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Making it look as expensive as possible
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Thanks for that tip. It’s nice to have fellow editors share a technique. Great trick. Thanks again.
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[Dan H] “I’d be very grateful if people could share a few secrets regarding making my edit look as glossy & ‘expensive’ as possible. I have a few plugins at my disposal (Colourista, Magic Bullet for instance) but perhaps there’s some other easy-to-apply effects that I don’t know about. For instance, I’m after that slightly glowy, silk-stocking effect… any thoughts?”
Color Grading and Audio Mix play a HUGE role in making your video look slick and polished. That really sets projects apart from when I see them. You can tell who took the time to really go in and make the shots looks good vs. those who didn’t even take the time to bring down the whites.
And I’m not talking about “looks.” I’m just talking about making the video look good. Too many people think filters and plug-ins equals good video. Clean, well balanced and colored video equals good video.
Take a look at this comparison between the original archive material and the final color graded version. No Special Effects, just good old fashioned color grading with a little noise reduction in the blue channel.
https://www.biscardicreative.com/sampleworks.htm
Click on “Apple Color Comparison” under Corporate.I could have just left the footage alone as it appears on the left side of the screen, but by taking the time to go in and color grade, I really raised the quality of the finished product and the client really noticed. This was graded in Color which is already included in your Studio 2 package.
Also, take a LOT of time and make your sound mix good. That’s another differentiation from poor and professional work.
Your work “looks expensive” when you put the time in to make it look and sound professional.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comStop Staring Start Grading with Apple Color The new Color Training DVD now available!
https://store.creativecow.net/p/66/stop_staring_and_start_grading_with_apple_colorRead my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi
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Many thanks everyone – so much great advice, where do I begin?! You’re quite right of course – fundamentally it comes down to the quality of the source footage, and in my case I’ve got lucky with this job and have some great-looking footage. However, since posting my initial query my client has decided to pay up for a proper grading / colourising session, but I will watch with interest to see what kind of tools the colourist uses. I like the sound of Color that you mentioned…
Again, thanks for your advice. This forum never lets me down!
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[Dan H] “However, since posting my initial query my client has decided to pay up for a proper grading / colourising session, but I will watch with interest to see what kind of tools the colourist uses. I like the sound of Color that you mentioned…”
Oh definitely sit in on the session and try to sit where you can see the computer screens. I found that sitting in on two daVinci sessions and just chatting with the artist, I learned a lot about what they were doing and why. Especially the bit about working the blacks and whites before you even do anything, that was a real key in my “color learning.”
I encourage anyone who is doing more color grading to try and sit in on a session with a colorist and bring a notepad!
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comStop Staring Start Grading with Apple Color The new Color Training DVD now available!
https://store.creativecow.net/p/66/stop_staring_and_start_grading_with_apple_colorRead my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi
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