Color correction - Tips & advice

[Simbo]

Hi,

I am new to the world of camcorders and video editing. Having bought my first ever camcorder in November I've managed to put together 2 family videos so far using Sony Vegas 9 Pro.

Now (as I'm sure you are all familiar with) I am striving for better looking video. I have read that color correction is a good tool to use...its something I have no experience in whatsoever.

Is it something that you can use the same settings for every time? Or will the settings vary depending on the video clip you are using?

Also will the default color correction tool in Vegas suffice? Maybe a 3rd party plugin will do a better job?

Any help would be great.

[Stephan]

A few ideas...

1. I found there's a long way before you really need color correction. First and foremost, you need to identify if / why you feel dissatisfied with your video colors, what it is specifically that you want to improve. It would be pointless to engage into color correction stuff without knowing precisely what goal you want to reach.

2. Then, color correction isn't the only answer. You can often address issues by properly using your camcorder. For example, I found that when shooting outdoors, the outdoor white balance preset is enough to get outstanding colors in most situations. No color correction required in post usually, unless you're dealing with very specific light or contrast situations that require special exposure strategies. When shooting outdoors, I now only use color correction to fix exposure occasionally. Indoors is trickier though.

3. If you opt to jump down the rabbit hole of color correction, that isn't a magic wand that fixes your colors automatically with the same settings everytime. Sure, you can get tools like Magic Bullet Looks (they don't support Vegas 9 yet), which automatically applies color templates onto your footage, and you get just that: templated colors that look like yet another video that's gone through MB Looks templates.

The point is, color correction is tailored to every shot. For two reasons: either your colors are off and you need to "fix them in post" (and that ordinarily varies from shot to shot), or you have shot your video with a specific look in mind (and you have planned for very specific color correction, not just something canned & standard).

4. Requirements.

First, you need a high-quality monitor that you have calibrated and profiled with a hardware probe (I recommend the X-Rite Eye-One Display 2 or the Color Munki).

In terms of software tools, what you need is:

• The waveform monitor (there's also its companion vectorscope, but I seldom use it),
• The "RGB parade" monitor,
• A 3-way color correction tool (for shadows, mid-tones, and highlights) that can work both in primary color correction mode (on the whole image) and secondary color correction (only on parts of the image).
• Luminance settings (pedestal, gain) or alternatively a luminance curve tool.

Vegas Pro has all those, I believe (Vegas Family Comparison). The consumer versions have the white balance tool, but without the waveform monitor and curves, I'd find them a bit useless for color correction.

If you would like to learn about color correction, not just about the tools but also *why* you might want to do color correction, read Steve Hullfish's splending book: The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction.

[Arkady Bolotin]

Kudos to Stephan’s `few ideas’ about color correction. I fully agree with all of them. His suggestions are must-read for everyone who is interested in improving or artistically enhancing a video production.

I would like to add just one practical recommendation. You may want a “better looking video” not because of incorrect colors per se but rather as a consequence of wrong white balance. If this is the case, you can use White Balance Video FX in Vegas 9 Pro. Invoke it, click with the small pipette on something in the picture that is supposed to be white, and that’s it. You can adjust the white balance overall or only in a particular clip.

[Simbo]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice.

As I mentioned before I am new to all of this so Im sure the more I read about the subject the more I will become aware of where and when I should be using it.

The main aim of using color correction at the moment was to try and make the colours in my video 'pop' a bit more. I guess its just a matter of trying various settings to get the desired effect.

[Stephan]

Thank you Arkady!

Indeed, an example of wrong white balance: how to correct daylight turning blue (check the 2nd part of that article), when you mix daylight with artificial light and your camcorder's white balance has locked onto the artificial light.

On the opposite, I found one situation that is unrelated to white balance and that you cannot address only with the camcorder: how to correct the red / orange color of sodium street lights.

Simbo, I believe the best special effects are those that your audience will *not* notice. You can make colors 'pop' more by increasing saturation levels, but people will then wonder why their faces turn reddish... Don't overdo your video. I'd suggest you first make sure you know how to record accurate colors (even if they look a bit dull to your eyes at first), and then you will be able to start being creative.

[Doughie]

The main aim of using color correction at the moment was to try and make the colours in my video 'pop' a bit more. I guess its just a matter of trying various settings to get the desired effect.

Some great advice already written above. I will add that you can easily get a bit more punch by using Video FX of "Sony Brightness and Contrast" and "Sony Saturation Adjust".

In the video track click the little icon as shown in second of the two attached pics below.
Add in the "Brightness and Contrast" plugin, then click ok and adjust the contrast slider. You can see the effect on the inmage in the 'Video Preview' area of the screen. Don't make large adjustments - keep it subtle. You can always save that setting too for future use - useful.

Also try same with "sony Saturation Adjust". Again keep it subtle.

Adjusting Contrast and Saturation a little bit will give your images more pop. Adjusting Gamma too is a very useful tool. You can experiment with all these plugins. Try using Vegas help - it's really not bad.

Finally, excellent (and in-depth!) book to get on Vegas Pro 9 is this :
http://www.amazon.com/Vegas-Pro-9-Editi ... 843&sr=1-2

[Doughie]

[*]A 3-way color correction tool (for shadows, mid-tones, and highlights) that can work both in primary color correction mode (on the whole image) and secondary color correction (only on parts of the image).

Simbo - again just picking up on specific tools available in Vegas : The main tool (for Vegas pro 9) for color correction is the tool labelled "Sony Color Corrector" accessed in the same way as in my post above. (by the way you can apply any of these effects to the WHOLE video track OR just to one particular clip only).

See graphic below. You have low mid and high color correctors 'dials'. 'grab' the white dot in the center of each dial and drag it around. Position the dialog box so that you can see your video in the background in Vegas and you can see the effect. Remember to keep it fairly subtle - i wouldnt get too dramatic. You can always right-click on any of these video FX plugins and select 'Bypass' to see how it originally looks. useful feature.
Also there are controls in this single utility for adjusting gamma and saturation and other parameters. This is a very powerful tool for color correction - again use Sony Vegas help and you can read more about how to use it. The other parameters like Gamma, Gain, Saturation and Offset will also give huge control over how your video looks. I really think this tool will do exactly what you want if you are careful and don't overdo it.

Also on youtube.com there are always many tutorial video clips for all kinds of software. Try doing a youtube search for appropriate stuff and you'll find stuff. I just tried exactly that in youtube for "vegas pro color correction" and it gave a huge list of videos.

[Arkady Bolotin]

Doughie, in the last picture of your crush (yet sufficient) syllabus on the Vegas Pro 9, I see Film Effects FX, so I infer you employ this add-in in your video. Would you care to elaborate on its usage please?

[Doughie]

I haven't ever used Film Effects, - i just saw it today and was playing around. I am pretty sure it's a standard plugin, i haven't got any extra plugins. it gives things like dust / scratches and 'jitter'. Something to use very rarely - bit gimmicky in my view.

[Simbo]

Thanks for the advice and the attachments. They've been a great help!