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 3: Grading Your Program in Color
Use Color to grade your program, as you would any other.
Stage 4: 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, 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.
Stage 5: Adjusting Transitions, Superimpositions, and Titles in Final Cut Pro
To output your project, you can use the Send To Final Cut Pro command, or you can
export an XML project file that can be manually imported into Final Cut Pro. At this point,
you can add other effects in Final Cut Pro, before creating the program's final master.
Stage 6: 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 commands to create the final version of your
program.
Digital Cinema Workflows Using Apple ProRes 4444
If you’re working with images that were originated on film, HDCAM SR, or some other
high-resolution, RGB-based media, and your intention is to finish and output a project
to film, the Apple ProRes 4444 codec enables you to follow a simple, consolidated
workflow. Consider the following:
• If you’re working with film, you can scan all footage necessary for the project, and then
convert the DPX or Cineon files to Apple ProRes 4444 media in Color.
• If you’re working with DPX or Cineon image sequences from other sources, these can
be converted into Apple ProRes 4444 media using Color, as well.
• If you’re working with HDCAM SR media, you can ingest it directly as Apple ProRes
4444 clips using Final Cut Pro with a capture device that supports this. Both HDCAM
SR and Apple ProRes 4444 are RGB-based, 4:4:4 color subsampled formats, so one is a
natural container for the other.
50 Chapter 2 Color Correction Workflows