Tutorial: Color Grading 2
Yesterday I received a comment on one of my older blog post about how to color grade your work. Since then I’ve learned some more tips.
Its all about knowing what you want. If you aren’t sure what to look for, then look on line for a photo/video that you like to use as an example for its color.
Look at your image in closer detail. You are looking at the whites, and skin tone. If you have too much orange, then add some blue color. If you have too much blue, add orange. If you skin tones are too rich, add a hue and saturation layer, target it to the red channel, and adjust the saturation.
I did my color grading in After Effects but you can do it anywhere else. See what works for your work flow.
The effects I added:
Curves – I use this layer to flatten my image color
Levels – The contact
Hue/ Saturation – Channel control the Red channel
Hue/Saturation – To control the over all image
Gamma/Pedestal/Gain – I was able to add or take away from the black, red, green, blue
Curves – Add contrast or brighten up the footage
Here are some screen shots. Your numbers will be different. Adjust and look at your view finder to find the color you want.
The final output.
Before
After
So much better than what I started with. Feel free to ask any questions. Hope this helped.
I also use Color, here is a video on how to grade on that software (made by a twitter friend).
So helpful! What kind of editing software you’re using?
I often use After Effects, a motion graphic program. I sometimes use Final Cut but that is only when I’m running out of time. There isn’t much control for color grading without special plug-in with Final Cut.