Post production color correction, also called grading, is now more accessible to the independent and low-budget production community than ever before, thanks to modern technology. Software-based grading suites are packed with impressive features. Avid, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere and other popular NLEs (Non Linear Editor) include standard grading plug ins and feature sets that are surprisingly good at fixing common issues.
The purposes of a grade are multiple and sometimes conflicting, including: correcting shooting problems, ensuring coloration continuity, preparing for special effects and other compositing, enhancing compositional elements, and thematic colorization (creating a ‘look’).
Correcting Shooting Problems: Improper white balancing while shooting can produce a distinct tint over the highlights of an image, which can make for unattractive skin tones. Improperly-exposed or poorly-lit shots are further examples of problem footage that can be fixed by a grade. Several projects deliberately shoot night scenes during the day to cut production costs, which requires grading sun-lit footage to look as if it were shot at night.
Continuity: Coloration continuity is difficult to maintain when it is common to shoot a sequence or scene out of order, on separate days. Using multiple cameras, dealing with adverse weather conditions and so on can result in major lighting, white balance and coloration inconsistencies. Post production color correction will make sure your shots match up cleanly.
Prepping For Compositing And Effects: Whether effects are simple and done in the same program or top-level CGI, a grade should prepare the footage to facilitate compositing as much as possible. Mattes, masks, motion-tracking and keying tools are commonly used for this purpose. For instance, to take a presenter shot in studio and put her against a cityscape, the colorist keys out (removes) the plain background in the studio shot and preps the skyline shot so they will merge together more easily.
Thematic Colorization: Essentially, this is the enhancement or creation of a piece’s ‘look’ and has become a popular process over the last two decades. It has been described as the visual equivalent to a feature film’s score. Color is used to convey mood and theme, to give psychological or emotional subtext a subtle visual companion and, of course, to help fantastical environments, props and characters seem even more otherworldly.
Post production color correction, as a rule, is specific to the needs of the production it is enhancing. A correctly applied color grade can benefit any project, however – whether its performed by a professional colorist working on super-high tech equipment with state of the art software or a keen hobbyist using the plug ins that came with his/her NLE. Read more about: post production color correction
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