A POST PRODUCTION TIP: Getting Color Correction Correct

POST PRODUCTION TIPS: 

Getting Color Correction Correct 

By: Micheal French 

Color correction is a visual art, but with the below guidelines it can be effectively mastered. If you are embarking on a new project and need to take color correction into your own hands, or just want to better understand what it takes for your team to get the job done right, check out our 4 tips for executing excellent color correction for your video project.

1.   Start with a Properly Configured Camera.

While it may look nicer right away to record using a normal or default color profile, you are not doing yourself or your color corrector any favors by shooting in anything but a flat color profile. (If you have a camera that shoots RAW footage, it will already be in a flat color mode.) This mode gives more latitude to work with color in post.

2.   Work on a Good Monitor

As I mentioned in my open, color correction is a visual art, and you need a quality monitor to be able to see the true color of your project. Prices and budgets will vary, but one key function to seek out in a monitor is the ability to show at least 90% of the range for sRGB or REC.709 color space. If you want to stay on the forefront of technology, UHD monitors and projectors will soon start using REC.2020, so set the bar there instead.

3.   Work with Good Software

In our post house, we use and rent Avid, Adobe Premiere, Davinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro, all quality systems that have color correction software already with them. These are very intuitive and easy to use and do a decent job, and preference between them is usually based on what your color correcting specialist is most familiar with using. If you are color correcting at home with a limited budget, you can also download DaVinci Resolve Litefor free.

4.    Use your Vectors to their Fullest Potential…and in the Right Order

The 3 main areas that you’ll be working in are the Shadows/Midtones/Highlights vectors. Each program might name this list of color variations differently, so you may also see it as Blacks/Mids/Whites or Lift/Gamma/Gain. If you are new to color correcting, experiment with each one to find out exactly how they affect your image – try putting each to the extreme, then back, to see what it does.

·     Adjust your Blacks/Shadows/Lift First! This is your baseline and should sit just above 0 IRE to stay inside the broadcast range for your image.

·     Whites/Highlights/Gain should be adjusted next, bringing some contrast to your image and aiming for just under 100 IRE. Note that when you change your Whites, your Blacks might be effected as well (and vice versa), so you will need to jump back and forth a bit to fine tune.

·     You can play with your Mids/Midtones/Gamma next. Mids do not affect the Blacks or Whites, so you can focus just on their own effect on the image without having to backtrack. They are your best tool to effect skin tones and should sit between 60-70 IRE as a rule of thumb for all flesh colors. Do not raise the Mids too much, as it can add too much digital noise (imperfections) to your images. And, stick to the Mids for skin – do not fall into the trap of trying to raise Exposure to brighten flesh tone – that raises all of the exposure levels evenly and will ruin the work you did to perfect your blacks and whites.

·     After you adjust your Mids, you may find that you have reduced overall color in your image. You can counteract this by going into your Saturation levels and nudging them up until your colors have a nice pop. Keep your eye on your flesh tones as you do this, using them as a benchmark for going too far down the Saturation rabbit hole.

Make sure to complete all of these basic fixes before initiating any color grading. Once you have your video truly balanced, you can embark on the more subjective and stylistic alterations that will set the tone for the story you are telling.