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 1: Shooting Your Film
Shoot the project as you would any other film project.
Stage 2: Telecining the Dailies
After the film has been shot, process and telecine the dailies to a video format appropriate
for your workflow.
• Some productions prefer to save money up front by doing an inexpensive "one-light"
transfer of all the footage to an inexpensive offline video format for the initial offline
edit. (A one-light transfer refers to the process of using a single color correction setting
to transfer whole scenes of footage.) This can save time and money up front, but may
necessitate a second telecine session to retransfer only the footage used in the edit at
a higher level of visual quality.
• Other productions choose to transfer all the dailies (or at least the director's selected
takes) via a "best-light" transfer, where the color correction settings are individually
adjusted for every shot that's telecined, optimizing the color and exposure for each
clip. The footage is transferred to a high-quality video format capable of preserving as
much image data as possible. This can be significantly more expensive up front, but
saves money later since a second telecine session is not necessary.
Stage 3: Capturing the Source Media at Offline or Online Resolution
How you capture your media prior to editing depends on your workflow. If you telecined
offline-quality media, then you might as well capture using an offline-quality codec.
If you instead telecined online-quality media, then you have the choice of either pursuing
an "offline/online" workflow or capturing via an online codec and working at online quality
throughout the entire program.
Stage 4: Editing the Program in Final Cut Pro
Edit your program in Final Cut Pro, as you would any other project. If you're planning on
the extensive use of effects in your program during editorial, familiarize yourself with the
topics covered in Limitations in Color.
Stage 5: Recapturing or Retransferring the Media at Online Resolution
The way you conform your offline project to online-quality media depends on how you
handled the initial video transfer.
• If you originally did a high-quality telecine pass to an online video format, but you
captured your source media using an offline format for editing, you need to recapture
the media from the original telecine source tapes using the highest-quality
uncompressed QuickTime format that you can accommodate on your computer (such
as Apple ProRes 4444, Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), or Apple Uncompressed) and relink the
new media to your project.
46 Chapter 2 Color Correction Workflows