Colour correction in Adobe Premiere – How do I calibrate my monitor?

[Ann Bens]

For color correction within Premiere you use the build in scopes.
https://blogs.adobe.com/kevinmonahan/2011/08/19/new-color-correction-tutorials-from-jeff-sengstack-and-lynda-com/

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Adobe Certified Expert Premiere Pro

[Angelo Lorenzo]

Premiere Pro (starting since CS5 I believe) has been touted as having accurate YCbCr -> RGB conversions that remains color accurate with adjustment effects with the YUV or 32-bit logo next to them in the effects bin.

This means that if you have a monitor with a calibrated ICC profile (like the Spider unit can provide; I use the older Spider 2) you should be fine.

Of course you’ll still need to be able to read the video scopes in Premiere to make more accurate adjustments and to confirm it’s broadcast legal.

Premiere Pro is more suited for Rec. 601 and 709 work (television,dvd,blu-ray), but I would step out to After Effects for some work as it has more flexible color management settings; you can preview color profiles of theater film stocks and other exotic outputs.

I know some of the more old-school guys would prefer an output box like a Matrox to a broadcast monitor, but I’ve seen no appreciable difference in my work that I’ve graded for broadcast with CS5+ unless they can sway me with some obscure detail I’m not aware of.

As far as photography, a calibrated monitor is all you need. If you do in-house art prints or scan film you may want a separate system to calibrate your scanners/printers but if you work with a major printing house or publisher, they should have ICC profiles on hand for you to preview your work through in Photoshop.

– Angelo Lorenzo
– https://FilmsFor.Us Sell your film and connect with your audience

[Gareth Wentel]

Ann thank you for the response, I know about the scopes. Angelo thanx very much for the great tips. I think I will probably be going the Spyder 3 root then. Unless someone else has another opinion to rival yours? Hehe
Thanks guys

[Angelo Lorenzo]

Oh, and as far as general hardware investments, consider switching your lightbulbs in your room/office with full daylight bulbs (rated for 6500k or marked D65; if they simply say “daylight” or “enhanced spectrum” bulbs, they may not be D65).

This removes color bias in your environment. Some people say you can get away with grading in a dark room, but proper neutral lighting will reduce eye fatigue. They run ~$10 a bulb.

– Angelo Lorenzo
– https://FilmsFor.Us Sell your film and connect with your audience

[Ann Bens]

I have got the Spider Elite and it works great.

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Adobe Certified Expert Premiere Pro

[Kevin Monahan]

Usually, I’m only critical about what I see on an external monitor which I calibrate with color bars, blue bars, etc. This signal is fed by a pro capture card like AJA Kona 3.

I typically won’t be monitoring for color on a computer monitor. In all my years as an editor, I’ve never seen any attention paid to calibrating computer monitors at the numerous post houses I’ve worked at. It’s all about the externals. No, I don’t think I’ve even seen it once. I have seen more editors not even using an external monitor these days, especially for non-broadcast. Seems to be a trend.

However, if that works for you and you’ve never had a kickback…carry on!

Kevin Monahan
Sr. Content and Community Lead
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Follow Me on Twitter!

[Tom Daigon]

I heartily second what Kevin has said. If you want to make accurate color judgements get a professional monitoring system (i.e. Kona 3 and Flanders Scientific.) Anything like a computer or consumer monitor just wont cut it. I know that sounds brutal, but its the truth.

Tom Daigon
Avid DS / PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.6.8
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3

[Angelo Lorenzo]

Kevin,

It’s an interesting debate as the question has been asked numerous times over the years.

Being an employee of Adobe, if there is any flaw in my reasoning based on how Premiere handles color that I’m not aware of then please shed some light.

Here are some of my reasons for using an LCD:
1. Cost, obviously. As much as I would like a 100%+ NTSC gamut monitor, I’ve had to deal with other production considerations. Perhaps I’ll pick one up mid 2012.

2. Most decent monitors are 100% sRGB which comes in at about 72% NTSC coverage. Most consumer displays including LCD and Plasma TVs tend to fall within 70-75% NTSC (I would assume all primary chromaticities are based on ITU 709, but I can’t verify). Granted consumer TVs tend to have more signal level tricks to “enhance” an image; it makes me hesitant to suggest them over a broadcast monitor or even the computer LCD.

3. sRGB and ITU-709 share a nearly identical color space. They use the same white point and primary chromaticities.

4. I’ve been trained and vigorously use scopes when coloring anything going to broadcast. Always passed broadcast spec without engineering notes.

If I worked with more analog footage (SMPTE C) or prepared film transfers, I may move to a broadcast monitor or a Lacie LCD, but I predominately work in US broadcast and web.

– Angelo Lorenzo
– An iPhone 4S tribute to Steve Jobs
– https://FilmsFor.Us Sell your film and connect with your audience

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[Walter Soyka]

[Angelo Lorenzo] “I know some of the more old-school guys would prefer an output box like a Matrox to a broadcast monitor, but I’ve seen no appreciable difference in my work that I’ve graded for broadcast with CS5+ unless they can sway me with some obscure detail I’m not aware of.”

Premiere Pro, unlike Photoshop and After Effects, isn’t color managed.

Please consider joining me in filing a feature request [link] for color management in Premiere Pro.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Keith Moreau]

Angelo

I’m attempting to do the same thing with the supposed accurate YUV to RGB that Premiere Pro does. I want to try to avoid the Blackmagic / Aja / Matrox route if possible.

I have a Blackmagic Intensity Pro card with HDMI output and attempted to use it for monitor on a computer monitor as well as a HDMI TV. On my Mac system, it was such a pain to get to be stable and useful that I just removed it from my Mac Pro, it just wasn’t worth it for all the trouble it caused. I realize this is the cheapest I/O solution you can get, and probably the $1000 I/O solutions are more stable and higher quality, but I’ve also heard reports of all kinds of problems with them on Mac and Premiere Pro. I think that the Final Cut Pro ‘universe’ was much bigger than the Premiere Pro universe for the I/O manufacturers, and they had more incentive to ‘get it right’ with FCP than with Premiere Pro. They probably see the writing on the wall that Apple and FCP are going away for them in the next 1-3 years, and they better get stable solutions working on the alternatives, such as Premiere Pro.

I have a ASUS PA246 which is calibrated with an iDisplay Pro. I do, however realize that this monitor is around $500, and though probably a ‘best buy’ in it’s category, it isn’t as accurate as a Flanders, TVLogic or other monitors that are in the $5,000 range, or even the HP Dreamcolor in the $2000 range. I can even see the inaccuracies an a simple white to black gradient which shows a ‘rainbow’ of colors in some ranges rather than pure while to black. Also, as I am on a Mac, I can’t get the 10-bit Displayport output that my NVidia Quadro 4000 puts out, which is a shame.

However, with all these flaws, I’m wondering if it’s still ‘good enough’. What monitor are you using now, and how do you have it connected to what card and computer?

Thanks for you input.

-Keith