You may hear terms like S-Log being mentioned. Many professional video cameras, DSLR cameras and the latest mirrorless cameras, have special Picture Profiles that allow you to deliberately record to a very flat or neutral Picture Style or Cine Style - meaning a narrow tonal range. Video and DSLR Camera Recording Modes and Picture Styles

Doing this often has a side effect of slightly increasing the saturation of your colours as well. Increasing the tonal range gives you whiter whites and deeper blacks, thus increasing the overall contrast of the image. If the tonal range is quite narrow, the video image will look flat and lack contrast - basically a washed out looking video. Once you understand Tonal Range expressed as Pure Black to Pure White, it is easy to understand colour in the same way, using the three RGB (Red, Green and Blue) colour channels that make up any colour image. The easiest place to start is in the world of Black and White. Understanding Tonal Range is at the heart of colour correction. Tonal Range = the range in Brightness Levels from the Darkest to the Lightest - Jet Black to Pure White.įull Tonal Range extends from RGB values of 0, 0, 0 (Pure Black) to 255, 255, 255 (Pure White). The best place to start is to explain the difference between what Colour Correction and Colour Grading actually means.Ĭolour Correction can mean many things, but basically it is the process of fixing any problems with the exposure and colour of your original video or still image, so that it looks right.Ĭolour Grading is the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a video or still image, to create a particular look, feel and mood. Once I have explained some definitions and theory, I will then take you through some real world examples of how to use Video Scopes with some of the Colour Correction Video Effect plugins. If you are a Movie Studio user, you will have many of the same Video Effect plugins that Vegas Pro users have, however you will not have access to Video Scopes which are a Pro feature only.Ĭolour Correction is a very large topic, so the purpose of this article is to give you a clear understanding of the basics and help explain the meaning of common colour correction terms. During this tutorial I will be using Vegas Pro 13, however Movie Studio Platinum users can still follow along and learn quite a lot. Sony Vegas Pro comes with four Video Scopes and an extensive range of Video Effect plugins to help you Colour Correct and Colour Grade your Video and Still images.Īlmost any video or still image that comes out of a camera, will benefit from some level of Colour Correction in Sony Vegas Pro or Sony Movie Studio Platinum.

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