As someone who does color correction as often within an NLE as in a dedicated grading application, it’s nice to see that Apple and Adobe are not treating their color tools as an afterthought. (No snide Apple Color comments, please.) Both the Final Cut Pro 10.1.2 and Creative Cloud 2014 updates include new tools specifically designed to improve color correction. (Click the images below for an expanded view with additional explanation.)
Apple Final Cut Pro 10.1.2
This FCP X update includes a new, built-in LUT (look-up table) feature designed to correct log-encoded camera files into Rec 709 color space. This type of LUT is camera-specific and FCP X now comes with preset LUTs for ARRI, Sony, Canon and Blackmagic Design cameras. This correction is applied as part of the media file’s color profile and, as such, takes affect before any filters or color correction is applied.
These LUTs can be enabled for master clips in the event, or after a clip has been edited to a sequence (FCP X project). The log processing can be applied to a single clip or a batch of clips in the event browser. Simply highlight one or more clips, open the inspector and choice the “settings” selection. In that pane, access the “log processing” pulldown menu and choose one of the camera options. This will now apply that camera LUT to all selected clips and will stay with a clip when it’s edited to the sequence. Individual clips in the sequence can later be enabled or disabled as needed. This LUT information does not pass though as part of an FCPXML roundtrip, such as sending a sequence to Resolve for color grading.
Although camera LUTs are specific to the color science used for each camera model’s type of log encoding, this doesn’t mean you can’t use a different LUT. Naturally some will be too extreme and not desirable. Some, however, are close and using a different LUT might give you a desirable creative result, somewhat like cross-processing in a film lab.
Adobe CC 2014 – Premiere Pro CC and SpeedGrade CC
In this CC 2014 release, Adobe added master clip effects that travel back and forth between Premiere Pro CC and SpeedGrade CC via Direct Link. Master clip effects are relational, meaning that the color correction is applied to the master clip and, therefore, every instance of this clip that is edited to the sequence will have the same correction applied to it automatically. When you send the Premiere Pro CC sequence to SpeedGrade CC, you’ll see that the 2014 version now has two correction tabs: master clip and clip. If you want to apply a master clip effect, choose that tab and do your grade. If other sections of the same clip appear on the timeline, they have automatically been graded.
Of course, with a lot of run-and-gun footage, iris levels and lighting changes, so one setting might not work for the entire clip. In that case, you can add a second level of grading by tweaking the shot in the clip tab. Effectively you now have two levels of grading. Depending on the show, you can grade in the master clip tab, the clip tab or both. When the sequence goes back to Premiere Pro CC, SpeedGrade CC corrections are applied as Lumetri effects added to each sequence clip. Any master clip effects also “ripple back” to the master clip in the bin. This way, if you cut a new section from an already-graded master clip to that or any other sequence, color correction has already been applied to it.
In the example I created for the image above, the shot was graded as a master clip effect. Then I added more primary correction and a filter effect, by using the clip mode for the first time the clip appears in the sequence. This was used to create a cartoon look for that segment on the timeline. Compare the two versions of these shots – one with only a master clip effect (shots match) and the other with a separate clip effect added to the first (shots are different).
Since master clip effects apply globally to source clips within a project, editors should be careful about changing them or copy-and-pasting them, as you may inadvertently alter another sequence within the same project.
©2014 Oliver Peters
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