1.5
Table Of Contents
- Color User Manual
- Contents
- Welcome to Color
- Color Correction Basics
- Color Correction Workflows
- An Overview of the Color Workflow
- Limitations in Color
- Video Finishing Workflows Using Final Cut Pro
- Importing Projects from Other Video Editing Applications
- Digital Cinema Workflows Using Apple ProRes 4444
- Finishing Projects Using RED Media
- Digital Intermediate Workflows Using DPX/Cineon Media
- Using EDLs, Timecode, and Frame Numbers to Conform Projects
- Using the Color Interface
- Importing and Managing Projects and Media
- Creating and Opening Projects
- Saving Projects
- Saving and Opening Archives
- Moving Projects from Final Cut Pro to Color
- Before You Export Your Final Cut Pro Project
- Move Clips That Aren’t Being Composited to Track V1 in the Timeline
- Remove Unnecessary Video Filters
- Organize All Color Corrector 3-Way Filters
- Divide Long Projects into Reels
- Export Self-Contained QuickTime Files for Effects Clips You Need to Color Correct
- Use Uncompressed or Lightly Compressed Still Image Formats
- Make Sure All Freeze Frame Effects Are on Track V1
- Make Sure All Clips Have the Same Frame Rate
- Media Manage Your Project, If Necessary
- Recapture Offline Media at Online Quality, If Necessary
- Check All Transitions and Effects If You Plan to Render 2K or 4K Image Sequences for Film Out
- Using the Send To Color Command in Final Cut Pro
- Importing an XML File into Color
- Before You Export Your Final Cut Pro Project
- Importing EDLs
- EDL Import Settings
- Relinking Media
- Importing Media Directly into the Timeline
- Compatible Media Formats
- Moving Projects from Color to Final Cut Pro
- Exporting EDLs
- Reconforming Projects
- Converting Cineon and DPX Image Sequences to QuickTime
- Importing Color Corrections
- Exporting JPEG Images
- Configuring the Setup Room
- The File Browser
- Using the Shots Browser
- The Grades Bin
- The Project Settings Tab
- The Messages Tab
- The User Preferences Tab
- Monitoring Your Project
- Timeline Playback, Navigation, and Editing
- Basic Timeline Elements
- Customizing the Timeline Interface
- Working with Tracks
- Selecting the Current Shot
- Timeline Playback
- Zooming In and Out of the Timeline
- Timeline Navigation
- Selecting Shots in the Timeline
- Working with Grades in the Timeline
- The Settings 1 Tab
- The Settings 2 Tab
- Editing Controls and Procedures
- Analyzing Signals Using the Video Scopes
- The Primary In Room
- The Secondaries Room
- What Is the Secondaries Room Used For?
- Where to Start in the Secondaries Room?
- The Enabled Button in the Secondaries Room
- Choosing a Region to Correct Using the HSL Qualifiers
- Controls in the Previews Tab
- Isolating a Region Using the Vignette Controls
- Adjusting the Inside and Outside of a Secondary Operation
- The Secondary Curves Explained
- Reset Controls in the Secondaries Room
- The Color FX Room
- The Primary Out Room
- Managing Corrections and Grades
- The Difference Between Corrections and Grades
- Saving and Using Corrections and Grades
- Managing Grades in the Timeline
- Using the Copy To Buttons in the Primary Rooms
- Using the Copy Grade and Paste Grade Memory Banks
- Setting a Beauty Grade in the Timeline
- Disabling All Grades
- Managing Grades in the Shots Browser
- Managing a Shot’s Corrections Using Multiple Rooms
- Keyframing
- The Geometry Room
- The Still Store
- The Render Queue
- Appendix A: Calibrating Your Monitor
- Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts in Color
- Appendix C: Using Multi-Touch Controls in Color
- Appendix D: Setting Up a Control Surface
Stage 6: Grading Your Program in Color
Use Color to grade your program. When working on a roundtrip from Final Cut Pro, it's
crucial to avoid unlocking tracks or reediting shots in the Timeline. Doing so can
compromise your ability to send the project back to Final Cut Pro.
If the client needs a reedit after you've started grading, you should instead perform the
edit back in Final Cut Pro, and export an XML version of the updated sequence which
you can use to quickly update the Color project in progress using the Reconform
command. For more information, see Reconforming Projects.
Stage 7: Rendering New Source Media and Sending the Updated Project to
Final Cut Pro
When you finish grading, you use the Color Render Queue to render all the shots in the
project as a new, separate set of graded media files.
Afterward, you need to send the updated project to Final Cut Pro using one of the two
following methods:
• If Color is installed on the same computer as Final Cut Pro, you can use the Send To
Final Cut Pro command.
• If you're handing the color-corrected project back to the originating facility, you need
to export the Color project as an XML file for later import into Final Cut Pro.
Important: Some parameters in the Project Settings tab of the Setup room affect how
the media is rendered by Color. These settings include the Deinterlace Renders, QuickTime
Export Codec, Broadcast Safe, and Handles settings. Be sure to verify these and other
settings prior to rendering your final output.
Stage 8: Adjusting Transitions, Superimpositions, and Titles in Final Cut Pro
To output your project, you need to import the XML project data back into Final Cut Pro.
This happens automatically if you use the Send To Final Cut Pro command. At this point,
you can add or adjust other effects that you had applied previously in Final Cut Pro, before
creating the program's final master. Things you may want to consider while prepping
the program at this stage include:
• Do you need to produce a "textless" master of the program, or one with the titles
rendered along with the image?
• Are there any remaining effects clips that you need to import and color correct within
Final Cut Pro?
Stage 9: Outputting the Final Video Master to Tape or Rendering a Master QuickTime
File
Once you complete any last adjustments in Final Cut Pro, you can use the Print to Video,
Edit to Tape, or Export QuickTime Movie command to create the final version of your
program.
43Chapter 2 Color Correction Workflows