Do-it-yourself Color Correction, or take it to a Post House? at DVinfo.net

Ronald Lee · September 4th, 2005, 04:09 AM

Dylan and I just shot some miniDV footage over the weekend. It's for a short film, so of course there is going to be color correction, from color balance, to brightness and contrast. I can do it in Premiere, but it's not easy and not the best way to do it. However, it's the cheapest.

The other way is to take the locked film to a post house, where they will put it into the 4:2:2 color space from the miniDV 4:1:1 which should make it easier and better to color correct. Then I can keep the footage in Beta and synch up the sound. This won't be cheap. Possibly $700ish at least.

So to me, it looks like I'm going to have to spend some money do get a perfect looking film. Or so my hypothesis goes. Does anyone here have any opinion as too what I should do? Am I right in that Premiere won't be able to color correct as well as a studio. I may also want to transfer to film as well (tiny slim chance) so I don't want any color correct I do to create noise in the transfer.

Feedback? thanx

Rob Lohman · September 4th, 2005, 04:53 AM

If you can afford it and you want it to look a tad better (on film as well) then
it may be a good move to go the professional route. You can get similar software
yourself to what they are using (can be quite expensive though), but it also a
skill from the operator that determines how it is going to look.

If you don't want to change too much, perhaps you can try it yourself first and
move it over to them if your not happy with it?

September 4th, 2005, 04:09 AM	#1
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	Do-it-yourself Color Correction, or take it to a Post House? Dylan and I just shot some miniDV footage over the weekend. It's for a short film, so of course there is going to be color correction, from color balance, to brightness and contrast. I can do it in Premiere, but it's not easy and not the best way to do it. However, it's the cheapest. The other way is to take the locked film to a post house, where they will put it into the 4:2:2 color space from the miniDV 4:1:1 which should make it easier and better to color correct. Then I can keep the footage in Beta and synch up the sound. This won't be cheap. Possibly $700ish at least. So to me, it looks like I'm going to have to spend some money do get a perfect looking film. Or so my hypothesis goes. Does anyone here have any opinion as too what I should do? Am I right in that Premiere won't be able to color correct as well as a studio. I may also want to transfer to film as well (tiny slim chance) so I don't want any color correct I do to create noise in the transfer. Feedback? thanx

September 4th, 2005, 04:53 AM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	If you can afford it and you want it to look a tad better (on film as well) then it may be a good move to go the professional route. You can get similar software yourself to what they are using (can be quite expensive though), but it also a skill from the operator that determines how it is going to look. If you don't want to change too much, perhaps you can try it yourself first and move it over to them if your not happy with it? __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors