2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 1/12
SPONSORED BY

Home Camera Lenses Lighting Production Projects / Films Cinematography Contact
Select Language
Posted By Vashi on Jan 20, 2012 | 244 comments
Color correction is just one step of the entire filmmaking processbut oh, what a difference it can make. You can
take average footage and really make it pop, sing and enhance the viewing experience of your project. If you have
excellent footage, then the sky is the limit. You can also make images look garish, ugly and destroy all the hard
work the crew did to capture those images on the day of the shoot. The challenges and choices are many and it
comes with great responsibility if you are the one applying the Color Correction and Color Grade. In the indie film
world, jobs are more often merged and unified and Color Correction is more and more falling into the hands of
the Editor. The smaller the budget and tighter the deadlinethe more often this becomes true. Shane asked me
to take this opportunity and pass on some tips and tricks I have learned over the years of Coloring features,
shorts, ads, music videos and documentaries. I choose to use Adobe CS5.5 for my Color post work and bounce
between After Effects, Photoshop and Premiere as I love the seamless integration it provides. I am ecstatic
to be integrating Speedgrade into my workflow as it will be part of the upcoming CS6 release. That saidthe tips
I would like to share with you are applicable to all Color Correction software.
To get on the same page, lets quickly go over some terminology that clarifies what is what in this realm.
COLOR CORRECTION is the process where every clip is manually tweaked to get a good exposure and balance
of light. Each clip is adjusted to match color temperature to a predefined choice for each scene. This tedious and
mechanical process is essential and in its own way, an art form. The use of SCOPES (Waveform, Vectroscope,
Parade) is critical to this step and luckily most NLEs and Grading software have them built-in. Without them you
are literally flying blind and solely trusting your eyes, which have to adjust to room light ambience, fatigue, funky
monitors and other factors constantly. Trust the SCOPES and let them guide you into accurate and creative
decision making.
COLOR GRADING is the creative process where decisions are made to further enhance or establish a new visual
tone to the project through software including: introducing new color themes, re-lighting within a frame, films
stock emulations, color gradients and a slew of other choices. Being that this is purely creative, there is no wrong
or rightonly what the DP, director and colorist feel is appropriate for the story. It can be subtle and invisible or
over-the-top and uber-stylized. Therein lies the challengeThe challenge of choices. The tools available are so
numerous, powerful and often free (Davinci Resolve Lite!) that you have no excuse not to explore these options
further before you embark on the Grading journey.
LIFT-GAMMA-GAIN / SHADOWS-MIDTONES-HILIGHTS / BLACKS-MIDS-WHITES
These are the three interchangeable assignments used to describe what portion of the image you will be working
with. Every program uses one of the 3 naming conventions above, but in essence they are all the same. Even
when working with LEVELS or CURVES, you rely on numericals but still have 3 sliders (at least) to make your
adjustments. With these 3 controls, you can mold images almost at will.
Home Post / Color 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction
search
Shane , Lydia and the entire
Hurlbut Visuals team make it a
priority to give back to
filmmakers, our local
communities, and others
worldwide who may benefit
from our time, expertise and
financial assistance.
Click Here to Learn More
Giving Back: Legacy
Sign up for the Hurlblog's
Inside Track Newsletter
EMAIL ADDRESS*
The Inside Track Newsletter
7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction
Showcase YOUR
work: Filmmakers
Spotlight
Sign Up Here
Nov 7, 2013
2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 2/12
There are so many different elements to Color Correction that trying to fit it all into one blog would be futile. I
would like to focus on several specific tips that will allow the indie filmmaker to be as effective as possible in
creating imagery that will help serve the story. I would like to thank Michael Evanet, the director of HWY, for
allowing me to share his footage for this blog. I just finished editing and Color Correcting his film.
TIP #1 SHOOT WITH A FLAT OR LOG PROFILE
Shane has learned over his extensive research and testing of every profile available that choosing a flat profile will
allow you to capture as much information as possible into the camera. When I shoot on the Canon 5D mkii, I like
to use Technicolor Cinestyle or Canon Neutral with minimal sharpness and contrast. Im also about to test the
Similaar Flaat profiles that just became available in four different flavors. The camera companies often have stock
profiles that look contrasty and rich in camera but when analyzed on a monitor, you will have crushed blacks and
blown-out highlights. That is information that is gone forever and you cannot get it back. We, as filmmakers with
the tools in our hands, cannot accept stock anything! Just as auto anything on the camera is a recipe for disaster,
stock profiles are for rank amateurs. Tweak away!
Click the image to view high resolution.
TIP #2 TRUST THE WAVEFORM, VECTROSCOPE and PARADE SCOPES
In PREMIERE, go to the WINDOW tab and choose WORKSPACE and COLOR CORRECTION. Push the little RGB
BUTTON on the bottom right of any window. This will reveal the SCOPES and more. Waveform=Luminance.
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
* = required field
Subscribe
Camera
Digital Camera
Comparison
Chart
Feb 13, 2012
Giving Back: The
Warrior Wedding
Project
Aug 8, 2012
Infusing First
Person POV Into
Mountain Dew
GAME FUEL MW3
Dec 7, 2011
Cinematography
Top 10 Hurlblog
Posts of 2011
Jan 13, 2012
How A Strategic
Team Makes You
Shine
Jan 23, 2010
The Story is What
Matters
Apr 29, 2011
Current Comments
The Need For Speed: The
Little Things That Increase
Set Up Count
Sep 9, 2011
The Making of The Vietnam
Sequence From The Last 3
Minutes
May 17, 2010
2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 3/12
Vectroscope=Chrominance. Parade=Red,Green,Blue values. I cant stress enough how critical and essential it is to
use these tools. Once you embrace the SCOPES, you will be confident to plow through footage and have instant
visual feedback to confirm you are making the right decisions. I wont broach the calibrated monitor issue that is
always lurking ($$$) and will just say that understanding and trusting the SCOPES will get you 95% of the way
home. Grab a Matrox Mini and use that to calibrate any LCD TV if youre in a pinch. This includes finishing projects
for broadcast or passing QC for distribution. Ive on-lined four indie features on Final Cut Pro using only SCOPES
that all passed QC the first time around. I was sweating bulletsbut survived! Adobe makes it even easier for me
now.
Click the image to view high resolution.
TIP #3 ORDER OF OPERATIONS
To maintain image quality and to preserve as much info as possible, its important to do things in the proper
order. Just as you wouldnt ice a cake before you bake it, when you apply an effect is critical. I have always
achieved great results using Stu Maschwitzs advice. Doing Color Correction on your footage in this order will help
you maintain extremely high quality in the interaction of all the effects you use. Not all steps are needed for every
shot but in case you have to use them all, here they are:
1. Remove artifacts and de-noise.
2. Balance your shots by adjusting BLACKS/MIDS/WHITES, SATURATION and WHITE BALANCE.
3. Relight within a shot using power windows or masks.
4. Add gradients, diffusion and other lens filters.
5. Add vignettes
6. Grade your images
7. Simulate a film stock of your choice
8. Resize and sharpen
Click the image to view high resolution.
Shane on Contest Wheres
the GoPro in Need for Speed?
Shane on Contest Wheres
the GoPro in Need for Speed?
Shane on Anton Bauer QRC-
CA940 Gold Mount Battery
Plate for Canon C300 and
C500
Shane on Contest Wheres
the GoPro in Need for Speed?
Shane on Contest Wheres
the GoPro in Need for Speed?
Select Month
View Articles by Month
Upcoming Events
No events
2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 4/12
TIP #4 THE FAST COLOR CORRECTER EFFECT in PREMIERE is 32 BIT, EASY AND EFFECTIVE
This video effect is a great starting point to tackle any shot. This one effect will allow you in REAL-TIME to
address levels, saturation, tinting of the image, white balance and more. The shot below shows how I added
contrast by raising the input black slider and lowering the white input slider. I used the color wheel and dragged
towards orange to counteract the blue in the original image. You can also use the White Balance dropper to
achieve an accurate starting pointbut I preferred in this case to Tint the whole image towards orange and
approximate a 1950s film look. I boosted saturation by a healthy 40% to make the image pop. Finally, a 2.35
matte was added to approximate the old Cinemascope aspect ratio.
Click the image to view high resolution.
TIP #5 - ADJUST YOUR LIFT/SHADOWS/BLACKS FIRST
By adjusting your BLACKS first, you get a baseline started to balance your image. I like working from the bottom
up and getting my BLACKS just kissing 0 IRE on the WAVEFORM. I then push the WHITES up to expand my
image and get some contrast into it. Finally, I tweak the MIDS as needed. You will notice that moving the BLACKS
or WHITES up or down will affect the entire WAVEFORM so there is a give and take dance as you work back and
forth. MIDS do not affect the BLACKS or WHITES too much and that is why you should work with them last.
Lastly, if you raise MIDS, you will lose overall saturation to the image, so compensate by bumping up the
SATURATION to keep the colors popping.
Click the image to view high resolution.
TIP #6 - MIDS ARE WHERE FACES LIVE
MIDS are where the skin tones live and you can really make a face pop by raising the MIDS after you have a good
balanced image. Sometimes it feels easy to raise the EXPOSURE in Premiere or After Effects to brighten a face or
scenebut that raises all the levels evenly and will ultimately not be as effective as separately adjusting the 3
zones. A good IRE for a properly exposed face is 60-70 IRE on the WAVEFORM. If you raise the MIDS too much,
you will introduce the beast of digital noise, so use judicially!
2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 5/12
Click the image to view high resolution.
TIP #7 - Look for the FLESH LINE on the VECTROSCOPE to see how far off your skin tone is. On the 3-Way
Color Corrector effect, or on a plug-in like Colorista, you can change the specific zone of color where the flesh
tones live. By adjusting the color of the MIDS wheel you can introduce the proper hues into a face that need
tweaking. Move the wheel in the direction of the color you need more of in your face. Watch the section of skin
tone move until it lines up with FLESH LINE. An interesting note is that the FLESH LINE is accurate for all races and
skin tones. We all share the same skin pigment that registers as numeric FLESH color. Proper WHITE BALANCING
earlier will make this a minor but still important adjustment. If you are going for a natural look, no one likes a pink,
red or green face. SATURATION should be dialed in at this point to give a natural look to the flesh tone. Heres a
subtle example of adjusting for skinand an overt example for comparison. Neither is right or wrong.its all up
to what feels right for that moment.
Click the image to view high resolution.
2/16/2014 7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction | Hurlbut Visuals
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/01/7-tips-for-hd-color-correction-and-dslr-color-correction/ 6/12
Share This Post On
Click the image to view high resolution.
I hope that I was able to pass on some helpful knowledge and that you learned at least one thing you didnt know
before you read this. There are infinite ways to approach Color Correction and the best thing isno one way is
the best. You dont need every plug-in known to man, a 4k projector and a $20,000 control surface to color
correct. You only need time, the simplest effects and a sense of wonder and excitement. Feel free to push the
footage around and see how it responds. What may look like a mistake on one shot could be the secret sauce
you need for a completely different shot. Experiment and enjoy!
VASHI NEDOMANSKY
To inquire about my editing and post services or if you have any questions, please contact me at:
vashi@me.com
310.526.1400
www.vashivisuals.com
244 Comments
Older Comments
Author: Vashi
Nour
JUNE 24, 2013
Hi Dear Vashi,
A big thank you for your sweet tutorial. Its very helpful. I have a question if you dont mind. I shot a
shortfilm with my canon 5d mark ii and I happened to notice now that Im editing it, that many of my
shots are very noisy. Do you have a tip for me? Its amazing how noisy my shot are, when Im trying to