Color matching lets you create shot-to-shot continuity by ensuring skin
tones, backgrounds or objects look the same from cut to cut. Here,
you’ll perform a color match on uncompressed 1920 x 1080p 23.98fps
footage from a music video to illustrate the concept. Begin by setting
up your workspace. Adobe Premiere Pro includes a number of standard
workspace setups optimized for various editing tasks. In the Premiere
Pro menus, choose Window>Workspace>Color Correction to set your
screen for efficient color correction.
STEP 2: Perform the color match
In the video, you’re cutting from a wide master shot to a close-up of
one of the performers. The action matches perfectly. The close-up,
however, was filmed on a different day and care was not taken to ensure
proper exposure. The close-up image is bluer than the wide master shot.
To perform the color match, select the close-up shot to load it into
the source viewer, then scrub the timeline to reach the point in the
wide master that you want to match to. The most important thing is to
have elements in common between the two views. The background, the
headbands, the clothing and the skin tones can all be used to perform a
match.
STEP 3: Select the color-correction effect in Axio
Next go to the effects tab and open the Matrox folder. All the effects
listed are Matrox real-time effects. Select the Matrox color correction
effect and drag it onto the clip in the timeline or onto the effects
control window directly. You can expand the property list by clicking
on the triangle next to the effect name. The Color Map gives a visual
representation of the color balance settings and control over shadows,
midtones, highlights and luminance ranges. Below each Color Map are the
selection eyedroppers for the reference color, the match color and the
reset button. Since you’re matching shot to shot, you need to find the
reference values.
STEP 4: Match colors
Looking at the clip, you can clearly see that the backgrounds don’t
match. Select the mids reference eyedropper from the Color Map (the
reference is the eyedropper to the left). In the close-up, click on the
background area that’s most similar to the area you see in the
close-up. The color chip changes from gray to the new color. Select the
corresponding region in the wide shot with the match color eyedropper.
You can see the real-time match on your HD monitor.
STEP 5: Establish preset settings
You can repeat the process for each individual luminance range in real
time. Now you need to apply the same color correction every time you
cut between these two original source clips. The easiest way to do this
is simply to save the settings as a preset. Select the effect name in
the Effects Control Window, right click on it and select >Save
Preset. The values are now saved in the effects bin in the presets
folder.
YOUR GUIDE
Tony Manolikakis, Senior Product Manager, Matrox Video Products Group
For most of his life Tony has been directing and editing independent
films. He fondly remembers many hours spent hand cranking Super-8 film
through a viewer and now uses a variety of nonlinear editing gear. Tony
holds a master’s degree in engineering from McGill University.
Tony Says Keep In Mind...
Creating continuity between shots is critical. The slightest error
between shots will draw attention away from your content to the flaws
in the video. Being able to color-match in real time gives instant
gratification and saves countless hours of rendering.
Other Cool Features In Matrox AXIO HD:
Real-time soft focus can be a blessing if your talent or makeup artist
isn’t quite up to the clarity of HD; real-time pan and scan lets you
easily keyframe selections to output a 4:3 version of your HD program
for SD or DVD distribution. Axio HD and SD will be shipping at NAB.
Matrox Video Products Group www.matrox.com/video
1055 St. Regis Blvd.
Dorval, Quebec, Canada H9P 2T4
ph. 800.361.4903
e-mail: tmanolik@matrox.com
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