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| With no Colour Grading. |
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| With Colour Grading. |
Colour Grading (Colour correction and Colour grading both terms are refereed to the same process) is an essential part in videography (Both in movie and video production). Even for a single image you captured from your professional camera or rend from a 3D or 2D application, colour Grading definitely will add much more enhanced look.
Simply colour Grading process adds more contrast to an image or more depth or much more interesting look. With proper colour Grading a colorist can set the mode of a scene with colours. A cinematographer usually works with a colorists at the post production of a movie to enhance the look of the movie and present the idea properly with combination of proper colours.
Eg: A skilled colorist can change an image captured in broad daylight into a night scene.
In old days Colour Grading known as 'Colour Timing'. A colorist (Timer) adjust the value of Red, Green and Blue (of the tungsten or Xenon bulb which uses to transfer images in original camera negatives to a intermediate positive or negative) to set the overall look of scenes. And also there were chemical processes for Colour Timing.
But with the revolution of Digital technology now we use computer for Colour Grading which is known as 'Digital Colour Grading'.
Basically Original camera negatives (Films) Telecine and Digitize, or if HD cameras; simply import into computer. So Colour Grading and other post processes able to done in Digital Intermediate processes.
Digital Colour Grading.
With Digital Colour Grading it opened an endless possibilities to a colorist. With the help of Tools provided with Computer editing and composing applications (Such as: Adobe Premiere, Adobe after effects, Shake, Vegas pro... etc) a colorist can take any imaginable look he wants. Most of tools that are provided with almost every application are common and behave in the same way.
Now here, I try to show you the need of Colour Grading and how grate your images will look after this process.
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| img- 00-a. (A 3D rend image with no Colour Grading) |
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| img- 00-b. (Same image with Colour Grading) |
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| Curves Adjustment |
In some situations we have to Colour Grade individual layers in composition to achieve the best colour blending each other.
Such as this:
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| With no Colour Grading. |
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| With Colour Grading. |
I simply used Adjustment tools as Curves, Levels, Tint... to get the desired look and colour harmony I needed.
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| Depth Layer. Blend mode- 'Soft Light'. Composed with 30% of layer Opacity. |
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| Beauty Layer. |
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| Cloud Layer. |
Use Colour Grading techniques with your EYE to get the best out from you scene. Your Eye/ instincts is important in every step you take to colorize your images. Sometimes we have to use our artistic imagination to represent our ideas through colour grading. Your own style would add a unique depth and contrast to your images which will eventually become your trademark.
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| With no Colour Grading. |
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| With Colour Grading. |
One thing you have to keep in your mind, which is, with perfect and well synchronized colour combination you can create blockbusters only by using low quality camera footage. Or you can ruin a well captured movie with lousy Colour Grading.
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| With no Colour Grading. |
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| With Colour Grading. |
What I tried to make you realize is how important Colour Grading to enhance the final look of your images/ videos.
Colour Grading is vast scoped subject. And You will be amazed how much depth and beauty will be added to your images/ videos with good Colour Grading.
So it is not a waist of time learning and pay a good attention about Colours after all...
Good Luck.
Rumesh Tharanga.
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| With no Colour Grading. |
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| With Colour Grading. |
