XL H1 Color Correction
 

OK, I just went to a local dealer and got a first hand look at this new camera.
Aside from the fact that it looks like complete blurred interlaced crap when viewed in camera both in recording and vcr mode, the outputted signal on an HD monitor looks just exquisite and highly progressive. My concern however is just how one deals with this bizarre interlaced effect in post? Is there any way to turn off this blurred trailing thing in the menu? Why is it there? Why can't it display progressive in camera like the lesser JVC HD100, anyways it looks like a great camera, hopefully it maintains in post... I've noticed as many have indicated before that there is a lot of room for color correction with this camera. I've also noticed that there's not a whole lot of discussion going on on this forum about color correction; tools, methods, techniques, software, etc...... I inquired in a previous post about one Michael Pappert's color correction technique on some demo footage, a very kind man retorted:

"Bruce, I get yelled at every time I say this but tools are just that. It's the artist that makes them work. That means experience. It's not easy to sit down and try it with little experience at it. Obviously this fellow has a bit of experience with his editing sorfware. I took the picture and graded it myself using Photoshop and think I made a similar picture as the original person did. But here is where taste came in. I did not like that he lost some of the brown in her eyes and mad the blacks slightly dark so I made her ever so brightly lighter overall. The answer is practice. I did this in about two minutes just make it close to his. I'd say start by practicing. After a while it becomes easier to see what needs to be done.

His two on top mine labeled Walter on the bottom.

http://www.bluesky-web.com/waltergrade.jpg
__________________
Walter Graff
BlueSky Media, Inc.
www.bluesky-web.com "

Others very generously pitched in their two cents as well. My question though photoshop aside is how one does this kind of color correction on say, a mac, with final cut pro? Not possible? What kind of color grading softwares are popular and professional, I know Lord of the rings in the special features had a section about color grading and mentioned a software called something5k , a proprietary software that has magically disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm wondering how one does this kind of curve photoshop maninuplation on a mac with footage taken from say, the XL H1? What are the the techniques the methods, unfortunately we can't export our projects frame by frame into photohop for treatment, so how then do the pros do it? Any help here would be hot, huh huh.

LOL, I used to do it, I used to save in the filmstrip format (allows to save frame sequences as a single image) and import in photoshop shot by shot.

Nowadays, you can do the color correction in most NLE's out of the box. Just do a google search for "final cut" "color correction" There's also several plugins for NLEs and Final Cut that handle sofisticated color correction, one example is Color Finesse.

Don't confuse simple color correction with doing a DI grading as you would when your output is 35mm film. That's a tremendously elaborate setup that requires matching Lookup Tables (LUT's) to film recorders, monitors and projectors.

If I'm not mistaken Lord of the Rings films were graded with the Colossus software from 5D. The company is gone but it's technology can be found in Discreet's Lustre (they were bought by Autodesk). Lustre is more expensive than some people's homes.

There's more economic software for DI such as Assimilate's Scratch but again, I wouldn't try doing the color grading for a DI without the whole infrastructure behind it.

I just remembered, Silicon Color has probably the best low(er) cost color correction tools for the Mac. Final Touch HD is still relatively expensive unless you're serious ($5000). Color Finesse is cheap in comparison ($600) and is a good plug-in capable of great color correction.

And final cut pro has it's own three channel color correction that does a fine job.

It does indeed. Most current NLE's have capable built in primary color correction.

Don't forget that the 3-way corrector in FCP is capable of secondary correction as well as primary.

But is color correcting with long gop possible or you would have to change the format first?

Hey Bruce, Avid has very good SW too CC as well! I didn't do it in PS, I did it in AE Professional version incase you were curious.

Btw the last name is Pappas not Pappert.

Bruce are you on Mac or PC or both?


>Michael Pappas


[QUOTE=Bruce Meyers] Michael Pappert's color correction technique on some demo footage, a very kind man retorted:[/url] "