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Color Correction Querry
We have a new podcast set that we shot some footage on yesterday and I have a dilema to deal with. On the set we have the host and guest seated on opposite sides of a small table. Behind them is a 37″ LCD monitor where we play PowerPoint shows during the interview. Well, the problem is after I got my beautiful white balance on the set (using the amazing ExpoDisc!) the color balance on the monitor is way too cool. I didn’t have time to correct it using the settings of the LCD prior to shooting yesterday (though I will for next time).
Anyway, what I am wondering is can there be a way for me to mask just the monitor and color balance that footage to match the rest of the shot? Anybody know of an easy way to do what I’m talking about? I know that the best thing to do is get it right prior to the shoot but sometimes there just isn’t time. I am fairly adept at AE so I am going to tackle this problem today and see what I can come up with. Any suggestions about a technique for accomplishing this task would be helpful. Thanks!
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9 Replies
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If your shot has no camera movement it will be easy.
Add an Adjustment layer above your footage and mask the layer to match the monitor frame (or the area you wish to color correct). Then apply the color correction as you normally would (curves, hue saturation, exposure or Color Finesse etc).
If there is camera movement you’ll need to track the shot first, ideally using Mocha, if you have AE CS4 or above it shipped with it.
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Hello Darin,
That’s a task for a planar tracker like Mocha. Have you tried Mocha for AE? You can make an animated mask using this software and that’s what you need to isolate the LCD for different color correction.
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This is a common problem. Television monitors are exterior lighting don’t mix well. When you try to record a television monitor in a room with regular lighting, you will find that the television picture has the wrong colors. Usually, the colors on the television have a blue cast. The camera is white balanced based on the color temperature of the room while the television monitor is calibrated to it’s own internal settings. To fix this, you will need to calibrate the television monitor to match the color temperature of the room lighting.
Brad Wright is software engineer, so it may be difficult to understand what he is saying. He is always happy to explain his greater detail.
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Thanks for the quick replies guys!
I should have added that the monitor is sometimes obscured by the talent, which is the only tricky part, otherwise I’d just make a simple static mask.
The shot is locked off so there is no camera movement. Yes I have used Mocha.
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In Mocha you can create masks for talents and exclude them from calculating the proper movement of the LCD mask.
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[Darin Griffith] “I should have added that the monitor is sometimes obscured by the talent, which is the only tricky part, otherwise I’d just make a simple static mask.”
Then you will either need to key or rotoscope. If you have CS5 or higher, you can give Rotobrush [link] a go. (Read the docs first — if you don’t follow the instructions, it’s easy for Rotobrush to run off the rails.)
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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This sounds like a time when RotoBrush will come in handy.
The Roto Brush is not as inuitive as it looks, so if you aren’t used to it, please go through this: [link]You may have to do some traditional rotoscoping as well. If so, there are some resources here that may help you: [link]
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(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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Yeah… I was afraid of that. Don’t have time to do rotoscoping. I will have to look into that brush when I get some time though. Thanks!
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Thanks for all your input! Lesson learned; take the extra time before I shoot to get it right on the set. 🙂
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