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Reasons for Making Color Corrections
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Playback and Rendering of Color Corrections
You can play color corrections in real time in the desktop monitors or on a Client monitor, subject to
the same real-time playback constraints that affect the playback of other effects on your system. For
more information, see “Real-Time Playback of Video Effects” on page 122.
Depending on the model of Media Composer, your hardware configuration, and the complexity of
your sequence, you might need to render some or all of your color corrections before you can export
your sequence or perform a digital cut. For more information, see “Basics of Effects Rendering” on
page 41.
Safe Colors
You can set safe limits for color characteristics, for example, to ensure that the colors in your
program meet a particular broadcaster’s standard for broadcast. Media Composer displays warnings
when your images exceed these limits, and you can make corrections to solve the problem. For more
information, see “Safe Colors” on page 728.
Reasons for Making Color Corrections
Before you can make good color corrections, you need to determine which color problems are
present in your video material or decide why you might alter existing color values.
The two most common color problems are:
• Poor contrast (or a lack of a full range of tones).
For example, parts of an image that should be black are only dark gray. If an image does not have
a good range of tones, details do not stand out sharply.
• Poor color balance (or a color cast).
For example, parts of an image that should be pure white are instead pinkish, or parts that should
be pure blue are instead greenish-blue.
The automatic color correction controls are designed specifically to correct these two problems.
Apart from correcting for these two problems, the other main reasons to alter color values in your
video material are:
• To make the color characteristics of adjacent segments in a sequence match.
For example, adjacent segments in a sequence might have been shot under slightly different
lighting conditions, or using two cameras with different color balance settings.
• To achieve a particular artistic or editorial effect.
For example, you might want to slightly brighten or darken a whole sequence, or increase
saturation to make a scene seem warmer, or alter color balance to make it seem as though a scene
is lit by evening sunlight.
• (Symphony Option) To change the color characteristics of one area in an image without altering
the rest of the image.
For example, you might need to change the color of a single object such as an article of clothing.
For a more complete introduction to the process of analyzing the color in your video and deciding
how to adjust it, including illustrated examples of typical corrections, see “Color Correction
Techniques” on page 714.