-
You should be using Color
Unfortunately, I only just started using Color this week, and now I really feel like kicking myself. Knowing what I know now makes me feel like I’ve had the keys to a free Lamborghini, but silly me, I just left it in my garage for nearly a year and never touched it.
The problem was, I simply couldn’t find a used ATI X800 XT video card for my G5 from a source I trusted, and the few new ones that ATI reissued in December were rumoured to have issues. Thankfully, earlier this week another Cow member answered my post in the classifieds and had what I needed to run Color on my system.
So, after following along with Walter Biscardi’s DVD tutorial, STOP STARING AND START GRADING, I already feel very much at ease with Color and very certain that I should have been driving that free Lamborghini a long time ago. Apple’s 3-way color corrector, and even Magic Bullet’s Colorista are great if you like like driving vintage Volkswagens and putt-putting around, but Color is simply a vastly much better set of tools, which I believe can seriously empower any user who takes the time to learn them.
BTW, all the stuff I’ve read all over the Web and in the trade magazines about Color being a tool only for full-time colorists is most likely just propaganda by full-time colorists looking to save their jobs. Though Color is very deep, and mastering all of it’s capabilities could certainly take a while, with Walter’s assistance it is not at all hard to learn. I’d venture to say that almost any mid-level FCP user could quickly learn to take enormous advantage of Color almost immediately.
Color is an extremely powerful and most elegant application. Don’t let it intimidate you. I assure you, there is simply no other software like it and if you learn it it will make your video look really good and it will make you look like a genius. Apple did us all a huge favor by including Color in FCS2, don’t waste it…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
-
18 Replies
-
Couldn’t say it any better myself. Even when I purchased it for $5,000 before Apple rolled it into the suite, it had already paid for itself on the first project.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Haven’t used it yet. I have a tutorial DVD here and everything (sorry Walter, not yours). But I have been buried in other things. Soon…Soon. WIth my new MacPro and x1900XT…I will be playing.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.LFHD.net
Read my blog! -
David, I completely agree with you. I think that Color rocks and can be a tremendous advantage to many user’s workflow if they can just get past the fact that it doesn’t look like a traditional Apple product. It really isn’t that difficult of an interface once you figure out the basics.
The challenge with Color is more of a technical issue of how to calibrate monitors, dealing with different color spaces, etc. So once you get the Lamborghini started up, how do you control it? It’s not an impossible task, but being accurate will be a challenge for some users.
But even with those challenges, I don’t think people should avoid Color.
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
[Shane Ross] “WIth my new MacPro and x1900XT”
That’s the way to do it!
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
[Shane Ross] “Soon…Soon. WIth my new MacPro and x1900XT…I will be playing.”
Shane,
You’re gonna freak… Driving that Lamborghini is a trip.
And, you really should have gotten Walter’s DVD. Walter encourages caffeine breaks after every lesson and so I’ve been hallucinating all week long. The caffeine wildly improves my Color artistry too…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
-
[David Roth Weiss] “Walter encourages caffeine breaks after every lesson and so I’ve been hallucinating all week long. The caffeine wildly improves my Color artistry too…”
You don’t know HOW MANY people have commented on the coffee stuff. Absolutely hilarious. I guess I’ll have to keep the Espresso Machine running during my next DVD. 🙂
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
This is a very encouraging thread David/Walter et al.
I have been hesitant to jump into Color, not because I don’t
have the hardware but because I wasn’t sure I could work my
way through it…
I have changed my mind.Thanks,
David
-
[David McGiffert] “I have been hesitant to jump into Color, not because I don’t
have the hardware but because I wasn’t sure I could work my
way through it…”Great David, I hoped I could encourage some others…
BTW, I was hesitant because I so often struggle with CC using the other tools, and so I thought Color would just be a bigger struggle. I quickly found that the main reason I was struggling is simply that the 3-way CC is just not adequate for the job I was trying to do.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
-
[David McGiffert] “but because I wasn’t sure I could work my
way through it…”Believe me, this DVD was created exactly for this situation. When I purchased Final Touch HD there were no significant training materials available so I flew a trainer in from Chicago to show me how to use the software. I really wish I had this DVD when I was starting out in Color. Hopefully you’ll enjoy Color once you dip your toes in the water.
It’s definitely not for every single project you do, but when you use it, it’s a wonderful new tool in the box.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
[David Roth Weiss] “the main reason I was struggling is simply that the 3-way CC is just not adequate for the job I was trying to do.”
The biggest issue I see with folks using the 3Way is trying to color correct just using one filter. If you use 3 to 5 instances of the 3Way like a Primary and a bunch of Secondaries it works a lot better.
Colorista is even better, not as good as Color mind you, but quite good too.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow!
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up