So many ways to color correct…

[David Roth weiss]

Learn basic color correction first using the color wheels, once you’ve mastered that then learn more if you need it. Don’t get mesmerized by all the bells and whistles.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist & Workflow Consultant
David Weiss Productions
Los Angeles

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[Duke Sweden]

Dave! It’s me, the Dukester! ???? Come on you remember me. I already know about color correction and I’ve become quite the color corrector if I do say so myself. I was asking if there was an industry standard procedure you HAVE to adhere to, much like color spaces or “legal boundaries” of highlights and shadows. Or if you could use whatever method you’re most comfortable with. Me, I like to use curves.

Dell XPS 8920
Intel i7 core 7700 build
GeForce GTX 1050ti
32 Gigs of RAM
3 7200 RPM SATA Drives
Windows 10 64-bit
DaVinci Resolve 14.2

[Tero Ahlfors]

There are no standards on how one would use the tools (there are pitfalls though) but there are standards that you’ll need to adhere to if you’re actually doing stuff professionally. For example if you need to grade/convert to a certain color space and gamma or you need to make sure your delivery is broadcast safe etc.

[Marc Wielage]

[Duke Sweden] “I was asking if there was an industry standard procedure you HAVE to adhere to, much like color spaces or “legal boundaries” of highlights and shadows. “
I often say, the beauty of Resolve (or any other complex piece of software) is there is most likely four or five different ways of accomplishing something. The only difference for me is, 1) how effective are the results, and 2) how quickly will it get me where I need to go?

As long as the picture looks right and the client is happy, as far as I’m concerned the methodology doesn’t matter. You do have to abide by the terms of the technical delivery specifications, but beyond that this is a very subjective area.

[Duke Sweden]

Exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks, guys. Just for the record, Tero, I mentioned color spaces, etc. as examples where you can’t just “do your own thing”. I was just wondering if your methods had to follow the same rules. Again, thanks to all of you. Cheers!

Dell XPS 8920
Intel i7 core 7700 build
GeForce GTX 1050ti
32 Gigs of RAM
3 7200 RPM SATA Drives
Windows 10 64-bit
DaVinci Resolve 14.2

[Shane Ross]

Careful with YouTubes. There are many people who will learn the software for the first time, do a couple things, and then post a video on “here’s how you use this software!” and the truth is they are doing it wrong, or are lacking many Basic steps. I recently saw one with a guy explaining how to edit a music video, and it was COMPLETELY bonkers what he was describing. At one point he even said, “I don’t know how the professionals in Nashville do it, but this is how I do it.” Has seasoned editors scratching their heads…so backwards.

So…be careful…make sure the tutorials are done by someone seasoned. I use all of the controls, the curves and wheels and others, as they each do slightly different things.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Duke Sweden]

Ah, another level of information. I didn’t know you can get different results from the different methods. Thanks, Shane!

I know about the youtube vids alright. I trust Aram K although he normally works with RAW files. I know what you mean about mind boggling nonsense. I saw one guy doing a Premiere Pro tutorial. He dragged an adjustment layer onto his timeline, overextended it by about an inch, and instead of just dragging it back to where it should have been, he grabs the razor blade tool and cuts off the excess!

One other, the guy Jeff who is the grading/editing expert for CRFTSHO did a tutorial where there were two clips on a timeline with about a mile of space between them. Instead of right clicking the space and choosing “ripple delete”, he kept dragging the clip over and over and over and over….until he finally got it butted up to the clip next to it.

When I joked about it on one of their live streams, he said that ripple delete was too complicated to explain to most of the people watching the tutorial so he just dragged the clip. The tutorial, btw, was how to set up Resolve for HDR rendering. You know, nothing complicated. I don’t think he likes me very much ????

Thanks again for the response!

Dell XPS 8920
Intel i7 core 7700 build
GeForce GTX 1050ti
32 Gigs of RAM
3 7200 RPM SATA Drives
Windows 10 64-bit
DaVinci Resolve 14.2

[Tero Ahlfors]

[Duke Sweden] “He dragged an adjustment layer onto his timeline, overextended it by about an inch, and instead of just dragging it back to where it should have been, he grabs the razor blade tool and cuts off the excess!”

I do this sometimes when I forget that the extend command exists. The razor blade snaps on edits so it’s pretty fast to use that in some cases.
Like in grading there’s no set standards how you should work in an NLE. Unless you ask an Avid user ???? or you have a certain post workflow you need to keep in mind.

[Michael Gissing]

So much depends on the camera sensor, lighting conditions and the intended look. I do documentary post work mostly but my first go to is the color wheels and the lift gamma & gain trims to get basic grade and shot matching. Increasingly depending on the camera & codec, a LUT is required. I put that in the second node so I can make those wheel adjustments pre LUT. And I often add a post LUT node to then make final trims beyond the first node trims. I look at saturation and color boost, contrast etc in the first and third nodes. It is just a matter of how the variables best work to which node I make those adjustments. I look at scopes and also just how it looks

Some cameras can make certain colors overly pop so things like Hue vs Sat can tame some of those characteristics. Same with mixed lighting where say a fluro light is injecting a green spike. I find some cameras and lighting conditions can make curves desirable as I move from basic matching to getting a desirable look. This includes the RGB curves. Next is to look at isolating areas either via power windows or using the face plugin ( or both). Sometimes I use qualifiers to make a sky a bit bluer. The thing is I will vary the order slightly depending on the circumstances and also sometimes change the order of nodes. There is no hard and fast rules but my first call is always to get a basic balance with the wheels and lift, gamma, gain. Everything after that is determined by camera and lighting conditions.

[Chris Wright]

try L*A*B color. your head will explode. it’s very powerful.