Color correction effects

Video length: 4 minutes 50 seconds

How to use color correction and Lumetri presets in Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro provides professional quality Color Correction tools that let you edit footage directly on your timeline. You can find the color and luminance adjusting effects in the Color Correction bin inside the Video Effects bin.

Color correction adjustments are used for several reasons:

• Modify footage so that clips appear to be shot under the same conditions.
• Adjust colors in a clip so it appears to have been shot at night instead of day.
• Adjust the exposure of an image to recover details from the over-exposed highlights.
• Enhance a color in a clip to add graphic elements.
• Restrict colors in a clip to a particular range, such as the broadcast-safe range.

Color Correction effects are applied the same way as Standard effects. Although other effects also adjust color and luminance, the Color Correction effects are designed for making fine color and luminance corrections.

• You can find the color and luminance adjusting effects in the Color Correction bin inside the Video Effects bin.
  
• The effect properties are adjusted in the Effect Controls panel.
• The Color Correction effects and other color effects are clip-based. However, you can apply them to multiple clips using nesting sequences. For information about nesting sequences, see Using multiple sequences.
• When correcting color, it is useful to use the Lumetri scopes to help you analyze the chroma and luminance in a clip. You can view a scope in a seperate Lumetri panel so that you can check your video levels as you make adjustments. For information about scopes, see Lumetri scopes.

Color Correction effects

ASC CDL

The American Society of Cinematographers Color Decision List (ASC CDL) is a format that standardizes the exchange of primary color information.

The parameters of CDL are: Slope, Offset and Power. Each function uses a number for the red, green, and blue color channels for a total of nine numbers comprising a single-color decision. A tenth number, Saturation, applies to the R, G, and B color channels in the combination.

Brightness & Contrast effect

The Brightness & Contrast effect adjusts the brightness and contrast of an entire clip. The default value of 0.0 indicates that no change is made. Using the Brightness & Contrast effect is the easiest way to make simple adjustments to the tonal range of the image. It adjusts all pixel values in the image at once—highlights, shadows, and midtones.

Change Color effect

The Change Color effect adjusts the hue, lightness, and saturation of a range of colors.

The Change Color effect has the following options:

• View - Corrected Layer shows the results of the Change Color effect. Color Correction Mask shows the areas of the layer that will be changed. White areas in the color correction mask are changed the most, and dark areas are changed the least.
• Hue Transform - The amount, in degrees, to adjust hue.
• Lightness Transform - Positive values brighten the matched pixels; negative values darken them.
• Saturation Transform - Positive values increase saturation of matched pixels (moving toward pure color); negative values decrease saturation of matched pixels (moving toward gray).
• Color To Change - The central color in the range to be changed.
• Matching Tolerance - How much colors can differ from Color To Match and still be matched.
• Matching Softness - The amount that unmatched pixels are affected by the effect, in proportion to their similarity to Color To Match.
• Match Colors - Determines the color space in which to compare colors to determine similarity. RGB compares colors in an RGB color space. Hue compares on the hues of colors, ignoring saturation and brightness—so bright red and light pink match, for example. Chroma uses the two chrominance components to determine similarity, ignoring luminance (lightness).
• Invert Color Correction Mask - Inverts the mask that determines which colors to affect.

Change To Color effect

The Change To Color effect changes a color you select in an image to another color using hue, lightness, and saturation (HLS) values, leaving other colors unaffected.

Change To Color offers flexibility and options unavailable in the Change Color effect. These options include tolerance sliders for hue, lightness, and saturation for exact color matching, and the ability to select the exact RGB values of the target color that you wish to change to.

The Change To Color effect has the following options:

• From - The center of the color range to change.
• To - The color to change matched pixels to. To animate a color change, set keyframes for the To color.
• Change - Which channels are affected.
• Change By - How to change colors. Setting To Color performs a direct change of affected pixels to the target color. Transforming To Color transforms affected pixel values towards the target color, using HLS interpolation; the amount of change for each pixel depends on how close the pixel’s color is to the From color.
• Tolerance - How much colors can differ from the From color and still be matched. Expand this control to reveal separate sliders for Hue, Lightness, and Saturation values. Use the View Correction Matte option to better identify which pixels are matched and affected.
• Softness - The amount of feather to use for the edges of the correction matte. Higher values create smoother transitions between areas affected by the color change and those unaffected.
• View Correction Matte - Shows a grayscale matte that indicates the amount to which the effect affects each pixel. White areas are changed the most, and dark areas are changed the least.

Channel Mixer effect

The Channel Mixer effect modifies a color channel by using a mix of the current color channels. Use this effect to make creative color adjustments not easily done with the other color adjustment tools: Create high-quality grayscale images by choosing the percentage contribution from each color channel, create high-quality sepia-tone or other tinted images, and swap or duplicate channels.

The Channel Mixer effect has the following options:

• output channel]-[input channel - The percentage of the input channel value to add to the output channel value. For example, a Red-Green setting of 10 increases the value of the red channel for each pixel by 10% of the value of the green channel for that pixel. A Blue-Green setting of 100 and a Blue-Blue setting of 0 replaces the blue channel values with the green channel values.
• output channel]-Const - The constant value (as a percentage) to add to the output channel value. For example, a Red-Const setting of 100 saturates the red channel for every pixel by adding 100% red.
• Monochrome - Uses the value of the red output channel for the red, green, and blue output channels, creating a grayscale image.

Color Balance effect

The Color Balance effect changes the amount of red, green, and blue in the shadows, midtones, and highlights of an image.

Preserves the average brightness of the image while changing the color. This control maintains the tonal balance in the image.

Color Balance (HLS) effect

The Color Balance (HLS) effect alters an image’s levels of hue, luminance, and saturation.

The Color Balance (HLS) effect has the following options:

• Hue - Specifies the color scheme of the image.
• Lightness - Specifies the brightness of the image.
• Saturation - Adjusts the image’s color saturation. The default value is 0 which doesn’t affect the colors. Negative values decrease saturation, with -100 converting the clip to grayscale. Values greater than 0 produce more saturated colors.

Equalize effect

The Equalize effect alters an image’s pixel values to produce a more consistent brightness or color component distribution. The effect works similarly to the Equalize command in Adobe Photoshop. Pixels with 0 alpha (transparent) values aren’t considered.

The Equalize effect has the following options:

• Equalize - RGB equalizes the image based on red, green, and blue components. Brightness equalizes the image based on the brightness of each pixel. Photoshop Style equalizes by redistributing the brightness values of the pixels in an image so that they more evenly represent the entire range of brightness levels.
• Amount To Equalize - How much to redistribute the brightness values. At 100%, the pixel values are spread as evenly as possible; lower percentages redistribute fewer pixel values.

Leave Color effect

The Leave Color effect removes all colors from a clip except those similar to the Color To Leave. For example, a shot of a basketball game could be decolored except for the orange of the ball itself.

The Leave Color effect has the following options:

• Amount To Decolor - How much color to remove. 100% causes areas of the image dissimilar to the selected color to appear as shades of gray.
• Color To Leave - Use the eyedropper or Color Picker to determine which color to leave.
• Tolerance - The flexibility of the color-matching operation. 0% decolors all pixels except those that exactly match Color To Leave. 100% causes no color change.
• Edge Softness - The softness of the color boundaries. High values smooth the transition from color to gray.
• Match Colors - Determines whether colors’ RGB values or hue values are compared. Choose Using RGB to perform more strict matching that usually decolors more of the image. For example, to leave dark blue, light blue, and medium blue, choose Using Hue and choose any shade of blue as Color To Leave.

Lumetri color

Lumetri Color provides you professional-quality color grading and color correction tools that let you grade your footage directly on your editing timeline. Using these tools, you can adjust color, contrast, and light in your sequences in new and innovative ways.

The Lumetri color effect has the following options:

• Basic Correction: Using controls in the Basic Correction section, you can correct video that’s too dark or too light, and adjust both the hue (color or chroma) and luminance (exposure and contrast) in your clip. For morere information, see Apply basic color correction.
• Creative: The Creative section of the Lumetri Color panel includes various looks that allow you to do quick color adjustments to your clips using already existing presets. For more information, see Get creative with color using Lumetri looks.
• Curves: The curves feature allows you to make quick and precise color adjustments to achieve natural-looking results. For more information, see Adjust color using RBG and Hue Saturation Curves.
• Color Wheels & Match: Color wheels allow you to make color adjustments to just the dark or light areas of a shot. For more information, see Correct and match colors between shots.
• HSL Secondary: HSL Secondary combines with existing tools to give you even finer control of your shots. It is commonly used after primary color correction is complete. For more information, see Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel.
• Vignette: Vignettes are a subtle way to direct your audience’s eyes to a specific subject in the frame, such as a person or a landscape. For more information, see Create vignettes.

Tint effect

The Tint effect alters an image’s color information. For each pixel, the luminance value specifies a blend between two colors. Map Black To and Map White To specify to which colors dark and bright pixels are mapped. Intermediate pixels are assigned intermediate values. Amount To Tint specifies the intensity of the effect.

Video Limiter effect

Use the new Video Limiter effect to limit RGB values to meet HDTV digital broadcast specifications. You can use it as a per shot effect or add as an output effect to limit the entire sequence upon export. The Video Limiter enabled on the timeline is applied both during editing and at export. The Video Limiter does not include the additional Chrominance limiting needed for legacy Analog NTSC transmissions.

The Video Limiter effect has the following options:

• Clip Level: Specifies the max output value in IRE units. The default is 103 IRE. Corresponding ranges in IRE, 8-bit RGB and Y are as follows:
  • 100 = IRE 0 to 100, RGB 0 to 255, Y 16 to 235. SMPTE limited range.
  • 103 = IRE -3 to 103, RGB -8 to 263, Y 9 to 242
  • 105 = IRE -5 to 105, RGB -13 to 268, Y 5 to 246. EBU R103 "Preferred".
  • 109 = IRE -7 to 109, RGB -17 to 277, Y 1 to 254. SDI limits
• Compression before clipping: Applies a knee starting at 3%, 5%, 10%, or 20% below the clip level, moving colors into range before the hard clip.
• Gamut Warning: When gamut warning is enabled, the colors that are compressed or outside of the color range are shaded or highlighted, respectively. The Gamut warning option is not available in Export Effects settings. A gamut warning enabled on the timeline is also active during export.
• Gamut Warning Color: Specifies the gamut warning color