help for 3-way color correction at DVinfo.net

Patricia Lamm · January 15th, 2007, 11:13 AM

I'm using Aspect HD in PP2.0 and find that the PP 3-way color correction is more and more useful in my work -- mainly I make use of the input/output black/white on shadows, highlights, and midtones. But renders are PAINFULLY slow since this is not an AHD color tool.

Is there a Cineform product that provides the 3-way correction that I use (it's essentially a 3-way levels option)? Or a 3rd party plugin that might play nicer with Aspect HD than does the built-in PP tool?

I've investigated the Matrox RT.X2 card which would seem to be an answer, but unfortunately I work in 30p and the RT.X2 card doesn't seem to help there.

David Newman · January 15th, 2007, 11:37 AM

Aspect HD's Color Balance is a real-time three-way color-corrector but without the nice GUI. For a fast rendering 3-way CC, try Colorista (I've been meaning to try it myself) -- http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magi...colorista.html

Patricia Lamm · January 15th, 2007, 11:42 AM

Thanks for the reply, David. I see where I can adjust RBG 3-way with AHD color balance, but can I adjust white/black 3-way as well with that tool? I didn't see that option.

David Newman · January 15th, 2007, 11:50 AM

Like I said, it needs a nicer GUI. To adjust black/white (luma) level move the RGB sliders in each group (shadows, midtones, highlight) together.

Patricia Lamm · January 15th, 2007, 12:01 PM

Got it, thanks. I'm also looking at Colorista -- seems quite nice and not too expensive.

Patricia Lamm · January 23rd, 2007, 09:48 PM

Update on Colorista from Magic Bullet. This is a terrific product -- excellent control over color correction, intuitive, and very fast.

HOWEVER, some major drawbacks:

(1) It does not install with a Matrox Parhelia APVe card (which many Aspect HD users, including myself, swear by). This card is not supported by Colorista, as indicated on their website.

(2) Even if you do use one of the graphics cards approved on their website, you still may not find success. I tried two different "approved" ATI cards (X1950 Pro and X1300) and found that applying the Colorista effect in Premiere Pro 2.0 caused the program to hang, requiring a hard reboot. I was able to use After Effects 7 & Colorista with these cards, but never Premiere Pro.

(3) After many different tries, I was able to get Colorista + Premiere Pro to work with an Nvidia 7900 GS card. However, I'm less than pleased with this card overall so I'm still trying to find a good solution for the color correction problem.

Bottom line: Colorista looks like it will be a terrific product, once redgiantsoftware.com gets all the bugs out of it. (I did report my problems to the company but haven't heard of any resolution yet.)

David Newman · January 23rd, 2007, 10:34 PM

Thank you Patricia,

That is an excellent heads-up on what I also hope becomes a stable product.

Douglas Turner · January 25th, 2007, 05:50 AM

Bought Colorista 2 days ago - big improvement on PP2 color correction... I'm very happy with it.

BTW, when are Adobe going to buy Cineform - they've just gobbled up Serious Magic, surely you're next on their list ;)

Don Blish · January 25th, 2007, 01:26 PM

I, for one would hope to see Cineform stay independent, they are MUCH more responsive than Adobe on both new developments and support!

January 15th, 2007, 11:13 AM	#1
Patricia Lamm Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Okemos, MI Posts: 174	help for 3-way color correction I'm using Aspect HD in PP2.0 and find that the PP 3-way color correction is more and more useful in my work -- mainly I make use of the input/output black/white on shadows, highlights, and midtones. But renders are PAINFULLY slow since this is not an AHD color tool. Is there a Cineform product that provides the 3-way correction that I use (it's essentially a 3-way levels option)? Or a 3rd party plugin that might play nicer with Aspect HD than does the built-in PP tool? I've investigated the Matrox RT.X2 card which would seem to be an answer, but unfortunately I work in 30p and the RT.X2 card doesn't seem to help there.

January 15th, 2007, 11:37 AM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Aspect HD's Color Balance is a real-time three-way color-corrector but without the nice GUI. For a fast rendering 3-way CC, try Colorista (I've been meaning to try it myself) -- http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magi...colorista.html __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

January 15th, 2007, 11:50 AM	#4
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Like I said, it needs a nicer GUI. To adjust black/white (luma) level move the RGB sliders in each group (shadows, midtones, highlight) together. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

January 23rd, 2007, 10:34 PM	#7
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Thank you Patricia, That is an excellent heads-up on what I also hope becomes a stable product. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

January 15th, 2007, 11:42 AM	#3
Patricia Lamm Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Okemos, MI Posts: 174	Thanks for the reply, David. I see where I can adjust RBG 3-way with AHD color balance, but can I adjust white/black 3-way as well with that tool? I didn't see that option.

January 15th, 2007, 12:01 PM	#5
Patricia Lamm Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Okemos, MI Posts: 174	Got it, thanks. I'm also looking at Colorista -- seems quite nice and not too expensive.

January 23rd, 2007, 09:48 PM	#6
Patricia Lamm Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Okemos, MI Posts: 174	Update on Colorista from Magic Bullet. This is a terrific product -- excellent control over color correction, intuitive, and very fast. HOWEVER, some major drawbacks: (1) It does not install with a Matrox Parhelia APVe card (which many Aspect HD users, including myself, swear by). This card is not supported by Colorista, as indicated on their website. (2) Even if you do use one of the graphics cards approved on their website, you still may not find success. I tried two different "approved" ATI cards (X1950 Pro and X1300) and found that applying the Colorista effect in Premiere Pro 2.0 caused the program to hang, requiring a hard reboot. I was able to use After Effects 7 & Colorista with these cards, but never Premiere Pro. (3) After many different tries, I was able to get Colorista + Premiere Pro to work with an Nvidia 7900 GS card. However, I'm less than pleased with this card overall so I'm still trying to find a good solution for the color correction problem. Bottom line: Colorista looks like it will be a terrific product, once redgiantsoftware.com gets all the bugs out of it. (I did report my problems to the company but haven't heard of any resolution yet.)

January 25th, 2007, 05:50 AM	#8
Douglas Turner Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 132	Bought Colorista 2 days ago - big improvement on PP2 color correction... I'm very happy with it. BTW, when are Adobe going to buy Cineform - they've just gobbled up Serious Magic, surely you're next on their list ;)

January 25th, 2007, 01:26 PM	#9
Don Blish Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Portland OR Posts: 227	I, for one would hope to see Cineform stay independent, they are MUCH more responsive than Adobe on both new developments and support!