Apple Color 1.5 User Manual

ColorUser Manual

All of these tools are divided among eight individual “rooms” of the Color interface,logically arranged in an order that matches the workflow of most

Don’t Reedit Projects in ColorBy default, all the video tracks of projects sent from Final Cut Pro are locked. When you’regrading a project, it’s impo

Importing EDLsYou can import an EDL directly into Color. There are two reasons to use EDLs instead ofXML files:• To color correct a video master file:

The EDL Import Settings dialog appears, defaulting to the default project directory specifiedin the User Prefs tab of the Setup room.3 Choose the appr

• Project Resolution: The resolution of the Color project you’re creating. In general, thisshould match the resolution of the source media that you’re

Note: The source directory you choose can be either a local volume, or a volume on aSAN or LAN with sufficient performance to accommodate the data rat

Importing Media Directly into the TimelineYou also have the option of importing media files to the Timeline directly, which lets youuse Color to proce

6 Once shots have been placed into the Timeline, save your project.To import a folder of shots into the Timeline1 Do one of the following:• Choose Fil

• A subset of codecs that can be used for rendering your final output when OriginalFormat is chosen in the Export Codec pop-up menu of the Project Set

Supported as export codecSupported as original formatSupported for importNoYesDVCPRO HD 1080p25NoYesDVCPRO HD 1080p30NoYesDVCPRO HD 720p50NoYesDVCPRO

Compatible Third-Party QuickTime CodecsColor supports the following third-party codecs from AJA for import:• AJA Kona 10-bit Log RGB• AJA Kona 10-bit

For more information on the Apple Pro Training Program, go to:• http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training11Preface Welcome to Color

Color also supports the following two offline-quality codecs for workflows in which youconvert DPX or Cineon image sequences to offline-quality QuickT

Which Codec Should You Use for Export?When choosing the codec you want to use for rendering the final output, there are fourconsiderations:• If you’ll

• TIFF (import only): The Tagged Image File Format is a commonly used image formatfor RGB graphics on a variety of platforms. Color is compatible with

2 Choose File > Send To > Final Cut Pro.There are two possible warnings that may come up at this point:• If you haven’t rendered every shot in C

Revising Projects After They’re Sent to Final Cut ProIf you need to make revisions to the color corrections of a sequence that you’ve alreadysent from

Reconforming ProjectsWhether your project was sent from Final Cut Pro, or imported via an EDL from any otherediting environment, you have the option o

• Alternately, you can convert 2K and 4K DPX and Cineon image sequences intofinishing-quality QuickTime media files by simply choosing ProRes 4444 as

d Choose the codec you want to convert the image sequences to from the Export Codecpop-up menu. (For more information about choosing a suitable output

After using this command, all grades in the destination project are overwritten with thosefrom the source.To import the color corrections from one pro

Before you start working on your project, take a moment to configure your Color workingenvironment and project settings in the Setup room.The Setup ro

By default, the file browser displays the contents of the default media directory whenColor opens.For more information on how to use the file browser,

Media Information and DPX/Cineon Header MetadataWhen you click a shot to select it, an enlarged thumbnail appears to the right of the listof media.Und

Import ButtonSelecting one or more shots and clicking Import edits the selection into the end of thecurrent Timeline for an unlocked project. This is

Choosing the Current Shot and Selecting Shots in the Shots BrowserIcons or entries in the Shots browser are colored based on their selected state.• Da

Column Headers in the Shots BrowserWhen the Shots browser is in list view, up to nine columns of information are visible.• Shots Browser Column Header

• To Do: The shot has not yet been corrected in any room.• Aborted: Rendering of this shot has been stopped.Possible Flags in the Reconform ColumnEach

To sort the Shots browser by any columnµClick a column's header to sort by that column.Shots are sorted in descending order only. Numbers take pr

When you've added a note to a shot, a checkmark appears in the Notes column.To remove a note from a shotµControl-click or right-click the Notes c

µClick any shot, and then Shift-click a second shot to select a contiguous range of shotsfrom the first selection to the second.Selected shots appear

By applying a grade to one or more shots, you can apply multiple corrections all at once.Grades saved into the Grades bin are available to all Color p

To better learn how Color works, it’s important to understand the overall color correctionprocess and how images work their way through post-productio

• Render Dir: The render directory is the default directory path where media files renderedfor this project are stored. (For more information about re

• Frame Rate: This field displays the frame rate that the project is set to. Your project'sframe rate is set when the project is created, and it

• Printing Density pop-up menu: This pop-up menu can only be manually changed whenthe Render File Type is set to DPX. It lets you choose how to map 0

Note: You can render your project out of Color using one of several high-qualitymastering codecs, regardless of the codec or level of compression that

• Phase: Lets you adjust the phase of the chroma. If Amplitude is set to 0, no changeis made.• Offset: Lets you adjust the offset of a chroma adjustme

HandlesThis field lets you specify a duration of extra media to be added to the head and tail ofeach media file that's rendered out of Color. Whe

For more information, see:• Media and Project Directories• Control Surface Settings• User Interface Settings• Grade and Scope Color Controls• Limit Sh

Control Surface SettingsIf you're using a control surface with Color, the following parameters let you adjust howmotion applied to a particular c

• Joyball Sensitivity: This parameter controls how quickly color balance controls areadjusted when using a control surface's joyballs to adjust t

• Maintain Framerate: This setting determines whether or not frames are dropped inorder to maintain the project's frame rate during playback.• If

Stage 1: Correcting Errors in Color Balance and ExposureFrequently, images that are acquired digitally (whether shot on analog or digital video,or tra

• Grade Aborted color control: The color that's displayed in the Timeline render bar forshots that have had their rendering stopped. The default

Using ProxiesIf you're working with a project that uses Cineon or DPX image sequences, you can usethe Color proxy mechanism to work faster with h

Generating and Deleting ProxiesIn order to use proxies while working on projects using DPX and Cineon media, you needto first generate a set of half-

• Force RGB: This option is disabled for standard definition projects. This setting is meantto be used when you're working with high definition Y

• Radial HSL Interpolation:: This setting affects how keyframed color adjustments areinterpolated from one hue to another.• Turning this setting on ca

Tip: Depending on your system's performance, you may find it advantageous to workat a lower bit depth in order to maximize real-time performance.

How Does Working in Floating Point Affect Image Processing?Aside from providing a qualitative edge when processing high-resolution, high–bitdepth imag

Because of this, you may occasionally notice differences between images that wereinitially corrected at less than 16-bit, and the same images changed

Auto Saving saves only the current project. It does not create an archived copy of theproject. For more information about creating and recalling archi

The equipment and methods with which you monitor your work are critical to producingan accurate result.The importance of proper monitoring for color c

Stage 5: Achieving a “Look”The process of color correction is not simply one of making all the video in your piecematch some objective model of exposu

µPress Command-Shift-0 to switch between both modes.The Scopes window provides a preview display of the image that you’re working on, andit can also s

Monitoring Broadcast Video OutputFor the most accurate monitoring of broadcast programs, Color ouputs standard andhigh definition video using supporte

Other than specifying or choosing the initial shooting or transfer format, the bit depthof the source media on disk is predetermined (usually 8-bit, 1

Note: For all these reasons, consumer televisions and displays are not typically appropriatefor professional work, although they can be valuable for p

Color is represented on CRTs, LCD flat panels, video projectors, and film projectors usingvery different technologies. If you show an identical test i

Chromaticity refers to the exact values a display uses to represent each of the three primarycolors. Different displays use different primary values;

Each corner of the cube represents a different mix of the R,G,B tristimulus values thatrepresent each color. The black corner is (0,0,0), the opposing

Important: LUTs are no substitute for a high-quality display. In particular, they’ll do nothingto improve muddy blacks, an inherently low contrast ran

2 Load a good evaluation image (such as a Macbeth chart) into the Timeline.3 Display the same image on the target display using a second reliable vide

Monitoring the Still StoreThe Still Store lets you save and recall images from different parts of your project thatyou can use to compare to shots you

Stage 9: Creating Special EffectsSometimes a scene requires more extreme effects, such as manipulating colors andexposure intensively to achieve a day

The Timeline provides you with an interface for navigating through your project, selectingshots to grade, and limited editing.The Timeline and the Sho

Basic Timeline ElementsThe Timeline is divided into a number of tracks that contain the shots, grades, andkeyframes used by your program.• Render bar:

Each of the four grades may include one or more Primary, Secondary, Color FX, andPrimary Out corrections. By default, each grade appears with a single

To change the units used in the Timeline rulerDo one of the following:µClick the Setup room tab, then click the User Prefs tab and click the Frames, S

To resize individual tracksµHold down the Shift key, then drag the center handle of the gray bar at the bottom ofthe track you want to resize until it

Selecting the Current ShotWhichever shot you move the playhead to becomes the current shot. The current shot isthe one that’s adjusted whenever you ma

In Color, playback is always constrained to the area of the Timeline from the In point tothe Out point. If the playhead is already within this area, t

Switching the Playback ModeThe playback mode lets you choose whether the In and Out points are automaticallychanged to match the duration of the curre

Maintain FramerateThe Maintain Framerate setting in the User Prefs tab of the Setup room determineswhether or not frames are dropped in order to maint

Furthermore, choices made during preproduction and the shoot, including the film orvideo format and camera settings used, can have a profound effect o

Timeline NavigationThe following procedures let you navigate around your program in the Timeline, scrollingthrough it, and moving the playhead from sh

Selecting Shots in the TimelineThere are certain operations, such as copying primary corrections, that you can performon selected groups of shots. Col

To deselect all shots in the TimelineDo one of the following:µChoose Edit > Deselect All (or press Command-Shift-A).µSelect a previously unselected

If there wasn’t already a grade corresponding to the number of the grade you entered,one will be created. Whenever a new grade is added, the grades tr

The Settings 1 TabThe timing properties listed in the Settings 1 tab are not editable. Instead, they reflecteach shot’s position in the Timeline and t

The Settings 2 TabThe Settings 2 tab contains additional settings that let you modify the header data ofDPX and Cineon image files.• Override Header S

Editing Controls and ProceduresColor is not intended to be an editing environment, and as a result its editing tool setisn’t as complete as that of an

• If the In point of the moved shot overlaps the second half of another shot, the shotyou’re moving will be insert edited, and all other shots in the

2 Move the pointer to the edit point between the two shots that you want to roll, and dragit either left or right to make the edit.The Timeline update

This means that the portion of the shot that plays in the Timeline changes, while itsposition in the Timeline stays the same. No other shots in the Ti

However the color correction is handled during the initial telecine or datacine transfer,once complete, the footage goes through the typical post-prod

2 Move the pointer to the Timeline ruler, and when the split overlay appears (a verticalwhite line intersecting the shots in the Timeline), drag it to

The Timeline updates to reflect the edit you’ve made, with a new edit point appearingat the position of the playhead.Merge Edits CommandThe Merge Edit

In addition to a well-calibrated broadcast display, video scopes provide a fast and accurateway to quantitatively evaluate and compare images.Color pr

• The Luma Histogram• The 3D Scope• The RGB Color Space• The HSL Color Space• The Y′CBCRColor Space• The IPT Color SpaceThe location where the video s

• In dual-display mode: Up to three video scopes are displayed in the Scopes window, inaddition to the video preview.The Accuracy of Color Video Scope

3 To set the video scopes to update during playback, select Update Secondary Display.Tip: You can turn off Update Primary Display to improve playback

Some scopes can be displayed in color.To turn video scope color on and off1 Open the User Prefs tab, located inside the Setup room.2 Click Monochrome

To produce the overall analysis of the image, the individual graphs for each line of theimage are superimposed over one another.Because the waveform’s

Waveform Analysis ModesThe Waveform Monitor has eight different modes. For more information, see:• The Parade Scope• The Overlay Scope• The Red/Green/

Once the camera negative has been conformed and the different shots physically gluedtogether onto alternating A and B rolls, the negative can be color

The Parade scope makes it easy to spot color casts in the highlights and shadows of animage, by comparing the contours of the top and the bottom of ea

The Parade scope is also useful for comparing the relative levels of reds, greens, and bluesbetween two shots. If one shot has more red than another,

The Overlay ScopeThe Overlay scope presents information that’s identical to that in the Parade scope, exceptthat the waveforms representing the red, g

The Luma ScopeThe Luma scope shows you the relative levels of brightness within the image. Spikes ordrops in the displayed waveform make it easy to se

The Chroma ScopeThis scope shows the combined CBand CRcolor difference components of the image. It’suseful for checking whether or not the overall chr

The VectorscopeThe Vectorscope shows you the overall distribution of color in your image against acircular scale. The video image is represented by a

Spotting Color Casts with the VectorscopeYou can also use the Vectorscope to spot whether there’s a color cast affecting portionsof the picture that s

The I BarThe –I bar (negative I bar) shows the proper angle at which the hue of the dark blue boxin the color bars test pattern should appear. This da

The Q BarThe Q bar shows the proper angle at which the hue of the purple box in the color barstest pattern should appear. This purple box, which is lo

For example, images with a red color cast have either a significantly stronger red histogram,or conversely, weaker green and blue histograms. In the f

Copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.Your rights to the software are governed by theaccompanying software license agreement. The owner orau

If the online assembly is happening in a high-end online suite, then color correction canbe performed either during the assembly of the master tape or

The shape of the Histogram is also good for determining the amount of contrast in animage. A low-contrast image, such as the one shown above, has a co

The sides of the cube represent color of 100-percent saturation, while the center diagonalfrom the black to white corners represents 0-percent saturat

The outer boundary does not identify the broadcast-legal limits of video, but it doesillustrate the general range of color that’s available. For examp

The cones of the human eye that are sensitive to color have differing sensitivities to eachof the primaries (red, green, and blue). As a result, a mat

This analysis can be valuable in situations where a specific feature within the image needsto be a specific value. For example, you can drag swatches

• Crosshairs identify that value’s location within the three-dimensional representationof color in the 3D scope itself.Each color target is numbered t

The Primary In room provides your main interface for color correcting each shot. For everyshot, this is where you begin, and in many cases this may be

• To adjust color in the highlights and midtones to correct for unwanted color casts dueto a video camera's incorrect white balance settings, or

Stage 1: Adjusting the Contrast of the ImageMost colorists always begin by correcting the contrast of an image before moving on toadjusting its color.

In addition, the color correction equipment available to the telecine colorist has evolvedto match (and is sometimes identical to) the tools available

Stage 4: Making More Specific AdjustmentsIf you still feel that there are specific aspects of the image that need further adjustmentafter Stages 1 thr

What Is the Contrast Ratio of a Shot?One of the most important adjustments you can make to an image is to change its contrastratio. The contrast ratio

Using the Primary Contrast ControlsThe primary contrast controls consist of three vertical sliders that are used to adjust theblack point, the distrib

Adjusting the Black Point with the Shadow SliderThe behavior of the Shadow contrast slider depends on whether or not the Limit ShadowAdjustments prefe

• If Limit Shadow Adjustments is turned on: The black point is raised, but the white pointremains at 100 percent. This means that when you make any ad

Contrast adjustments to the shadows are one of the most frequent operations you'llperform. Lowering the blacks so that the darkest shadows touch

Here are two examples of using the Midtone contrast slider. The midtones have beenlowered in the following image. Notice how the overall image has dar

No matter what contrast ratio you decide to employ for a given shot, the Midtone slideris one of your main tools for adjusting overall image lightness

If the highlights are too bright, you can lower the Highlight slider to bring them backdown, without worrying about crushing the blacks.Overly bright

While modest adjustments made with the Highlight slider won't affect the black point,they will have an effect on the midtones that is proportiona

Advantages of Grading with ColorWhen Does Color Correction Happen? discusses how color correction is accomplished inother post-production environments

Most images don't start out with the highest-contrast ratio possible for the shot. Forexample, even in well-exposed shots, video cameras often do

Of course, you also have the option to lower the contrast ratio of an image. This mightbe done as an adjustment to change the apparent time of day (du

Contrast Affects Color Balance Control OperationThere's another reason to expand or otherwise adjust the contrast ratio of an image beforemaking

If you examine an image with a color cast in the Waveform Monitor set to Parade, youcan often see the disproportionate levels of each channel that cau

Using Color Balance ControlsThe color balance controls (which are sometimes referred to as hue wheels) work as virtualtrackballs on the screen; howeve

Using Color Balance Controls with a Control SurfaceThe three color balance controls correspond to the three trackballs, or joyballs, oncompatible cont

To correct this, you need to simultaneously lower the red channel and raise the bluechannel, which you can do by dragging the Highlight color balance

About Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights AdjustmentsLike many other color correction environments, Color provides a set of three color balancecontrols

To prevent obvious banding or other artifacts, adjustments to the three tonal zonesoverlap broadly, with each color balance control's influence o

Shadows Color AdjustmentsThe behavior of the Shadow color balance control depends on whether or not the LimitShadow Adjustments preference is turned o

About Importing Projects and Media into ColorTo work on a program in Color, you must be provided with two sets of files:• Final Cut Pro sequence data

• If Limit Shadow Adjustments is turned on: A linear falloff is applied to color adjustmentsmade with the Shadow control such that black receives 100

This lets you make color adjustments that exclude the shadows and highlights in theimage. For example, you could add a bit of blue to the midtones to

The Highlight color control is extremely useful for correcting color balance problemsresulting from the dominant light source that's creating the

The following example shows this principal in action. If you adjust the Highlight colorbalance control to add blue to a linear gradient, you'll s

The Curves ControlsThe curves controls, located underneath the color controls in the Primary In room, providean additional method for adjusting the co

Without any adjustments made, each curve control is a flat diagonal line; in other words,each source value equals its adjustment value, so no change i

Curve Editing Control Points and B-SplinesBy default, each curve has two control points. The bottom-left control point is the blackpoint and the top-r

To make curves sharper, move their control points closer together. To make curves moregentle, move the control points farther away from one another.Th

You can draw a general correspondence between the controls described in ContrastAdjustment Explained and the black point, midtones, and white point of

Moving the same control point down lowers the distribution of midtones, darkening theimage while leaving the white and black points pinned in place.Wh

The RGB Additive Color Model ExplainedIn the RGB color model, three color channels are used to store red, green, and blue valuesin varying amounts to

To make adjustments to a Luma curve1 Before making any actual adjustments, pin down the midtones and shadows of the imageby adding a control point to

That was a very targeted adjustment, but you can go further. Now that the sky is moresubdued, you may want to brighten the highlights of the man'

What Is Color Contrast?Contrast in this documentation usually describes the differences between light and darktones in the image. There is another way

To make a targeted color cast correction1 Add a control point to the red curve near the bottom of the curve, and pull down untilthe red color cast bec

2 Add another control point near the top of the red curve, and drag it up until some red"fill" reappears on the side of the woman's fac

At this point, the correction is finished. The red light appears in the fill light falling on thewoman's face, while the shadows and very brighte

Saturation ControlsSaturation describes the intensity of the color in an image. Image saturation is controlledusing three parameters which, similar to

Beware of raising image saturation too much; this can result in colors that start to"bleed" into one another and a signal that's illega

• Shadow Sat.: This parameter controls the saturation in the shadows of your image. Youcan selectively desaturate the shadows on your image to create

The Advanced TabThis tab contains another set of parameters for adjusting each of the three primary colorchannels within each of the three tonal zones

The sampling ratio between the Y′, CB, and CRchannels is notated as a three-value ratio.There are four common chroma subsampling ratios:• 4:4:4: 4:4:4

Printer Points ControlsThese parameters are available for colorists who are used to working with the printerpoints system for color timing film. Emplo

The Printer Points ParametersThese parameters control calibration and individual printer points for each color channel.• Printer Points Calibration: T

2 Click Auto Balance.Once the analysis has been performed, the Red, Green, and Blue Lift and Gain parametersin the Advanced tab of the Primary In room

For clips that were imported with native color metadata, the RED tab provides access tothe clip Color, Color Temp, and View metadata originally writte

• Kelvin: This value is set by options in the RED camera’s Color Temp menu, along withTint. This setting is designed to compensate for the “warmth” of

• REDlog: A nonlinear, logarithmic gamma setting that maps the native 12-bit REDimage data to a 10-bit curve. The blacks and midtones that occupy the

Secondary color correction controls let you isolate a portion of an image and selectivelyadjust it without affecting the rest of the picture.Once you’

What Is the Secondaries Room Used For?The Secondaries room has been designed for maximum flexibility. While its central purposeis to facilitate target

• Digitally relighting areas of the image: The same feature can be used in a different way,drawing custom shapes to isolate regions of the image and a

As you can probably guess, more color information is better when doing color correction.For example, when you make large contrast adjustments to 4:1:1

All these methods are described in this chapter. Once you’ve selected a region of theimage to work on, the Control pop-up menu lets you apply separate

The state of the Enabled button is also keyframable. This means you can use keyframesto control this button to turn a secondary effect on and off as t

The HSL controls work as a chroma keyer. By selecting ranges of hue, saturation, andlightness, you create a matte that is then used to define the regi

To use the eyedropper to pull a secondary key1 Click the eyedropper.The eyedropper becomes highlighted, and crosshairs appear superimposed over theima

In addition to sampling individual color values, you can also use the eyedropper to samplean entire range of values.To use the eyedropper to sample a

Each qualifier has three sets of handles—center, range, and tolerance—which correspondto three knobs on compatible control surfaces. These handles can

• Tolerance: An outer pair of handles defines a range of values that surround the rangevalues to create falloff, giving a soft edge to the keyed matte

To adjust the Tolerance handlesµDrag anywhere outside of the Center, Range, and Tolerance handles to widen or narrowthe tolerance.You can also make as

Note: You can manually set the key blur to even higher values by typing them directlyinto the Key Blur field.No key blur With key blurOne of the nice

Note: The Matte Preview Mode and Vignette Outline appear in the preview display ofthe Scopes window only when the Previews tab in the Secondaries room

Bit Depth ExplainedAnother factor that affects the quality of video images, and can have an effect on thequality of your image adjustments, is the bit

• Matte only: Shows the actual matte being used to limit the effect. This is similar tothe image displayed in the HSL Qualifier preview display, excep

Vignettes can also be used to select large regions of the frame for brightening ordarkening. One common example of this is to use a shape to surround

Note: If you have a compatible control surface, you can also use its controls to customizethe vignette. See Setting Up a Control Surface for more info

• Size: Enlarges or shrinks the shape.• Aspect: Adjusts the width-to-height ratio of the shape.Using the Onscreen Controls to Adjust Vignette ShapesTh

To rotate the vignetteµRight-click or Control-click any of the four corners of the vignette and drag to rotate it tothe left or right.To adjust the so

3 Click in the Geometry preview area to add control points outlining the feature you wantto isolate, then click the first control point you created to

5 To feather the edge of the shape, increase the value of the Softness parameter.Two additional editable shapes appear to the inside and outside of th

When you use a user shape, the vignette controls in the secondary tab to which it’sassigned become disabled. If at any point you need to edit the shap

• Outside: When set to Outside, all adjustments you make in that tab affect the exteriorof the secondary matte (the area in black). Making a darkening

These curves work much differently than the curves controls of the Primary In room. Eachof the secondary curves controls defaults to a flat horizontal

• 10-bit images, on the other hand, use a full range of 0 to 1023 to store each colorchannel. (Again, Y′CBCRvideo uses a narrower range of 64–940 to a

For example, if you add four control points to the Saturation curve to lower thegreen-through-blue range of the curve, you can smoothly desaturate eve

The secondary curves use B-Splines, just like the primary curves controls. In fact, you addand edit control points on the secondary curves in exactly

The Sat Curve TabRaising the Saturation curve increases the saturation in that portion of the spectrum,while lowering it decreases the saturation. Thi

The Lum Curve TabRaising the Luminance curve lightens the colors in that portion of the spectrum, whilelowering it darkens them. This is a good tool t

When the primary and secondary color correction controls aren’t enough to achieve thelook you need, Color FX lets you create sophisticated effects usi

The Color FX Interface ExplainedThe Color FX room is divided into four main areas.ParametersNode listNode viewColor FX binThe functionality of these a

• Adjusting Node Parameters• Bypassing Nodes• Cutting, Copying, and Pasting NodesHow Node Trees WorkIn the Color image processing pipeline, the Color

The very last node in any node tree must be the Output node. This is the node that sendsthe image that’s been processed by the Color FX room back into

Any node’s output, on the other hand, can be connected to multiple nodes in order tofeed duplicate versions of the image as it appears at that point i

• The midtones are the distribution of all tonal values in between the black and whitepoints.WhiteBlackMidsAn image’s contrast ratio is the difference

New nodes always appear disconnected in the Node view.To insert a new node between two nodes that are already connectedµDrag a node from the Node list

To disconnect a node from the one above itDo one of the following:µClick the input of any node with a connected noodle to disconnect it.µDrag a noodle

Selected nodes appear highlighted in cyan, and if a selected node has any parameters,they appear to the right, ready for editing. You can edit node pa

As you fine-tune this effect, you want to adjust the amount the black-and-white imagecontributes to the final effect by adjusting the Curve node, but

Bypassed nodes are outlined with an orange dotted line.If you want to suspend the effect of an entire node tree without deleting it or individuallytur

Using Single Input NodesThe simplest use of this room is to apply one or two single-input nodes to create a stylizedeffect. In this case, all you need

In one of the simplest examples, you can tint an image by attaching a Color node (whichgenerates a user-definable color) to one input of a Multiply la

The Duotone, Curve, and Blur nodes tint, darken, and blur the image prior to adding itto the corrected image (coming in via input 2), and the result i

DifferenceThe pixels from the image that’s connected to Source 1 are subtracted from the pixelsfrom the image that’s connected to Source 2. Black pixe

Any grayscale image can be used to create a matte that you can connect to the Alphainput, for a variety of effects. In the following example, a Curve

Welcome to Color9PrefaceAbout Color9About the Color Documentation10Additional Resources10Color Correction Basics13Chapter 1The Fundamental Color Corre

For more information about adjusting image contrast, see Contrast Adjustment Explained.Luma ExplainedLuma (which technically speaking is gamma-correct

The Blur node blurs the corrected image, but the matte image that’s connected to theAlpha input limits its effect to the areas of the image that don’t

If you don’t process each field separately, you may encounter unexpected image artifacts,especially when using filtering and transform nodes such as B

2 Do one of the following:• Double-click the effect in the bin.• Select a saved effect, then click the Load button underneath the bin.• Drag the saved

BlendThis node mixes two inputs together based on the Blend parameter. The order in whichthe inputs are connected does not matter. Blend has one param

B&WDesaturates the image to produce a monochrome image consisting of only the Lumacomponent. This is done using very specific math, adding togethe

Edge DetectorA Convolution filter that boosts image contrast in such a way as to reduce the image tothe darkest outlines that appear throughout. Edge

• Grain Size: Increases the size of each “grain” of noise that’s added. Keep in mind thatthe size of the film grain is relative to the resolution of y

Grain ReductionReduces grain and noise in an image by averaging adjacent pixels in that frame accordingto the values specified in the Master, Red, Gre

• Green Lift: Adjusts the green channel only, enabling color correction based on a liftadjustment for that channel.• Blue Lift: Adjusts the blue chann

Scale RGBExpands or contracts the overall contrast ratio of a shot, from the black point to the whitepoint, centering the midpoint of this operation a

Gamma ExplainedGamma refers to two different concepts. In a video signal, gamma refers to the nonlinearrepresentation of luminance in a picture displa

TranslateOffsets the image relative to the upper-right corner. This node has two parameters:• Horizontal Offset: Moves the image left.• Vertical Offse

RGB SplitOutputs the red, green, and blue color channels individually, depending on which buttonyou click. Each grayscale color channel can then be in

The Primary Out room provides an additional set of controls for overall color correction,but it can also be used as a tool to trim the grades applied

Making Extra Corrections Using the Primary Out RoomThe Color interface was designed for flexibility. The functionality of each of the colorcorrection

As the processed image makes its way from the Primary In to the Secondaries to the ColorFX rooms, the corrections in each room are applied to the imag

Note: If Enable Clipping and Broadcast Safe are both on, the lowest of the two standardsis applied.These controls are used to adjust color channel cei

Color provides many tools for managing the corrections and grades that you've applied.You can work even faster by saving, copying, and applying c

Corrections are adjustments that are made within a single room. You have the option tosave individual corrections into the bins available in the Prima

To save a correction from the current shot into the current room’s bin1 Move the playhead to the shot with a correction you want to save.2 Click in th

SaturationSaturation describes the intensity of that color, whether it’s a bright red or a pale red. Animage that is completely desaturated has no col

2 Drag the correction bar (in the grades track of the Timeline) of the shot you want to saveto the corrections bin.Tip: To overwrite a previously save

2 Move the playhead to the shot with a grade you want to save.3 Select the grade that you want to save by clicking it in the Timeline.4 Click in the F

To save any shot’s grade1 Click in the File field underneath the corrections bin, enter a name for the saved correction,and press Return. (This step i

The selected correction or grade is deleted, both from Color and from disk. This operationcannot be undone.Organizing Saved Corrections and Grades wit

Every time you create a folder in a bin, you also create a subdirectory within the savedcorrection directory for that room within the /Users/username/

2 Do one of the following:• In the Grades or corrections bin, double-click the correction or grade you want to apply.• Select a saved correction or gr

To add a new grade to a shotDo one of the following:µControl-click or right-click a grade, then choose Add New Grade from the shortcut menu.µMove the

To copy a correction from one shot to anotherµDrag a single correction bar in the grades track of the Timeline to the shot you want tocopy it to.The s

To copy a grade to another grade in the same shotµDrag a grade bar in the grades track of the Timeline onto another grade bar for the sameshot.The cop

3 Release the mouse button to copy the correction or grade to the selected shots.Keep in mind the following rules when dragging corrections and grades

All these combinations can be seen in the illustration of three colored circles below. Whereany two primaries overlap, the secondary appears, and wher

• Dragging onto an alternate grade of one of several selected shots copies that correctionor grade into the alternate grade of the shot you dropped it

• Dragging onto a shot that’s not part of the current selection only copies that correctionor grade to that shot.BeforeAfter331Chapter 13 Managing Cor

• The current shot at the position of the playhead is not included in a multishot Copyoperation unless it’s specifically selected (with a cyan highlig

4 Click Copy To Selected.The grade at the current position of the playhead is copied to all selected shots.To copy a primary correction to every singl

Using the Copy Grade and Paste Grade Memory BanksYou can use the Copy Grade and Paste Grade commands to copy grades from one shotand paste them into o

To mark a grade as the beauty grade1 Move the playhead to the shot on which you want to set a beauty grade.2 Select the grade you want to set as the b

All corrections made with the Primary In, Secondaries, Color FX, and Primary Out roomsare disabled, and the grades track of the Timeline turns red to

Navigating and Arranging Shots in Icon ViewWhen you're working on a project with many shots, it can help to scroll around and zoomin and out to f

To select the grade used by a shotµDouble-click the grade you want to select.The selected grade turns blue, while the unselected grades remain dark gr

To select a shotµClick the shot's name bar, underneath its icon.Selected shots appear with a cyan highlight over their name bars, and are simulta

The HSL Color Space Model ExplainedThe HSL color space model is another method for representing color and is typically usedfor user interface controls

• Set the Shots browser to list view, then Shift-click or Command-click to select a rangeof contiguous or noncontiguous shots.• Use the Find field, or

A group is created, and a group node appears with blue connection lines showing all theshots that belong to that group.To add a shot to an already exi

When you release the mouse button, that shot will no longer be connected to the group.For more information on working with groups once you’ve created

Important: You can only copy corrections and grades from the Timeline to groups in theShots browser.To copy a grade to a groupµDrag a grade bar from t

This is especially true for projects where the director of photography and the crewworked to achieve the desired look during the shoot, leaving you wi

Stage 3: Applying a Creative Look to the SceneNow that the shots have been optimized and the scenes balanced, you can focus onspecific creative issues

You can create animated grades and other effects using keyframes in the Timeline.The keyframing mechanism in Color is simple, but effective. It’s desi

You Can’t Keyframe Clips That Use Speed EffectsWhile color correcting projects that were sent from Final Cut Pro, there’s a limitation toshots with sp

How Keyframing Works in Different RoomsYou can keyframe effects in the Primary In, Secondaries, Color FX, Primary Out andGeometry rooms. Each room has

Taking maximum advantage of Color requires careful workflow management. This chapteroutlines where Color fits into your post-production workflow.Color

Note: How color adjustments are animated depends on the Radial HSL Interpolationsetting in the User Prefs tab of the Setup room. In nearly all cases,

Keyframing User ShapesYou can keyframe user shapes created in the Shapes tab of the Geometry room torotoscope (isolate by tracing frame by frame) movi

To move the playhead from one keyframe to the next in the currently open roomDo one of the following:µPress Option–Left Arrow to move to the next keyf

To move a keyframe while updating the previewed imageµPress Option while dragging a keyframe to the left or right.If you need to, you can also make th

• Constant: Constant keyframes perform no interpolation whatsoever. All effects changeabruptly to the next keyframed state when the playhead reaches t

The Geometry room provides a way to zoom in to shots, create pan and scan effects,draw custom mattes for vignetted secondary operations, and track mov

The Pan & Scan TabThe Pan & Scan tab lets you apply basic transformations to the shots in your projects.You can use these transformations to b

• When outputting 2K and 4K Cineon and DPX image sequences, Pan & Scantransformations are processed within Color along with your color corrections

Using the Onscreen ControlsThe onscreen controls for the Pan & Scan tab consist of an outer bounding box thatrepresents the scaled output with fou

Because the onscreen control works by selecting a portion of the static source image,the onscreen control rotates in the opposite direction of the eff

Each room gathers all the controls pertaining to that particular step of the color correctionprocess onto a single screen. These rooms are organized f

Using the Pan & Scan ParametersEach of the adjustments you make using the onscreen controls is mirrored and recordednumerically by the parameters

If necessary, you can animate Pan & Scan effects in one of two ways:• Using keyframes: You can keyframe all the Pan & Scan transform controls.

Controls in the Shapes TabThe Shapes tab has the following controls:• CurrentSecondary pop-up menu: Lists which of the eight available tabs in the Sec

• Shapes list: This list shows all the unattached shapes that are available in a project, aswell as the shapes that have been assigned to the current

• Main/Inner/Outer buttons: These buttons let you choose which points you want toselect when dragging a selection box in the image preview, without lo

B-Splines use control points that aren’t actually attached to the shape’s surface to “pull”the shape into different directions, like a strong magnet p

5 Enter a name into the Shape Name field, then press Return. (This step is optional.)6 Click the Attach button to use the shape in the secondary tab.A

Selected control points turn green.You don’t have to select every control point in the shape; you can make a partial selectionto resize only a portion

The Softness parameter applies a uniform feathering around the entire shape. This alsoreveals a pair of inside and outside shapes that represent the i

3 Click within the image preview area to add control points to the end of the selectedshape.4 Click the first control point of the shape when you fini

• Geometry: The Geometry room lets you pan and scan, rotate, flip, and flop shots asnecessary. The Geometry room also provides tools for creating cust

The Tracking TabMotion tracking is the process of analyzing a shot in order to follow the motion of aspecific feature in the image to create a motion

Will Motion Tracking Solve All Your Problems?With shots where there is a clearly defined target (something high-contrast and angular,preferably), auto

If you track a limited range of a shot’s total duration by setting In and Out points for thetracker that are shorter than the length of the shot, the

The Tracking tab has the following controls:• Tracker list: A list of all the trackers that have been created for the shot at the currentposition of t

• Manual Tracker: Click to enter Manual Tracking mode, where you use the pointer toclick on a feature in the preview area that you want to track. Each

In many cases, the In and Out points will include the whole shot. However, if the featureyou’re tracking is not visible or only moves for a small port

A green Out point appears in the Timeline.In many cases, this will be the last frame of the shot. However, if the feature you’re trackingbecomes obscu

2 Drag the playhead in the Timeline through the tracked range of the shot, and identifykeyframes that stick out incorrectly, or that drift from the pr

As you add more manual tracking points, a motion path slowly builds following the trailof the feature you’re tracking.7 When you’ve finished manually

2 Adjust the Tracking Curve Smoothness slider, dragging it to the right until the motiontracking path is smooth enough for your needs.The Tracking Cur

To accommodate editorial changes, reconforming tools are provided to synchronizean EDL or Final Cut Pro sequence with the version of that project bein

The Still Store provides an interface with which to compare shots to one another whileyou do scene-to-scene color correction.Using the Still Store int

3 Optionally, if you want to save the still with a custom name, you can click the Still Storetab and type a name in the File field below the Still Sto

Why Is Your Project Getting So Big?Because all still images are saved within the “StillStore” subdirectory inside your projectbundle, you may notice t

Recalling Images from the Still StoreOnce an image has been added to the Still Store, it can be recalled at any time. To displaya saved still image, y

Still Store View SettingsEach still image has its own settings for how that image will appear when it’s recalled.These settings can be found on the ri

Controls in the Still Store BinThe Still Store bin has the following controls:• Up Directory button: Clicking this button takes you to the next direct

• Save button: Saves the frame at the current position of the playhead as a still image,for later recall.• Load button: Loads a still so that it’s ava

Once you’ve finished color correcting your program, the controls in the Render Queuelet you render the appropriate set of media files for the final ou

• Final Cut Pro generators and Motion projects: Final Cut Pro generators and Motion projectsare completely ignored by Color. How you handle these type

The Graphics Card You’re Using Affects the Rendered OutputColor uses the GPU of the graphics card that’s installed in your computer to render thecolor

Effects That Are Only Rendered for 2K and 4K Output• When rendering out DPX or Cineon image sequences, all clips are rendered at theresolution specifi

Motion Settings, Keyframes, and Pan & Scan Adjustments in RoundtripsA subset of the static motion settings from Final Cut Pro is translated into t

Whenever rendering your project changes the codec, frame size, or both, you are presentedwith a dialog when you send your project to Final Cut Pro tha

If the original frame size of the sequence was a nonstandard high definition frame size,then you have the option of either changing the sequence frame

The Render Queue InterfaceYou specify which shots in the program you want to render using the Render Queue list.Whenever you add shots to this list, t

• Start Render: Initiates rendering for all the shots that have been placed into the RenderQueue. This button has the same function as the Render >

• Printing Density: If you’re rendering DPX media, make sure that Printing Density is setto the correct format. For more information, see Choosing Pri

Once you add shots to the Render Queue list, the status of each of the shots that youadd changes to Queued in the Shots browser. In the Timeline, each

Once the first shot in the Render Queue has finished rendering, the next one begins, andrendering continues from the top to the bottom of the list unt

Relinking Media104Importing Media Directly into the Timeline105Compatible Media Formats106Moving Projects from Color to Final Cut Pro112Exporting EDLs

Once that task has been accomplished, you can send the project data and files into Colorfor color correction. Upon completion of the color correction

Rendering Multiple Grades for Each ShotEach shot in your Color project uses one of up to four possible grades. As you work, youhave the ability to fre

The grade ID column in the Render Queue shows you what grades you’ve selected torender for each shot.Managing Rendered Shots in the TimelineOnce you’v

• Resolution of the rendered file• QuickTime Codec or Format• Number of Frames rendered in each rendered file• Time to render• Performance (in frames

• Video (64 Black - 940 White : Linear): The minimum and maximum values of 0 and 100percent in Color’s scopes correspond to the digital values of 64 a

• Link Files: Creates aliases of the originally rendered files in the render directory. This isuseful if you want to process the frames using an appli

When using analog devices, make sure they are calibrated for accurate brightness andcolor so you can color correct your video accurately.This appendix

Monitors are calibrated using SMPTE standard color bars. Brightness and contrast areadjusted by eye, using the color bars onscreen. Adjusting chroma a

The point where this bar is barely visible is the correct contrast setting for your monitor.(The example shown below is exaggerated to demonstrate.)Wh

Note: The step in the second bullet also applies to the monitoring of composite signals,but you really, really shouldn’t be monitoring a composite sig

This chapter shows the various keyboard shortcuts that are available while working inColor.This appendix covers the following:• Project Shortcuts (p.

After the offline edit is complete, the media used by the edited program must berecaptured from the source tapes at maximum quality. The resulting onl

FunctionKeyboard shortcutOpen archived version of projectoptionAImport clip (opens the File browser in the Setup room)IGather Rendered Media (only for

FunctionKeyboard shortcutSelect Color windowshift1Select Scopes windowshift2Switches between single display and dual display modes the nexttime Color

FunctionKeyboard shortcutSwitch playback modeshiftcontrolMSet In point in Timeline for playbackISet Out point in Timeline for playbackOGrade Shortcuts

Timeline-Specific ShortcutsFunctionKeyboard shortcutZoom outZoom in=Zoom to fit every shot into the available width of the TimelineshiftZSet Timeline

Keyframing ShortcutsFunctionKeyboard shortcutChange keyframe interpolation type at position of playheadcontrol8Change keyframe interpolation type at p

Render Queue ShortcutsFunctionKeyboard shortcutAdd selected shots to the Render QueueoptionAAdd all shots in the Timeline to the Render Queueshiftopti

The tables in this section show the various Multi-Touch controls that are available in Color.Multi-Touch controls require a Multi-Touch capable input

DescriptionMulti-Touch GestureShrink iconsPinch closeEnlarge iconsPinch openPan around the image previewTwo-finger scrollMulti-Touch Control of the Sc

Multi-Touch Control in the Image Preview of the Scopes WindowThe following Multi-Touch controls let you make adjustments to each shot’s Pan & Scan

Stage 3: Recapturing the Source Media at Online ResolutionIf you originally captured your source media using an offline format, you need to recapturet

Color is compatible with control surfaces from JLCooper and Tangent Devices.A control surface lets you make simultaneous adjustments to multiple param

• Your Controller configured with an Ethernet board supplied in Slot #1• Multiport hub, router, or switch• Cat-5 Ethernet cablesThe Eclipse CX has a s

c Enter a Subnet Mask number, then press ENTER to accept and continue.For example, you might enter: 255.255.255.000d Enter a port number, then press E

Controls for the MCS-3000Many of the controls in the MCS-3000 are identified by the text displays running alongthe top of each panel.F1M1W1W2W3W4W5W6W

• M2: Inch playback• M3: Disable grade• Bank1: Switch/Copy/Paste Grade Bank 1• Bank2: Switch/Copy/Paste Grade Bank 2• Bank3: Switch/Copy/Paste Grade B

Controls for the MCS-SpectrumMany of the controls in the MCS-3000 and MCS-Spectrum are identified by the textdisplays running along the top of each pa

To set up and use the CP100 for use with Color1 Connect the TDLan port of the CP100 to the primary Ethernet port of your computerusing an Ethernet cab

• Select: Toggle playback mode• Mix: Toggle show still• Grade: Toggle show grade• Delete: Return grade to identity or base-mem• |<: Previous event•

Tangent Devices CP200 Series Control SurfaceThe Tangent Devices CP200 is a modular series of controllers all designed to work together.MEMALTGRACE DEL

Stage 6: Grading Your Program in ColorUse Color to grade your program. When working on a roundtrip from Final Cut Pro, it'scrucial to avoid unloc

Important: The CP200 series control surfaces cannot be connected to the second Ethernetport of your Mac Pro; they must be connected to your computer’s

After you click Yes, Color connects with the control surfaces on the network. If this issuccessful, then each panel’s display should now go blank.The

• F5: Toggle secondary• F6: Toggle secondary In/Out control• F7: Toggle secondary vignette• F8: Previous secondary• F9: Next secondaryNote: In the Sec

• Delete: Return grade to Identity or base-mem• |<: Previous event• >|: Next event• <: Play reverse• []-: Stop playback• >: Play forward•

Customizing Control Surface SensitivityYou can customize the sensitivity of the joyballs, knobs, contrast wheels, and the angleat which the joyballs a

Reconforming Online Media in a Tapeless Digital Video WorkflowIf a program uses a tapeless video format, the steps are similar to those described in A

Important: When you create offline duplicates of tapeless media, it's vital that youduplicate and maintain the original filenames and timecode wi

Stage 1: Shooting Your FilmShoot the project as you would any other film project.Stage 2: Telecining the DailiesAfter the film has been shot, process

• If you did an inexpensive one-light telecine pass to an offline video format, you'll wantto do another telecine pass where you transfer only th

Note: Although capable of importing EDLs directly, Color reads only the video portionof edits in track V1. Video transitions, audio, and superimpositi

Important: The EDL import capabilities of Color are not as thorough as those inFinal Cut Pro, and are limited only to shots on track V1. All transitio

The Primary In Room207Chapter 9What Is the Primary In Room Used For?207Where to Start in the Primary In Room?208Contrast Adjustment Explained210Using

Stage 3: Grading Your Program in ColorUse Color to grade your program, as you would any other.Stage 4: Rendering New Source Media and Sending the Upda

Once all your source media has been transcoded or captured as Apple ProRes 4444, itcan be imported into your Final Cut Pro project. If necessary, you

Mastering from a single set of Apple ProRes 4444 media keeps your workflow simple,making media management straightforward, and eliminating the need to

Stage 2: Scanning All Film as DPX Image SequencesDepending on how the shoot was conducted, you can opt to do a best-light datacine ofjust the selects,

Stage 4: Creating Offline Resolution Clips for Editing in Final Cut Pro (Optional)This step is especially useful if you’re working on a project at 4K

• If you're handing the project off to another facility, you may want to export the editedsequence as an XML file for eventual import into Color.

Stage 11: Creating Additional Transitions, Effects, and TitlesIn a 2K or 4K workflow, you can also use a compositing application such as Shake to crea

Ingest Native RED QuickTime Media for Editing and FinishingIt’s also possible to edit and finish using native RED QuickTime media. This is an efficien

Offline Using Apple ProRes; Finishing with RED MediaAn advantage to editing with Apple ProRes media is that it’s less processor-intensive thanediting

Stage 1: Archiving the Original RED MediaIt’s always recommended that you archive all of the original RED media for your projectonto one or more backe

Using the Copy Grade and Paste Grade Memory Banks334Setting a Beauty Grade in the Timeline334Disabling All Grades335Managing Grades in the Shots Brows

Stage 3: Editing Using Apple ProRes MediaEdit your project in Final Cut Pro, being careful not to alter the timecode of the offlinemaster media in any

Stage 5: Preparing Your Final Cut Pro SequenceTo prepare your edited sequence for an efficient workflow in Color, follow the stepsoutlined in Before Y

Stage 8: Choosing How to Render the Final Graded MediaWhen working with native RED QuickTime media, the frame size of your final gradedmedia is determ

The main disadvantage is that RED QuickTime media is processor-intensive when editing.Because of performance limitations, editing with less powerful c

For more information on editing programs that will be printed to film, see Stage 3: EditingUsing Apple ProRes Media.Stage 3: Preparing Your Final Cut

Digital Intermediate Workflows Using DPX/Cineon MediaColor supports grading for 2K and 4K digital intermediate workflows. Simply put, the termdigital

Deriving the offline media from the original digital media keeps your workflow simpleand eliminates the need to retransfer the source film later. The

To track the correspondence between the original still frames and the offline QuickTimefiles that you'll create for editing, you should ask for t

Stage 5: Preparing Your Final Cut Pro SequenceTo prepare your edited sequence for an efficient workflow in Color, follow the stepsoutlined in Before Y

Stage 10: Rendering Your Media Out of ColorOnce you finish grading the project in Color, use the Render Queue to render out thefinal media. The Render

Playback and Navigation411Grade Shortcuts412Timeline-Specific Shortcuts413Editing Shortcuts413Keyframing Shortcuts414Shortcuts in the Shots Browser414

A Digital Intermediate Workflow Using Telecined MediaA more traditional way to edit and color correct a project is to do an offline edit using aless e

Stage 2: Telecining the DailiesOnce the film has been shot, telecine the dailies to a video format that's appropriate forthe offline edit. Whethe

Stage 4: Preparing Your Final Cut Pro SequenceTo prepare your edited sequence for an efficient workflow in Color, follow the stepsoutlined in Before Y

Stage 8: Grading Your Program in ColorGrade your program in Color as you would any other. For better performance, it’s advisableto use the Proxy contr

This makes it easy to create and maintain a film frame-to-timecode correspondencebetween the original camera negative and the transferred video or DPX

If you don’t already have a Cinema Tools database tracking your film media, you can easilycreate one. To create a Cinema Tools database from one or mo

Required Image Sequence FilenamingHere's a sample filename of the first image sequence file that corresponds to the EDLevent shown in Parsing EDL

You can work in Color either by using a mouse with the onscreen interface, or, moredirectly, by using a dedicated control surface that’s been designed

Setting Up a Control SurfaceColor was designed from the ground up to support control surfaces specifically designedfor color correction from manufactu

Using the MouseColor supports the use of a three-button mouse, which provides quick access to shortcutmenus and various navigational shortcuts. Color

3 Press Return to confirm the change.To modify the value of a numeric or percentage-based text field with a virtual slider1 Move the pointer to the fi

• If you enter a partial number, the rightmost pair of numbers is interpreted as framesand each successive pair of numbers to the left populates the r

The angle at which colors appear on the color wheel of color controls can be customizedto match the interface of other color correction systems you ma

When you select a media file in the file browser, a panel appears to the right displayingthe first frame of that file along with information underneat

To expand the file browserµMove the pointer to the file browser divider at the left side of the window, and when it’shighlighted in blue, click once t

You can use this bin to apply saved grades to other shots in the Timeline. The contentsof the Grades bin are available to all Color projects opened wh

Directory Navigation ControlsThe file browser and Grades and corrections bins also have directory navigation controlsthat you can use to organize and

• Load button: Applies the selected grade or correction to the shot that’s at the currentposition of the playhead (if no other shots are selected) or

Reorganizing Saved Corrections and Grades in the FinderEach of the corrections bins in Color simply mirrors the contents of the correspondingsubdirect

To switch between single and dual display modesDo one of the following:µChoose Window > Single Display Mode or Dual Display Mode.µPress Shift-Comma

Welcome to the world of professional video and film grading and manipulation usingColor.This preface covers the following:• About Color (p. 9)• About

Color provides powerful tools for managing projects and media as you work.This chapter describes the commands and methods used to create and save proj

Creating and Opening ProjectsWhen you open Color, you’re presented with a dialog from which you can open an existingproject or create a new one. Most

To save a projectµChoose File > Save (or press Command-S).To revert the project to the last saved stateµChoose File > Revert (or press Command-R

The Contents of Color ProjectsColor projects are actually bundles. Inside each Color project bundle is a hierarchicalseries of directories, each of wh

Saving and Opening ArchivesAn archive is a compressed duplicate of the project that’s stored within the project bundleitself. For efficiency, the arch

Before You Export Your Final Cut Pro ProjectWhether you’re working on your own project, or preparing a client’s project in advanceof a Color grading s

Each reel should begin and end at a good cut point, such as the In point of the first shotof a scene, the Out point of the last shot of a scene, or th

It’s also important to make sure that the stills you use in your Final Cut Pro project aren’tany larger then 4096 x 2304, which is the maximum image s

Important: If you’re recapturing or transcoding video clips that were originally recordedwith a Y′CBCRformat, be sure that the codec you use to recapt