Colour grading
Understanding Colour Grading
- Get to know colour grading as the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a motion picture, video image, or still image.
- Recognise that colour grading involves editing the highlights, midtones, and shadows of an image.
- Understand that the intention of colour grading is, among others, to improve visual presence, to evoke a certain mood, and to establish a time of day.
Colour Grading Tools and Techniques
- Become familiar with colour wheels, used to modify colours within different tonal ranges.
- See that the use of curves allows editors to adjust specific colour channels.
- Discover that secondary colour correction or isolation helps to change certain colours without affecting others.
- Understand the use of look-up tables (LUTs), which apply pre-defined colour transformations.
- Be aware that masks and power windows allow editors to focus grading on a specific part of an image.
Professional Software for Colour Grading
- Recognise DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro as powerful colour grading software.
- Become comfortable working with industry-level tools like Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro X.
Practical Skills and Considerations for Grading
- Get a sense of when to use manual colour correction for more control over image settings.
- Learn to achieve visual consistency by matching the colour between different shots.
- Develop an eye for good contrast and balance in a scene.
- Understand the significance of setting the correct white balance when shooting to make colour grading easier.
- Appreciate the important role of monitor calibration in ensuring accurate colour representation.
Workflow of Colour Grading
- Realise the importance of doing a primary grade to adjust the entire image before anything else.
- Understand that secondary grading refines specific areas of the image.
- Be aware of final touches, such as noise reduction and sharpening, to improve image quality.
- Understand the need for exporting and rendering your colour-graded footage in the correct format.
- Recognise the value of revising and potentially re-adjusting your graded images after some time, or based on others’ feedback.