Just thought I'd share some color grading that I've been fiddling with. I shot a bunch of footage at the local carnival a month back, and now I'm working on grading it for one of my personal music video projects.

I've used my own take on a bleach bypass process that simultaneously adds the teeniest touch of blue to the lows, then with a couple more nodes, I've tweaked exposure and of course that nasty red/orange/yellow/green zone of color (that seems to always make or break skintones) has had some subtle adjustments.

Lemme know what you think!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68917223@N05/sets/72157634804640007/with/9375308962/

Any help with the initial project settings would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Handbook explains the basics of colour management and the role of the monitor in the digital workflow. Key points for the photographer, retoucher, designer, and printer are included to increase colour management accuracy.

http://www.eizo.com/global/support/db/files/catalogs/ce/Color_Management_Handbook.pdf

http://www.synthetechinc.com/colorbandit.html

+++++++DOWNLOAD THE PLUG-IN)++++++++

www.synthetechinc.com/ColorBandit/ColorBandit.8bf I’ve tested the plug-in on CS4, CS5 and CS6 in 32 bit mode (I suspect earlier Photoshops will work as well. I’m pretty sure this will not work for 64 bit versions).

+++++++ INSTRUCTIONS ++++++++

You need to copy the ColorBandit.8bf file to your “Filters” folder in the plug-in directory. Assuming you installed Photoshop normally, this would be C:/Program Files (x86)/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS#/Plug-ins/Filters

To use Color Bandit, go to the "Filters" menu on the top bar, go down to "Synthetech" and select "Color Bandit". A dialog will pop up with two options, grab and apply. Grabbing will capture whatever image currently has focus and store it to a buffer. Apply will transfer the colors from whatever image was last "grabbed" to the current image which has focus. Color Bandit should work with selected regions of an image, please let me know if it does not.

NOTE # 1: CS6 does not have a “Filters” folder in the Plug-ins directory, so you’ll need to create one).

NOTE #2: Make sure you copy to “Program Files (x86)” and not “Program Files”. Also make sure that you open the 32 bit version of Photoshop, not the 64 bit version.

+++++++++ CONTEST +++++++++

If you guys produce any cool transfers I’d love to show them off to the world! If you’d like your images to be used to promote Color Bandit then just post them in this thread. If I like them and use them then I’ll both cite you as the original author, and I’ll send you a commercial license for Color Bandit as a gift (NOTE: you have to own the rights to these pictures). If you can think of an uncommon/unconventional use for Color Bandit then that will be favored as well.

+++++++++ QUESTIONS +++++++++

I have some general survey questions – just stuff to help me choose where to allocate my time in order to deliver the best plug-in to the most users. Feel free to answer as much or as little as you'd like :)

What version of Photoshop do you use?
Do you plan to switch to creative cloud in the next year?
What platform do you use? Win, Mac?
How important would 16 and 32 bit RGB image support be to you? (1=low ---- 10=high)

Businessy questions

Would you use this as a hobbyist or commercially? If commercially then what/where is your job?
Where do you usually go to find/buy new plug-ins?
What would this plug-in be worth to you as a hobbyist or commercially (in $)?
What Photography/Photoshop websites/magazines do you read to find out about stuff like this?

Thanks for your time and enjoy the beta!

How do I do that?

Some examples of what I want to recreate.

Today I attended the WEVA 2012 trade show in Universal City, CA. Technicolor gave a really interesting presentation on some new color management tools they will be releasing near the end of August 2012. I have no affiliation with Technicolor; I just thought this was pretty neat. Brochure copy attached (Note: I took pictures of the brochure for upload, so the coloring is off. The info is legible though)

From my understanding to get the most out of this primary color correction system you'll need to shoot with a camera that utilizes a CineStyle color profile (Canon EOS or GoProHD) or some type of log format (Red, Alexa, F3... the expensive cameras).

There's also a basic CineStyle curve that can be post-applied to non-log, more contrasty footage (such as that of the GH2), to assist in color grading--but of course this will be less effective... I asked TC if it even made any sense to use this system on non-log footage since exposure and limited dynamic range would already be baked in. They said there would be some benefit for grading since this footage would be converted to a log colorspace (Correct term? I might be remembering wrong, but TC definitely said there would be benefit). Not sure if I fully agree/understand but I wasn't going to argue with TC (The presenter's name was Brian Gaffney. He works on all of the big Hollywood productions for TC.).

Paraphrasing from the attached brochure:

1. Use CineStyle Color Assist [stand alone software] advanced color correction or apply fromm Cinestyle Looks library [about 20 "looks"]
2. Preview in real-time without rendering (non-destructive) using MetaColor embeded in Quick time... [Technicolor has found a way to assign up to 9 separate color grades as non-destructive metadata attached to Quicktime movies files. Utilizing a stand alone player developed by TC or a TC FCP/PP plugin, you can quickly and easily review multiple grades.]
3. Edit and publish using FCP or PP
4. Share online via 3rd party applications.

Application Capabilities

Color Curve Editor, Color Keying, Primary Color Correction in Lift/Gamma/Gain mode, CDL Color Correction with Offset/Slope/Power including Saturation, CineStyle Looks Library with preset color grades, Real-time preview using MetaColor player included, Embedded audio sound playback, Plug-in support for FCP, Plug-in support for PP 5.5+

Lastly, this color management system should be available for about $100.

I think this package looks pretty awesome but since secondary color corrections are not built in I think there's just a little left to be desired. Anyway, still very cool and reasonably priced imho. What do you guys think???

-w :)

In an AVCHD timeline in Premiere Pro CS6, I imported two clips, one the original MTS and the other a converted ProRes of that clip. But the result was not fixed by only 15 and 235 input/output adjustment, it required something closer to 40 and 215. And that did not mean that the result was the same, there was still more blue in the highlights and shadows in the MTS vs. the ProRes. Further adjustment would be needed, but the ProRes conversion was more balanced.

This was just my first test, and I'm no expert in this, but it seems like conversion to ProRes still makes sense. What are other people's take on this?

I found this .. http://www.toolfarm.com/buy/synthetic_aperture_test_gear http://www.synthetic-ap.com/products/tg/index.html

No need to apply an effect .. it runs as a full time floating window The demo only runs for 10 minutes ..I have purchased it.

Okay if I'm editing and grading 1080p video: what exactly happens if I'm using a 1440p monitor. When I look at fullscreen in Resolve does my 1080p video show fullscreen on a 1440p monitor. Or does it display as an 1080p image in the middle of the screen or what? Do people set the monitor to 1080p to deal with this? Does that make things look fuzzy.l

I'll be using adobe cs6 and resolve. I will deliver in 1080p. I'm concerned about if the pixels get distorted, if things get stretched. If I had a 1440p screen I could run a 5 minute test and answer my questions but I don't.

Looking at dell u2713h or hm.

Just checked and it's working for some GH2 footage shot on Quantum v7 (native MTS format).

I'm a big fan of Lightroom for grading my stills so I might even get some use out of this, although I have no idea at the moment what the export options are like for video.

Edit: I should probably add that Lightroom 4 is a free open beta so anyone can download it for Mac/Windows and use it until April or so when the retail release happens.

My question is, how to do that with Magic Bullet Looks ?

Thanks for your help.

Best regards.

I just started my second grading contest which you can read more about on this link: http://davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/2013/02/grading-contest-windy-winter.html

I'm looking for film grain. I realy like the 35mm filmgrain from Rgrain but I don't have the money to buy the package :( Do you know where I can get free grain?

The grain effect in magic bullet looks 2.0 is not that nice I think.

Kind regards,

Johnny

Also do you think that one should start with a simple color grading tool like Magic bullet Colorista/Looks or Color Finesse or move directly to more advance stuff like DaVinci Resolve. Also i heard some criticizm of Adobe Speedgrade, what is your take on that?

Do you need well lit scenes for color grading or can you grade scenes that are lit using only the sun?

I edit in Adobe CS6 with access to all programs (Creative Cloud) such as Premiere Pro, After Effects, Speedgrade, etc.

I currently edit in Adobe CS6 on a PC laptop with a less than stellar screen (one of those ones that looks kinda washed out). I often will connect the Laptop to a 62" HDTV or a 42" HDTV to edit as well. So I've basically just been exporting footage and viewing on a variety of screens...and adjusting as necessary.

My only guess is that a properly calibrated monitor can be defined as one that somehow sits in the middle/average of what all the different audience members screens are?

All advice is much appreciated.

In this test, watch how far I can push the darkest midtones to bring all those stones and rocks underneath the surface back in a really nice way. Even though the grading gave it a crispy, contrasty look, you can look at the ice blocks that we didn't loose too much information in the highlights. We didn't loose too much in the shadows either, but a little bit more though we darkened the surface so much.

The grade was made in Adobe After Effects only using curves.

I've applied a grad exposure from two sides with Magic bullets and a general lift in exposure and Neat video. This results in banding, washout out colours and the white subject parts disappearing into the white background.

I bounced a very bright tungsten light off the ceiling as that's all that was available in the studio.

Any ideas please.

Where it was stated that shooting flat in 8bit was a terrible idea, and the nonsense we've heard over and over that you can't bring that color back, which everyone who has seen my work knows is just not true.

While it is true you cannot magically turn 8 bit color into 32bit color. Working in a 32bit environment does allow your corrections to enhance your footage rather than deteriorate your footage.

@FilmingArt FCP X, Premiere Pro CS6, Vegas Pro 12, Smoke 2013, are all 32bit

Just go to my vimeo channel to see tons of video's shot using this method on 8bit cameras https://vimeo.com/channels/shianstorm

And then check these threads for why you are catastrophically wrong about "noise and all kinds of other problems." And welcome to the discussion.

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1817/colorghear-toolkit-color-grading-system-for-ae/p1

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5346/colorghear-toolkit-color-grading-system-for-ae-part-2#Item_10

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/3773/expose-in-the-zone-getting-the-best-image-for-grading./p1