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 5: Preparing Your Final Cut Pro Sequence
To prepare your edited sequence for an efficient workflow in Color, follow the steps
outlined in Before You Export Your Final Cut Pro Project. Because you’ll be exporting an
EDL to Color in order to relink to the original DPX image sequences, it’s prudent to be
extremely conservative and eliminate any and all effects that are unsupported by the
CMX EDL formats, or by Color itself.
Cross dissolves are the one exception. These are the only type of transition that Color
supports. Any other type of transition will be rendered as a cross dissolve of identical
length.
Stage 6: Exporting an EDL
When you finish with the edit, you need to generate an EDL in either the CMX 340, CMX
3600, or GVG 4 Plus formats.
Important: You cannot use the Send To Color command to move projects to Color that
are being reconformed to DPX or Cineon media.
Stage 7: Importing the EDL into Color and Relinking to the Original DPX Media
Use the File > Import > EDL command to import the EDL. In the Import EDL dialog, specify
the directory where the original high-resolution source media is located, so that the EDL
is imported and the source media is relinked in one step. For more information, see
Importing EDLs.
Stage 8: Grading Your Program in Color
Grade your program in Color as you would any other. For better performance, it’s advisable
to use the Proxy controls in the User Prefs tab of the Setup Room to work at a lower
resolution than the native 2K or 4K frame size of the media. For more information, see
Using Proxies.
Important: When grading scanned film frames, it's essential to systematically use carefully
profiled LUTs for monitor calibration and to emulate the ultimate look of the project
when printed out to film. For more information, see Using LUTs.
Stage 9: Conforming Transitions, Effects, and Titles
In a 2K workflow, you also need to use a compositing application such as Shake to create
any transitions or layered effects, including superimpositions, titles, and other composites,
using the 2K image sequence data.
Important: Each image file's frame number identifies its position in that program's
Timeline. Because of this, when you send frames to a compositing application, it's vital
that the frame numbers in filenames of newly rendered media are identical to those of
the original source media. This requires careful file management.
68 Chapter 2 Color Correction Workflows