Color correction on magenta skin tones / white shirt

I want to color correct a shot that is very blue/ magenta.
I would like the skin tones to be less magenta and more orange/yellow.
I get the best results by adding yellow on the Midtones and Shadows.
My problem is that the Highlights are going yellow, specially a white shirt. I get a better result by by then adding blue on the Highlights. I'm wondering if it's the right thing to do... Also, some Midtones are still too magenta.
I could isolate the skin tones as secondaries, but still, I have to color correct other parts of the image.
Any tip? Should I use the advanced settings?
I know my question as no miracle answer and that color correction should be done by a pro, but I would appreciate any suggestion, thanks.

cariocastyle wrote:
I want to color correct a shot that is very blue/ magenta.
I would like the skin tones to be less magenta and more orange/yellow.
I get the best results by adding yellow on the Midtones and Shadows.
I'm wondering if it's the right thing to do...
I don't know, what does your eye tell you?
Before anyone can suggest any sort of solution, you need to provide a still as Mr. Owens asked for and then provide some direction for what you want.
No 2 people on the face of the earth see exactly the same. Color is entirely subjective. If you like what you're doing (I would ask, how you're seeing anything accurately from an iMac) then who cares what anyone else thinks? Unless, someone is paying you for your talent, then you'd best have the best rig money can buy as anything less is a lie.

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Fix 'Recovery' slider & add 'Color Correction' slider to Tone Curve

My requests:
1.) Please change the behavior of the 'Recovery' slider so that it attacks very-blown-out-highlights more rigorously than less-blown-out-highlights.
2.) Please add a 'Color Correction' slider to the Tone Curve that is analogous to the 'Color Correction' slider built into the 'Shadows/Highlights' tool in Adobe Photoshop & Apple Aperture.
To more clearly understand what I'm asking for, let me compare Aperture vs. LR's handling of Highlight Recovery, and why I prefer how Aperture recovers my highlights with its Shadows/Highlights tool vs. how LR recovers my highlights with the 'Recovery' slider OR Tone Curve.
1.) Aperture's 'Shadows/Highlights' tool recovers highlights by attacking the brightest parts of the highlights more harshly than the lesser bright parts of the highlights (th extent of luminosities attacked is adjustable using the 'High Tonal Width' slider). LR's "Recovery' tool doesn't seem to, among highlights, preferentially attack the brighter parts of the highlights over the less bright highlights. In fact, sometimes it leaves THE brightest parts of my image nearly untouched! I've posted an image below that shows this.
2.) Aperture's 'Highlights' tool recovers highlights WHILE maintaining color saturation (you can control the extent to which this saturation is maintained using the 'Color Correction' slider under Advanced settings fo the Shadows/Highlights tool). LR's 'Highlights' within the Tone Curve desaturates colors as highlights are 'recovered' by bringing 'Highlights' down. Again, I've posted an image below that shows this.
Here is an image that clearly shows the different behaviors of Aperture's Shadows/Highlights tool vs. LR's Recovery tool vs. LR's 'Highlights' slider within the Tone Curve:
http://web.mac.com/rishisanyal/Lightroom/HighlightRecovery_LRvsAperture.jpg
I believe that LR's 'Recovery' slider has much room for improvement (i.e. attack the blown-out highlights more harshly than the less-blown-out highlights), and the addition, to LR's Tone Curve, of a similar 'Color Correction' slider as Aperture's & PS CS3's very own 'Shadows/Highlights' tools have, would be very welcome.
Thank you for your consideration,
Rishi

More for your eyes to feast on:
http://web.mac.com/rishisanyal/Lightroom/HighlightRecovery_LRvsAperture_2.jpg
http://web.mac.com/rishisanyal/Lightroom/LR_FailsToDecreaseBlownOutHighlights.jpg
Funny thing is, LR just seems unwilling to touch (255,255,255) blown-out highlights. In all my test images with a blown-out sun, LR leaves the sun at (255,255,255) after all combinations of exposure, recovery, and Tone Curve manipulations. Whereas Aperture will bring it down to something like (128,128,128). Which seems more logical, to me, if one is trying to darken the image or darken highlights... right?
Also, if you look at the Seattle & Mt. Rainier image, no matter what I try, LR will not get rid of that brighter 'halo' to the upper left of Mt. Rainier. It just won't! 'Recovery' ends up highlighting just that bubble, and decreasing the Highlights in the Tone Curve just turns it into a grey, desaturated, halo. I'm telling, it just won't get rid of that halo! It has a love affair with it! :)
Aperture immediately gets rid of it with its Highlight slider, and Photoshop's 'Shadows/Highlights' tool also gets rid of it after a bit of manipulations/tweaking.
Now, I try to avoid Aperture at all costs, but, for all these images, seems like I need to use Aperture as my 'external editor' just to fix the highlights!
Any suggestions are very much welcome & appreciated.

Color Correction in Final Cut Express HD

I'm editing a stage production of A Midsummer Nights Dream that was shot on two different cameras. The set is very bright and vivid, and i have read and re-read the FCE Help page on the color correction topic. I have corrected my master shots (wides). What i want to know is how i can adjust the colors of my close-ups:
1. the subject (Bottom in this case) is lit in a blue light (moon light).
2. the set (the woods) are lit by a bright green light.
What I want to do is match the colors to the master, but if i adjust to match the blue light on Bottom, the background loses its bright green. Likewise, if i try and make the green brighter to match the master shot, Bottom turns green too.
The help file mentions Limit Effect, but doesn't expand on it. Bear in mind i'm an 18 year old student, i pretty much need to be spoon-fed a solution!
Any help would be very very gratefully recieved, as i'm a bit pushed for time and trying to finish it this weekend (A-levels are looming...)
Thanks in advance,
James.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) 17", 2.0GHz, 1Gb RAM

Limit effect is not going to help you in this case. You really need to control the overall image and get a balance between the wide and the CU. Color match Bottom's skin tone so it appears correct to you. Leave some of the blue cast to not lose the moonlight effect. Then color match the wide shot so that it has the same look as the corrected CU.

Prints don't match display - photosmart b8550 - skin tones have reddish tin

when printing to photosmart b8550, the prints don't "color match" the display.
skin tones especially have reddish tint. should the printer or iphoto control
the colors?

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. First I have to ask the obvious question: have you checked the levels in the various ink cartridges?
Color control is very difficult. Unless you print from an application like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements where you can set the preferences to have the application control color the printer will usually have the control.
What I would do is find a color image like this color image or this one and use it to run tests on regular paper, changing the various settings in the Print window till you get what you like. Then save those settings as a new preset.
Do not use a color image file that has the Adobe RGB color profile. You want one with the standard sRGB or sRGB IEC1966-2.1.
Also calibrate your monitor via the System/Displays preference pane. In the Print window menus there are a couple of panes for color management. Take a look at both, and others, to fine tune your setup.

Strange thing in FCP´s color correction filter...

Hi i have noticed that I do have in my FCP color correction filter one of the WHITES dropper colored in green???
Have a look a this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elegantmob/3930570127/
Is this normal? I do not remember seing it that way. Should I do something?
Thank you
St.

that indicates that you have enabled the *Match Hue* function ... click the round reset button at far right of the Match Hue controls (below the Mids wheel) and it should revert to normal
you can read more on the venerable Match Hue function here
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/match_hue_fcp_5balis.html

What are the ranges for correct skin tones using RGB%?

What are the ranges for correct skin tones using RGB%? Used to using a scale from 0 to 255. But with LR it's RGB , I know 100% RGB is white. What do you use for %?

While I whole heartedly agree that we should not be constrained to hard and fast numbers for accurate skin tones ... LR does offer an RGB color readout ... I am assuming they made those percentages available for the user to monitor the breakdown of specific color values for a reason ... so we could have an indication of how a specific color in an image will be reproduced ...
I liken this to using a speedometer ... while many experienced drivers in well tuned vehicles can travel on the highway at the prescribed legal speed limit without really monitoring the readout on the dashboard ... however, there are times when they would like to verify the speed at which they are traveling ... the RGB color percentage readout in LR is no different ... just a source of information to verify you are achieving what you desire ...
Again, going by specific numbers in this instance, I believe, could lead to problems ... there may be times when you may desire or actually need to adjust skin tones ... even though a pleasing WB has been achieved ... the relationship of R, G and B can be used to get you there.
From what I have researched and put into practice with LR the following seems to be a good starting point and the data was borrowed from "the pixelation" blog:
R: highest %
G: middle %
B: lowest %
To get a little more specific. In general,
R: Y + (15-20)
G: average of R and B
B: R – (15-20)
For example, the following values represent common Caucasian skin tones using the rules above:
* R: 80%; G: 70%; B: 60%. R is 20 points higher than B, and G is midway between R and B. That’s perfect.
* R: 86%, G: 78%; B: 70% also reflects a nicely balanced skin tone. Again, G is midway between R and B, and R is 16 points higher than B. This, too, illustrates a great relationship among the colors.

Color Correcting In CC - Making Whites Actually White

Okay so my main question is,
Are there any functions or plugins where I can look at the clip, and then click on a spot that I know should be white (But its not because the camera wasn't white balanced 100%), and have After effects automatically adjust so it is white.
Kind of like how you set white balance on a camera, where you hold up a white card or other completely white object, click the white balance, and the camera automatically adjust to make it white.
Except I want to be able to just click on a point in the footage and have it adjust everything.
If this is not an option, then are there any good tips for white balancing the footage?
IE: I film a subject against a white wall, the camera wasn't white balanced so the background appears to be light beige. I want to click the background in AE and have it color correct and make it white.
Thanks

Finding perfect white is always a challenge and it may foul up other things in your shot because white walls are reflective and if someone is wearing a blue shirt against a white wall, white may not be white. Setting white may get you in the ball park, but it is usually only the first step in color grading. You usually want to push highlights to one hue and shadows to another.
The procedure and the tools used to color grade a shot depend entirely on the shot. For most of my work Colorists II is my preferred tool. Some shots require more than one instance of colorist to get to where I want to go. Color finesse is also good, but for some work, and this depends entirely on the shot, Auto Color is all that I need. No matter what technique you use to grade your shots you need some kind of scope or histogram that you understand so you can know where you are pushing the levels in the shot. I'm always checking areas of a shot with the Info Panel to make sure I know what I've done to the color values. Most of all, good color grading takes time to learn and a very thorough knowledge of color.

Skin color correction in Lightroom

I'm not ready for Photoshop, yet.
I'm looking for a better way to adjust skin tones in Lightoom. Ideally, using the rgb color information numbers to help me When I hover my mouse over an area to guide me.
What I'm doing at present is, after I've established a white balance, either apply with the brush or radial filter
saturation or tone sliders adjustments. I've worked out that I can help smooth out a poor complexion with detail adjustments in color and the slider above it. it all feels so random. Without knowing how to adjust those rgb numbers I feel unsure about my colors. (And yes, I use a color calibrator and 6500k bulbs in my room.)
Any pre-Photoshop suggestions?

BTW: It's working fine here, but I'm on a PC.
I'm just kind of feeling my way around here:
PS creates the psd; on return to LR you make further adjustments and then re-open it in PS. I'm assuming you choose "Edit Original".
For LR "Orignal" means the state before LR adjustments; that means in PS the LR adjustments are not visible.
On return to LR, the image should re-load to display the further changes made in PS. But you don't see the previous LR adjustments.
After your return to LR what do you see in the history panel? Which history state is highlighted? The bottom one or the top one?
If it's the bottom one, what happens when you click on the top one?
When you open the image the 2nd time in PS, which history state is highlighted, the top one or the bottom one?
WW

Skin tone balance? (as opposed to white balance)

much like there's a way of automating white balance (through the eye-dropper or auto-WB), i wonder if there's a way of matching skin tones. is there some sort of "match hue" option where you can make someone's forehead be the same hue in every photo (without doing it manually)?
there's such an option in apple's final cut pro in the 3-way color corrector. it's a very handy and time-saving feature.
thanks!

This is only half the answer. Have you seriously tried to edit large numbers of files with this method? It's an exercise in frustration.
I just started up Aperture to see how many Tabs it takes to go from White Balance to Exposure, 7 from memory as it highlights every sub-menu along the way. I say from Memory because it decides this time (a first) it's not going to move to the next field no matter how many times Tab is pressed. And when my workflow is Exposure, then White Balance, (don't get me started about bright sparks who tell you to do it the other way), then H&S, then Saturation, which is how many Tabs? Somewhere between 35 and 40. And you have to take your eyes of the screen to see where you are.
I've said this quite a few times in these forums, and yes, I have posted a number of times in the feedback, that the best implementation of this is Capture 1 where (on PC) Control +/- controls exposure, Shift +/- White Balance etc. And it works perfectly on a network, unlike Bridge which just keeps crashing.
As someone who edits anywhere between 1100 and 2000 CR2 files a week there is no way I could use Aperture in our Companies workflow. I use it for my personal work where time and volume are not crucial considerations but file management is.
Even though Capture 1 is long in the tooth, ie no H&S, no Recovery yadda, yadda, yadda, to my knowledge no other Professional level RAW processor has this direct entry of important adjustment values and once used any other method is just tedious.
While I love most of the other features, in my opinion, the Tab method of moving between adjustments as implemented in Aperture is half baked and very buggy.
End of rant.
Cheers,
Terry

Correcting Skin Tone

I am using a MAC version of Photoshopt Elements 8.0.8.0. I am attempting to Correct skin tone via (Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Color for Skin Tone) When I make this selection, I should get an "Eye dropper" for a cursor to make the correction to the color. Instead I am getting the "grab hand" and it does not make the change in the color.
I am having the same issue with the (Removing a Color Cast).
Anyone have any idea?

I could not capture the "+" cursor in the screen shot, but that is the cursor I get after clicking on OK in the second screen shot.
Barbara I hope this helps.
Darnell

Color in fcp7 changes to crushed blacks and warm skin tones for some reason

So I have a MBP Retina, 2.6 GHZ, 16GB memory, 512 SSD. I have two external displays LG IPS LED ones connected via hdmi. For some strange reason, when I perform a given function or just randomly the color of my video becomes highly contrasted, and warm. When I first begin my project everything looks great, but say for example I go to Window>Arrange>Standard, the windows will orgainze themsleves as usual, but then the color will become drastically crushed (see before and after photos below) The image becomes heavily contrasted as well as very warm in the red spectrum. When I disconnect the monitor to see if it is an issue of the external display and just view FCP on my laptop, the images remain the same, crushed blacks and warm/redish skin tones. But everything looks fine, if I close the program, disconnect the external displays and then recconnect them again and open FCP 7 again. It will NOT do this if I stay on my laptop only, seems to only do it when I have either one or two external displays attached.
Not sure if anyone has come accross this yet, any clues? The first photo is how it normally looks, the second is with the strange color annomily.

In FCP, go to the menu Final Cut Pro > System Settings and click on the Playback Control Tab.
Make sure the Gamma Correction is set to Approximate:
MtD

What color value is skin tone?

If I want to push skin tone in the Colour Board (Apple's rectangular version of the "colour wheel") in a colour adjustment, should I be pushing at 30 degrees?
The FCPX user manual says in "Vectorscope display options",
"Show/Hide Skin Tone Indicator: Shows or hides the diagonal line that represents the human skin tone chroma phase, which is between the yellow and red color bar targets."
It doesn't say if the skin tone indicator is exactly between yellow and red, i.e. pure orange, which would be 30 degrees, or just somewhere between red and yellow.
I found this in a Larry Jordan article,
"Regardless which race or ethnic group our actors are a part of, all of us have the same red blood under our skins. This line (skin tone indicator) represents the color of red blood under skin. In general, when you want to make skin tones look normal and believable, you want them within a couple of degrees of this line. Above the line leans ruddy, below the line leans sallow."
So, is the red blood under our skin pure orange, i.e. 30 degrees in the Colour Board, i.e. exactly mid way between red (zero degrees) and yellow (60 degrees), or is it some other value?

Many thanks for all your help. I suppose I am trying to arrive at really nice cinematic looking skin tones, but with my Canon 550d and very limited knowledge of setting up shots and film making, pushing skin tone and playing with the colour board alone will not get me those appealing skin tones. Attached are some interesting ones, but how to achieve them? I need to keep learning, and perhaps have a good lot of cash for gear ..

Color correcting auto white balance footage

I shot some video yesterday and at the time of the shoot, I made sure to set my white balance, however after looking at the footage I notice the color temperature slightly shifts constantly. I don't know why this happened, but it's too late to investigate, my project is due in less than a week.
The good news is that I've realized that that there's a white object in the bg of the shot the entire time that is pure white so i could color correct by setting that as the white point in FCP. The only problem is that since it shifts every 3 seconds or so i would have to keyframe a LOT. Is there any plug-in or application that will let me track that white object in the background so it can set a custom white points for every frame?
Running Final Cut Pro 6.0.2
PS: I found Avid has auto color correction -- basically what I'm looking for I guess. Unfortunately I don't have Avid.

there's no auto color correction feature directly in FCP
there are 3rd party plugs to allow you to track objects but i'm not aware of any way to link that to a color correction

Color correcting wrong white balance

I apologize if this question is simplistic in nature but I am still an amateur editor trying to fix some of the videos I have done.
As a scuba diver, I am constantly white balancing underwater. However, occassionaly, I while white balance where my subject has the correct color but the background is more redish instead of the nice deep blue sea. What is the easiest way to color correct the background of a video shot without affecting the frontground subject?
I imagine levels is a great tool but when I attempted to play around with the numerous settings, I kept on affecting the subject as well as the background. What is the easiest way to correct the background? Thanks.

Here is a good tutorial on what Colin is describing
3-way Color Corrector for secondary color effects

3 way Color correction FCPX - eye dropper - whites/mid/black color picker -

- In every shot with my AF100, after a WHITE BALANCE - I shoot a white/grey/black card http://tinyurl.com/greycards
- In FCP 7, in 3 way color correction, I use the eye dropper to pick each of these, this works very well,
as opposed to guessing at what is white, grey and black in any shot.
Question:
How do I do this in FCP X ?
What technique can I use for this trick which has worked well for my color grading.
Thanks,
Rob

I'd love learn specifically what makes the color bar "better".
Here is my comment which I recently left on a similar thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19082591#19082591
The eye dropper in the 3 way CC was an amazingly efficient way of getting color balance.
Not only is it easy but also was a very intuitive way for less experienced users to grasp how color is distributed.
This new brain-dead approach of color matching in FCPX is inconsistent and doesn't help novice users really get a grasp on the fundamentals of color grading.
If Apple doesn't return the 3 way CC hopefully someone will write an affordable 3rd party plug that brings back this functionality.
Here's a short youtube tutorial illustrating how simple white balance is in FCP7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d3rlRUXz4M
Here's a tutorial on how it's now done in FCPX. (The kid comments on the ridiculous absence of the eye dropper.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX3nsIm5oKg
Decide for yourself which is more intuitive and logical.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html

Color correction on magenta skin tones / white shirt

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