First Time Colour Correcting (No Plug Ins, need constructive criticism)

Hello, this is my first post here!
I am new to FCPX and I recently started learning about colour correction, using the colour waveforms I adjusted the exposure, and colour (Highlight, Mid tones, and Shadows). I thought my clips where reflecting an orange colour from the background elements onto things such as the table top. I corrected them and uploaded a youtube video with the comparison. I was wondering if you guys could help me improve my corrections.

Critiquing color correction is even more arbitrary than regular film critique. The subject is largely subjective, especially in your clips. For instance; if we were out in nature & the leaves were the wrong color, then we could say that's not a natural look. Whereas your kitchen could appear in various hues, all of which might be entirely suitable for your film. Additionally, reversing colors even in nature might be perfect for a specific unsettling look you may be striving for.

However, since you're in the kitchen, let's think about color as flavor. Cooking is an art form with many subtle shades of spices, sauces, ingredients & colors. Do you want your film to be sweet, hot, bitter, exciting?

These are some of the myriads of moods you can create with color. If you just want everything to look natural, you can adjust your camera's settings for the correct type of light you're shooting in (sun, tungsten, fluorescent, etc), then there will be less correcting in post. From the audience's perspective, we don't know exactly what that glass of juice is supposed to look like, so generally a good gauge to go by is skin tones. And while you're at it, why not give yourself a bit of a healthy looking tan?

Generally we move into the cooler colors like the blues & greens to bring a feeling of coldness to the scene, some futuristic films incorporate these colors to bring us away from nature into a more clinical or uncaring environment. Mastering these colors along with some combined techniques can enable you to shoot day for night. Warmer colors like reds & yellows can give us a feeling of sunsets, romance, or even tropical or desert locations. There are plenty of videos on youtube with examples of how colors set moods.

If you're seeking specific technical information about how to twiddle the knobs in FCPX, I'd suggest watching some of the excellent tutorials by Larry Jordan , Ripple Training, Izzy or Video2Brain. FCPX has flexible controls so you can find a method you feel most comfortable with, play in that environment to develop a familiarity with the tools, thus empowering your creative vision. Have fun with it.

Thanks for sharing...



PS - Here's Larry's look at color correcting in FCPX






J. Matthew
Global•Watch•Media•Consulting
www.GWM2.com

@GlobalWatchM3

I see dead pixels.

Hi! I thought that creating a mood and specific theme set would be classified as colour grading rather than correction. Anyways I was going for the impression of the natural look and like you said, the viewer cannot tell if its natural or not but since I showed you a side by side comparison I think we can agree I have made it look for natural due to the original shot reflecting too much orange/warm feel. I thought the objective in colour was to make it look natural and then add your mood later.. FYI I also set my white balance to indecent due to the lights being indecent but it still gave off an orange vibe that I could not quit catch during the shot. I feel as if you think the skin tones were corrected correctly but needs adjusting because my natural skin my be a little pail. I will take your word on it and check out those tutorials! For this video I was planning on making an action sequence with an animated character interlarded into the film, should I correct the animated character so it matches my shot or should I leave it as it? I appreciate your help! I hope I don't sound stupid or mad, thanks again!

As alluded to, the old school notion of color correcting to make things look natural or realistic, is kind of passé. Now any hue the audience can stomach is encouraged as avant-garde. Personally I like this freedom as it allows for a broader spectrum of artistic expression, almost like a painter splashing colors around. This greater latitude works well in some music videos. You'll often see wild colors which are many times color matched with lens flares or light leaks.

These days, if you're going for a natural look, then the color correcting will be, as you say, trying to make the tones look realistic. The reason we push things a bit more, is that we don't usually want realistic. Real life is a tad too boring. Why not make your lighting interesting, characters swarthy, & the room intriguing? You have the power. For quite a few years the thrust has been to aim for the film look. Crushing the blacks bringing up the green or blue a bit. You can even add some grain, & of course, we mustn't forget the 24p.

Aiming for natural, the majority of your correction will be making sure the scenes match, color-wise. FCPX has a great sample & match function to make this process a breeze. Adding a bit of vignetting can also reduce the flat video look somewhat, but make it slight. However, nothing beats DOF for adding value & film look. Indeed white balance is essential. I think the word you're looking for to describe the lights is incandescent, not indecent. The latter describes a genre of film, I doubt they'd allow you to post here.

Not sure I can really comment on your animated character being interlarded. Sounds like something they'd do to the Pillsbury Doughboy. If you want him to look like he belongs in the film, you're going to have to work hard on his lighting so it matches the scene. Animation is not something I've had a lot of experience with, but the addition of computer generated 3D models requires many hours of work to make them look like they actually fit in the scene. This is extremely technical work, not just to make the colors look realistic for the scene & the character but also the lighting, shadows, textures, perspective, etc. The complexity of all that multiplies if the camera is moving.

It's all demanding work, but at the end, hopefully you have a product which gives you a real sense of accomplishment. That'll fuel your passion & encourage you to continue to grow & expand.