How to HD Color Correction & DSLR Color Correction

You can take average footage and really make it pop, Color correction is just one step of the entire film making process.... but oh, what a difference it can make. sing and enhance the viewing experience of your project. If you have excellent footage, then the sky is the limit. Share asked me to take this opportunity and pass on some tips and tricks i have learned over the years of Coloring features, Shorts, Ads, Music Video and Documentaries. I choose to use adobe CS5 for my color post work and bounce between After Effect, Photoshop and Premier as i love the seamless integration it provides.   

To get on the same page, let's quickly go over some terminology that clarifies what is what in this realm.

Tips #1 - SHOOT WITH A FLAT OR LOG PROFILE..

Shane has learned over his extensive research and testing of every of every profile available that choosing a flat profile will allow you to capture as much information as possible into the camera. When i shoot on the 5Dmkii, i like to use Technicolor Cinestyle or Canon Neutral with minimal sharpness and aontrast, i'm also about to test the Similaar Flaat profiles that just became available in 4 different flavors. The camera companies often have crushed blacks and blown-out highlights. That is information that is gone forever and you cannot get it back. We as filmmakers with the tools in our hands, cannot accept stock anything! Just as auto anything on the camera is a recip for disaster, stock profiles are for rank amateurs. Tweak away!

TIP #2 - MIDS ARE WHERE FACES LIVE
MIDS are where the skin tones live and you can really make a face pop by raising the MIDS afre you have a good balanced image. Sometimes it feels easy to raise the EXPOSURE in Premier or After Effects to brighten a face or scene... but that raises all the levels evenly and will ultimately not be as effective as separately adjusting the 3 zones. A good IRE for a properly exposed face is 60-70 IRE on the WAVEFORM. If you raise the MIDS too much, you will introduce the beast of digital noise, so use Judicially!

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