I am having trouble color grading RAW.

[Ryan Elder]

I am color grading a project that was shot in RAW which I have never graded before. The RAW footage looks desaturated, so I want to increase the saturation. But when I do, I get noise. Is this a common problem when trying to saturate desaturated RAW footage if anyone knows?

Thank you very much for any advice on it. I really appreciate it.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

There are three possibilities:
1. It was filmed with a bad camera or in low light.
2. Improper exposure settings
3. pushing the color grade too far.
There are two stages in the process: properly filming log and then grading it. If the first isn't done right then the grading won't be able to fix it. The analogy would be it's better to spend the time record audio properly than trying to fix it in post. Noisy audio recorded at a high bit depth will still be noisy. One of thing that is different when shooting log is that it often needs to be overexposed to prevent noise. A while back watched Gerald Undone demonstrating proper exposure for a few popular logs. It's a pretty complex and tricky subject. It would help owning the equipment and experimenting with the settings to get optimal results. You might need to give more details like screen captures, camera, and setting used.

[Brian Drysdale]

It's a trade of between ISO and noise, you need to test the camera to see which ISO setting produces a level noise that's acceptable to you. This ISO will vary from camera model to camera model and person to person.

[Doug Jensen]

RAW and LOG are always going to look noisy prior to grading -- and even after grading when the footage has not been processed properly. How could anyone possibly offer any meaningful advice to the OP with no information about the camera, the RAW format, the exposure target level, the CODEC used onboard the camera, the monitoring setup, the LUT being used, the software being used in post to grade the footage, the exact workflow being followed with that software, and some example footage to inspect? It is waste of time to offer any advice unless all of that basic information, and much more, is disclosed. I'll give one piece of advice though: If you're not using Resolve and have not taken the time to learn how to use it -- then you're in over your head and doomed to failure. The process is too complex for a few posts on a forum to make much difference. Forum posts can answer simple questions or point someone in the right direction, but they are no substitute for actually leaning a skill.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay sorry for not giving specifics. I didn't direct the project but helping out on parts of it, and grading it, as well as other post work. The camera is a BMPCC I think.

The footage says it's RAW. I am grading with Premiere Pro, since I am much more experienced in that and felt I could do a better job with it therefore, for them. The footage is well exposed though. I thought that maybe by shooting on a desaturated setting, that maybe that's why there is noise if I try to add saturation because there is not enough color information in the original footage, since they chose to shoot desaturated thereby leaving out the color information.

But the DP also shot on RAW as well, which is suppose to be pretty good quality though.

[Brian Drysdale]

They may have used too high an ISO, some of the BlackMagic caneras were prone to noise, so they had to be used at lower ISO settings.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I guess it's a pattern we've become all to familiar with Ryan despite not having the equipment, knowledge, ability, and understanding, dives into the most complex areas of film making. Last time it was composing music despite not having a music background now it's off to color grading.

To simplify things. When you film raw the internal image processing the camera normally does is turned off, including noise reduction. The image that the sensor see isn't what we expect. When you import a raw video it will look bad. You will need the tools and knowledge to bring it back to what you would expect and the take it in the direction you want.

Knowing you, all you want is an easy way to color your walls blue. That's not really what log/raw processing is for. It's for preserving dynamic range or creating a look. It's also a complicated process that like others said isn't something that's easily communicated over a forum. Most people will own their own equipment, grading software, watch/read tutorials, then experiment, or forego all that and drop a LUT on it and call it a day.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay. I am not trying to turn the walls blue. I am trying to get the skin tones saturated to start with, but since it was shot desaturated to begin with, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information in the skin color to bring the saturation back up, without getting noise in the skin.

[Brian Drysdale]

The only way to understand your results is if you describe your workflow. Usually people with this camera tend to use Resolve, which is a more powerful colour correction program than Premiere, Also, what ISO did you expose the camera at?

[Ryan Elder]

Oh I don't know, someone else shot it, and I am doing the editing and grading. I am not sure on the ISO but a lot of the scenes were shot outdoors in daylight though, so I thought it would be well exposed therefore.

I don't have resolve but I thought it would be over-qualified anyway, as they just want a simple basic grade.

[Brian Drysdale]

Have a look at these videos:on grading this camera's RAW in Premiere'

How I Color BRAW video footage in Adobe Premiere CC 2020 - YouTube

How to Edit Blackmagic RAW in Premiere Pro // Grading Tips & BRAW Studio - YouTube

[Paul R Johnson]

In 2019 you started a project about RAW and noise and said you had tried it in resolve. Either you have it or you don't. Just thought I'd point this out - but I've been having a Ryan break and don't want to start again.
https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv...er-than-2.html

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

In 2019 you started a project about RAW and noise and said you had tried it in resolve. Either you have it or you don't. Just thought I'd point this out - but I've been having a Ryan break and don't want to start again.
https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv...er-than-2.html

I wasn't as strong as you but he hasn't posted in a while. I remember him bringing up the noise issue and wow it was years ago (2019). He posts such vague problems that never get Resolved (get it!).

I've always been interested color grading, but I don't do projects that warrant it and so I don't own a capable camera. I have a project coming up this Spring for an outdoor ballet movie, sequel to the one I did last Fall. Unfortunately, it doesn't make financial sense and adds another layer of complexity.

Btw, Brian those were helpful videos.

[Ryan Elder]

I used resolve when working at a studio at that time, but I do not have it now. Sorry for the confusion. I tried downloading it for my home computer, but it says that it's not compatible, or at least the free version is not. I guess that's how they get you to pay for it, is by having the free version not be compatible with some computers?

[Doug Jensen]

Yeah, that's it. It's all a scam.
Seriously, you're the only person I know who can't install Resolve. Are you working on a Chromebook or Windows 95? FYI, the free version can do about 95% of the paid version and odds are you don't need the other 5% anyway because it mostly involves collaboration with other people.