Since my post yesterday about some new iOS apps for post-production I’ve learned of one more: Chromagic, (iTunes link) an iPad-based color correction plug-in for Final Cut Pro. Chromagic comes from Nattress, which was founded by Graeme Nattress and has long been one of the best FCP plug-in developers out there. Doesn’t everyone by now own the Big Box of Tricks? The Chromagic idea is simple: Apply the filter in Final Cut Pro, then use your iPad to adjust things like lift, gamma and gain, make and draw mattes, and do secondaries. The iPad becomes your control surface.

Is it as good as a dedicated hardware control surface? No, but it’s much cheaper at $25 (assuming you’ve already got that iPad). Besides, there aren’t a lot of options for using a control surface directly in Final Cut Pro anyway. This app is actually kinda fun. Unlike the Tangent vWave-Lite, Chromagic doesn’t try to emulate hardware. It’s based more on gestures:

You can see from the image above that it all depends on how you hold your fingers as opposed to exactly where you hold them. If that looks a bit confusing, then be prepared to take some time to wrap your head around exactly what you need to do to control this app. But once you get it you can do the basic lift, gamma and gain corrections very quickly.

Check out the Chromagic webpage for all the details on what needs to be downloaded (there are a few different components) and documentation. Footage is watermarked until purchase, so you can even try it out before you spend the $25. The iPad continues its march.