Apple Color 1.0 User Manual
Color
User Manual
K
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1
Contents
Preface 9 Color Documentation and Resources
9
What Is Color?
10
Using the Color Documentation
10
Color Websites
11
Apple Service and Support Website
Chapter 1 13 Color Correction Basics
13
What Is Color Correction?
16
When Does Color Correction Happen?
22
Color Correction in Color
24
Image Encoding Standards
27
Basic Color and Imaging Concepts
Chapter 2 35 Color Correction Workflows
35
An Overview of the Color Workflow
37
Limitations in Color
39
Video Finishing Workflows Using Final Cut Pro
47
Importing Projects from Other Video Editing Applications
49
Using Color in a Digital Intermediate Workflow
56
Using EDLs, Timecode, and Frame Numbers
to Conform Projects
Chapter 3 59 Using the Color Interface
60
Setting Up a Control Surface
60
Using the Onscreen Controls
64
Organizational Browsers and Bins
70
Using Color with One or Two Monitors
Chapter 4 71 Importing and Managing Projects and Media
72
Creating and Opening Projects
72
Saving Projects and Archives
75
Moving Projects Between Final Cut Pro and Color
79
Reconforming Projects
80
Importing EDLs
3
82
Exporting EDLs
82
Relinking QuickTime Media
83
Importing Media Directly into The Timeline
84
Compatible Media Formats
88
Converting Cineon and DPX Image Sequences to QuickTime
89
Importing Color Corrections
89
Exporting JPEG Images
Chapter 5 91 Setup
91
The File Browser
92
The Shots Browser
97
Grades Bin
98
Project Settings Tab
10 2
Messages Tab
10 2
User Preferences Tab
Chapter 6 111 Monitoring
111
The Scopes Window
113
Monitoring Broadcast Video Output
11 5
Using Display LUTs
12 0
Monitoring the Still Store
Chapter 7 121 Timeline Playback, Navigation, and Editing
12 2
Basic Timeline UI Elements
12 3
Customizing the Timeline Interface
12 5
Working with Tracks
12 6
Selecting the Current Shot
12 6
Timeline Playback
12 8
Timeline Navigation
Selecting Shots in the Timeline
12 9
131
Working with Grades in the Timeline
13 2
The Settings Tabs
13 3
Editing Controls and Procedures
Chapter 8 141 Video Scopes
141
What Scopes Are Available?
14 4
Video Scope Options
14 5
Analyzing Images Using the Video Scopes
Chapter 9 163 Primary In
163
What Is the Primary In Room Used For?
166
Using the Primary Contrast Controls
168
Adjusting Contrast in the Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights
17 9
Using Color Balance Controls
4
Contents
183
Understanding Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight Adjustments
18 9
Curves Controls
201
Basic Tab
204
Advanced Tab
206
Auto Balance
Chapter 10 209 Secondaries
209
What Is the Secondaries Room Used For?
211
Where to Start?
212
Choosing a Region to Correct Using the HSL Qualifiers
219
Previews Tab
221
Isolating a Region Using the Vignette Controls
228
Adjusting the Inside and Outside of the Selection
229
Using the Secondary Curves
234
Reset Controls
Chapter 11 235 Color FX
235
The Color FX Interface
236
How to Make Color FX
238
Creating and Connecting Nodes
239
Adjusting Node Parameters
241
Bypassing Nodes
242
Creating Effects in the Color FX Room
247
Using Color FX with Interlaced Shots
248
Saving Favorite Effects in the Color FX Bin
249
Node Reference Guide
Chapter 12 259 Primary Out
259
Using the Primary Out Room
Making Extra Corrections Using the Primary In Room
260
260
Understanding the Image Processing Pipeline
261
Using the Ceiling Controls
Chapter 13 263 Managing Corrections and Grades
263
The Difference Between Corrections and Grades
264
Saving and Using Corrections and Grades
268
Applying Saved Corrections and Grades to Shots
269
Managing Grades in the Timeline
272
Using the “Copy to” Buttons in the Primary Rooms
273
Using the Copy Grade and Paste Grade Memory Banks
274
Setting a Beauty Grade in the Timeline
274
Disabling All Grades
Contents
5
274
Managing Grades in the Shots Browser
281
Using the Primary, Secondary, and Color FX Rooms Together to Manage Each Shot’s
Corrections
Chapter 14 285 Keyframing
285
Why Keyframe an Effect?
286
How Keyframing Works in Different Rooms
288
Working with Keyframes in the Timeline
290
Keyframe Interpolation
Chapter 15 293 Geometry
293
Navigating Within the Image Preview
294
The Pan & Scan Tab
298
Shapes Tab
306
Tracking Tab
Chapter 16 315 Still Store
315
Saving Images to the Still Store
317
Saving Still Store Images in Subdirectories
317 Removing Images from the Still Store
318 Recalling Images from the Still Store
318 Customizing the Still Store View
319 Controls in the Still Store Bin
Chapter 17 321 Render Queue
321 About Rendering in Color
322 Which Effects Does Color Render?
323 The Render Queue Interface
324 How to Render Shots in Your Project
326 Rendering Multiple Grades for Each Shot
328 Gather Rendered Media
Appendix A 329 Calibrating Your Monitor
329 About Color Bars
329 Calibrating Video Monitors With Color Bars
Appendix B 333 Keyboard Shortcuts
333 Project Shortcuts
334 Switching Rooms and Windows
334 Playback and Navigation
335 Grade Shortcuts
335 Timeline Specific Shortcuts
335 Editing Shortcuts
336 Keyframing Shortcuts
6
Contents
336 Shortcuts in the Shots Browser
336 Shortcuts in the Geometry Room
337 Still Store Shortcuts
337 Render Queue Shortcuts
Appendix C 339 Setting Up a Control Surface
339 JLCooper MCS-3000, MCS-Spectrum, MCS-3400, and MCS-3800 Control Surfaces
344 Tangent Devices CP100 Control Surface
346 Tangent Devices CP200 Series Control Surface
351 Customizing Control Surface Sensitivity
Index 353
Contents 7
Color Documentation and Resources
Welcome to the world of professional video and film grading
and manipulation using Color.
What Is Color?
Color has been designed from the ground up as a feature-rich color correction
environment that complements a wide variety of post-production workflows, whether
your project is standard definition, high definition, or a 2K digital intermediate. If you’ve
edited a program using Final Cut Pro, it’s easy to send your program to Color for
grading, and then send it back to Final Cut Pro for final output. However, it’s also easy
to reconform projects that originate as EDLs from other editing environments.
Color has the tools that professional colorists demand, including:
 Primary color correction using three-way color balance and contrast controls with
individual shadow, midtone, and highlight control
 Curve controls for detailed color and luma channel adjustments
 Up to eight secondary color correction operations per shot with HSL qualifiers,
vignettes, user shapes, and separate adjustments for the inside and outside of each
secondary
 Color FX node-based effects for creating custom color effects
 Pan & Scan effects
 Motion tracking that can be used to animate vignettes, user shapes, and other effects
 Broadcast legal settings to guarantee adherence to quality control standards
 Support for color-correction-specific control surfaces
 And much, much more
Preface
All of these tools are divided among eight individual “rooms” of the Color interface,
logically arranged in an order that matches the workflow of most colorists. You’ll use
Color to correct, balance, and create stylized “looks” for each shot in your program as
the last step in the post-production workflow, giving your programs a final polish
previously available only to high-end facilities.
9
Using the Color Documentation
The documentation that accompanies Color consists of a printed setup Guide and an
onscreen user manual.
Color Setup Guide
The Color Setup Guide provides excerpts from the onscreen user manual that are
designed to show you how Color fits into each of a variety of post-production
workflows, and help you to configure the project settings and user preferences in Color
to best suit your needs. If you’ve just installed Color and want to figure out how to set
up your system to work most efficiently, this is the place to start.
Color Onscreen User Manual
The Color User Manual, available from the Help menu, provides comprehensive
information about the application, and is written for users of all levels of experience.
 Editors and post-production professionals from other disciplines who are new to the
color correction process will find information on how to get started, with detailed
explanations of how all controls work, and why they function the way they do.
 Colorists coming to Color from other grading environments can skip ahead to find
detailed information about Color’s inner workings, and exhaustive parameter-byparameter explanations for every room of the Color interface.
Note: The onscreen user manual provides all of the information contained in the Color
Setup Guide, in an easily searchable form with full-color illustrations.
Tutorials
A collection of onscreen video tutorials on DVD-ROM is available to help you quickly
get started using Color. These tutorials walk you through every major area of the
interface, and are a good way to get an overview of where everything is prior to diving
into the user manual.
Color Websites
The following websites provide general information, updates, and support information
about Color, as well as the latest news, resources, and training materials.
For more information about Color, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/color
For more information on the Apple Pro Training Program, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training
To provide comments and feedback about Color, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/feedback/color.html
10 Preface Color Documentation and Resources
Apple Service and Support Website
The Apple Service and Support website provides software updates and answers to the
most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, including Color. You’ll also have
access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple product
technical articles:
 http://www.apple.com/support
For support information that’s specific to Color, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/support/color
Preface Color Documentation and Resources 11
1 Color Correction Basics
1
To better learn how Color works, it’s important to understand
the overall color correction process and how images work
their way through post-production in SD, HD, and film
workflows.
If you’re new to color correction, the first part of this chapter provides a background in
color correction workflows to help you better understand why Color works the way it
does. The second part goes on to explain important color and imaging concepts that
are important to the operation of the Color interface.
This chapter covers the following:
 What Is Color Correction? (p. 13)
 When Does Color Correction Happen? (p. 16)
 Color Correction in Color (p. 22)
 Image Encoding Standards (p. 24)
 Basic Color and Imaging Concepts (p. 27)
What Is Color Correction?
In any post-production workflow, color correction is generally one of the last steps
taken to finish an edited program. Color has been created to give you precise control
over the look of every shot in your project by providing flexible tools and an efficient
workspace with which to manipulate the contrast, color, and geometry of each shot in
your program.
The Goals of Color Correction?
When color correcting a given program, you’ll be called upon to perform many, if not
all, of the tasks described in this section. Color gives you an extremely deep feature set
with which to accomplish all this and more. While the deciding factor in determining
how far you go in any color correction session is usually the amount of time you have
in which to work, the dedicated color correction interface in Color allows you to work
quickly and efficiently.
13
The Fundamentals
Every program requires you to take, at the very least, the following steps. With practice,
most of these can be accomplished using the primary color correction tools (for more
information, see Chapter 9, “Primary In,” on page 163).
 Making sure that key elements in your program look the way they should: Every scene of
your program has key elements that are the main focus of the viewer. In a narrative
or documentary video, the focus is probably on the individuals within each shot. In a
commercial, the key element is undoubtedly the product (for example the label of a
bottle or the color of a car). Regardless of what these key elements are, chances are
you or your audience will have certain expectations of what they should look like,
and it’s your job to make the colors in the program match what was originally shot.
When working with shots of people, one of the guiding principles of color correction
is to make sure that their skin tones in the program look the same as (or better than)
in real life. Regardless of ethnicity or complexion, the hues of human skin tones,
when measured objectively on a Vectorscope, fall along a fairly narrow range
(although the saturation and brightness vary). Color gives you the tools to make
whatever adjustments are necessary to ensure that the skin tones of people in your
final edited piece look the way they should.
 Correcting errors in color balance and exposure: Frequently, images that are acquired
digitally (whether shot on analog or digital video, or transferred from film) don’t have
optimal exposure or color balance to begin with. For example, many camcorders and
digital cinema cameras deliberately record blacks that aren’t quite at 0 percent in
order to avoid the inadvertent crushing of data unnecessarily.
Furthermore, accidents can happen in any shoot. For example, the crew may not
have had the correctly balanced film stock for the conditions in which they were
shooting, or someone may have forgotten to white balance the video camera before
shooting an interview in an office lit with fluorescent lights, resulting in footage with
a greenish tinge. Color makes it easy to fix these kinds of mistakes.
 Balancing all the shots in a scene to match: Most edited programs incorporate footage
from a variety of sources, shot in multiple locations over the course of many days,
weeks, or months of production. Even with the most skilled lighting and camera
crews, differences in color and exposure are bound to occur, sometimes within shots
meant to be combined into a single scene.
When edited together, these changes in color and lighting can make individual shots
stand out, making the editing appear uneven. With careful color correction, all the
different shots that make up a scene can be balanced to match one another so that
they all look as if they’re happening at the same time and in the same place, with the
same lighting. This is commonly referred to as scene-to-scene color correction.
14 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
 Creating contrast: Color correction can also be used to create contrast between two
scenes for a more jarring effect. Imagine cutting from a lush, green jungle scene to a
harsh desert landscape with many more reds and yellows. Using color correction, you
can subtly accentuate these differences.
 Achieving a “look”: The process of color correction is not simply one of making all the
video in your piece match some objective model of exposure. Color, like sound, is a
property that, when subtly mixed, can result in an additional level of dramatic control
over your program.
With color correction, you can control whether your video has rich, saturated colors
or a more muted look. You can make your shots look warmer by pushing their tones
into the reds, or make them look cooler by bringing them into the blues. You can pull
details out of the shadows, or crush them, increasing the picture’s contrast for a
starker look. Such subtle modifications alter the audience’s perception of the scene
being played, changing a program’s mood. Once you pick a look for your piece, or
even for an individual scene, you can use color correction to make sure that all the
shots in the appropriate scenes match the same look, so that they cut together
smoothly.
 Adhering to guidelines for broadcast legality: If a program is destined for television
broadcast, you are usually provided with a set of quality control (QC) guidelines that
specific the “legal” limits for minimum black levels, maximum white levels, and
minimum and maximum chroma saturation and composite RGB limits. Adherence to
these guidelines is important to ensure that the program is accepted for broadcast,
as “illegal” values may cause problems when the program is encoded for
transmission. QC standards vary, so it’s important to check what these guidelines are
in advance. Color has built-in broadcast safe settings (sometimes referred to as a
legalizer) that automatically prevent video levels from exceeding the specified limits.
For more information, see “Broadcast Safe Settings” on page 100.
Detail Work
If you have the time, the Color toolset allows you to go even further to adjust the look
of your program:
 Adjusting specific elements separately: It’s sometimes necessary to selectively target a
narrow range of colors to alter or replace only those color values. A common
example of this might be to turn a red car blue or to mute the excessive colors of an
article of clothing.These sorts of tasks are accomplished with what’s referred to as
secondary color correction, and Color provides you with numerous tools with which to
achieve such effects. For more information, see Chapter 10, “Secondaries,” on
page 209.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 15
 Making digital lighting adjustments: Sometimes lighting setups that looked right
during the shoot don’t work as well in post. Changes in the director’s vision,
alterations to the tone of the scene as edited, or suggestions on the part of the
director of photography (DoP) during post may necessitate alterations to the lighting
within a scene beyond simple adjustments to the image’s overall contrast. Color
provides powerful controls for user-definable masking which, in combination with
secondary color correction controls, allow you to isolate multiple regions within an
image and fine-tune the lighting. This is sometimes referred to as digital relighting.
For more information, see Chapter 10, “Secondaries,” on page 209, and “Shapes Tab”
on page 298.
 Creating special effects: Sometimes a scene requires more extreme effects, such as
manipulating colors and exposure intensively to achieve a day-for-night look,
creating an altered state for a flashback or hallucination sequence, or just creating
something bizarre for a music video. In the Color FX room, Color provides you with
an extensible node-based toolset for creating such in-depth composites efficiently, in
conjunction with the other primary and secondary tools at your disposal. For more
information, see Chapter 11, “Color FX,” on page 235.
If that sounds like a lot to do, it is. Fortunately, the Color interface helps you to keep
these tasks organized.
When Does Color Correction Happen?
A program’s color fidelity shouldn’t be neglected until the color correction stage of the
post-production process. Ideally, every project is begun with a philosophy of color
management that’s applied during the shoot, is maintained through the various
transfer and editing passes that occur during post-production, and concludes with the
final color correction pass conducted in Color. This section elaborates on how film and
video images have traditionally made their way through the post-production process.
Color Management Starts During the Shoot
Whether a program is shot using film, video, or high-resolution digital imaging of
another means, it’s important to remember that the process of determining a
program’s overall look begins when each scene is lit and shot during production. To
obtain the maximum amount of control and flexibility over shots in post-production,
you ideally should start out with footage that has been exposed with the end goals in
mind right from the beginning. Color correction in post-production is no substitute for
good lighting.
Optimistically, the process of color correction can be seen as extending and enhancing
the vision of the producer, director, and director of photography (DoP) as it was
originally conceived. Often, the DoP gets personally involved during the color
correction process to ensure that the look he or she was trying to achieve is perfected.
16 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
At other times, the director or producer may change his or her mind regarding how the
finished piece should look. In these cases, color correction might be used to alter the
overall look of the piece (for example, making footage that was shot to look cool look
warmer, instead). While Color provides an exceptional degree of control over your
footage, it’s still important to start out with clean, properly exposed footage.
Furthermore, choices made during preproduction and the shoot, including the film or
video format and camera settings used, can have a profound effect on the amount of
flexibility that’s available during the eventual color correction process.
Initial Color Correction When Transferring Film
When a project has been shot on film, the camera negatives must first be transferred to
the videotape or digital video format of choice prior to editing and digital post using a
telecine or datacine machine. A telecine is a machine for transferring film to videotape,
while a datacine is set up for transferring film directly to a digital format, usually an
image sequence.
Camera Negative
Telecine Video Tapes
Usually, the colorist running the film transfer session performs some level of color
correction to ensure that the editor has the most appropriate picture to work with. The
goals of color correction at this stage usually depend on both the length of the project
and the post-production workflow that’s been decided upon.
 Short projects, commercials, spots, and very short videos may get a detailed color
correction pass right away. The colorist will first calibrate the telecine’s own color
corrector to balance the whites, blacks, and color perfectly. Then the colorist, in
consultation with the DoP, director, or producer, will work shot by shot to determine
the look of each shot according to the needs of the project. As a result, the editor will
be working with footage that has already been corrected.
 Long-form projects such as feature-length films and longer television programs
probably won’t get a detailed color correction pass right away. Instead, the footage
that is run through the telecine will be balanced to have reasonably ideal exposure
and color for purposes of having a good image for editing, and left at that. Detailed
color correction is then done at another stage.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 17
 Projects of any length which are going through post-production as a digital
intermediate are transferred with a color correction pass designed to retain the
maximum amount of image data. Since a second (and final) digital color correction
pass is intended to be performed at the end of the post-production process, it’s
critical that the image data is high-quality, preserving as much highlight and shadow
detail as possible. Interestingly, since the goal is the preservation of image data, and
not to create the final look of the program, the highest quality image for grading
may not be the most visually appealing image.
However the color correction is handled during the initial telecine or datacine transfer,
once complete, the footage goes through the typical post-production processes of
offline and online editorial.
Color Correcting Film Versus Video
Color has been designed to fit into both video and film digital intermediate
workflows. Since all footage must first be transferred to a QuickTime or image
sequence format to be imported into Color, film and video images are corrected
using the same tools and methods.
Three main attributes affect the quality of media used in a program, all of which were
determined when the footage was originally captured or transferred prior to Color
import:
 The type and level of compression applied to the media
 The bit depth at which it’s encoded
 The chroma subsampling ratio used
For color correction, spatial and temporal compression should be minimized, since
compression artifacts can compromise the quality of your adjustments. Also, media at
higher bit depths is generally preferable (see “Bit Depth” on page 26).
Most importantly of all, high chroma subsampling ratios, such as 4:4:4 or 4:2:2, are
preferred to maximize the quality and flexibility of your corrections. There’s nothing
stopping you from working with 4:1:1 or 4:2:0 subsampled footage, but you may find
that extreme contrast adjustments and smooth secondary selections are a bit more
difficult to accomplish with highly compressed color spaces.
For more information, see “Chroma Subsampling” on page 25.
Traditional Means of Final Color Correction
Once editing is complete and the picture is locked, it’s time for color correction
(referred to as color grading in the film world) to begin. Traditionally, this process was
accomplished either via a Color Timing session for film or via a Tape-to-Tape color
correction session for video.
18 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
Color Timing for Film
Programs being finished and color corrected on film traditionally undergo a negative
conform process prior to color timing. When editorial is complete, the original camera
negative is conformed to match the workprint or video cut of the edited program
using a cut list or pull list (if the program was edited using Final Cut Pro, this can be
derived using Cinema Tools), which lists each shot used in the edited program, and
shows how each shot fits together. This is a time-consuming and detail oriented
process, since mistakes made while cutting the negative are extremely expensive to
correct.
Once the camera negative has been conformed and the different shots physically glued
together onto alternating A and B rolls, the negative can be color timed by being run
through an optical printer designed for this process. These machines shine filtered light
through the original negatives to expose an intermediate positive print, in the process
creating a single reel of film that is the color-corrected print.
The process of controlling the color of individual shots and doing scene-to-scene color
correction is accomplished using just three controls to individually adjust the amount
of red, green, and blue light that exposes the film, using a series of optical filters and
shutters. Each of the red, green, and blue dials is adjusted in discrete increments called
printer points (with each point being a fraction of an f-stop, the scale used to measure
film exposure). Typically there’s a total range of 50 points, where point 25 is the original
neutral state for that color channel. Increasing or decreasing all three color channels
together darkens or brightens the image, while making disproportionate adjustments
to the three channels changes the color balance of the image relative to the
adjustment.
The machine settings used for each shot can be stored (at one time using paper tape
technology) and recalled at any time, to ease subsequent retiming and adjustments,
with the printing process being automated once the manual timing is complete. Once
the intermediate print has been exposed, it can be developed and the final results
projected.
Camera Negative Conform Negative Optical Color Timing
Final Film Print
While this system of color correction may seem cumbersome compared to today’s
digital tools for image manipulation, it’s an extremely effective means of primary color
correction for those who’ve mastered it.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 19
Note: Color includes printer points controls for colorists who are familiar with this
method of color correction. For more information, see “Advanced Tab” on page 204.
Tape-to-Tape Color Correction
With projects shot on videotape (and those shot on film that can’t afford a second
telecine pass), the color correction process fits into the traditional video offline/online
workflow. Once the edit has been locked, the final master tape is assembled, either by
being reconformed on the system originally used to do the offline or by taking the EDL
and original source tapes to an online suite compatible with the source tape formats.
If the online assembly is happening in a high-end online suite, then color correction
can be performed either during the assembly of the master tape or after assembly by
running the master tape through a color correction session.
TelecineVideo Tapes
Offline Edit
Tape Suite
Final
Master Tape
Note: If the final master tape is color corrected, the colorist must carefully dissolve and
wipe color correction operations to match video dissolves and wipes happening in the
program.
Either way, the video signal is run through dedicated video color correction hardware
and software, and the colorist uses the tape’s master timecode to set up and preserve
color correction settings for every shot of every scene.
While video color correction started with controls as humble as those used by film
colorists, the evolution of the online color correction suite introduced many more tools
to the process, including separate corrections for discrete tonal zones, secondary color
correction of specific subjects via keying and shapes controls, and many, many other
creative options previously unavailable to the film colorist.
Color Correcting Via a Second Telecine Pass
Programs shot on film that are destined for video mastering, such as for an episodic
broadcast series, may end up back in the telecine suite for their final color correction
pass. Once editing is complete and the picture is locked, a cut list or pull list (similar to
that used for a negative conform) is created that matches the EDL of the edited
program.
20 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
Using the cut list, the post-production supervisor pulls only the film negative that was
actually used in the edit. Since this is usually a minority of the footage that was
originally shot, the colorist now has more time (depending on the show’s budget, of
course) to perform a more detailed color correction pass on the selected footage that
will be assembled into the final video program during this final telecine pass.
Although this process might seem redundant, performing color correction directly
from the film negative has several distinct advantages. Since film has greater latitude
from black to white than video has, a colorist working straight off the telecine
potentially has a wider range of color and exposure from which to draw than when
working only with video.
In addition, the color correction equipment available to the telecine colorist has
evolved to match (and is sometimes identical to) the tools available to online video
colorists, with the added advantage that the colorist can work directly on the
uncompressed images provided by the telecine.
After the conclusion of the second color correction pass, the color-corrected selects are
reassembled to match the original edit, and the project is mastered to tape.
Camera Negative
Inexpensive
One-Light
Telecine Pass
Offline Media
Offline Edit
Best-Light
Telecine Pass
Reconform
Final Master
Incidentally, even if you don’t intend to color correct your program in the telecine suite,
you might consider retransferring specific shots to make changes that are easier or
higher quality to make directly from the original camera negative. For example, after
identifying shots you want to retransfer in your Final Cut Pro sequence, you can use
Cinema Tools to create a selects list, for example, just for shots you want to optically
enlarge, speeding the transfer process.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 21
Other Advantages to Telecine Transfers
In addition to color correction, a colorist working with a telecine has many other
options available, depending on what kinds of issues may have come up during the
edit.
 Using a telecine to pull the image straight off the film negative, the colorist can
reposition the image to include parts of the film image that fall outside the action
safe area of video.
 With the telecine, the image can also be enlarged optically, potentially up to 50
percent without visible distortion.
 The ability to reframe shots in the telecine allows the director or producer to make
significant changes to a scene, turning a medium shot into a close-up for dramatic
effect, or moving the entire frame up to crop out a microphone that’s inadvertently
dropped into the shot.
Color Correction in Color
You’ve seen how color correction is done in other post-production environments. This
section describes how Color fits into a typical film or video post-production process.
Color provides many of the same high-end color correction tools on your desktop that
were previously available in high-end tape-to-tape and telecine color correction suites.
In addition, Color provides additional tools in the Color FX room that are more
commonly found in dedicated compositing applications, which give you even more
detailed control over the images in your program (for more information, see
Chapter 11, “Color FX,” on page 235).
Color has been designed as a color correction environment for either film or video. It’s
resolution independent, supporting everything from standard definition video up to 2K
film scans. It also supports multiple media formats and is compatible with image data
using a variety of image sequence formats and QuickTime codecs.
Color also has been designed to be incorporated into a digital intermediate workflow.
Digital intermediate refers to a high-quality digital version of your program that can be
edited, color corrected, and otherwise digitally manipulated using computer hardware
and software, instead of tape machines or optical printers.
Editors, effects artists, and colorists who finish video programs in a tapeless fashion
have effectively been working with digital intermediates for years, but the term usually
describes the process of scanning film frames digitally, for the purposes of doing all
edit conforming, effects, and color correction digitally. It is then the digital image data
which is printed directly to film or compiled as a file for digital projection.
22 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
Finishing film or video programs digitally frees colorists from the limitations of film and
tape transport mechanisms, speeding their work by letting them navigate through a
project as quickly as in a nonlinear editing application. Furthermore, working with the
digital image data provides a margin of safety, by eliminating the risk of scratching the
negative or damaging the source tapes.
When Does Color Correction in Color Happen?
Color correction using Color usually happens at or near the conclusion of the online
edit or project conform, often at the same time the final audio mix is being performed.
Waiting until the picture is locked is always a good idea, but it’s not essential, as Color
provides tools for synchronizing projects that are still being edited via XML files or EDLs.
Color has been designed to work hand-in-hand with editing applications like
Final Cut Pro; Final Cut Pro takes care of input, editing, and output, and Color allows
you to focus on color correction and related effects.
About Importing Projects and Media into Color
To work on a program in Color, you must be provided with two sets of files:
 The edited project file (or files, if the program is in multiple reels) in a format that can
be imported into Color. Compatible formats include Final Cut Pro XML files and EDL
files from nearly any editing environment. Final Cut Pro sequence data can also be
sent to Color directly if you have Final Cut Pro installed on the same computer, using
the “Send to Color” command.
 You must also be given high-quality digital versions of the original source media, in a
compatible QuickTime or image sequence format.
What Footage Does Color Work With?
Color can work with film or video shots as either QuickTime files or image sequences,
at a variety of resolutions and compression ratios. This means you have the option of
working on anything from highly compressed QuickTime DV-25 shots, up through
uncompressed 2K .tif image sequences, at 8- or 10-bit (linear or log)—whatever your
clients provide.
Project and media format flexibility means that Color can be incorporated into a wide
variety of post-production workflows. For an overview of different color correction
workflows using Color, see Chapter 2, “Color Correction Workflows,” on page 35.
About Exporting Projects from Color
As mentioned above, Color doesn’t handle video capture or output to tape on its own.
Once you’ve finished color correcting your project in Color, you render every shot in
the project to disk as an alternate set of color corrected media files, and you then send
your Color project back to Final Cut Pro, or hand it off to another facility for tape layoff
or film out. For more information, see Chapter 17, “Render Queue,” on page 321.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 23
Image Encoding Standards
The following section provides important information about the image encoding
standards supported by Color. The image data you’ll be color correcting is typically
encoded either using an RGB or Y´CBCR (sometimes referred to as YUV) format. Color is
extremely flexible and capable of working with image data of either type.
The RGB Additive Color Model
In the RGB color model, three color channels are used to store red, green, and blue
values in varying amounts to represent each available color that can be reproduced.
Adjusting the relative balance of values in these color channels adjusts the color being
represented. When all three values are equal, the result is a neutral tone, from black
through gray to white.
More typically, you’ll see these ratios expressed as digital percentages in the Color
parade scope or histogram. For example, if all three color channels are 0%, the pixel is
black. If all three color channels are 50%, the pixel is a neutral gray. If all three color
channels are 100% (the maximum value), the pixel is white.
While a few high-quality QuickTime codecs encode video using RGB (Animation is one
of the most commonly used), RGB-encoded images are typically stored as
uncompressed image sequences.
The Y’CBCR Color Model
Video is typically recorded using the Y´CBCR color model. Y´CBCR color coding also
employs three channels, or components. A shot’s image is divided into one luma
component (luma is image luminance modified by gamma for broadcast) and two
color difference components which encode the chroma (chrominance). Together, these
three components make up the picture that you see when you play back your video.
 The Y´ component represents the black-and-white portion of an image’s tonal range.
Because the eye has different sensitivities to the red, green, and blue portions of the
spectrum, the image “lightness” that the Y´ component reproduces is derived from a
weighted ratio of the (gamma-corrected) R, G, and B color channels. Viewed on its
own, the Y’ component is the monochrome image.
 The two color difference components, C
information in such a way as to fit three color channels of image data into two. A bit
of math is used to take advantage of the fact that the Y’ component also stores
green information for the image. The actual math used to derive each color
component is C
= B’ – Y’, while CR = R’ – Y’.
B
and CR, are used to encode the color
B
Note: This scheme was originally created so that older black-and-white televisions
would be compatible with the newer color television transmissions.
24 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
Chroma Subsampling
In Y´CBCR encoded video, the color channels are typically sampled at a lower ratio than
the luma channel. Because the human eye is more sensitive to differences in brightness
than in color, this has been used as a way of reducing the video bandwidth (or data
rate) requirements without perceptible loss to the image.
The sampling ratio between the Y´, CB, and CR channels is notated as a three value ratio.
Common chroma subsampling ratios are:
 4:4:4 chroma subsampled video encodes completely uncompressed color, the
highest quality possible, as the color difference channels are sampled at the same
rate as the luma channel. 4:4:4 subsampled image data is typically obtained via
telecine or datacine to a video mastering or image sequence format capable of
containing it. RGB encoded images are always 4:4:4.
Few video acquisition formats are capable of recording 4:4:4 video, but those that do
include HDCAM SR and certain digital cinema cameras, including the Thompson
Viper FilmStream camera and the Genesis digital camera system.
 4:2:2 is a chroma subsampling ratio typical for high-quality video formats, including
Beta SP, Digital Betacam, Beta SX, IMX, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, and HDCAM.
 4:1:1 is typical for consumer and prosumer video formats including DVCPRO 25
(NTSC and PAL), DV and DVCam (NTSC).
 4:2:0 is another consumer-oriented subsampling rate, used by DV and DVCAM (PAL),
HDV, XDCAM HD, and MPEG-2.
Note: As their names imply, Apple Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2, Apple Uncompressed 10bit 4:2:2, Apple ProRes 422 (SQ), and Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) all use 4:2:2 chroma
subsampling.
It’s important to be aware of the advantages of higher chroma subsampling ratios in
the color correction process. Whenever you’re in a position to specify the transfer
format with which a project will be finished, make sure you ask for the highest quality
format your system can handle (for more information about high quality finishing
codecs, see “A Tape-Based Workflow” on page 40).
As you can probably guess, more color information is better when doing color
correction. For example, when you make large contrast adjustments to 4:1:1 or 4:2:0
subsampled video, film grain or video noise in the image becomes exaggerated. This
happens most often with underexposed footage. You’ll find that you can make the
same or greater adjustments to 4:2:2 subsampled video, and the resulting image will
have much less grain and noise. Greater contrast with less noise provides for a richer
image overall.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 25
Furthermore, it’s common to use chroma keying operations to isolate specific areas of
the picture for correction. This is done using the HSB qualifiers in the Secondaries
room. These keying operations will have smoother and less noisy edges when you’re
working with 4:2:2 subsampled video. The chroma compression used by 4:1:1 and 4:2:0
subsampled video results in “blockiness” when you isolate the chroma, which affects
the mattes that are created by the HSB qualifiers.
However, it’s important to bear in mind that it is definitely possible to aggressively
correct highly compressed video. By paying attention to image noise as you stretch the
contrast of poorly exposed footage, you can focus your corrections on the areas of the
picture where noise is minimized. When doing secondary color correction to make
targeted corrections to specific parts of the image, you may find it a bit more time
consuming to pull smooth secondary keys. However; with care and patience, you can
still achieve beautiful results.
Film Versus Video and Chroma Subsampling
In general, film footage is usually transferred with the maximum amount of image
data possible, especially when transferred as a completely uncompressed image
sequence (4:4:4) as part of a carefully managed digital intermediate workflow. This is
one reason for the higher quality of the average film workflow.
Standard and high definition video, on the other hand, is usually recorded with lower
chroma subsampling ratios (4:2:2 is typical even with higher quality video formats,
and 4:1:1 and 4:2:0 are common with prosumer formats) and higher compression
ratios, depending entirely upon the recording and video capture formats used. Since
the selected video format determines compression quality at the time of the shoot,
there’s nothing you can do about the lost image data, other then to make the best of
what you have.
That said, with a bit of care you can color correct nearly any compressed video or
image sequence format with excellent results, and Color gives you the flexibility to
use highly compressed source formats including DV, HDV, and DVCPRO HD.
Bit Depth
Another factor that affects the quality of video images, and can have an affect on the
quality of your image adjustments, is the bit depth of the source media you’re working
with. With both RGB and Y´CBCR encoded media, the higher the bit depth, the more
image data is available, and the smoother both the image and your corrections will be.
The bit depth of your source media depends largely on how that media was originally
acquired.
26 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
Most of the media you’ll receive falls into one of the following bit depths, all of which
Color supports:
 8-bit: Most standard and high definition consumer and professional digital video
formats capture 8-bit image data, including DV and DVCPRO-25, DVCPRO 50, HDV,
DVCPRO HD, HDCAM, and so on.
 10-bit: Many video capture interfaces allow the uncompressed capture of analog and
digital video at 10-bit resolution.
 10-bit log: By storing data logarithmically, rather then linearly, a wider contrast ratio
(such as that of film) can be fit into a 10-bit data space. 10-bit log files are often
recorded from datacine scans using the Cineon and DPX image sequence formats.
 16-bit: It takes 16 bits of linear data to match the contrast ratio that can be stored
with 10-bit log. Since linear data is easier for computers to process, this is another
data space that’s available in some image formats.
Higher bit depths accommodate more image data by using a greater range of numbers
to represent the tonal range that’s available. This is apparent when looking at the
numeric ranges used by the two bit depths most commonly associated with video.
 8-bit images use a full range of 0–255 to store each color channel (Y´C
video uses
BCR
a narrower range of 16–235 to accommodate super-black and super-white). 255 isn’t
a lot of values, and the result can be subtly visible “stairstepping” in areas of the
picture with narrow gradients (such as skies).
 10-bit images, on the other hand, use a full range of 0 to 1023 to store each color
channel (again, Y´CBCR video uses a narrower range of 64–940 to accommodate
super-black and super-white). The additional numeric range allows for smoother
gradients, and virtually eliminates bit-depth related artifacts.
Fortunately, while you can’t always control the bit depth of your source media, you can
control the bit depth at which you work in Color independently. That means that even
if the source media is at a lower bit depth, you can work at a higher bit depth to make
sure that the quality of your corrections is as high as possible. In particular, many
effects and secondary corrections look significantly better when Color is set to render
at higher bit depths. For more information, see “Playback, Processing, and Output
Settings” on page 106.
Basic Color and Imaging Concepts
Color correction involves controlling both an image’s contrast and its color (exercising
separate control over its hue and saturation). This section explains these important
imaging concepts so that you can better understand how the Color tools let you alter
the image.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 27
Contrast
Contrast adjustments are the most fundamental, and generally the first, adjustments
made. Contrast is a way of describing an image’s tonality. If you eliminate all color from
an image, reducing it to a series of grayscale tones, the contrast of the picture is seen
by the distribution of dark, medium, and light tones in the image.
Controlling contrast involves adjustments to three aspects of an image’s tonality:
 The black point is the darkest pixel in the image.
 The white point is the brightest pixel in the image.
 The midtones are the distribution of all tonal values in between the black and white
points.
Black
Mids
White
28 Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics
An image’s contrast ratio is the difference between the darkest and brightest tonal
values within that image. Typically, a higher contrast ratio, where the difference
between the two is greater, is preferable to a lower one. Unless you’re specifically going
for a low-contrast look, higher contrast ratios generally provide a clearer, crisper image.
The following two images, with their accompanying histograms which show a graph of
the distribution of shadows, midtone, and highlights from left to right, illustrate this.
Furthermore, maximizing the contrast ratio of an image aids further color correction
operations by more evenly distributing that image’s color throughout the three tonal
zones that are adjusted with the three color balance controls in the Primary In,
Secondaries, and Primary Out rooms. This makes it easier to perform individual
corrections to the shadows, midtones, and highlights.
For more information about adjusting image contrast, see “Using the Primary Contrast
Controls” on page 166.
Chapter 1 Color Correction Basics 29
What Is Setup
Beginning colorists sometimes confuse the black level of digital video with setup.
Setup refers to the black level of an analog video signal and is only an issue with
analog video. If you are outputting to an analog tape format using a third-party
analog video interface, you should check the documentation that came with that
video interface to determine how to configure the video interface for the North
American standard for setup (7.5 IRE) or the Japanese standard (0 IRE). Most vendors
of analog video interfaces include a software control panel that allows you to select
which black level to use. Most vendors label this as “7.5 Setup” versus “0 Setup,” or in
some cases “NTSC” versus “NTSC-J.”
Video sent digitally via SDI has no setup. The Y´C
black level simply remains at the
BCR
appropriate digital value corresponding to the bit depth of the video signal
(represented by 0 percent on a video scope).
Luma
Luma (which technically speaking is gamma-corrected luminance) describes the
exposure (lightness) of a video shot, from absolute black, through the distribution of
gray tones, all the way up to the brightest white. Luma can be separated from the color
of an image. In fact, if you desaturate an image completely, the grayscale image that
remains is the luma.
Luma is measured by Color as a digital percentage from 0 to 100, where 0 represents
absolute black and 100 represents absolute white. Color also supports super-white
levels (levels from 101 to 109 percent) if they exist in your shot. While super-white video
levels are not considered to be safe for broadcast, many cameras record video at these
levels anyway.
0% luminance
Black
100%
White
Note: Unadjusted super-white levels will be clamped by the Broadcast Safe settings if
they’re turned on with their default settings, such that pixels in the image with luma
above 100 percent will be set to 100 percent.
109%
Superwhite
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