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Using a color over video
Hey there, I need to match some video with print collateral. I’m using video of various models that need to be desaturated and placed “underneath” (or overlayed?) a specific color. I shot the models on a neutral white background, but I’m having trouble mixing the blend modes to create a close match to the color used in the print pieces… any suggestions much appreciated.
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7 Replies
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What problem are you having with the blending modes, specifically?
One thing you could try is the “colorize” option in the “hue/saturation” effect. If that’s not what you’re after then maybe provide some more info or better yet post some images.
Erik Waluska
EAWmedia -
Jason –
One thing to bear in mind here is that print is CYMK, and After Effects is RGB. One thing I generally do when I need to “match” to print colors (bearing in mind that there’s no such thing – it’s all eyeballing it) is to pull the print piece into Photoshop, or Illustrator, find the color you’re matching – or better yet get the CMYK or Pantone color numbers from corporate – and then look in the color swatch panel, and get the conversion numbers in RGB. Then use that color for however you colorize – I think Erik is on the right track by suggesting the Hue or Color blend mode. Another possibility is to create a color solid in your print color, then apply the various blend modes until it’s close enough. There are several ways you could do it, but bear in mind that you’re also pitting an additive color system (RGB) against a subtractive one(CMYK). It will be a “close as possible” situation.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
There are different ways of desaturating footage and lots of different ways of coloring footage.
If, for example, you need the white colors to become red then the Multiply blend mode is likely what you’re after. If you want the whites to remain white but the mid tones to become red then Overlay, Soft Light or Color will all give you looks of varying intensity.
In general I’d also recommend using the Tint effect to desaturate footage rather than the Hue/Saturation effect (or another ‘saturation’ effect). Tint will keep the perceptual brightness of colors whereas adjusting saturation down with Hue/Saturation will not.
Darby Edelen
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Thanks for the suggestions! I’m going to try and attach a pic that describes more what I’m trying to do… but yes, it looks as though multiply is going to give me the best representation of what the client wants… but I’m interested to find out how I can more finely tune the colors to match the print material.
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Jason –
I thought I explained it above pretty well. There is no such thing as matching RGB to CMYK. While you can make the CMYK to RGB conversion with the numbers, there just isn’t any way to make them “match”. You have to eyeball it. If it looks good to you, it will probably look good to the client.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Start playing with the contrast and curves of your original image now that you’ve multiplied the color on there. You may also want to tweak the colors of the original image. Just gotta play with it until it looks right.
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