-
Flat profile color correction
Are there any tutorials out there on how to color correct footage shot using a flat profile on the Canon 60D? I have found some color correction tutorials, generally using the 3-way color corrector in FCP (which I use), but nothing specifically geared towards footage shot with a flat profile…just before and after examples, not tutorials.
I am currently editing a wedding I shot last summer where I used a flat profile, now I have 2 hours of footage that looks crappy (uncorrected, that is).
Any good resources on how to handle the color correction, as well as adding sharpness back in. I know it varies depending on the shot, but I’m hoping to find a more universal tutorial that can give me a starting point, and then go into further detail if necessary.
Thanks!
Casey -
2 Replies
-
Hey Casey,
Wow, a wedding shot it super flat! You are a soldier! I had considered doing this for weddings as well, but felt that the camera produced beautiful video already that it didn’t make sense. That being said, I did experiment with superflat on a large event video and then I too became a soldier for 2 12 hour days!
To make superflat look good, you need to add enough highlights and also enough contrast by crushing the blacks. You will also need to increase the saturation (slightly) but this can sometimes make people’s faces look pastel. Also keep in mind that if you raise the mids too high, it will cause things to start looking abnormal.
For one of my projects that I shot in superflat, I created a color limiting effect using “color corrector” filter in FCP that allowed me to just color correct the skin tones and add contrast and hue to just the skin tones in addition to color correcting the rest of the shot.
If you’d like I can send you the custom 3 way color corrector limiter that I created which will allow you to do this, but you can also create this yourself by customizing the color correction filter in FCP.
My email address is errol@exlfilms.com
Here is another resource that a fellow cow member, Owen posted when I needed some help:
https://blog.mxr.at/skintone-grading-hdslrs/
Errol X. Lazare
EXL Films
http://www.exlfilms.com -
Ha! I got a kick out of the term “soldier” 🙂 It’s better than what I’ve been calling myself for doing this!
This was 6 months ago, and I recently heard someone say you should shoot EVERYTHING with a flat profile, so I did, but I think there were only two shoots involved…this being the biggest, and the one remaining project that has yet to be edited.
Thanks…I would appreciate it if you could send me your filter. I will email you after I post this. Thanks for the link too!
I don’t think it would be so bad for my short edit, which is about 12 minutes, but I will be giving a customer the rough footage as well, and for that, I’ve been going through it with kind of a general filter so it doesn’t look so bad, but when I do my final edit, I will have to go through every shot individually.
Casey
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up