Video Post Production: Tips for Color Correcting

Once upon a time, not so very long ago – not every video post production producer in Chicago could access color correction for their videos. They had to ensure that their exposure settings were correct the first time around for every single scene they shot. They had to use lens filters to add a brighter more vivacious or a darker more morose color to any specific scene they shot to get the desired effect. If not, they would subject their viewers to a very bland, dull or weirdly contrasted video.

Fortunately for you, decent color correction software for video post production is readily and easily available to anyone who needs it. No matter where they are doing the video post production, be it locally or somewhere else in the world. You’ll find that even a home video can benefit from the tiniest bit of video post production such as lowering the mids or sharpening the highlights.

You need to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if that beholder is an overworked and underpaid intern or a parent after a long day of work and running around after the kids, all he or she wants to do is relax and watch his or her favorite show or online videos without squinting at the screen or banging on the TV or PC screen to “make the picture better”.

Color is important, it defines our experiences in life and we tend to associate colors with things, places, people and even emotions.

A few handy tips to correct the color in video post production

1. ALWAYS make and keep a back up of the original video and continuously save on the video that you are working on.
2. Think of WHY you need to edit the colour – do you need to capture the radiance of the dawn or the sparkle of the ocean –  and attempt to keep a natural unedited look to the video.
3. Remember that location is key, you cannot apply a drab dreary background to a bright sunny beach day nor make a morgue look bright and cheery – certain locations have preconceived color nuances that apply.
4. Color correction can save a shoddily shot video by acting as a band-aid over the technical errors.
5. There are a variety of terms used for color correction in post production and each of these can affect the quality of your video. The following are a few of the more commonly used terms such as:
   1. Additive Color : The primary colors (blue, red and green) that make up the color that you see on the screen
   2. Hue: The spectral color which is any color on the color wheel
   3. Saturation: The levels of the spectral color used to define a specific color. Colors that are without any saturation are black, white or shades of grey but depending on the level of saturation a range of colors from muted to vivaciously bright are available for use on the color palette.

Always remember that color correction is used to enhance the natural viewing of the video. It is made to appear as if the viewer is seeing it in reality and not via a screen. It is an accurate depiction of the scene as seen from the naked eye. Your post production editor must adhere to the lifelike quality that color correcting uses.