hey, thanks again for the help, it means a lot. I wanted to tell you something related to this topic, and why my particles weren't coloring when I would use curves and such when I clearly saw it done in a tutorial. Turns out it was non of the complications you described (though I am using your suggestion thank to you), the problem was just a simple layer I didnt add. When they would use color balance, they would apply a "Black Solid Background layer" at the bottom, then an adjustment layer with color balance on it, then it would work. I didn't have a black ground at the bottom therefore color balance didnt work when I used it with the adjustment layer. What does the Black BG layer at the bottom do to allow adjustment layers with color balance or other color effects to work and color the particles? The picture here is the method I just described, Black Solid at the bottom, multiple adjustment layers with fast blur for the glow, and one for the color balance. However without the Black Solid at the bottom, the color correction doesn't work.

I need the LR equivalent of the PS red slider in color balance

For some reason all my studio portraits need the red slider in PS to go down 6-10 points. But I cannot figure out how to reproduce that in LR. I've tried the camera calibration but it doesn't seem the same. This is a HUGE problem for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm runing lr4 and cs6. Thanks.

adjohnson1414 wrote:
I just wish wish wish that LR had color balance sliders like PS.
As Tom Rockwell already mentioned the RGB Tone Curves will provide very similar capability PS's Color Balance sliders. Go to the Tone Curve, click on the small icon in the lower right corner of the panel, and select the 'Red' Channel. To emulate the "midtone" Red/ Cyan Color Balance slider grab the curve at the 50% point and lower it to decrease red midtones.
That said I would agree with Web Weaver that your White Balance is off for your studio lighting setup and suggest using the White Balance Sliders for correcting it. You can then save it as a Develop Preset using only White Balance and perhaps Camera Calibration 'Profile' settings checked. Using a white balance card or ColorChecker Passport (above) will give you much more accurate results.

Color Balance No Longer Works

Hi! I'm new to the forum.
I used an add-on for Photoshop that creates an engraving effect for images. I made the image greyscale to do the action, then duplicated the end result in a new file and converted it back to RGB mode. Now there's something wrong with the color balance and other tools to change the color. Additional info:
1. When I try to change the color balance, sometimes it reverts to black and white, and sometimes the result is changed, but looks nothing like the preview from the color balance window.
2. I can add colors to the layer by using paint bucket - they look normal.
3. I've tried saving the file in various file types and opening it again (.jpg, .pdf) - no change. I even used my print function to save the file as a .pdf, then opened it again in Photoshop - I still have the same problem.
4. I've tried closing Photoshop and reopening it - no change.
5. I open other files of mine and I don't have this problem.
Help!
Thanks everyone!

BOILERPLATE TEXT:
If you give complete and detailed information about your setup and the issue at hand, such as your platform (Mac or Win), exact versions of your OS, of Photoshop and of Bridge, machine specs, such as total installed RAM, scratch file HDs, video card specs, what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far, what error message(s) you receive, if having issues opening raw files also the exact camera make and model that generated them, etc., someone may be able to help you.
Please read this FAQ for advice on how to ask your questions correctly for quicker and better answers:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419981?tstart=0
Thanks!

Can I adjust the color balance in Facetime?

The color balance of my image when I am using Facetime on my iPad 2 is so bad that I would rather use Skype- it is extremely yellow and makes a very unflattering image of me. Is there anyway to adjust the color balance to have more natural tones while using Facetime?

None that I'm aware of.

Color management help needed for adobe CS5 and Epson printer 1400-Prints coming out too dark with re

Color management help needed for adobe CS5 and Epson printer 1400-Prints coming out too dark with reddish cast and loss of detail
System: Windows 7
Adobe CS5
Printer: Epson Stylus Photo 1400
Paper: Inkjet matte presentation paper with slight luster
Installed latest patch for Adobe CS5
Epson driver up to date
After reading solutions online and trying them for my settings for 2 days I am still unable to print what I am seeing on my screen in Adobe CS5. I calibrated my monitor, but am not sure once calibration is saved if I somehow use this setting in Photoshop’s color management.
The files I am printing are photographs of dogs with lots of detail I digitally painted with my Wacom tablet in Photoshop CS5 and then printed with Epson Stylus 1400 on inkjet paper 20lb with slight luster.
My Printed images lose a lot of the detail & come out way to dark with a reddish cast and loss of detail when I used these settings in the printing window:
Color Handling: Photoshop manages color, Color management -ICM, OFF no color adjustment.
When I change to these settings in printer window: Color Handling: Printer manages color. Color management- Color Controls, 1.8 Gamma and choose Epson Standard it prints lighter, but with reddish cast and very little detail and this is the best setting I have used so far.
Based on what I have read on line, I think the issue is mainly to do with what controls are set in the Photoshop Color Settings window and the Epson Printer preferences. I have screen images attached of these windows and would appreciate knowing what you recommend I enter for each choice.
Also I am confused as to what ICM color management system to use with this printer and CS5:
What is the best ICM to use with PS CS5 & the Epson 1400 printer? Should I use the same ICM for both?
Do I embed the ICM I choose into the new files I create?
Do I view all files in the CS5 workspace in this default ICM?
Do I set my monitor setting to the same ICM?
If new file opens in CS5 workspace and it has a different embedded profile than my workspace, do I convert it?
Do I set my printer, Monitor and PS CS5 color settings to the same ICM?
Is using the same ICM for all devices what is called a consistent workflow?
I appreciate any and all advice that can be sent my way on this complicated issue. Thank you in advance for your time and kind help.

It may be possible to figure out by watching a Dr.Brown video on the subject of color printing. Adobe tv
I hope this may help...............

Color Balance help?

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