colour grading?

[Phil Gadd]

Hi guys

Been playing around with FCPX for a while and recently tried some online training courses ( including motion). But after a recent small project I saw something online regarding Davinci resolve 9 which took ordinary footage and made it look amazing. So far I just use FCPX effects and 3rd party effects to alter footage.

My question is, should I look for an online course in colour grading in FCPX or is davinci resolve the way forward (i really liked the masks and stuff)

Hope you guys can point me in the right direction

[Craig Seeman]

It's not quite clear what your point of reference is. It depends on needs as well as circumstance.
Have you used the masks in FCPX? They're quite powerful.
ColorGradingCentral has one of the best free FCPX color grading tutorials.
Resolve has much deeper controls though but your projects have to warrant the time investment for that level of control. You can track the masks in Resolve for example.
ColorGradingCentral seems to have good paid Resolve tutorials but so does RippleTraining.

There are times when FCPX Color Board is appropriate. There may be times when Resolve is appropriate

There's also MagicBulletLooks which falls somewhere in between.

I'm not quite sure you know the differences yet since you mention "effects." You need to know how to both correct and grade. FCPX ColorBoard is quite powerful.and if you're still using "effects" it sounds like you haven't yet mastered the ColorBoard. Learn that and you'll have a much better grasp of when something like MagicBulletLooks or Resolve is appropriate.

[Phil Gadd]

Thanks Craig, you're correct in your assumption in not understanding, but your advice has definitely help (even with terminology too).

I have magicbulletlooks and do use it. I will also check out colourgradingcentral

I did not realise grading and correcting were different so will research that now.

I downloaded an 8 point mask from ripple last night to try out but loved the tracking of masks in resolve (was not sure if you can do this in fcpx)

[Craig Seeman]

Usually the first stage when dealing with color is "correction."
This might include color balancing for color temperature issues.
It may deal with exposure related issues ranging from under/over exposure as well as crushed blacks or blown out highlights and rescuing.

Often times once that is done one starts by adding another "layer" (depends on program) to start working on the "look."

The ColorGradingCenteral FCPX tutorial will give you a good grounding.

[Phil Gadd]

Thanks Craig

I have just finished watching the tutorials... wow, I really am a novice. I took several samples of finished footage (for small business clients and friends) and used some techniques showed in the tutorials and the difference was fantastic.. I feel a bit embarrassed I never asked this question sooner.

Think I will carry on learning and going over elements of the tutorials.

PS not joined colourgradecentral just yet, is it worth joining?

[Craig Seeman]

You can get a sense of how capable FCPX grading tools are after seeing the ColorGradingCenteral tutorials.
While I don't pretend they're a match for resolve I am very much a business person. If I were doing features or docs, I'd certainly look to Resolve. I do mostly corporate and local cable spots. I don't think my clients would get great value for the extra time Resolve takes. The ColorBoard is missing a couple of key features though. I rally wish it could track a mask. That and compare frames on the timeline. Also multiple scopes. Those are my big three issues with the ColorBoard.

I haven't joined ColorGradingCentral (CGC) because the FCPX tutorials took me where I needed to go.

That doesn't mean I'll forsake Resolve though. The "lite" version is free and not really so "lite" though.

The "buy in" price for Magic Bullet Looks (which I do have) is actually higher than resolve. CGC has free tutorials for that as well but just three and it's more of an overview. For my work MBL can serve me better as something better than the ColorBoard but since it's still a plugin, it's a lot easier to deal with short notice client changes if I want to go in the MBL direction. RedGiant has a good deal of material on MBL to get you going.

I find the key thing is getting a grasp on "correction" because once you get your video to a good starting point, your free to take in any direction whether it's MBL or Resolve.... assuming the budget is there for it.

[Phil Gadd]

I downloaded the lite version of davinci resolve just to have a play anyway

Spent the day looking at projects over the last 12 months to see if I could improve them and they all had over or under exposure in places (ouch)