Color Grade at DVinfo.net

Noel Lising · August 6th, 2008, 07:35 AM

Hello, please don't laught at me. I have never ever done color grading in all my edits, but it looks like the norm right now. Is this going to be a huge learning curve? I edit using Adobe Premiere Elements ( hahaha). Any drag & drop solutions to achieve a look?

Thanks in advance.

Ramesh Singh · August 6th, 2008, 10:41 AM

I would also like to traverse this learning curve. I found low light HDV footage definitely needs lots of color correction. And bright sunlight, especially hitting straight into the camera, need it too.

Louis Maddalena · August 6th, 2008, 02:55 PM

what platform are you working on?

on the mac there is color, which makes learning easy and plenty of room to grow.

Robert Bec · August 6th, 2008, 05:38 PM

I think you should move away from premiere elements and move to prem. pro and use the colour correction tools within the program to start you off

Arvin Garcia · August 6th, 2008, 09:19 PM

Hi Noel, : ) can I have your email address please?

Brian Boyko · August 7th, 2008, 01:13 AM

Hi Noel.

Adobe Premiere Elements can do some basic color grading by itself.

The truth is you have to ask yourself how seriously you take this video stuff. Most of the guys on this board are video professionals - they use the good stuff because their livelihood depends on it.

I consider myself a well-versed but still naive (in some respects) amateur. Yeah, I'm working on a feature film, but it's not like anyone's paying me to do it. I'm well aware of the Quixotic nature of my task.

What this has meant is that you have to find the tools that work for your needs - if I did everything that the pros did, I would be bankrupt AND I would be overwhelmed.

I like Adobe Premiere Elements. It's a nice basic non-linear editor that takes basic HDV and DV video, allows you to position it the way you want, do some basic color correction, and burn it to a DVD to show your friends, or save it as a file to put on your HDTV.

However, I quickly ran into the limitations for the stuff I was doing, so I upgraded to Final Cut Pro - which was expensive considering that I had to buy a Mac for it!

If you do not find yourself hampered by the limitations of APE, go with APE.

Color grading works very well when it's done well, but it can ruin an otherwise simply good movie. If you're just doing amateur shooting, work on getting the best shots possible. Before I would drop $700 on color grading software, (and $1000 on editing software to use it with) I'd consider first getting good audio equipment so that my picture sounds as good as it looks, I'd also consider getting a nice sturdy video tripod so that the picture doesn't jar or shake.

What are you hoping to do with your camera and footage? Maybe we can help you out a bit more if we know what you're shooting.

Noel Lising · August 7th, 2008, 11:16 AM

.

What are you hoping to do with your camera and footage? Maybe we can help you out a bit more if we know what you're shooting.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply. I shoot weddings and after seeing the works done by the people in this forum I feel a need to up my game. Been shooting since the days of betamax.lol.

I never color grade my videos just thought I should learn it.

Noel Lising · August 7th, 2008, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Bec

I think you should move away from premiere elements and move to prem. pro and use the colour correction tools within the program to start you off

Hi Robert,

Elements do have color correction capabilities ( color correct -RGB, HLS, color match, color pass). Again pardon my ignorance, tweaking colors is basically color grading and can help you achieve a "look"?

Thanks in advance.

Noel Lising · August 7th, 2008, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arvin Garcia

Hi Noel, : ) can I have your email address please?

Hey Arvin, I sent you a message. Anyway if you did not receive it my email is noellising@yahoo.com.

Brian Boyko · August 7th, 2008, 10:57 PM

I think what you might want to do is look at getting Magic Bullet Looks as a stand-alone application (I haven't worked with it, so this is all second-hand.) MBL has a bunch of pre-set looks for you, and I think you can just export your APE output, bring it into MBL, let it render overnight, and bring it back into APE for the finished product.

Danny O'Neill · August 8th, 2008, 06:44 AM

What color grading are you after? There is the Magic Bullet approach for the nice sunset look, bit of serpia or a nice bleach bypass (love that). Also good for that footage which is so out of balance and blown out that its easier just to be 'artistic'.

Other grading could be to add a particular look. I for example convert the monitor profile used which instantly removes the washed out colours most video cameras give you. Brighten a little, make the contrast darker for rich blacks. Boost the gamma ever so slightly to compensate and you get a nice rich look.

Others like Patrick I think use a little more to give a rather sharp and distinctive look. Some make it all in black and white but even then there is simple desaturation and then you can have a proper contrast balanced black and white.

August 6th, 2008, 07:35 AM	#1
Noel Lising Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 789	Color Grade Hello, please don't laught at me. I have never ever done color grading in all my edits, but it looks like the norm right now. Is this going to be a huge learning curve? I edit using Adobe Premiere Elements ( hahaha). Any drag & drop solutions to achieve a look? Thanks in advance.

August 7th, 2008, 01:13 AM	#6
Brian Boyko Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 773	Hi Noel. Adobe Premiere Elements can do some basic color grading by itself. The truth is you have to ask yourself how seriously you take this video stuff. Most of the guys on this board are video professionals - they use the good stuff because their livelihood depends on it. I consider myself a well-versed but still naive (in some respects) amateur. Yeah, I'm working on a feature film, but it's not like anyone's paying me to do it. I'm well aware of the Quixotic nature of my task. What this has meant is that you have to find the tools that work for your needs - if I did everything that the pros did, I would be bankrupt AND I would be overwhelmed. I like Adobe Premiere Elements. It's a nice basic non-linear editor that takes basic HDV and DV video, allows you to position it the way you want, do some basic color correction, and burn it to a DVD to show your friends, or save it as a file to put on your HDTV. However, I quickly ran into the limitations for the stuff I was doing, so I upgraded to Final Cut Pro - which was expensive considering that I had to buy a Mac for it! If you do not find yourself hampered by the limitations of APE, go with APE. Color grading works very well when it's done well, but it can ruin an otherwise simply good movie. If you're just doing amateur shooting, work on getting the best shots possible. Before I would drop $700 on color grading software, (and $1000 on editing software to use it with) I'd consider first getting good audio equipment so that my picture sounds as good as it looks, I'd also consider getting a nice sturdy video tripod so that the picture doesn't jar or shake. What are you hoping to do with your camera and footage? Maybe we can help you out a bit more if we know what you're shooting. __________________ Equip: Panny GH1, Canon HG20, Juicedlink, AT897, Sennh. EW/GW100, Zoom H2, Vegas 8.1

August 7th, 2008, 10:57 PM	#10
Brian Boyko Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 773	I think what you might want to do is look at getting Magic Bullet Looks as a stand-alone application (I haven't worked with it, so this is all second-hand.) MBL has a bunch of pre-set looks for you, and I think you can just export your APE output, bring it into MBL, let it render overnight, and bring it back into APE for the finished product. __________________ Equip: Panny GH1, Canon HG20, Juicedlink, AT897, Sennh. EW/GW100, Zoom H2, Vegas 8.1

August 8th, 2008, 06:44 AM	#11
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	What color grading are you after? There is the Magic Bullet approach for the nice sunset look, bit of serpia or a nice bleach bypass (love that). Also good for that footage which is so out of balance and blown out that its easier just to be 'artistic'. Other grading could be to add a particular look. I for example convert the monitor profile used which instantly removes the washed out colours most video cameras give you. Brighten a little, make the contrast darker for rich blacks. Boost the gamma ever so slightly to compensate and you get a nice rich look. Others like Patrick I think use a little more to give a rather sharp and distinctive look. Some make it all in black and white but even then there is simple desaturation and then you can have a proper contrast balanced black and white. __________________ mintyslippers.com

August 6th, 2008, 10:41 AM	#2
Ramesh Singh Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Delhi, India Posts: 43	I would also like to traverse this learning curve. I found low light HDV footage definitely needs lots of color correction. And bright sunlight, especially hitting straight into the camera, need it too.

August 6th, 2008, 02:55 PM	#3
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	what platform are you working on? on the mac there is color, which makes learning easy and plenty of room to grow.

August 6th, 2008, 05:38 PM	#4
Robert Bec Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 358	I think you should move away from premiere elements and move to prem. pro and use the colour correction tools within the program to start you off

August 6th, 2008, 09:19 PM	#5
Arvin Garcia Tourist Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Mississauga, Ontario Posts: 2	Hi Noel, : ) can I have your email address please?

August 7th, 2008, 11:16 AM	#7
Noel Lising Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 789	. What are you hoping to do with your camera and footage? Maybe we can help you out a bit more if we know what you're shooting.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the reply. I shoot weddings and after seeing the works done by the people in this forum I feel a need to up my game. Been shooting since the days of betamax.lol. I never color grade my videos just thought I should learn it.