Color for Video Editors

Learn practical strategies that can help you simplify color correction tasks for nearly any video project.

Introduction

• Welcome and what you need to know before taking this course
• Exercise files
• Essential color correction vocabulary

1. Understanding How People See

• Color correction should be easy, right?
• A quick primer: Human visual physiology
• The psychology of seeing

2. Getting Set Up for Successful Color Correction

• Controlled and correcting lighting with a neutral environment
• Reference monitoring and calibration vs. computer monitors
• The real world: Grandma's pink TV

3. Starting a Grade: Creative Evaluation

• Learning to creatively evaluate a project
• Interpreting client direction while understanding client tendencies and references
• What would you do? Creative evaluation examples

4. Starting a Grade: Time and Effort

• How long and how much effort will a project take to color correct?
• The six stages of color correcting a project
• How much time and effort: Examples

5. Starting a Grade: Technical Evaluation

• The role video scopes play in evaluating shots
• Using a waveform to judge contrast and white/black levels
• Using a vectorscope to judge overall color and saturation
• Using RGB Parade and RGB Overlay waveforms to judge color balance
• Using a histogram to judge contrast and color balance
• Additional scope concepts: Skin tone, colorfulness, and shot matching

6. Starting a Grade: Workflow

• The six parts of grading a project
• In action: Identifying hero shots
• In action: Starting with brightness
• In action: Moving next to color
• In action: Versioning shots
• In action: Saving, comparing, and exporting stills
• In action: Getting to the end and making quick matches
• In action: Worrying about the details

7. Additional Color Correction Management Concepts

• Timeline level grading
• Building a correction and look toolkit

Conclusion

• Summary