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!

Similar Messages

  • 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 correcting more than one clip at a time

    Perhaps I am missing something very elementary here... but here is my situation. I have three camera angles, each of the same concert. They are synced and ready to go, each on a separate track. Each needs color correction. I have found the color correction for each that I want. Before I slice up my clips I can very easily color correct each line separately, as the color correction applies to the whole clip. However, this takes about an hour to render because it is so much material. But since I am slicing up each track anyway to form a composite track, wouldn't it make more sense for me to slice up each track as I see fit, delete the unwanted footage, and then color correct each line before I drag them all into one composite track? That way, the color correction would just be applied to the clips that I am using, presumably taking about 1/3 the time to render. Know what I mean? So here is the question: can I select all of the clips on one line and THEN color correct just those? Or do I have to select each little clip and type in the boatload of numbers into the numeric color correction. Or is there another way all together. (Like, is there a way to SAVE the color correction values that I want and call them like "camera one" "camera two" etc... and then just apply those settings to the clips I want?)
    With my sound editing program I have presets for this concert. I am able to take each piece, open it up and apply the same equalization, amplification, reverb, etc. that I did for all of the others, thus making them all sound the same. I'm sure FCE has this option for video, doesn't it?
    I have 10 more pieces to do and by far this was the most time consuming part of the job. So any help would be most appreciated!
    Much thanks!

    Apply the color correction to one clip and adjust as needed. Copy the clip. Select all other clips that you want to apply the filter with those settings to. Right-click on one and select Paste Attributes/Filters.
    -DH

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Real time editing hardware spics ........color correction

    hi for all
    am ayham from Saudi Arabia ...am working as video editing with Avid and i would like to convert to final cut pro for color correction and video editing for drama
    i need it to work real time like other editing software
    any one can help me about the hardware and Video card(aja kona3...or any other)
    and the storage should i need raid storage like promis VTrack ????????????
    plz help me

    Hi Ayham,
    You need a Mac pro,
    Aja Cona LHE (with break out box),
    The Apple's fiber optical card (2 or 4 Gbit),
    one NAS like this http://starline.de/en/index.html ,
    Final Cut Studio 2,
    and this http://www.automaticduck.com/products/options-avid-user.php
    for converting projects from Avid to FCP.
    Hope this heps

  • ? 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 corrections

    OLA!!!
    been a while since I have been on the forum..
    Right.... just going through the advanced technique apple certified manual, and going through the color correction chapters.
    This post is really to get confirmed of a trick I have in mind.
    You have a sequence with lets say 10 clips, filmed during different time of days, and therefore have different Luminance, contract etc.....
    I see two steps in correcting the color and luminance. First set each clip to have a similar mood, so that they all look the same (unless of course one is during the day and one at night, but you will get my drift).
    Once this is done, I may want to apply a change of color across the whole sequence, to make it a bit colder for example. I could go through every clips and apply a 3way CA or (and I think that this could be the trick), save the sequence, and drag it (the sequence that is) onto a new one. Apply the 3way ca on that (since it is actually just one clip), and job done.
    The same could be applied for the broadcast safe filter.
    What do you recon you all?
    Let me know.
    Cheers
    Steff

    no reply... I must be talking out of my derriere... < </div>
    Umm, right. Please don't bump your own posts.
    No one commented because your post was self-closing. You asked for comments about a process that is not original and is thoroughly documented in the manuals as precomposing or nesting.
    bogiesan

  • Color Finesse vs Colorista 2  Premiere vs After Effects for color correction

    Hi,
    I want to get in to color correcting of my Canon XF305 footage that is converted to the Blackmagic 10 bits lossless codec.
    I have two Eizo calibrated monitors etc , but my only doubt is the choice of the program (to do it in Premiere-pro or After Effects) and with Color Finesse or with Colorista 2.
    So if there are people with color correction experience please share it here.
    Thanks! David

    When shooternz said 'gain' I presume he means "what was the benefit". If your original footage can be opened in PP, converting it isn't usually necessary unless you find the scrub performance is really hampered by the camera's codec - and that's more of an issue for line editing rather than color correction as you won't be playing it back and forth very much. PP will edit in 32-bit color space no matter what the footage is, so you don't need to force the ingested material into a higher bit depth.
    We get the 'real time' question asked a lot. PP is a non-linear editor so realtime playback and scrubbing are essential, but the exact content of each frame isn't all that important. AE works on individual frames so it's not designed to play back in real time - it has to compose all your effects onto every single frame before it can show you the results, and in every frame it processes every pixel. The realtime monitors in PP don't do that - they show something that looks visually the same but only some of the frames are actually processed, then the rest are interpolated.
    AE has some extremely powerful CC tools, but realistically it's intended for use on small clips - if you look at grading workflows in studios their typical AE timelines might only be 20 seconds max, and often only a couple of seconds. It can work with longer clips but it gets painful. The big advantage in AE is the ability to layer up lots of effects with masks, so for example you can color-correct a video clip so it exactly matches another clip or a still image, fine-tuning one coffee cup in the background of a scene or relighting in post by masking up zones of color and exposure adjustment.
    PP on the other hand is great for long timelines and cutting together clips into a program - that's what it's designed for - but it works on clips so correcting at a frame-by-frame level is correspondingly horrible. I'd say the 3-way CC in PP is perfectly fine for prosumer and indie work; if you know what you're doing it's possible to replicate any of the motion picture styles people are used to seeing, it's simply that it doesn't have a library of presets and you don't get the same level of spatial controls (there's no masked adjustment layer concept in PP like there is in AE). As shooternz says some of the third-party plugins for PP give you those power tools.
    New in CS6, Speedgrade provides a standalone program with more powerful features, though the workflow at the moment isn't all that seamless (SG wants frame images, as do most pro grading applications, so there's a gnarly export-import thing to go through that makes round-tripping a one way street).
    A professional colorist will use a standalone grading program for several reasons, but they're not all down to pure 'quality';
    pro colorists tend to use special hardware desks with physical versions of the three color wheels, and they only work with certain software.
    if you're matching the 'look' of an entire motion picture, being able to store, share and batch process with preset styles and look-up tables (LUTs) is important - MB Looks and the Colorista plugin bundled with AE both have libraries of presets, the native fast and 3-way CC tools in PP don't.
    On a big project the grading is done by someone other than the editor, so they don't generally need (or want) access to the master timeline - they'll get an exported mezzanine format from edit (an image sequence or uncompressed video track) so don't care about all the other stuff PP or AE can do.
    If your only job is grading then a standalone package is the way to go. If it's one of an army of things you do, from shooting and editing to burning the DVDs and writing the blog, I'd say to stick with the inbuilt tools in PP/AE, have a go in Speedgrade if you have CS6 and some time to teach yourself, but the expense of a standalone grading tool would only be worthwhile if you have a few months spare to learn the skills. There's a reason the best colorists earn top dollar, it's 50% art, 50% science and 100% dedication.

  • How to apply 3 way color correction to multiple clips in Final Cut Pro?

    I have multiple clips from the same time and space footage that need color correction. I have worked on one of the clips and found the settings I like.
    Is there a way to apply that correction to other clips without starting from scratch on each one?
    Thanks!

    SoCal (above) listed one way. Another way you can do it if you like the color correction that you have done and want to save it, you can click the picture of the hand in the color correction tab and drag it into the browser. This saves that specific arrangement of colors, highlights, etc.
    Also, this might be a little easier but instead of pasting attributes and right clicking you can just grab the hand (that I just talked about) and drag it onto the clips you want to apply the same color correction to. The hand is located in the color correction tab (in viewer) and is under the "numeric" button.
    Note: All of your clips in your timeline will have different contrasts, brightness, colors, etc. NO clip is going to have the EXACT same attributes as another. It doesn't matter how expensive and professional your camera is. Every shot is different whether you are using artificial lighting or the natural lighting. Having that said, you will probably still need to adjust your different clips a little bit to make them look like they are in the same room at the same time. Hopefully if your lucky or had perfect lighting for all of your shots, you will not have to do much messing around with your contrast, brightness, etc. Good luck!

  • Configuring an external Monitor for Color Correction?

    I currently have my Mac Book Pro 17in connected by the mini DV port and one USB port to a Mac 30" Cinema Display for editing on FCP7. I use it in a two monitor configuration with my Bin on the laptop screen and the FCP interface on the Cinema display. This works well for me.
    I also have an external ESata drive via PCI slot. I would like to connect an external video monitor as well for quality checks and Color correction purposes. I am also looking for advice on what sort of external video monitor I should get and how would I connect it to the laptop or via some external third party device. I would be hoping to use a video monitor connected via a hdmi connection. Most of the work I do is supplied on drives, original material EX3 or Canon and some on HDV (Camera) that I ingest via Firewire800. Many thanks in advance.

    Sorry Mark, you can't always have everything ... with the Matrox MXO2 (or similar, like Motu HDX-SDI) you wouldn't be able to use your eSATA drive at the same time as the I/O device as they both use the ExpressCard/34 port ... you would have to use a FW800 drive for your media instead. On the plus side the MXO2 includes a calibration tool which can help you calibrate your LCD/LED screen via HDMI for accurate color reproduction.
    An alternative device would be the AJA IoHD (or perhaps Motu V4HD) which connects via FW800. It's a superb piece of kit but is costly and doesn't offer any calibration utility ... that said, a good quality plasma display, such as a Panasonic Pro Plasma, can be found relatively cheaply and many of these have built in picture controls suitable for getting an accurate calibration.
    The future is much brighter for Mac laptop users with the introduction of the Thunderbolt connector on the latest MBP revisions. As with FireWire and ExpressCard, you can expect to see I/O devices, hard drives and monitors etc that will connect directly via that connection, greatly expanding the capabilities of a simple laptop setup.

  • Color correction

    there was a thread on cs5 about this that interested me, so I started new thing here cause Im using cs3..
    Shooternz, your help in the cs5 thread was great...and this is what I did....in my particular circumstances...
    ( I have to say that this is really the first time I'm sorta getting serious about CC and using the scopes etc...to try to learn this better )
    I know the basics and the monitor stuff and the way people shoot properly exposed grayscale, color etc on set for calibration ( using film mostly in my experience, but done with digital too as I've seen )...
    Sooo, here's the thing... I shot this clip as a test to see how long the music had to be to get a mssg across later on ( an insert shot that I will shoot on the day in the right location etc )... so this was a timing test sorta....didnt care about the lighting.
    However, since I shot it I've tried to make it as good as I can ( why not ? )
    I had a flourescent unit ( drop down ceiling 32K flourescents ) above...but it read about 36k on color meter and needed color correction at that ( LB and CC correction ..know what I mean ? )...so OK...who cares, its a test and timing only sooooo I dont put gels on the light and just shoot.
    Soooo, I DID IN FACT put a grayscale down to fix it later if possible....even though it wasn't lit right....
    This is what it looks like basically...
    pretty terrible...very yellow and compressed tones etc...not good...
    Soo, following your suggestions in thread in cs5, using waveform and vectorgraph, I come up with this instead..
    WAYY BETTER !  ( thank you ! )....but...not perfect...thats OK, I didnt light it right...but better ....
    Now, though, when I paste attributes of this to the clip in question I end up with this pixelation or "splotchy " stuff..as shown here
    Now, my experience using psd tells me that if you try to correct too much, there's a sorta " limit" to what you can do, and things start just plain getting screwed up..."splotchy" like this...  but if I had some way to just pick on the "yellow" gamma or something maybe I could get rid of it ....OR do a color replacement ( change ??? )... like pick out that particular color and change it to something closer to the white???  Have you ever dealt with this type thing ???  I know I started out all wrong to begin with but am wondering what you think ??
    Thanks !
    Rod
    ps...this was a dumb test so please dont , you know, put much into this...I know I shot it all screwed up to begin with..

    Hey Rod
    Your CC looks fine and if the intention was to correct the col temp and exposure issue..you did fine.  I see you have a full scale of tones in the greys.
    Obviously you should start off with a correct  exposure  and that doesn ot necessarily mean a "technically correct" exposure.
    You do not have to shoot and CC / grade to display the full range from Balck to white.
    Its important to rember that the CC and grade (and the composition) are part of "the story"  At times you will want crushed blacks and other times you may want a high key look or compressed tones in the mid.  Then afetr the "tones" you think about what color tells the story.
    Always..... Levels before Color correction!
    BTW - the eye rules but ensure technically that the scopes confirm what you think you see.
    Heres someof my images reflecting different CC for a "fit with the story"
    Flat , clean,compressed mid tones, clinical ( a green screen BTW)
    Dark , compressed toward blacks with detail in mids, juicy highlightsdramatic ( slo mo)
    Full tonal range,hi color, "summer on xmas day"
    full range color and tone, texture "yummy"
    Clean and clinical mid ranges with slight color de-saturation of BG
    FG grade to match bg (key) and fit time of day look.
    Keep in mind...the above shots started in the photography and the cc / grade is enhancement.
    Good luck mate.

  • 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

Maybe you are looking for