Make the Grade

Grading is often a multi-stage or multi-step process. The first stage is often referred to as primary color correction. This is the stage where the image is reshaped as a whole.  In Lessons 3 and 4, you’ll learn how to correct images that are under or over exposed as well as how to correct color balance issues resulting from improper white balancing or lighting.

 

You’ll also explore how to create looks that affect or change the mood of the scene.  Instead of just correcting problems, you’ll learn to use Color to emulate a time of day or create more stylized looks such as applying color tints or “washes” to your images. 

Stay on Target

Color grading also involves adjusting or altering specific parts of the image without affecting the image as a whole. This is called secondary correction.  Color gives you an assortment of functional tools for this purpose.  In lessons 5, 6, and 7 you will learn how to use Vignettes, HSL Keys and the Curves to perform targeted corrections on your images.

Vignettes are customized shapes or mattes. You will learn how to use vignettes to re-light the scene to some extent, add pools of light or create shadows that did not exist in the original photography.

An HSL key allows you to isolate one color or shade so that it can be affected independently from the rest of the image.  HSL keys can be used to change a dull sky into a more vibrant sky or change the color of an actor’s wardrobe.  HSL keys can also be used for more stylized purposes such as preserving one color in the frame while de-saturating the rest of the frame.  A common application of this effect can be seen in movies like “Pleasantville” and “Sin City.”

Effects that Grow on Trees

In lesson 8 you will enter the Color FX room to create various looks for your images by applying presets that can be customized and reused.  You will also learn how to create looks from scratch using a compositing metaphor inherited from Shake called a “Process Tree”.   Looks can be created by arranging image processing engines called “Nodes” into a specific order and then combining them to create sophisticated effects such as the Bleach Bypass look pictured below. 

Powerful Scene-To-Scene Workflow

While color grading can take place on individual clips, it is often performed in the context of an entire scene to create the illusion of a continuous event.  In lesson 10 you’ll explore the various tools Color gives you for re-balancing images to match one another. One such tool is the Still Store room where you’ll learn to save and access frames from anywhere in the timeline for the purpose of comparing images to one another. 

Learn how to copy corrections from one shot to another as well as how to save your corrections and apply them to other shots in your project.   Also important, is how to handle last minute client changes where the alterations need to be rippled throughout the project.

Fixing it in Post

Lesson 10 introduces you to Color’s powerful keyframing controls.  For example, you may need to alter a grade over time due to changes in lighting during the shot.  Other uses include Pan and Scan effects that allow you to re-frame the image over time.  By the end of the lesson you’ll learn how to use Motion Trackers to have your corrections follow a specific object in the frame or camera movement.  In the image below a vignette has been attached to a motion tracker.

Becoming a Control Freak

With a mouse, you are limited to making adjustments to one control at a time. Because color grading often involves manipulation of overlapping controls, there's a lot of moving back and forth to fine-tune a given look.  In lesson 11 you’ll learn how to grade your images using JLCooper’s Eclipse CX which gives you multifunction tactile control over Color’s interface allowing for more sophisticated adjustments.

The Ins and Outs of Color

In lesson 12 you’ll examine the variety of ways you get your edited material into and out of Color.  You’ll look at import and export options, settings for rendering out media as well as how to render.   If your sequences need re-editing after you begin a grade in Color you’ll learn how to re-conform your edit.    Also covered is how to set up a sequence in Final Cut pro for a smooth round-trip workflow.   You’ll learn what happens to effects and audio during the roundtrip and what to pay special attention to. 

Learn from our Mistakes

Like photography or painting, color grading is an art form that is best learned by doing. That's why we provide all the necessary media files (in both SD and HD formats) for you to follow along with in Color. However, we've gone one step further: the clips you will be working with were actually shot with deliberate errors in exposure, lighting and color balance. In short, the footage you'll be correcting will be similar to the footage you will encounter in the real world.

Our Approach

We created this tutorial because we strongly believe that color grading cannot be effectively learned from a book. You may learn the theory and the tool sets but you won't necessarily learn the approach. That said, we strived to present color grading as primarily a creative process and secondarily as a technical process.

Watch on Apple TV

We've formatted all the iTunes tutorials for playback Apple TV. If you have an Apple TV connected to a wired or wireless network, iTunes will sync the tutorials with your Apple TV. Then just sit back, remote in hand, and watch the tutorials on your Hi Def monitor connected over DVI. The picutre quality is stunning.

Who is this Tutorial For?

Anyone who is a Final Cut Studio 2 owner and wants a deeper understanding of how professional color grading is approached should purchase this tutorial.  

About the Instructor

	Andrew Balis is a cinematographer, editor, post production consultant and Apple certified instructor teaching classes in Final Cut Pro to industry professionals at Moviola Education and UCLA. He is co-author and producer of the Final Cut Pro Advanced Techniques DVD-ROM.

Table of Contents

Working in Color

The Video Scopes

Primary Contrast Adjustments

Primary Color Balancing

Secondary Color Correction - Vignettes

Secondary Color Correction - HSL Keys Curves Controls

The Color FX Room

Animating Effects

Scene-To-Scene Color Correction

Working with a Control Surface

Setup Through Output

System Requirements

• MAC G5 or better
• MacOS X
• 8x or faster DVD ROM drive
• 512 megabytes or more of RAM
• QuickTime 7.0 or above
• Monitor Depth - Millions
• 1600 x 1000 screen size or better