Color correction tips with FCP

Hi,

I have been working as a colorist using Final Touch and now Apple Color.

Coming up I will be having to grade a number of shows using only FCP. I have used the tools in FCP to grade before and am familiar with how to do it.

I was just wondering if people have any workflow / setup type tips to make the process in FCP more efficient. I have designed a layout and a few custom keyboard shortcuts, which speeds things up a bit. (use the "open" mode to open clips in the viewer as I tab to the next clip, map copy filter to next to an easy keyboard shortcut).

If anyone who has done a lot of color grading with FCP has anything to contribute, that would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

EW

hi, ew.

for starters, explore using the "frame Viewer" (Tools Menu)
with this you can easily see the previous frame while grading the current one.

you probably know how to use Match Hue in the 3-way CC filter, but if you don't that's a good thing to learn.
[www.lafcpug.org]

keep your most used filters in the favourites bin,
and assign keyboard shortcuts to them.

here's idea i've had, (but havent done a grade sinse i had it):

keep a bin for your "looks"after grading a clip, and if you know you'll need that grade again,
drag the CLIP frm the timeline into this new bin.
the bin is set to display large icons.
when you need that grade again,
select the clp in the bin and COPY (Apple C)
then select the timeline clips and Paste Atttributes (Option V): filters

the benefit of this is that it's the only VISUAL approach i know to storing looks in FCP. (although the icon of the clip in the bin will not adopt the grade you've given it)
the downside is the copy / paste attributes thing is not as simple as drag/drop, or keystrokes.

remember in the timeline you can do a find (Apple F) and find all instances a certain clip.
if the show was well logged, this could help you apply a look to all instances of that clip.

outside of teh built-in 3way CC there are some other 3rd prty tools:

Red Giant has both Colorista, a "better" 3way cc filter (the FCP version has a lot of cross-over between the blacks. mids and whites)

and Magic Bullet "Looks"


cheers,
nick

> the benefit of this is that it's the only VISUAL approach i know to storing looks in FCP.

You could also store those "perfected", filtered clips in a new timeline. Use markers to navigate from scene to scene. That way you can stay within the Timeline window while doing the Copy/Paste Attributes. Not necessarily better or faster than Nick's method, but the benefit is that you don't have to call up Thumbnails in the Browser, which I personally find makes my clips list too fat and unmanageable. Whereas in the Timeline window, all you have to do is click on the ruler to jump from clip to clip and see the look/shot, or SHIFT-Up/Down if you have markers placed.

Here's another idea: Create Text objects, and type in the Text which scene. Apply the necessarily filters for that scene to the Text object itself. Use it as a place-holder in your Timeline.

I don't do very in-depth colour correction, so there could be downsides to these suggestions that others might be able to point out.


www.derekmok.com

i agree, i don't find the thumbnails column particularly useful,

but i'm saying to change the bin view to large icons.

(control or right click on the bg of the bin and choose from the "View As" list.
or Shift H to toggle the view modes)

looking in my "grade" folder in my favourites bin, i'm reminded that some of the best plugins for FCP are freebies:

Vignete & Facelight from Marcus Herick:
[www.haiku.com.au]

Shadow Highlight from Lyric
[www.lyric.com]


nick

Also have a look at The Grading Suite set of plug-ins. I did a review of it and some of the functions, such as the power window and the 'sweetener', are really useful. And no, I'm not being payed to plug it .

Can't beat Magic Bullet Looks, IMHO for color grading. I was on the BETA Test team and it totally rocks in FCP and After Effects:

[www.redgiantsoftware.com]

[prolost.blogspot.com]

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks for the suggestions......

More looking for handy hints on layout / keyboard shortcuts / workflow setup to help with speed - I know that the tools in FCP can technically provide what I need to do a decent grade.....but I'm finding it takes me about 5 times longer to acheive a result only half as good as when I use color. This is not so much because of the capabilities but because the workflow is annoying.

A couple of examples: inconsistant updating of my image on my broadcast monitor (using a KONA 3, SDI out). Quite often I will move to the next clip and start grading it with the 3 way color corrector and the adjustments I make do not automatically update in the broadcast monitor. I have to click back and forth between the timeline and the clip in the viewer until it updates. Very annoying to say the least.....especially as I can't monitor adjustments as I make them - but have to guess an adjustment, then click back and forth to force an update in my monitor, then make further adjustments and so on......

I have mapped the toggle filter /on/off keyboard shortcut to an easy button to use, but quite often find the same behaviour as above - that is the image does not update as toggled on or off in my broadcast monitor.

I don't know if this is the fault of the KONA card or FCP. I know I don't have this problem when using Color on the same computer......

Of course I wish I could be using Color to grade these projects, but for various reasons I cannot.

Also miss my control surface of course

EW

I see the same NTSC monitor latency when I use the FCP 3-way CC, using the standard FW > camera/deck > monitor setup. The canvas shows the effects of a change immediately, the monitor after a bit, or not at all until I force an update. I've found that just nudging the playhead in the timeline will usually do it. And sometimes it's immediate. I don't get it, does anyone?

Scott

i don't know why the monitor doesn't update all the time, (it's an FCP thing, as i get that too, going out via FW)
but there is a shortcut to force it to:

Shift +F12 "Show Current on External Monitor"

you could re-map that to another command,
or map it to a mouse click.
(or a foot pedal!)

"click back and forth between the timeline and the clip in the viewer until it updates"

did you know "q" will toggle between canvas & viewer.


"More looking for handy hints on layout / keyboard shortcuts / workflow setup"

- hover your mouse over a level slider in the 3-Way, and use your scroll wheel to adjust.
oh-ho, i just discovered this:
hover the mouse over any colour wheel, and the scroll wheel will adjsut the level sliders.
mine goes in 4 point increments.


- you probably know this: hold Apple while adjusting the colour wheels to speed up the movement.

- use "Select Next Window Tab" & "Select Previous Window Tab" (Shift Apple [ and Shift Apple ])
or map them to your left & right side buttons on your mouse.

- map the Composite Modes to keyboard shortcuts.

- map your favorite filters to shortcuts (mentioned before, so you probably know this)


& thanks for the "Toggle Filter" command. i never knew about that one!


i mentioned some of the 3rd party filters such as vignette, & facelight as they can save you having to stack clips in the timeline.
& Colorista has the best window drawing tools i've seen for FCP.


cheers,
nick

Cool Nick.....

These are quite helpful and will make the process a little less painful.....

Thx.....

EW

Another thing.....is there a keystroke to select the clip at the playhead (like select the clip in V1). I know there is the "Open" mode, which I am using......but for some operations I need the current clip to actually be selected.....

EW

hi, EW

if you are parked on a clip in the timeline,

return or enter should open it into the viewer.

if there is more than one clip (V1 & V2 for instance)
then you have to use the Autoselect buttons to determine which one will open.

if you always want V1 (maybe there is a mask on V2, say)
then make sure V1 is the only track auto-selcted


Autoselect buttons are in the Timeline panel. The innermost buttons: tiny dark grey ones.
Apple + number pad can active these one by one,
Apple + num pad zero will toggle all on or off
(option + num pad for audio)

like some other timeline commands in FCP, you have to have the timeline selected for these to work,
which is pretty stupid, i think.


cheers,
nick

Nick,

For me return to open a clip in the viewer only works if I have selected the clip with the mouse....just having the playhead parked on the clip and hitting enter doesn't do anything.....

EW

BTW.....I was actually looking for a keystroke that would select the currect clip (which makes it go dark in the timeline....that kind of selection). I need the clip to be in this state for the "copy all filters from previous" shortcut to work (which is annoying!)

EW

could be there are more than one clip that is confusing FCP.
even an audio clip that is not the same as the video will do this.
turn of all audio autoselect buttonsOption zero)

"I was actually looking for a keystroke that would select the currect clip"

you and everybody else
there's bad news on that front: the answer is no.

there's a PAIR of shortcuts that can work:

x = mark in & out around clip in timeline (again autoselect determines which track)
option a = select between in & out

if you have a macro app, (QuicKeys, etc.) you can map this to one command.
or: re-map them to F1 and F2, say, so they are a rapid combo to fire off.


nick

Also, you probably know this but a surprising number or people don't, you have to twirl down the small black arrow at the bottom of the filter to access the 'secondaries'.

Yes...using the secondaries you can isolate colors...for instance I CC'd a spot shot on a golf course during the day and the talent's shirt was too red for TV but the background was perfectly saturated. I isolated the shirt and toned it down. Pretty cool tool (well hidden as well).

This is one reason why this archaic interface has to be revamped from scratch. It hurts to look at for too long it's so hideous.

Are you reading this Steve Bayes? FCP Dev Team leader? We have a killer app...please give us a killer interface!!

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.