#325 - A Fistful of Post Tips
In this issue of Cut/daily I'm going to try something a little different.
A grab bag of little tip and tricks with (hopefully) something for everyone, regardless of which NLE you're editing in day-to-day.
What to do when you can't get the grade to work
Break it down. Match the contrast, match the black point, match the white point, shift some hues and move on. Very least you’ll be able to tell what’s wrong on 1st or 2nd review. The more watch throughs the better the result…
— Jack Jones Colourist (@jackjonescolour) October 11, 2022
I felt this tweet from Eddy Moon to my bones.
Sometimes I just can't get things to match either and it's a deeply frustrating experience. A fair few other post-folk echoed these sentiments in the replies and offered further advice.
But this reply from Colorist Jack Jones is both practically and philosophically accurate:
Match the basics and then move on and come back to it later.
#225 - Why the Order of Operations Matters
Having a sensible order of operations helps in these kinds of situations where sticking to a system (hue then luminance or beginning, middle, end etc.) can guide you through the fog.
Back in #225 I shared an insight into two colorist's order of operations, which are broadly speaking:
- Get out of LOG, establish the colour space
- Balance the image focusing on the colours
- Balance the image focusing on the exposure
- Fixes - Target exposure fixes in specific areas
- Fixes - Attended to colour fixes in specific areas
- Push everything towards the Creative Look
- Clean up with any final fixes and tweaks