Macromedia Speedgrade - CC User Guide

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Adobe® SpeedgradeTM CC

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June 2014

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For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

Last updated 6/15/2014

Chapter 1: What's new

New features summary

Chapter 2: Workspace

SpeedGrade workspace

Desktop basics

Timeline basics

Playback basics

Compare frames with multiple playheads

Work with projects

Set up dual displays

Direct Link workflow between Premier

Image analysis tools

Work with keyframes

Adjust the display aspect ratio

Crop the display frame

Adjust the display resolution for playback

Keyboard shortcuts

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Chapter 3: Loading footage

Supported file formats

Load footage

Conform EDLs

Loading and conforming material

Load audio tracks

Detect scene changes

Using scene change detection

Display burn-in information on frames

Chapter 4: Color grading

Quickstart: Color grade a clip

Quickstart: Color grade a sequence

Adobe Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade workflows

Continuity Checker and Shot Matcher

Snapshot View and Snapshot browser

Work with masks

Masking and Tracking

Track a masked object through a shot

Adjust color temperature

Balance blacks and whites

Adjust gamma

Grade a specific tonal range

Secondary color correction

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SPEEDGRADE

Content s

Apply filters and effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Adjust the framing of shots with pan and scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Grade a specific color range

Stereoscopic workflows

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Chapter 5: Managing looks

Working with Looks

Share and reuse looks

Apply Looks with Looks Manager

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

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Chapter 6: Rendering out

Rendering out your project

Create proxy files for offline editing

Save an EDL

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Chapter 7: System Requirements

System requirements for SpeedGrade

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Chapter 1: What's new

New features summary

This release of Adobe SpeedGrade CC provides tighter integration with Premiere Pro with an improved Direct Link workflow, Master Clip Effects, and several other enhancements.

Read on for a quick introduction to the new features and links to resources offering more information.

Improved Direct Link workflow

Improved Direct Link integration between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade makes color grading easier and more flexible than before.

Track Vis ibility

You can enable/disable tracks in the Direct Link track.

Enable/Disable Lumetri Effects in SpeedGrade

Earlier, Direct Link required you to activate the Lumetri Effect in Premiere Pro before sending the project to S

rade. Now, you can turn on or off Lumetri effects inside SpeedGrade without having to roundtrip back to

peedG

Premiere Pro to change those settings.

mode in S

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peedGrade by clicking the eye icon on the left of each

What's new

For a selected clip or keyframe, you can turn on or off Lumetri Effects for an entire layer stack in the Looks panel in a single click.

Improved performance

Apart from these enhancements, there is an overall improvement in performance when using SpeedGrade in the Direct Link

de especially with grading and playback.

For more information on using Direct Link, see Direct Link workflow between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade.

Master Clip effects

The new Master Clip effects feature from Premiere Pro is also available within SpeedGrade.

Using Master Clip effects, you can quickly color grade projects natively in SpeedGrade or in the Direct Link mode.

When you apply color adjustments to a master clip in Speed portions of the master clip used in sequences.

To apply Looks to multiple clips across scenes or projects, you can apply color adjustments to a master clip instead of rep

eating adjustments for individual clips.

For more information on using Master Clips, see Using Master Clip Effects in SpeedGrade .

ade, the changes automatically ripple down to all

Broadcast standard scopes

L: YUV Vectorscope R: HLS Vectorscope

New YUV Vectorscope

SpeedGrade now supports enhanced broadcast standard scopes that used fixed scales to present image information.

The new YUV Vectorscope in SpeedGrade uses the more familiar YUV color space including color targets to display the

pixel distribution in your images more intuitively. The HLS Vectorscope (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) is still

available.

Clamp scopes

The new Clamp Signal checkbox in the Analysis Tools panel limits the scope's display to the visible spectrum. Selected by default, this setting lets the scopes show values only from 0 through 100. If you want to see how much of the signal is being clipped, deselect the Clamp Signal check box.

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What's new

Enhanced Luma Waveform

The Luma Waveform in SpeedGrade now displays imaging information in the same way as the Luma Waveform in Premiere Pro.

For more information, see Image analysis tools.

User Interface enhancements

Redesigned Look Manager

The improved Look Manager makes it simpler to manage Look presets and custom Look libraries in SpeedGrade.

Look presets, including Filmstock emulations, SpeedLooks Camera Patches, SpeedLooks Cine Looks, and Style presets

been reorganized to make it easier to find them.

have

Now, you cannot accidentally delete any of the SpeedGrade Look presets. Custom Looks that you create are a

tically saved to another folder. You can also add new tabs to save your Looks to any location on your system.

utoma

Redesigned Look Manager

Vertical sliders for luminance control

SpeedGrade provides a new vertical slider in addition to the existing circular luminance dial on the Look panel.

You can control luminance values in the image's shadow, midtone, and highlight regions using either the dial on the color whee

While you can use the two controls interchangeably, the slider is ea adjustments, like earlier, you can move the axis point inside the color wheel.

ls or the new vertical slider.

sier to use with tablet devices. For chroma or color

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What's new

Two ways to adjust luminance A Vertical slider B Outer dial on color wheel

Other changes

New SpeedLooks

In this release, new SpeedLooks have been added to the SpeedLooks package to provide you more out-of-the-box creative Looks.

When you use SpeedLooks along with Camera Patches, you get a consistent grading result across footage shot on dif

ent cameras.

fer

SpeedLooks and Camera Patches are available under their own tabs in the Look Manager.

Playback keyboard shortcuts matching Premiere Pro

To make your editing and color grading experience more seamless, SpeedGrade now provides the same keyboard shortcuts as Premiere Pro for playback.

Similar to Premiere Pro, you can use the three shuttle keyboard shortcuts (J-K-L) to play the clips.

Result Windows Mac

Shuttle Left J J

Shuttle Right L L

Shuttle Slow Left Shift+J Shift+J

Shuttle Slow Right Shift+L Shift+L

Shuttle Stop K K

You can also use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to previous and next clips in the Timeline.

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Chapter 2: Workspace

SpeedGrade workspace

The Adobe SpeedGrade workspace provides a more familiar screen layout for Adobe Premiere Pro users. There is a familiar placement of user interface elements such as the media browser, a redesigned autofit monitor, Look Manager, and integrated grading and mask panes.

The use interface contains a main toolbar and tabs on the upper right of the screen. The tabs are in the sequence of the S

rade workflow: locating your media, grading, rendering, and reviewing the final output.

peedG

A Main Toolbar B Tabs for each step in the workflow

Main Toolbar

Icons to open, save, redo, undo are available on the main toolbar in the workspace.

Main Toolbar A Open B Save C Undo D Redo E Preferences

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Workspace

Preference settings are available from a pop-up dialog when you select the Preferences icon on the main toolbar.

Media Tab

Click the Media tab to launch the new Media Browser. The Media Browser, formerly called the Desktop view, is the main interface for browsing through, locating, and loading your assets. Thumbnails of the files in the Desktop view are displayed in the Media Browser.

You can adjust the size of the thumbnails using the slider, and watch a quick preview of the video clip within the th

nail.

umb

Media Browser

Color Tab

Click the Color tab to view the Monitor panel and the Analysis Tools panel.

The Monitor panel lets you quickly scale, match shots, and color-grade your footage using the intuitive user interface. The Moni

The Analysis Tool panel groups together the image analysis tools available in SpeedGrade. To view the Analysis Tool p

ane

Monitor panel

tor panel automatically resizes to show the whole image. You can zoom in and out when required.

l, click the arrow on the upper-left corner of the Monitor panel.

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Workspace

Render Tab

Click the Render tab to access the Output view for rendering out the completed project.

Note: The Output view remains unchanged from the CS6 release.

Result Tab

Click the Result tab to open the folder of the last render session.

Mask and Look panels

The Mask panel is now placed next to the Look panel. WIth the masking and grading tools placed side-by-side, you can now work faster on the mask workflow.

Desktop basics

Use the Desktop view to find and load footage. You can navigate to folders with image sequences, movie files, or RAW file formats. Thumbnails of the files are displayed in the Desktop view.

Show or hide the Desktop view

Press the D key.

Navigate to a folder

To navigate to a folder on your hard disk or network, use the breadcrumb control at the top.

Navigate with folder breadcrumbs

You can also browse to a folder with the file browser on the left.

You can adjust the size of thumbnails by dragging the Thumbnail Size slider.

More Help topics

Load footage

Support file formats

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Workspace

Filter the files in the Desktop view

If you have many files, you can filter them to display only the files with a specific filename extension or files starting with specific characters.

• To show or hide files, enter the filtering criteria in the text box in the upper right. Use the asterisk character (*) as a

wildcard character.

For example, to display only files R3D filename extensions, enter *.R3D.

Refresh the Desktop view

Click the Refresh button. Refreshing the view is useful if you updated files while SpeedGrade was running.

Timeline basics

Playhead

The playhead displays a frame in the Monitor at any given position on the Timeline.

❖ Drag the playhead to move it along the Timeline.

Playhead controller

To view more than one frame at a time, create additional playheads. Multiple playheads are useful for comparing different parts of the same shot or scene. For more information, see Compare frames with multiple playheads.

Tracks

Add tracks to the Timeline to generate layers for grading, add audio to the project, or to adjust the framing with pan and scan.

Multiple tracks

You can add the following tracks to the Timeline:

Footage Blue track. To add footage to the timeline, see Select a clip.

Grading Red track. To add a grading track, see Create a grading clip.

Audio Solid green track. To add an audio track, open the Desktop, locate the audio file (wav or aiff file), and drag it on

the Timeline. Repeat this procedure with additional audio files.

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Workspace

To change values for sound output, such as the mixing frequency, select Settings > Sound. The Settings menu is on the upper-right corner of the SpeedGrade workspace.

Pan & scan Transparent green track. To add a pan & scan track, see Create a pan and scan track.

Manage tracks

You can manage the tracks on the Timeline with the tools on the left side of each track.

Drag, lock, and eye icons

• To show or hide the track, click the Eye icon.

• To lock or unlock the track, click the Lock icon.

• To delete the track, click the Drag icon and drag the track off the Timeline.

Play a part of the Timeline

Specify the part of the Timeline to play by repositioning in- and out-points. The two points are located above the tracks, at either end of the clip or playlist.

In-point

Note: In- and out-points in SpeedGrade are not used to edit clips as in Adobe Premiere Pro. They're used to control playback.

Do any of the following to reposition the in- and out-points:

• Drag the in- and out-points along the Timeline.

• Hold Shift to drag both points together.

• Control-click the in- or out-point to reset it to its default position.

• Double-click a clip to set the points to the start and end of the clip. Double-click again to set the points to the start

and end of the Timeline.

You can also double-click the in- or out-point icon and specify a frame number for it.

Navigate along the Timeline

If you have multiple clips or tracks on your Timeline, you can navigate from clip to clip or from track to track. Moving from one track to another changes the selected SpeedGrade panel. For example, moving to a grading track opens the Look panel. Moving to a pan and scan track opens the Pan & Scan panel.

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Workspace

Result Windows Mac OS

Go the next clip Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow Cmd+Shift+Right Arrow

Go to previous clip Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow Cmd+Shift+Left Arrow

Go to track above Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow Cmd+Shift+Up Arrow

Go to track below Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow Cmd+Shift+Down Arrow

More Help topics

Keyboard shortcuts

Zoom the Timeline

1 Select the Master Timeline view from the view menu on the upper-left side of the Timeline.

2 Press Ctrl+Scrollwheel.

Note: Zooming works only in the Master or Playhead view of the Timeline. See Ch

ange the Timeline view .

Change the Timeline view

Set the Timeline view with the menu on the upper-left side of the Timeline.

Timeline vi ew s

All Shows all content and playheads on the Timeline.

In/Out Shows all content between the in- and out-points.

Selected Shows all content in the selected track.

Master Keeps the Timeline centered on the Master playhead. On the Timeline, the playhead controller with the orange

number box is the Master playhead.

Playhead Keeps the Timeline centered on the numbered playhead. The number on the playhead controller identifies

the playhead.

Delete the Timeline

Click the Delete (X) icon on the right side of the Timeline and confirm that you want to delete the Timeline.

Playback basics

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Workspace

Playback shortcuts

Note: Close the Desktop before playback (press D).

Result Keyboard shortcut

Play forward L

Play backward J

Stop playback K

Play/pause Spacebar

Step forward or backward Right or Left Arrow

Increase or decrease frame rate by 1 fps Page Up or Page Down

Change playback mode F6

Playback controls

Playback controls from left to right:

• Go to in point

• Frame step backwards

• Play backwards

• Pause

• Play forward

• Frame step forward

• Go to out point

Playback indicators

The playback indicators on the left side of the Timeline provide the following information, from left to right:

• The current base frame rate

• The playback frame rate

• The disk performance indicator

• The monitor performance indicator

The disk performance indicator turns red when one of the disks or desired playback speed.

the CPU cannot deliver real-time decoding at the

The monitor performance indicator turns red when one of the following issues is detected:

• An issue with the real-time performance of the grading operations you apply to the clip

• A sync issue with your display device.

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Change the base frame rate

1 Select Settings > Playback.

2 Enter a new base frame rate.

Note: The Timeline timecode values reflect your base frame rate setting.

Change the playback frame rate

Press the Page Up or Page Down key to increase or decrease the frame rate by 1 frame per second.

Change the playback mode

SpeedGrade has three playback modes:

• Single run

• Ping pong

• Loop (default)

To switch modes, press F6 or use the Playback Mode button next to the playback controls.

Compare frames with multiple playheads

Use multiple playheads to compare two or more frames for color matching.

Create an additional playhead

❖ Hold the Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) key down and drag the Move Playhead icon anywhere in

the Timeline.

The Move Playhead icon is the arrow icon on the right side of the playhead controller.

Make sure a green Plus (+) icon appears on the left side of the playhead controller before dropping the playhead.

Select a master playhead

When working with multiple playheads, select a master playhead to make grading and other adjustments.

❖ Click the playhead number to make it the master playhead.

The playhead number turns orange to indicate it is active.

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Adjust the interval between playheads

• Click the Move Playhead icon and position the playhead anywherei on the Timeline.

Delete a playhead

• Click the Move Playhead icon and drag the playhead off the Timeline.

Note: Make sure the playhead is not the master one. If the number on the left of the playhead controller is orange, th

en it's the master playhead. Select another master playhead by clicking the playhead's number, and then delete the

inactive playhead.

Work in split-screen mode

Arrange the screen layout by clicking the View button in the Timeline tab and dragging the icons in the Screen Layout panel.

Up to nine playheads can be viewed at once. When using mo

than nine playheads, click a number in one of the

channels and select a desired playhead to view.

Keyboard shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Change the current split-screen mode F9 Cmd+F9

Change the horizontal or vertical orientation of split-screen mode.

Flip the channel position of the split-screen mode.

F10 Cmd+F10

F11 Cmd+F11

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Note: The default F key assignments must be disabled on Mac OS systems. In System Preferences, select Keyboard, then the Keyboard Shortcuts panel. Select Expose & Spaces and deselect the default key assignments.

Work with projects

A SpeedGrade project is stored in XML file with an ircp filename extension. The file contains information about sequences, assets, and editing decisions.

The file stores references to the name and location of asset files in your project. If you move, rename, or delete an asset, SpeedG

rade prompts you to locate the missing file the next time you open the project.

Create your first project

1 Add one or more assets to the Timeline.

SpeedGrade automatically creates a project file.

2 To rename the project or save it to another location, press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Cmd+S (Macintosh).

If this is not your first SpeedGrade project, see Start a new project .

Start a new project

1 Delete the Timeline of an existing project.

Deleting the Timeline unloads the current project from SpeedGrade. It does not delete the project itself.

Note: M

2 Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Cmd+S (Macintosh) to save the new blank project.

ake sure to save your changes to the current project before unloading it. See Save a project .

Open a project

❖ Press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Cmd+O (Macintosh).

You can also click the Open SpeedGrade Project button on the toolbar on the upper-left corner of the workspace.

You can also open the Desktop view, navigate to the folder that contains the ircp file that you want to load, and doub

le-click the file thumbnail.

Save a project

SpeedGrade saves the status of your work every 5 seconds. However, saving the current project from time to time is recommended. Multiple saves are useful for reverting to a previous version you liked better.

❖ Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Cmd+S (Macintosh).

You can also click the Save SpeedGrade Project button on the toolbar on the upper-left corner of the workspace.

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You can also click on the Save IRCP button on the Timeline panel.

Work on multiple projects at the same time

1 Press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Cmd+O (Macintosh) and open the first project.

2 Use the Media browser view to navigate to the folder that contains the ircp file of the second project that you want

to open at the same time.

3 Click the Plus (+) icon on the file's thumbnail.

SpeedGrade opens the second project on a second Timeline. Opening multiple timelines enables split-screen playback.

Rename a project

1 Use the Desktop view to navigate to the folder that contains the ircp file that you want to remane.

2 Right-click the ircp file, select Rename from the context menu, and rename the file.

Delete a project

1 Use the Desktop view to navigate to the folder that contains the ircp file that you want to delete.

2 Right-click the ircp file and select Delete from the context menu.

Move a project to another computer

To move a project to another computer, move copies of all the project assets as well as the project file (ircp). Make sure that the assets retain their filenames and folder locations so that SpeedGrade can find and associate them to the project automatically.

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Set up dual displays

You can use a dual-monitor setup to work with SpeedGrade. The SpeedGrade workspace is displayed on one monitor and the footage is displayed on the other.

Standard dual-monitor setup

A standard dual-monitor setup uses two monitors connected with two DVI or two DP outputs from your graphics card.

1 Connect the DVI or DP outputs to the two monitors.

Ti p: Use a calibrated monitor or projector for the footage monitor.

2 In SpeedGrade, click Settings > Display and adjust the settings under Window Size.

The default values work for two displays with 1920x1080 resol display with the footage.

3 Select the Enable option.

ution. SpeedGrade is displayed to the left of the

Advanced dual-monitor setup

The advanced dual monitor setup uses nVidia Quadro SDI technology to allow for real-time 10- and 12-bit output over Single Link or Dual Link SDI. The nVidia Quadro SDI setup requires a 64-bit Windows 7 system.

1 Connect the DVI or DisplayPort output to the display you want to use for the SpeedGrade workspace.

2 Use either a Single Link or Dual Link SDI output from the NVIDIA SDI card to connect with external waveform

and other monitoring devices, and your reference monitor or projector.

3 In SpeedGrade, select Settings > Display.

4 In the SDI Output section, change signal and format settings according to your desired output format settings.

5 Select the Enable option.

FAQ : How many outputs on the nVidia GPU can be used in parallel?

ly two outputs at a time can be used in parallel. The SDI card is routed through the Quadro GPU and thus takes one

r DP output. The other output can be used for the workspace display. The additional DisplayPort is not active in

DVI o parallel.

Ti p: C

ombining local footage display with a projection setup

give the operator an accurate local display in parallel to another display or projection system, a signal split on the

To SDI o

utput is recommended. This is the recommended way to monitor a signal through external waveform and

vectorscope devices.

Direct Link workflow between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade

About Direct Link

The Direct Link workflow is an integrated edit-and-grade workflow between Premiere Pro CC and SpeedGrade CC.

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In the past, to use SpeedGrade to color grade your footage from Premiere Pro, you rendered and exported your sequences to SpeedGrade either as DPX still image sequences or edit decision lists (EDLs). After completing color grading in SpeedGrade, you exported the projects as stand-alone video files back into Premiere Pro for more editing.

Direct Link offers a fast and efficient alternative to this workflow. Leveraging the power of the Mercury Playback E

ine, Direct Link lets you send or open Premiere Pro projects directly in SpeedGrade. You can color grade Premiere

Pro sequences in SpeedGrade and send it back to Premiere Pro in a few clicks.

To achieve optimal performance when using Direct Link, use an NVIDIA CUDA graphics card with GPU acceleration on Windows. For more information about Adobe-certified NVIDIA graphics cards, see the Tech s p e c s .

Edit and grade Premiere Pro sequences with Direct Link

The Direct Link workflow lets you roundtrip Premiere Pro projects between editing and grading without timeconsuming or complex tasks like rendering and conforming.

Premiere Pro-SpeedGrade Direct Link workflow

Step 1: Select Premiere Pro sequence

Select the Premiere Pro sequence that you want to color grade.

Note: Ensure that you have selected the sequence in the Timeline or Project panel.

ep 2: Send sequence to SpeedGrade using Direct Link

Using Direct Link, you can send a sequence from an open Premiere Pro project directly to SpeedGrade without exp

ting the project.

To use Direct Link, select File > Direct Link To Adobe SpeedGrade.

Step 3: Choose to open sequence in SpeedGrade

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When you select the Direct Link workflow, Premiere Pro prompts you to save changes to the project in Premiere Pro and open it in SpeedGrade. Click Yes.

Step 4: Selected sequence opens in SpeedGrade

Premiere Pro closes, and SpeedGrade opens the sequence in its Timeline, which uses the same familiar track layout as Pr

iere Pro.

In the SpeedGrade Timeline, you can see all the clip edit points, transitions, and layers.

Project Timeline in SpeedGrade

Step 5: Color grade the sequence using grading and mask tools

Within SpeedGrade, you can color grade the sequence using Looks and Masks. The Looks that you apply in SpeedGrade wil

l appear as Lumetri presets when you reopen the sequence in Premiere Pro.

If a Lumetri Look has already been applied in Premiere Pro, it's available in the SpeedGrade Timeline, where you can adju

st its parameters.

A Premiere Pro project sequence B Premiere Pro sequence color graded in SpeedGrade

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The Direct Link workflow has been designed to let you focus on the color correction and grading tasks when you are in SpeedGrade. Because of this focus, only the Color and Look tabs in SpeedGrade are available in the Direct Link mode. For more details, see Direct Link workflow limitations .

Step 6: Send the color graded sequence to Premiere Pro for editing

When you finish color grading your sequence in SpeedGrade, s output or further editing.

Click the Direct Link to Adobe Premiere Pro icon in the upper left of the SpeedGrade user interface.

The color graded sequence opens in Premiere Pro with all color grading fully intact.

Color grading and masks applied in SpeedGrade are visible in Premiere Pro as Lumetri effects. In Premiere Pro, you ca

urn these Lumetri effects on or off for each clip and for each adjustment layer individually using the Effects

n t

Controls panel.

You continue editing or export your sequence for final output in Premiere Pro.

e and reopen the sequence in Premiere Pro for final

Open Premiere Pro projects directly in SpeedGrade

You can open native Premiere Pro projects directly in SpeedGrade, apply color grading changes, and reopen the project in Premiere Pro.

The SpeedGrade Welcome screen lets you:

• Open a recently accessed Premiere Pro project (.pproj)

• Open a Premiere Pro project (.pproj)

• Create a new SpeedGrade project (.IRCP)

When you open a Premiere Pro project, the Sequence Importer dialog opens showing all the sequences contained in the

project. Select a sequence to open.

Note: SpeedGrade cannot open more than one Premiere Pro sequence at the same time.

thin SpeedGrade, you can apply primary and secondary color correction, apply Looks and Masks, and do all the

uired color grading.

req

Note: You cannot send SpeedGrade (.IRCP) projects back to Premiere Pro. To use Direct Link you need to start with a Prem

iere Pro project (.pproj).

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Some important points:

• From within SpeedGrade, you can view and adjust Premiere Pro adjustment layers, and also view any transitions

applied to the sequence.

• All the color grading that you apply in SpeedGrade is available automatically in Premiere Pro. There is no need to

export the .look files.

Working with offline media

When you open a Premiere Pro project with missing media files in SpeedGrade, you cannot link and locate the offline media like you would in Premiere Pro.

To relink the offline media, you must bring the the project back to Premiere Pro.

Working with After Effects Compositions

There are several ways to use After Effects Compositions in your Premiere Pro project:

• Replace a clip in Premiere Pro with an After Effects Composition

• Link to an After Effects Composition using Adobe Dynamic Link

• Import an After Effects Composition (AEP file) into a Premiere Pro project

Irrespective of which method you use, you can open a Premiere Pro sequence containing After Effects Compositions dire

ctly in SpeedGrade. SpeedGrade opens the sequence in Direct Link mode, from where you can color grade the

compositions just as you would color grade any Premiere Pro sequence.

Limitations in Direct Link mode

The Direct Link workflow has been designed such that you focus only on the color correction and grading workflows within SpeedGrade.

Given this focus, there are specific things to consider while using SpeedGrade in the Direct Link mode:

• The auto-save feature is turned off while using the Direct Link mode.

• To use Direct Link, you start with a Premiere Pro project (.pproj). You cannot send SpeedGrade projects (.IRCP) to

Premiere Pro in the Direct Link mode.

• In the Direct Link mode, you cannot render your Premiere Pro projects within SpeedGrade. You send the projects

back to Premiere Pro for rendering. So, the Render and Results tabs are unavailable when using Direct Link.

• SpeedGrade can open only one Premiere Pro sequence at a time, and not multiple sequences at once. To open a

different sequence in the project, open the Sequence Importer dialog by clicking in the SpeedGrade Timeline.

• You cannot launch the Media Browser to browse through media, so the Media tab is unavailable when using Direct

Link.

• You cannot add clips to the Premiere Pro sequence within SpeedGrade. You have to bring the project back to

Premiere Pro to edit the sequence.

• You cannot adjust audio or use the Pan & Scan functions. So, Stereo 3D, Audio, and Pan And Scan tabs are

unavailable when using Direct Link.

• If you apply the Warp Stabilizer effect on a Premiere Pro sequence, ensure that the analysis is complete before

sending the sequence to SpeedGrade using Direct Link. Otherwise, an error message appears.

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Video tutorial

How to make your video look like film

Learn how to use Direct Link to roundtrip your projects to SpeedGrade for comprehensive color grading and applying pres

et film stock and camera looks.

Image analysis tools

SpeedGrade provides various tools, like the following, to analyze your image:

• Histogram

• Vectorscope

• RGB Parade

• Luma Waveform

These tools are now grouped together and available from the Analysis Tools panel.

To display the Analysis Tools panel, use the keyboard shortcut A, or click the arrow on the upper-left Monitor panel.

n adjust the size of the Analysis Tools panel using the drag handles.

You ca

Use the context menu to choose which video scope you want to view.

Analysis Tools panel

Histogram

Histogram shows RGB values. The minimum Luma values per channel are displayed as numerical feedback at the bottom. Maximum values are displayed at the top. Two horizontal lines indicate the output range. The default range is set to CIN code values (95 - 685).

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Histogram

Vectorscope

The Vectorscope displays the video’s chrominance information in a a circular chart. Saturation is measured from the center of the chart outward.

Vectorscopes work in YUV and HLS (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) modes. The YUV Vectorscope uses the more familiar YUV colo vectorscope is the default option.

YUV Vectorscope, HLS Vectorscope

r space including color targets to display the pixel distribution in your images more intuitively. The YUV

RGB Parade

RGB Parade scope displays separate waveforms for the red, green, and blue components of an image. The waveforms are displayed side by side, making it easy to compare the relative levels of reds, greens, and blues in an image, and make adjustments as required. The RGB Parade scope also makes it easy to spot color casts in your image.

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RGB Parade

Luma Waveform

The Luma Waveform scope displays a representation of the luminance of your images, similar to how it is displayed in Premiere Pro.

High luma levels appear as spikes on the waveform, and low luma levels appear as dips. This scope lets you quickly iden

tify highlights and shadows in your image, helping you achieve precise black-and-white balancing.

Luma Waveform

Channel views

Use channel views to check specific color channels. For example, you can use it to check for compression artifacts or noise in the RGB channels.

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To see a channel on the Monitor, follow these steps:

1 Select the Timeline tab, and then select View.

2 Select a channel from the Channel View menu under Display Options.

For example, if your image includes an alpha channel, select Alpha Channel to view on the Monitor. To switch back to normal

view, select the channel view as Normal View.

Work with keyframes

Use keyframes to transform the state of a grade, mask, or pan-and-scan adjustment over time. A keyframe marks the point in time where you specify a state, such as the position of a mask. You typically use at least two keyframes—one for the state at the beginning of the change, and one for the new state at the end of the change. You can add as many keyframes as you need on a track. SpeedGrade interpolates the values between keyframes and creates dissolves between them.

Add keyframes

Every new grading track has one keyframe at its start position. If you don’t add more keyframes, any adjustments affect the whole clip.

To add more keyframes along a track:

1 Move the playhead to the position you’d like to add a keyframe.

2 Click the Record Keyframe button.

3 Apply adjustments at the new keyframe position, such as a grade, mask, or pan-and-scan adjustment.

4 With the playhead at the current keyframe, click the Record Keyframe button a second time to create a dissolve from

the previous keyframe to the current keyframe. See Workflow for creating dissolves between keyframes .

An arrow between the keyframes on the track indicates a linear dissolve between the two positions.

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Workflow for creating dissolves between keyframes

Create a dissolve between two keyframes by clicking the Record Keyframe button a second time at each new keyframe position. The typical workflow is as follows:

1 Move the playhead to the position on the timeline where you want to start the dissolve.

2 Add a keyframe by clicking Record Keyframe.

3 Move to the playhead to the position on the timeline where you want to end the dissolve.

4 Click on Record Keyframe twice to add a keyframe that will smoothly morph all settings from the previous to the

current keyframe.

5 Adjust your grade, mask, or pan-and-scan at the two keyframe positions.

Automatically record keyframes when editing

When Auto-keyframe mode is on, modifying a property automatically adds a keyframe at each new position.

❖ Click the Auto-keyframe button to toggle Auto-keyframe mode on or off.

Move between keyframes

❖ Press the left or right arrow buttons on the keyframe toolbar.

Ti p: You can also use the following keyboard shortcut: Ct

rl+Shift+Left/Right Arrow.

Delete keyframes

To del e t e o n e ke y f ra m e :

1 Navigate to the keyframe you want to remove.

2 Click the delete keyframe button.

Other keyframes on the same track are not affected.

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To delete all keyframes on a track:

❖ Click the Delete All Keyframes button.

Keyframes on other grading, mask, or pan-and-scan tracks above or below the current grading clip are not affected.

Adjust the display aspect ratio

You can correctly display anamorphic and other non-square-pixel aspect ratio footage in the Monitor by changing the display aspect ratio.

Note: Changing the display aspect ratio does not modify the source material.

1 With a clip on the Timeline, click the View button on the Timeline panel.

2 In the Display Options section, click the icon on the left side of the Aspect Ratio menu.

The button toggles the Aspect Ratio menu.

3 Change the display aspect ratio by selecting an option from the menu.

4 To switch to the default aspect ratio, click the icon again.

More Help topics

Crop the display frame

You can set the display size of your frames by cropping them in the monitor.

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Cropping frames in the monitor does not modify the source material. Instead, the frame hides parts of the image. Color corrections are still applied to the parts of the image hidden by the frame.

If you want to resize the display frame and keep the entire image in the frame, see Adjust the display aspect ratio.

1 With a clip on the Timeline, click the View button on the Timeline panel.

2 In the Display Options section, click the icon on the left side of the Crop menu.

The button toggles the Crop menu.

3 Select a crop preset from the menu.

4 To turn off the crop preset, click the icon again.

Adjust the display resolution for playback

SpeedGrade dynamically adjusts the quality of video to ensure smooth playback on computers with less capable graphic cards or CPUs. To optimize performance, you can set the quality settings for the image both during playback and when paused.

Test the performance of your system during playback and then adjust the settings accordingly.

1 Click the Settings menu on the upper-right corner of the screen, and then select the Dynamic Quality option.

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2 Select a lower resolution for playback, such as 1:2 (half the resolution of the source material) or lower.

3 Set the resolution for paused images.

Note: Use the paused image resolution to see more image detail. Set it as high or higher than the selected playback res

olution.

4 If working with formats that have a native color depth greater than 8 bits per channel, you can set the color depth

for playback and paused images as well.

Keyboard shortcuts

Print a PDF of the keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts for SpeedGrade CC are available as a downloadable PDF from here.

For the F-key shortcuts to work on Mac systems, press the fn key a

nd then the F-key. For example, to use the F1 shortcut,

press fn+F1.

Application shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Show Help F1 F1

Show or hide grading panels P P

Show or hide Settings window S S

Show Desktop D D

Save Timeline Ctrl+S Cmd+S

Show or hide Render window Ctrl+R Cmd+R

Show History panel Ctrl+H Cmd+H

Toggle Fullscreen mode Alt+Enter or F F

Toggle Image-only mode Shift+H Shift+H

Escape Image-only mode Esc Esc

Show or hide Metadata display M M

Toggle mouse between main and SDI display Shift+X Shift+X

Reconnect CP200 panels Alt+F12 Alt+F12

Show or hide Dual DVI window (toggle) Shift+Ctrl+Alt+D Shift+Ctrl+Alt+D

Show the Reel browser Ctrl+Alt+R Cmd+Alt+R

Close Preferences window Esc Esc

Close application Alt+F4 Cmd+Q

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Playback shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Play/Pause [space] [space]

Reverse playback Shift+[space] Shift+[space]

Step back one frame Left Arrow Left Arrow

Step forward one frame Right Arrow Right Arrow

Decrease playback FPS PgDn PgDn

Increase playback FPS PgUp PgUp

Double frames per second Numpad * Numpad *

Halve frames per second Numpad / Numpad /

Switch between single play, loop, and pingpong playback mode

Mirror image horizontally Alt+M Alt+M

Mirror image vertically Shift+M Shift+M

Clear memory (unload all frames) Shift+Ctrl+F5 Shift+Cmd+F5

Reload changed frames from disk F5 F5

Playback forward L L

Playback backward J J

Stop K K

F6 F6

Keyframe shortcuts

Result Windows/Mac OS

Add a keyframe F2

Remove a keyframe Shift+F2

Go to the previous keyframe F3

Go to

the next keyframe F4

Pan and zoom view shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Pan up/down Shift+Up/Down Arrow Shift+Up/Down Arrow

Pan left/right Shift+Left/Right Arrow Shift+Left/Right Arrow

Reset pan Shift+Home Shift+Home

Match channel sizes Alt+Home Alt+Home

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Zoom in/out Numpad +/- Numpad +/-

Zoom to 100% Shift+Ctrl+Home Shift+Cmd+Home

Zoom to fit Ctrl+Home Cmd+Home

Splitscreen view shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Change the splitscreen mode F9 Cmd+F9

Change the vertical/horizontal orientation of the spli

t screen

Switch the channel positions in the split screen

F10 Cmd+F10

F11 Cmd+F11

Timeline and navigation shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Next/previous clip Ctrl+Right/Left Arrow Cmd+Right/Left Arrow

Select previous clip Shift+Ctrl+Left Arrow Shift+Cmd+Left Arrow

Select next clip Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow Shift+Cmd+Right Arrow

Select clip below Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow Shift+Cmd+Down Arrow

Select clip above Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow Shift+Cmd+Up Arrow

Center master playhead Ctrl+Numpad 0 Ctrl+Numpad 0

Move master playhead to selected clip Alt+Numpad 0 Alt+Numpad 0

In- and out-point shortcuts

Result Windows, Mac OS

Set in-point at current master playhead position I

Set out-point at current master playhead position O

Move master playhead to current in-point Home

Move master playhead to current out-point End

Reset in- and out-points to default positions Shift+Ctrl+Alt+O

Toggle In/Out point settings between current clip and Home/End of

timeli

Reload replaced frames on disk Shift+F5

Ctrl+[space]

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Grading shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Toggle grading on/off 0 (zero) 0 (zero)

Apply previewed preset to the

Reject previewed preset Backspace Backspace

Change color selector mode Shift+Enter Shift+Enter

Reset grading on current clip Shift+Alt+Delete Shift+Alt+Delete

Reset grading on current panel Alt+Delete Alt+Delete

Copy grade from the previous or next 9 edits [Numpad]1 to 9 [Numpad]1 to 9

Set the Copy Grade Feature to copy from next edits

Set the Copy Grade Feature to copy from previous edits

Copy grade from clip below mouse position C C

Disable grading (hold down) in selected layer . (period) . (period)

Navigate layer stack up/down Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow Cmd+Up/Down Arrow

timeline Enter Enter

Alt+[Numpad] + Alt+[Numpad] +

Alt+[Numpad] - Alt+[Numpad] -

Look browser, Snapshot browser shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Look Browser navigation Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down Arrow Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down Arrow

Toggle Looks Management Browser on/off Ctrl+L Cmd+L

Snapshot Browser navigation Shift+Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down Arrow Shift+Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down Arrow

Add or toggle snapshot Shift+C Shift+C

Collapse third panel in Snapshot Browser W W

Continuity Checker, Automatic Shot Ma

Result Windows Mac OS

Add one or more playheads while using the

y Checker

Continuit

Use the Auto Shot Match feature Ctrl+M Cmd+M

Alt+1/2/3 Option+1/2/3

tch shortcuts

Gray-out shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Turn on gray-out Ctrl+G Cmd+G

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Turn on black-out Alt+G Alt+G

Turn on white-out Ctrl+Alt+G Cmd+Alt+G

Turn off gray-out Shift+Alt+G Shift+Alt+G

Editorial shortcuts

Result Windows Mac OS

Toggle selected dissolve clip’s direction

tom-to-top/top-to-bottom)

(bot

Split currently active clip and all clips directly above it at the master playhead position

Splits currently active clip at the master playhead position

Shift+D Shift+D

Shift+Alt+S Shift+Alt+S

trl+Alt+S Cmd+Alt+S

Analysis tools shortcuts

Result Windows, Mac OS

Open Analysis Tools panel A

Channel view shortcuts

Result Windows, Mac OS

Show red channel R

Show green channel G

Show blue channel B

Hide red channel Shift+R

Hide green channel Shift+G

Hide blue channel Shift+B

Stereoscopic viewing shortcuts

Result Windows, Mac OS

Right eye Left Alt+R

Left eye Left Alt+L

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Chapter 3: Loading footage

Supported file formats

Frame sequence formats

Format Read Write

Cineon Ye s Ye s

DPX, DPX 2.0 Yes Ye s

Tar ga Ye s Ye s

JPEG Yes Yes

PNG Ye s Ye s

TIFF Ye s Ye s

Pixarlog TIFF Yes No

Floating Point TIFF Ye s Ye s

Maya IFF Yes Yes

Lightwave IFF Yes Yes

RGB (SGI) Ye s Yes

Softimage PIC Yes Ye s

Wavefront RLA Yes Ye s

Wavefront RPF Yes No

Windows Bitmap Yes Ye s

GIF Yes No

Cinema DNG Ye s Ye s

OpenEXR Yes Yes

Movie file formats

Format Read Write

Windows AVI Windows only Windows only

Quicktime Yes Yes

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Loading footage

RAW file formats

The supported RAW formats are read-only.

• ARRI Alexa .ari

• ARRI D21 .ari

• Phantom HD / GOLD / FLEX / 65 (.cine)

• REDCode RAW (.r3d)

• Silicon Imaging SI 2K/SI Mini (Uncompressed .siv)

• We i s s c am H S - 1 /H S - 2 RAW ( . wcr )

• Weisscam HS-2 Digimag (.fhg*)

Load footage

Load items

Add items to the Timeline as follows.

• Navigate to the item in Desktop view, then double-click the thumbnail. You can also drag an item to the Timeline.

• Repeat the process to add more items. Each item is placed after the last item on the Timeline.

More Help topics

Supported file formats

Navigate to a folder

Desktop basics

Time l i ne basics

Load multiple items at once

Loading multiple items at once is useful when loading RAW data for creating dailies to create a virtual lab reel.

1 In Desktop view, browse to the folder with the items you want to add to the Timeline.

2 Click Add All on the lower-right side of the Desktop.

SpeedGrade adds all the files to the Timeline in order of appearance.

Insert items between clips

1 Drag the thumbnail from the Desktop view to the position on the Timeline where you’d like to place it.

2 When a highlighted red line appears at the desired location, release the mouse button.

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Loading footage

Conform EDLs

Edit Decision Lists (EDLs) are metadata documents used to migrate project timelines from other editing tools.

Timelines created from EDLs in SpeedGrade adhere to the Sony CMX 3600 standard. SpeedGrade also supports the exten

ded 16-digit EDL to work with ARRIRAW and Red R3D material.

The two most common scenarios for conforming EDLs are as follows:

• You have an EDL and one long image sequence or movie file with all the edits baked in. You want to use the EDL to

create keyframes to cut the clip into individual edits. See Master-clip workflow .

• You have an EDL with online material in several folders or consisting of individual movie files. You want to associate

the correct online clips according to the Reel ID/filename information available in the EDL. See Multiple-clip

workflow .

Note: B

efore working with EDLs, make sure to set the correct frame rate preset in SpeedGrade. For example, if your project

based on 24 fps, set both your preset for new timelines and your base fps to 24. For instructions, see Playback basics.

Master-clip workflow

Follow this workflow if you have one long clip of online material and want to use an EDL to cut it into individual edits.

1 Locate the pre-conformed clip in the Desktop view and drop it on the Timeline.

2 Locate the EDL in the Desktop view and drop it on the clip in the Timeline.

SpeedGrade cuts the clip into edits.

Multiple-clip workflow

1 Locate the EDL in the Desktop view and drop it on the Timeline.

SpeedGrade inserts placeholder clips on the Timeline representing all the edits. The clips are red because the reels are no

t loaded yet.

2 Use the Desktop to locate the footage that represents the reels.

Use the filter options to search subfolders or to treat folders as re structure, select the Sequences from Folder + Subtree filter option.

3 Click Load from Desktop to connect the source clips to the placeholder clips.

els. For example, if all the material is in one folder

To prevent reels on the Timeline from being replaced when adding new reels from other locations, select the Don’t Replace Loaded Reels checkbox.

4 If your material is in several folders, repeat the process with the other folders.

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Loading footage

About footage references

An EDL can reference footage with a clip name and reel ID. If the reel ID information is not present, SpeedGrade can use the clip name. If both are present, SpeedGrade references the reel ID first

Sometimes, the reel ID and clip name information don’t match and the footage can't be associated automatically. In this c

e, you can drop material manually from the Desktop on the placeholder reels.

Dissolves

Dissolves between clips according to an EDL are available as A and B layer with a dissolve layer in between. All three layers are generated automatically when conforming an EDL.

Supported EDL features

Reel ID The CMX reel ID is the primary means of identification for a clip. If possible, place reel footage in subfolders

with the Reel ID provided in the 3600 EDL.

CLIP NAME SpeedGrade supports the FROM CLIP NAME syntax in a CMX comment. Clip name is the secondary

means of identification for a clip. If the Reel ID provided is not found or the Reel ID is AX, the clip name is used.

Replacements The syntax REEL AX IS CLIP is supported.

FLIPS AND FLOPS Vertical and horizontal mirroring is supported. The FLIP, FLOP, and FLIP-FLOP comment

keywords are evaluated.

M2 (Time Warp) M2 speed change/time warp commands are supported. Reverse playback is supported.

K (Key) Key commands are not supported and result in an error at load time.

Loading and conforming material

Load audio tracks

1 Open the Desktop view and browse to an audio file (wav or aiff file).

2 Drag the file on the Timeline.

Green tracks represent audio clips.

3 Adjust the position of the audio clip along the Timeline.

4 Enable and disable the audio of a selected track by clicking the speaker icon on the left side of the Timeline.

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Loading footage

5 To change values for sound output, such as the mixing frequency, select Settings > Sound.

The Settings menu is on the upper-right corner of the SpeedGrade workspace.

Detect scene changes

You can automatically detect scene changes in footage that does not have an EDL, such as archived material. Once SpeedGrade has identified scene changes, you can add keyframes to scene changes, or split your footage up into separate clips.

The workflow consists of the following steps:

1 Detect the scene changes.

2 Prepare the footage for grading or editing.

3 Save or export the footage.

Detect scene changes

1 Select your footage on the Timeline.

2 Click the Timeline tab and select the Setup panel.

3 Under Tools, click Scene Change Detect.

The Scene Change Detect dialog box opens and SpeedGrade automatically scans your footage for scene changes.

4 When the scan is complete, you can review the results using the arrow buttons on the left side of the dialog box.

• Step through frames to review the content.

• To confirm scene changes, select the This Frame is a Scene Change checkbox.

• Use the checkbox to add scene changes.

5 If necessary, you can adjust scene detection sensitivity and click Rescan Clip.

Prepare the footage for grading or editing

After marking your scene changes, prepare the footage for grading or editing as follows:

• To separate the footage into individual shots or scenes, click Split into Clips.

• To flag the scene changes, click Add Keyframes to Clip.

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Loading footage

Save or export the footage

Once you split into clips or add keyframes, you can save the scene-detected content as a SpeedGrade project or create an Edit Decision List (EDL).

In the Setup Panel under the Timeline tab, do one of the following:

• To save the content as a SpeedGrade project, click Save IRCP.

• To export an Edit Decision List, click Save EDL.

Using scene change detection

Using scene change detect ion

Display burn-in information on frames

You can "burn" (overlay) metadata information on your frames during playback or on the rendered output. For example, selecting the Standard burn-in preset in SpeedGrade superimposes the following information on the footage:

• Current frame number

• Location on disk of current sequence

• Native time code of current frame (assuming the information exists in the header of the file format you’re using)

Display burn-in information during playback

1 In the Timeline tab, select the View pane.

2 Under Display Options, select a burn-in preset from the Burn In menu.

Note: If the menu is inactive, click the Burn-in tool to make it active.

Display burn-in information on the rendered output

Including burn-in information on rendered output can be useful when creating proxy media for offline editing or dailies for review.

• When setting the rendering options in the Output panel, select a burn-in preset from the menu.

• In the Flash Burn-In For text box, set the number of frames to display the burn-in information. The default setting

is 0, meaning burn-in information is included on all rendered frames.

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Chapter 4: Color grading

Quickstart: Color grade a clip

To load an EDL and color grade a sequence, see Quickstart: Color grade a sequence.

Select a clip

1 In SpeedGrade, select a folder that contains video clips using the file browser in the upper-left corner of the user

interface.

The Desktop window shows thumbnail versions of the content in the selected folder.

To filter the thumbnails by file type, select All Files in the upper-right corner and then select a file type.

2 Place a clip on the Timeline by double-clicking it on the Desktop.

3 Click the Monitor Tab in the upper-left corner to view the image.

The default display size is 100%. To fit the image in the monitor window, click the Zoom to Fit button below the scopes window on the right side of the interface.

Apply a primary color grade

Make basic color changes like temperature, white point, black point, and more, to the entire image. The changes are applied to a primary grading layer.

Access the grading controls by clicking the Look tab in the lower left, below the timeline.

Make global changes

Make global changes to the image with the sliders at the top of the Look panel.

Global adjustment sliders

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To adjust a global setting, do the following:

1 Right-click the triangle icon on the slider and release the click button.

2 Swipe the mouse left or right to change the value.

3 Right-click the triangle icon again to accept the setting.

Make changes to specific regions

Modify color and luminance values in the image's shadow, midtone, and highlight regions using the color control wheels on the Look panel.

Color control wheels

To adjust the luminance, do the following:

• Left-click the triangle icon on a wheel and drag the mouse left or right in a straight line. Don't drag the mouse in a

circle. The further left or right you drag, the larger the change.

To adjust the color, do the following:

1 Right-click inside the circle and release the click button.

2 Swipe the mouse in any direction to change the value.

3 Right-click again to accept the setting.

You can use color sliders instead of control wheels. To access the sliders, press Shift+Enter.

Color sliders

Use the zero (0) key on the numeric keypad to toggle the grade on and off for a quick before and after view. Make sure the NumLock key on your keyboard is selected.

Apply a secondary color grade

Make targeted adjustments to a specific hue range in the image. The changes are applied to a secondary grading layer.

1 Access the secondary color grading tools by selecting the +S icon in the lower-left corner of the Layers window.

2 Select a hue range as follows:

• Select a preset hue option by clicking one of the colored buttons along the top of the Hue selection tool.

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• Sample a hue range by clicking the eyedropper tool with the + icon and then dragging to select a portion of the

image in the Monitor window.

You may have to resize the lower border of the Desktop window to see the eyedropper tools. To resize the window, use the drag resize tool located at the bottom center of the Timeline.

3 View the portion of the image targeted by the hue range selection by selecting an option from the Gray-out menu at

upper-right corner of the Look tab.

4 Make adjustments and refinements to the selection using the upper triangles of the sliders. Use the lower triangles

of the sliders to adjust fall-off.

5 Make secondary corrections with the Off-set and Gain control wheels in the center of the Look window.

6 Soften and blend secondary corrections using the Denoise and Blur sliders on the right of the Look window.

7 After making secondary corrections, set Gray-out to None.

Render a graded clip

1 Click the Output tab in the upper-right corner to open the Metadata Render Engine.

2 Click the Desktop menu and select a destination folder.

3 Assign a name to the rendered file in the File Name textbox.

4 In Format & Options, select a output file format for the render.

If a desired preset doesn’t exist, create a new one by clicking Other.

5 Click Online Quality in the Render section.

6 Click Render.

Quickstart: Color grade a sequence

The workflow for color grading a sequence consists of the following steps:

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Load an EDL

Edit Decision Lists (EDLs) are metadata documents used to migrate project timelines from editing tools like Adobe Premiere Pro to post-production tools like SpeedGrade.

Ti p:

Before starting, place the source clips and the EDL file in a single folder. This organization makes the process

icker and more efficient.

1 In SpeedGrade, select the folder containing the EDL file with the file browser in the upper-left corner of the user

interface.

2 Double-click the EDL file to load it.

Ti p: If you have too many thumbnails, you can filter them for EDL files by selecting the EDL option from the All Fil

es menu in the upper-right corner.

SpeedGrade places placeholder thumbnails in the video track and in the Reels panel. The Reels panel is on the Timeline tab o

n the lower left of the screen.

Reconnect the source clips in the reels

The Reels panel gives an overview of the reels in an EDL. When loading an EDL, SpeedGrade inserts placeholder thumbnails of the source clips in the Reels panel. Reconnect the source clips to the placeholder thumbnails in the Reels panel as follows.

1 If not already done, display the source clips on the Desktop window by selecting the folder containing the source

clips.

2 Filter the thumbnails for the media type of the source clips. Example: QuickTime movies.

3 Click the Timeline tab and then click the Reels panel to view the source clip placeholders.

4 Reconnect the source clips to the thumbnails by clicking Load from Desktop. SpeedGrade reconnects the source

clips on the Desktop and the video track.

Create a grading clip

When color grading a sequence, work in a non-destructive grading clip associated with the video clips in the sequence. Don't grade the video clips directly. The grading clip can be saved, moved, and applied to multiple video clips. Grading clips are managed in the Timeline in a grading track above the video track.

To create a grading clip, click the Setup button on the Timeline tab and do one of the following:

❖ To create a series of grading clips in the grading track, click the Extract Grade Clips button in the third column of

the Setup window.

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❖ To create a grading clip for a single video clip, drag the Grading Clip tool into the grading track above the target clip.

❖ To add grading clips for all the video clips in the video track, drag the Grading Clip tool on a video clip in the video

track.

Apply color grades to a grading clip

1 Select a grading clip in the Timeline, not a video clip.

2 Apply color grades to the selected grading clip. For more information on grading, see Quickstart: Color grade a clip.

The grade is applied to all the video clips sharing the grading clip.

Ti p:

Compare video clips for shot-to-shot color matching by using multiple playheads. For details, see Co

with multiple playheads.

Apply a grading clip to additional video clips

You can apply a single look to additional video clips on the Timeline.

1 Drag the Grading Clip tool from the Timeline tab into the grading track above a video clip.

2 Drag the right side of a grading clip to cover multiple clips.

Grades in the grading clip are applied to any video clips below it.

Render a graded sequence

1 Click the Output tab in the upper-right corner to open the Metadata Render Engine.

2 Click the Desktop menu and select a destination folder.

3 Assign a name to the rendered file in the File Name text box.

4 In Format & Options, select an output file format for the render.

5 Click Online Quality in the Render tab.

6 Click Render.

mpare frames

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Color grading

Adobe Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade workflows

The color grading process is usually the last step in the post-production workflow. If working with high-resolution material or RAW files, you can begin your workflow by creating smaller proxy files in SpeedGrade for offline editing in Adobe Premiere Pro. After your editing is complete, you can relink the edits to the source material in SpeedGrade for grading and finishing.

General editing and grading workflow

1 Edit in Adobe Premiere Pro.

2 Send the footage to SpeedGrade as follows:

• If working with compressed files, use File > Send to Adobe SpeedGrade. Premiere Pro renders out a DPX

sequence and opens it in SpeedGrade.

Note: B lock

• If working with RAW files or on a larger project, export an EDL. See Export a project as an EDL file in Adobe

Premiere Pro Help.

3 Load the material in SpeedGrade and apply color corrections.

4 Render out to your final output file format.

5 Render out a DPX sequence for storage.

ecause a DPX sequence is created, this option is more suitable for shorter projects where you have picture

and are ready for finishing.

You can also import the DPX sequence into Premiere Pro for finishing work such as adding titles and final audio, and then exporting a final master. Importing an uncompressed DPX sequence preserves quality in the event you

to export from Premiere Pro again.

Offline editing and grading workflow

The offline workflow is useful when working with high-resolution material or RAW files.

1 Load the source footage into SpeedGrade.

2 Apply any basic first-light color corrections.

3 Render out proxies. See Create proxy files for offline editing.

4 Import the proxies in Premiere Pro and edit the footage.

5 From Premiere Pro, export an EDL. See Export a project as an EDL file in Adobe Premiere Pro Help.

6 In SpeedGrade, use the EDL to relink the source files. See Multiple-clip workflow.

7 Apply final color corrections to the full resolution source footage.

8 Render out to the file format for your output.

Continuity Checker and Shot Matcher

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Color grading

Continuity Checker

When shooting video, you can have unintended color variations from one shot to another. SpeedGrade lets you even out these differences, and balance the clips such that the video flows smoothly from one clip to the next.

You can quickly compare multiple shots on the timeline using the Continuity Checker, and match the color grading as r

uired. The Continuity Checker is often used in combination with the Shot Matcher feature.

Using Continuity Checker

1 Position the master playhead on a timeline that contains two or more clips.

2 To compare two shots, click 2-Up in the Monitor panel. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+2

(Win)/Option+2 (Mac).

To compare three shots, click 3-Up in the Monitor panel, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+3 (Win)/Option+3 (M

ac).

o remove the additional playheads and view only the current clip, deselect 2-Up or 3-Up, as required. You can also

T use the keyboard shortcut Alt+1(Win)/Option+1(Mac).

Review sequential clips with Continuity Checker to ensure grading consistency

3 You can view multiple shots on the Monitor panel using the Split-screen option, and see the continuity across shots.

4 To match the shots and grade the clips, turn on Shot Matcher by clicking Match in the Monitor panel.

Shot Matcher

SpeedGrade provides you with a feature called Shot Matcher that lets you automatically match color between two video shots from the same or a similar scene. For example, you can quickly correct underexposed or overexposed footage by using another shot as reference.

The Shot Matcher feature works best when used in combination with the Continuity Checker. You can use the C

tinuity Checker to compare the two shots, and then match the color between the shots using Shot Matcher.

For example, say, you have shot a video in different light conditions, and you want to match the skin tone of the model betw

een two shots in the same scene. You can compare the two shots using Continuity Checker, and then match the

color between shots using Shot Matcher.

See the example images below that demonstrate how the Shot Matcher feature can dynamically color match your fo

age.

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Display the snapshots to match side-by-side

When you use Shot Matcher, SpeedGrade adds an adjustment layer to your grade for that clip. You can adjust the opacity or add additional corrections as required.

Using Shot Matcher to automatically match shots and speed up basic color correction

Note: If you try to match shots between two distinctly different scenes, you can get inappropriate results.

Using Shot Matcher

Move the playhead to the frame in your sequence that you want to match. Say, Clip A.

1 Move the playhead to the frame in your sequence that you want to match. Say, Clip A.

2 Create a second playhead. To do so, press the Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) key and drag the Move

Playhead icon to the required frame in the Timeline. For more information, see Create an additional playhead.

3 Make sure that you move the second playhead to the correct frame to be matched. Say, Clip B. When you do so, the

two snapshots to match (Clip A and Clip B) are displayed side-by-side or in a split-screen layout

Note: Shot Matcher w orks only when you use two playheads. If you t ry to u se three or more playheads, the Shot Matcher

ture is disabled.

fea

4 Select the playhead on the clip to match as the master playhead. For example, select Clip A as the master playhead.

Note: To select a playhead as the master playhead, click the playhead number. For more information, see Se

playhead.

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lect a master

Color grading

5 Click the Match button or use the keyboard shortcut Control (Windows)/Command (Mac)+ M.

A new grading layer "AutoColorMatch" is automatically added to the grading layer stack. You can then enable, dis

able, remove, or save the look as a preset.

Matching a Photoshop grade

You can now apply a color grade that you create in Adobe Photoshop to your video clip by following these steps:

1 In Photoshop, use all the necessary tools to grade the image, and save the image as a TGA file.

2 In SpeedGrade, reference the TGA file using the new Snapshot browser. A thumbnail of the graded image appears.

3 Move the playhead to the frame in your sequence that you want to match.

4 Click the thumbnail to view the graded Photoshop image in the Monitor view side-by-side with the clip to match.

5 Click Shot Matcher.

SpeedGrade extracts the color grading of the Photoshop image and applies the grading to the selected clip.

Snapshot View and Snapshot browser

SpeedGrade provides you a Snapshot view that lets you quickly capture and save still images of clips. You can then use these images as reference, or compare to other clips using a split screen.

You can also import TGA images from other applications such as Adobe Photoshop to use as a reference for color corr

ections and grading. For more information, see Matching a Photoshop grade .

The Snapshot Browser provides an easy way to store and view images that you save. You can later reference and access t

e images for your color-grading work.

hes

Using the Snapshot view and Snapshots browser

1 Position the master playhead on the required clip in your footage, and click the Snapshot icon in the Monitor panel.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift+C.

Turning on the Snapshot view

2 You can view the snapshot side-by-side on the Monitor view in a splitscreen mode. To turn off the Snapshot View,

click the Snapshot icon again.

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Viewing the snapshot on the Monitor view

3 The saved snapshot is saved as a TGA file along with a JPG thumbnail preview (160x45 pixel). You can view the

saved images using the Snapshots browser.

The Snapshots browser provides a collapsible treeview structure with multiple tab support.

Snapshots browser

The snapshots are stored in the following default locations on your computer file system:

• Mac: /Users/Documents/Adobe/SpeedGrade/7.0/settings/snapshots/

• Win: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\SpeedGrade\7.0\settings\snapshots

You can access the snapshots from these locations to share the images.

Work with masks

Apply a mask

A mask isolates a region of an image so that you can selectively grade the region. In SpeedGrade, a mask is attached to a grading clip.

1 Add a grading clip to a video clip in the video track. See Create a grading clip.

2 Click the Mask tab and select one of the mask presets.

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For a feathered mask, select the Vignette Mask.

The Mask widget appears in the Monitor window.

3 Do any of the following to adjust the location, size, and shape of the mask:

• To reposition the center of the mask, drag the center cross-hair.

• To expand the horizontal size of the mask, drag the horizontal-arrow control to the right or left.

• To expand the vertical size of the mask, drag the vertical-arrow control up or down.

• To rotate the mask, drag the rotational control curve up or down.

• To expand the feather size of the Vignette mask, drag the outer edge feather rectangle control on the lower-left

corner of the widget.

• To adjust the angle of the mask, drag the bottom skew control triangle.

4 Specify the region to grade by clicking the Look tab and select one of the following options in the Layers panel on

the left:

• Apply Grading Layer to the Outside of a Mask (second icon)

• Apply Grading Layer to the Inside of a Mask (third icon)

Note: The first icon -- do not apply the grading to a mask -- is selected by default. The last three icons on the right specify

ether to apply a grading layer to the alpha or inverted alpha channel (neither by default).

5 Grade the region defined by the mask.

For example, drag the Gamma Level control on the outside of t mask.

he Gamma Control wheel to darken the outside of a

Apply additional masks

You can apply additional masks by adding more grading clips to a video track.

1 Add another grading clip to a video track by dragging the Grading Clip icon to the track. See Create a grading clip.

Assign names to the grading clips to organize mask assignments. Double-click the string “untitled grading” of each grading clip and specify a name. Example: “Vignette Mask.”

2 In the Mask tab, select the new grading clip and then apply a mask and adjust it. See Apply a mask .

For example, add a circle mask preset and adjust it over a subject's face.

3 In the Look tab, specify whether you want to grade the region inside or outside the mask.

4 Grade the region.

For example, drag the Gain control outer-wheel clockwise to brighten the subject’s face.

5 If desired, apply additional masks by adding grading clips.

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Masking and Tracking

Masking in Premiere Pro

You can leverage the powerful masking and tracking workflows from After Effects directly within Premiere Pro.

Masks let you target specific areas in a clip to which you want to apply effects or color corrections. You can apply the eff

ects either inside or outside the masked area.

One of the common uses of masking is to blur a person's face to protect their identity. For example, you can mask a per

son's face by applying a Blur effect or a Mosaic effect.

You can also use masking in more creative ways like applying a mask to correct a specific color. Or you can use an inv

erse mask selection to exclude the masked area from color corrections applied to the rest of the clip.

In addition, you can add multiple shape masks with different effects to different areas of a clip.

Faces blurred with shape masks A Masked with Gaussian Blur effect B Masked with Mosaic effect

Create shape masks

A shape mask defines the specific area in a clip that you want to blur, cover, highlight, or apply color correction to.

1 In the Timeline, select the clip containing the area that you want to mask.

2 From the Effects panel, select the effect that you want to apply to the masked area.

For example, if you want to apply the Mosaic effect, select Video Effects > Stylize > Mosaic.

3 Apply the selected effect to a clip by dragging the effect icon from the Effects panel to the clip in the Timeline panel.

Alternatively, select the clip and double-click an effect in the Effects panel to apply it.

You can apply the same effect multiple times by using different settings each time.

For more information on applying an effect, see Apply effects to clips .

4 When you apply an effect, the effect is first applied to the entire clip. You can confine the effect to a specific area by

defining the area to mask using the Effects Control panel.

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Ensure that you have selected the clip in the Timeline to display the properties of the effect in the Effect Controls panel. The applied effect displays the Mask buttons. The Mask buttons let you create two basic shapes: ellipse and four-point polygon.

Mask buttons A Click to create an ellipse-shaped mask B Click to create a four-point polygon-shaped mask

When you click a mask button, a shape mask area appears on the clip in the Program Monitor and the effect is constrained to the masked area.

A, B, C, D: Handles to adjust the shape, size, and rotation of the mask shapes

• To change the shape of a mask, drag a mask handle.

• To resize a mask, press the Shift key while dragging a mask handle (cursor becomes a double-sided arrow ).

• To rotate the mask, place your cursor just outside a handle (cursor becomes a curved double-sided arrow ),

and then drag. Press the Shift key while dragging the cursor to constrain the rotation in 22.5 degree increments.

For polygon-shaped masks, you can add and remove points to a mask as follows:

Note: You cannot add or remove points from ellipse-shaped masks.

• To add a mask point, place your cursor over a mask edge while pressing the Ctrl Key (Win) or Cmd key (Mac).

The cursor changes to a pen shape with a "+" sign . Click to add the point to the mask shape.

• To remove a mask point, place your cursor over the point to remove while pressing the Ctrl Key (Win) or Cmd

key (Mac). The cursor changes to a pen shape with a minus sign . Click to remove the selected point from the mask shape.

Advanced mask settings

You can find additional controls to adjust a mask in the Effects Controls panel. You can track the mask, change the opacity, expand the mask, invert the mask, or feather the mask edges.

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Important notes

• Premiere Pro does not save masks as effects presets.

• Masking is disabled for the Warp Stabilizer effect. The mask shape controls do not appear for the Warp Stabilizer

effect in the Effect Controls Panel.

A Tra ck t he ma sk B Invert masked and unmasked areas C Change mask expansion D Adjust mask opacity E Feather mask edges

Feather mask edges

You can smooth the edges of a mask shape with feathering to provide an aesthetically pleasing result.

To soften the mask selection border so that it blends into the area outside the selection, enter a Mask Feather value.

A Without feathering B With feathering applied

Adjust opacity and expansion

You can adjust the opacity of a mask by specifying a Mask Opacity value. The slider controls the mask opacity. At a value of 100, the mask is opaque and blocks out any underlying area of the layer. As you lower the opacity, more of the area under the mask becomes visible.

Specify a Mask Expansion value to move the borders of the mask inwards or outwards. Positive values move the borders out

and negative values move it inward.

ward,

Invert mask selection

Select the Inverted check box to reverse the masked and unmasked areas. You can protect areas that you want to leave as-is by masking it, and select the Inverted check box to apply effects to the unmasked areas.

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Lumetri Look applied to unmasked area using the Invert mask selection

Copy and paste masks

You can easily copy and paste masks between clips or between effects.

Copy and paste effects with masks between clips

When you copy and paste an effect containing masks, the past

1 In the Timeline panel, select the clip containing the effect with masks.

2 In the Effect Controls panel, select the effect to copy.

3 Select Edit > Copy. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Win) or Cmd+C (Mac).

4 Select another clip in the Timeline to which you want to paste the mask.

5 Select Edit > Paste. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (Win) or Cmd+V (Mac).

effect has the same masks applied.

Copy and paste masks between effects

1 In the Effect Controls panel, click the triangle to expand the effect to reveal the applied masks.

2 Select the mask to copy.

3 Select Edit > Copy. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Win) or Cmd+C (Mac).

4 Select another effect in the Effects Control panel to which you want to paste the mask.

5 Choose Edit > Paste. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (Win) or Cmd+V (Mac).

Note: You can copy and paste only one mask at a time.

Mask tracking

When you apply a mask to an object, Premiere Pro can let the mask automatically follow the object as it moves from one frame to another. For example, after blurring a face using a shape mask, Premiere Pro can automatically track the movements of the masked face from frame to frame as the person moves.

When a mask is selected, the Effect Controls panel displays co

rols for tracking the mask forward or backward. You

can choose to track the mask either one frame at a time or until the end of the sequence.

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Click the wrench icon to modify how masks are tracked. You can select from a few choices to provide the most effective tracking:

Position Tracks just the mask position from frame to frame

Position And Rotation Tracks the mask position while changing the rotation as required per frame

Position, Scale, And Rotation Tracks the mask position while automatically scaling and rotating as the frame moves

You can find the option that works best for your clip by trial. Select one of these options, and if it doesn't work well, undo, and try another one.

To use the more advanced tracking features available in After Effects, send your sequence to After Effects using the D

ic Link feature. For more information, see Mask Tracking in After Effects.

ynam

Video tutorial

How to blur a moving face with masking and tracking

In this 5-min video tutorial, learn how to apply a feathered mask to protect a person's identity and then track that mask as it mo

ves across the frame in a scene.

The tutorial provides you sample files to try out the feature for yourself.

Track a masked object through a shot

Track the masked object automatically

1 On the first frame of the track, apply a mask on the target object and grade it.

For instructions, see Wor k w i t h m a sks.

2 In the Mask panel, click the Track Object button.

The button is on the lower-right side of the Mask panel. You might need to scroll the panel down to see it.

The mask automatically tracks the target object through the shot.

See the next section if the following applies:

• The mask can't follow the object after clicking the Track Object button

• You want the tracking to begin or end later in the shot

Control the movement of a mask manually

Use keyframes to manually control the position of a mask over time. A keyframe marks the point in time where you specify the shape or position of the mask. You typically use at least two keyframes—one for the position at the beginning of the change, and one for the new position at the end of the change. SpeedGrade animates the transition between the keyframes. For more information, see Work wit h k e yf r a me s .

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Color grading

Keyframes are useful when the target object cannot be followed automatically. You can also use keyframes to change the shape and feather of a mask over time.

1 In the Mask panel, do the following:

a Move the playhead to the position on the timeline where you want the mask to start tracking the object.

b Click the Record Keyframe button to insert a keyframe.

Record keyframe button

Note: You don’t have to insert a starting keyframe if you want the mask to track the target object from the first frame of the track. SpeedGrade adds a keyframe to the first frame as soon as you add a grading clip.

2 Apply a mask over the target object at the keyframe, and then grade the mask in the Look panel.

For instructions, see Wor k w i t h m a sks.

If you want the mask to track the object automatically from

t point forward in the shot, click the Track Object

tha

button on the lower-right side of the Mask panel.

3 Insert a second keyframe in the timeline as follows:

a Switch to the Mask panel and move the playhead to the second position on the timeline where you want the

movement of the mask to end.

b Click Record Keyframe.

4 Reposition the mask over the target object at the second keyframe.

5 To create a dissolve between the two keyframes, click the Record Keyframe button a second time on the second

position.

SpeedGrade indicates the dissolve with an arrow on the track between the two positions.

6 If necessary, add more keyframes and adjust the position of the mask at each keyframe.

More Help topics

Work wit h m a sks

Work with keyframes

Color grade a clip

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Color grading

Adjust color temperature

Adjust the color temperature by dragging the Color Temperature slider in the Look panel.

If the image is too warm, lower the color temperature by dragging the Color Temperature slider to the left.

If the image is too cool, increase the color temperature by dragging the Color Temperature slider tool to the right.

Low temperature

High temperature

Balance blacks and whites

Balancing blacks is the first step in the color correction workflow. You can use the Offset color wheel or the vertical slider in the Look panel to balance blacks.

Once the blacks look good, move on to balancing the whites. Use the Gain color wheel or vertical slider in the Look pane

l to balance whites.

Note: T

o use RGB sliders instead of the color wheels. Click the Sliders mode button on the upper-left of the coloring tools.

e the RGB Parade scope to guide your adjustments. To display the RGB Parade scope, open the Analysis Tools panel

Us by

pressing the A key. For more information, see RGB Parade.

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Color grading

Set black balance

In the Look panel, you can use the Offset color wheel or vertical slider to normalize color levels in shadows.

Drag the hue control tool in the center of the Offset color wheel by doing the following:

1 Right-click inside the wheel and release the click button.

2 Swipe the mouse in any direction to change the value.

3 Right-click again to accept the setting

You can also control the Offset color wheel by moving the vertical slider up and down.

A Vertical slider B Color wheel

Example

If the image is tinted yellow in the shadows, push the Offset hue control tool toward blue to balance the black values. The adjustment results in the following waveform change.

Before adjusting black balance

After adjusting black balance

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Color grading

Set black level

In the Look panel, drag the triangle icon on the Offs et control wheel u ntil the valle ys of the waveform rest on the 0 level of the waveform display. Drag clockwise to raise the valleys or counter-clockwise to lower the valleys.

To move the triangle icon on the color wheel, drag it left or r

ht in a straight line. Don't drag in a circle. The further

left or right you drag, the larger the change.

Moving the valleys below the 0 level eliminates details in the shadows.

Example

After lowering black value

Set white balance

In the Look panel, drag the hue control tool in the center of the Gain color wheel to normalize color levels in shadows.

Gain color wheel

To move the hue control tool, do the following:

1 Right-click inside the wheel and release the click button.

2 Swipe the mouse in any direction to change the value.

3 Right-click again to accept the setting.

Use the RGB waveform as a guide to adjust highlight color values. In the following example, the blue waveform is lower than

the red and green ones.

Before adjusting white balance

Pushing the gain hue control tool toward cyan and blue balances out the shadows.

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Color grading

After adjusting white balance

Set white level

In the Look panel, drag the triangle icon on the Gain control wheel until the peaks of the waveform touch the 100 level of the RGB waveform display. Drag clockwise to lift the peaks or counter-clockwise to lower the peaks.

To move the triangle icon on the color wheel, drag it left or r left or right you drag, the larger the change.

Or you can move the vertical slider up and down.

Moving the waveform above the 100 level blows out the whites a

After raising white value

ht in a straight line. Don't drag in a circle. The further

liminates details in the highlights. Example:

nd e

Adjust gamma

Gamma is the relative bright and dark value of the image.

Adjust the gamma setting by dragging the triangle icon on the Gamma color wheel in the Look panel. Drag clockwise

wer the gamma setting or counter-clockwise to increase it.

to lo

Gamma color wheel

To move the triangle icon on the color wheel, drag it left or right in a straight line. Don't drag in a circle. The further left or right you drag, the larger the change.

Use the RGB waveform to guide your adjustments. To display key. For more information, see RGB Parade.

If the image appears milky, flat or lacks punch, increase the gamma setting by dragging the triangle icon countercl

kwise.

If the image has punch but lacks shadow detail, lower the gamma setting by dragging the triangle icon clockwise.

the Waveform panel in the Monitor view, press the W

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Color grading

Low gamma

Normal gamma

High gamma

Grade a specific tonal range

You can make color corrections to a specific tonal range, such as the highlights, shadows, or midtones.

1 Select Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights on the upper part of the Look panel.

2 Make color corrections using the color wheels and sliders.

3 Extend or limit the affected tonal range using the slider on the right side of the color wheels.

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Color grading

For example, if grading in the shadows, pushing the slider up extends the changes into the midtone region of the image. Pushing the slider down limits the changes deeper into the shadows.

Ton al ran g e sli der

Secondary color correction

Apply filters and effects

Use filters and effects to quickly apply advanced grading styles to clips.

1 Load a clip on the Timeline.

2 In the Layers panel on the Look tab, click the + icon and then select an effect or filter from the menu.

The + icon is on the lower part of the Layers panel.

3 Modify the effect or filter with the grading tools in the Look panel.

Note: The tools available vary depending on the effect or filter you selected.

4 Adjust the strength of the effect or filter with the opacity slider on the upper side of the Layers panel.

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Color grading

Adjust the framing of shots with pan and scan

Use pan and scan to adjust the framing of your shots for different output formats. You can reposition, scale, rotate, and skew your image to fit best into other frame format.

Use keyframing to make adjustments within a shot or from shot to shot. For more information, see Wo r k w i t h

keyframes.

Create a pan and scan track

1 Drag the Pan & Scan button on the timeline to create a pan and scan track. The Pan & Scan button is on the Timeline

panel, under Timeline Elements.

A green Pan & Scan track appears on the Timeline.

2 Click the pan and scan track to open the Pan and Scan panel.

3 Select the output format from the Crop Preset menu.

Note: You can enter any other format in the Crop text box.

4 Use the Pan and Scan widget to position, scale, rotate, or skew the image within the new frame format. The widget

works like the Mask Widget. See Apply a Mask to learn more about using the widget.

Note: Th and

You can also apply Pan and Scan adjustment numerically in the Pan & Scan panel. Click the R button to reset to defa

e Pan and Scan widget does not have all the functionality of the Mask widget. For example, the feathering

spline nodes are not available.

ult.

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Color grading

Change pan-and-scan adjustments along a clip

The pan and scan track is a global track along the entire timeline. Any pan-and-scan adjustments affect the whole clip. Use keyframes to change the adjustments along the clip. For details on using keyframes, see Work with keyframes.

The typical workflow for making pan-and-scan adjustments along a clip consists of the following steps.

1 Create a keyframe at the beginning of the clip.

2 Create another keyframe at any position further along the timeline where the settings should no longer be effective.

3 Create a dissolve from one keyframe to the next by pushing the Record Keyframe button a second time at the second

position.

4 Adjust the pan-and-scan settings at the two keyframe positions.

Pan and scan preview options

You can choose from three different preview options from the Crop Preview menu: Normal (crop), Transparent, and Outline. Select the view that best serves your project.

Normal (crop) preview

Transparent preview

Outline preview

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Color grading

Grade a specific color range

Secondary color corrections are applied to specific color ranges within your images. They let you accent, modify, or tone down parts of an image.

For a video, see Secondary Color Correction by Patrick Palmer.

Select and grade a color range

1 In the Look panel, click the +S icon to add a secondary grading layer.

2 Select a color range to target. Do one of the following to select a range:

a Choose a preset color range from the range selector.

Note: You may have to scroll down the Look panel to see the range selector.

none of the six standard colors is a good starting point,

If to see more options.

You can also deselect the Hue, Lightness, or Saturation options. This is useful for targeting a specific luma zone for gr

ading. For example, turning off Hue and Saturation gives you a clean lightness key.

b Sample a color range in the image. Click the sample range button (the eyedropper icon with the plus sign), hold

down the left mouse button, and move over the color range you’d like to sample. Release the mouse button when you're done.

click the gray button on the right side of the selectors

3 Use the Grey-out options in the right corner of the Look panel to view the selected region of the image.

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Color grading

4 Expand or restrict the target color range by dragging the Hue, Lightness, and Saturation sliders.

The top sliders moves the entire selected range. The bottom sliders feather the selection.

5 Color correct the target range using the grading tools such as the contrast slider or the Offset color wheel.

Example: Isolating skin tones with secondaries

1 Add a secondary grading layer by clicking the +S button in the Look panel.

2 Sample skin tones by clicking the sample range button (the eyedropper icon with the plus sign), holding down the

left mouse button, and dragging a rectangle across a range of skin in the image.

The range selector sliders display the sampled color values:

3 View the selected region of the image by selecting the Color/Gray option in the Gray-out menu.

4 Adjust the range selection by dragging the Hue, Lightness, and Saturation sliders.

For example, you want to work on a narrower range of skin tones.

5 Smooth out skin blemishes and wrinkles by dragging the Blur slider to the right.

6 Warm up skin tones by dragging the Offset hue control toward yellow.

Stereoscopic workflows

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Chapter 5: Managing looks

Working with Looks

Worki n g w i t h L o o ks

Share and reuse looks

SpeedGrade can save color grading information in .Look files for reuse. Because the files are small, you can easily store them or share them with others.

Save and share a Look

Save a Look

1 Grade some material.

2 In the Look tab, click the Save Look button on the lower right side of the Layers panel.

You can also press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Macintosh) to save the Look file.

The .Look file appears in the Look browser as a thumbnail. The default location for the files is ../SpeedGrade/settings/looks.

Note: I

f you get an error that the folder is read-only, close SpeedGrade and then run it as administrator. In Windows,

ght-click the start icon and select Run as Administrator.

3 If desired, rename the .Look file by clicking the current name and typing a new name.

Share a Look

1 Locate the .Look file to share. The default location of .Look files is ../SpeedGrade/settings/looks.

2 Send the file as an email attachment or move or copy it to a shared folder in the Cloud or on a network.

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Managing looks

Use the Look Manager

The Look Manager lets you effectively organize, view, or minimize the Look presets that you save.

You can choose from the following three different views to display Look presets:

• Look Management View

• Quick View

• Minimized Browser View

Look Management View Displays the Look presets as thumbnails in multiple rows. You can view several .look files at

once. You also have a tree-view navigation structure to set the default Looks folder.

Look Management View mode

Quick View Displays Look presets as thumbnails in a single row

Quick View mode

Minimized Browser View Displays the Look Manager in a tabbed-browser view without displaying any thumbnails.

This view gives the Monitor panel more screen space for your grading work.

Apply a Look

Apply a Look in SpeedGrade

1 Select a clip or grading track.

2 In the Look Manager, navigate to the folder containing the .Look file you want to use. Use the left and right arrow

keys to navigate to more folders.

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Managing looks

3 Select a .Look file and press Enter to apply it.

You can also drag the .Look file on the Timeline. It appears as a grading clip that you can resize and reposition to apply the look across multiple clips, scenes, or a whole project.

Apply a Look in After Effects

Adobe After Effects supports native .Look files.

1 With footage open in After Effects, select Effect > Utility > Apply Color LUT.

2 Select the .Look file from your hard disk.

To blend the look in After Effects, create an adjustment layer abo > Utility > Apply Color LUT). In the Timeline, select the adju

transparency control. Adjust the transparency to blend the look.

ve the clip in the Timeline, then apply the look (Effect

stment layer, then press the T key to bring up the

Apply a Look in Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop supports native .Look files.

1 With an image open in Photoshop, select Image > Adjustments > Color Lookup.

2 In the Color Lookup dialog box, select the Load 3D LUT option.

3 Select the .Look file from your hard disk and click OK.

For more control over the look, create a Color Look Up adjustment layer. Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Lookup, and then select the .look file from the context menu.

Export a Look

You can export a .Look file with one or more LUT files to use in Adobe Premiere Pro or a third-party application.

Note: LUTs do not include masks or effects such as blur or glow.

1 In the Look Manager, right-click (Win) or Ctrl-click (Mac) the .Look file and select Export Look.

2 Select additional files to include, and click Export.

SpeedGrade creates a zip file containing the files.

Note: A L

UT is not required if you're sharing a look with After Effects or Photoshop, which support native .Look files.

Delete a Look

You can delete a saved Look by following these steps:

1 In the Look Manager, right-click (Win) or Ctrl-click (Mac) the .Look file and select Delete Look.

2 Confirm the deletion.

Apply Looks with Looks Manager

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Chapter 6: Rendering out

Rendering out your project

Create proxy files for offline editing

For a faster workflow, you can work on low-bitrate proxy files (“proxies”) rendered from high-bitrate master files. This article describes how to create proxy files for offline editing while preserving both the original file naming and source time code.

1 Move all the source clips to the Timeline as follows:

a Browse to the source folder in the SpeedGrade Desktop.

b Click the Add All button on the lower-right side of the Desktop.

2 Define the output folder for the rendered proxy files as follows:

a Select the Output tab.

b Specify an output path in the Folder field with the breadcrumb control.

3 Instead of typing a file name for the proxy files, specify the following file naming option:

a In the File Name field, click the M icon for lists of preset metadata tags.

b Select the “Src.PathElement.0” option.

This option splits the Timeline into individual QuickTime files for rendering. It also matches the output file name

ource file name.

to the s

4 Set the Time Code Source to the Source option to preserve the master file time code information.

You can also set the time code source to other time code generators based on the workflow.

5 Select the output format, calibration lookup table (LUT), and framing settings as with any regular render job.

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Rendering out

6 Select Online Quality or Offline Quality and then click Render.

Save an EDL

You can export an Edit Decision List (EDL) of assembled clips from the Timeline.

1 With two or more clips on the Timeline, click the Setup button on the Timeline panel.

2 In the Tools panel on the right side of the panel, click Save EDL.

3 Name the EDL, select a folder, and click Save.

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Chapter 7: System Requirements

System requirements for SpeedGrade

Last updated 6/15/2014

Macromedia Speedgrade - CC User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Legal notices

Contents

Chapter 1: What's new

New features summary

Improved Direct Link workflow

Master Clip effects

Broadcast standard scopes

New YUV Vectorscope

Clamp scopes

Enhanced Luma Waveform

User Interface enhancements

Redesigned Look Manager

Vertical sliders for luminance control

Other changes

New SpeedLooks

Playback keyboard shortcuts matching Premiere Pro

Chapter 2: Workspace

SpeedGrade workspace

Main Toolbar

Media Tab

Color Tab

Render Tab

Result Tab

Mask and Look panels

Desktop basics

Show or hide the Desktop view

Navigate to a folder

Filter the files in the Desktop view

Refresh the Desktop view

Timeline basics

Playhead

Tracks

Manage tracks

Play a part of the Timeline

Navigate along the Timeline

Zoom the Timeline

Change the Timeline view

Delete the Timeline

Playback basics

Playback shortcuts

Playback controls

Playback indicators

Change the base frame rate

Change the playback frame rate

Change the playback mode

Compare frames with multiple playheads

Create an additional playhead

Select a master playhead

Adjust the interval between playheads

Delete a playhead

Work in split-screen mode

Keyboard shortcuts

Work with projects

Create your first project

Start a new project

Open a project

Save a project

Work on multiple projects at the same time

Rename a project

Delete a project

Move a project to another computer

Set up dual displays

Standard dual-monitor setup

Advanced dual-monitor setup

Direct Link workflow between Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade

About Direct Link

Edit and grade Premiere Pro sequences with Direct Link

Open Premiere Pro projects directly in SpeedGrade

Working with offline media

Working with After Effects Compositions

Limitations in Direct Link mode

Video tutorial

Image analysis tools

Histogram

Vectorscope

RGB Parade