Advanced Color Correction

Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 now includes built-in support for 10-bit video and 16-bit PSD files, and also provides 32-bit per-channel internal color processing that delivers the high dynamic range needed to maintain maximum
image quality through multiple rounds of filters and effects. Changes to color, contrast, and exposure—both subtle and dramatic—are precise and smooth, without the visible banding and histogram spikes that can be introduced by systems with lower bit-depth processing. And if a user's system includes a graphics card that supports Premiere Pro 2.0's GPU acceleration features, then the user will benefit from accelerated previewing and rendering of color effects.

Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 introduces new color correction and evaluation tools that are optimized for different
situations and tasks. The Fast Color Corrector, designed for relatively simple changes, provides real-time previews that let users make quick decisions based on what they actually see. The Three-Way Color Corrector allows deeper control, enabling subtle changes to hue, saturation, and brightness in highlights, midtones, and shadows. A number of color effects now also offer secondary color correction with effects applied to just a user-definable color range. And professional internal scopes, including both a Waveform monitor and a Vectorscope,
give provide the technical measurement tools needed for critical luma and color-level management.

Try it: Fast Color Corrector

1. Open the color.prproj project file. If needed, choose Window > Workspace > Color Correction. The new Reference panel appears at bottom right. Open the panel's flyout menu and choose your preferred scope from the six built-in options including both Waveform and Vectorscope monitors.

2. Double-click the sequence “Fast CC Sequence” to open it in the Timeline. Open the Program panel's flyout menu (click triangle at top right) and confirm that there is a checkmark next to Automatic Quality.

3. In the Program panel, move to 00:00:02:00. Use the zoom control below the video display to select a magnification level of 400% so you can see the color of individual pixels. Drag the horizontal scroll bar to the left until you see the white trim on the shoulder of the red jacket.

4. In the panel group at left, click to bring the Effects panel forward. Open the Video Effects folder and its nested Color Correction folder, where you'll see the expanded list of color correction tools now available in Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0. Drag the Fast Color Corrector icon onto the clip 1A_02 Comp 1.avi in the Timeline. A green line appears under the name of the clip to confirm application of the effect.

5. Go to the Effect Controls panel and click the triangle to the left of Fast Color Corrector to reveal the effect controls. Under Output at the top, click the Show Split View checkbox. Note the Layout and Split View Percentage options, which allow you to control the position and size of the preview.

6. Click the White Balance eyedropper, then move it over the jacket trim in the Program panel. As you move the eyedropper, the swatch in the Effects Control panel shows the color of the current pixel. When the cursor is over the whitest available pixel, click to set the White Balance. The left side of the Program panel now shows the effect of the color correction. To easily compare the corrected and original clip, click on the toggle icon just to the left of the effect name in its control panel.

7. Now adjust color with the Fast Color Corrector's new Color Wheel in the Effect Controls panel. Click on the control ring in the center of the wheel and drag in various directions, noting the effect in the Program panel. You can also change any of the other listed color parameters directly by scrubbing or entering values in their fields.

8. Once you're satisfied with color correction for one clip, it's easy to apply it to additional clips in your sequence. In the Effects Control panel, click on Fast Color Corrector and copy the effect (Ctrl+C). In the Timeline, select 3A_01 Comp 1.avi, then Paste (Ctrl+V). The selected clip will now be underlined in green, confirming application of the effect.

Try it: Secondary color correction

Adobe Premiere Pro now supports secondary color correction in the Three-Way Color Corrector, Luma Corrector, Luma Curves, RGB Color Corrector, and RGB Curves effects. Secondary color correction gives users greater creative control by letting them limit color correction to a specified color range. In the following
example, we'll use secondary color correction to make a paper note pop out in a shot by isolating its color and increasing its saturation. We'll define a selection based on a color range, use the Three-Way Color Corrector
to modify the shadow, midtone, and highlight colors of the paper without affecting the rest of the shot.

1. Open the color2.prproj project file. If needed, choose Window > Workspace > Color Correction. Clip 2A_03 Comp 1.avi appears in the Timeline with the CTI at 00:00:01:25. Open the Reference panel flyout menu and select a scope.

2. In the Effects panel, open the Video Effects folder and its nested Color Correction folder. Drag the Three-Way Color Corrector icon onto the clip 2A_03 Comp 1.avi in the Timeline. A green line appears under the clip to confirm application of the effect.

3. Bring forward the Effect Controls panel and click the triangle to the left of Three-Way Color Corrector
to reveal the effect controls. Note the Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight Color Wheels, and also the drop-down Tonal Range menu that includes Master, Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. This menu determines which controls and fields are available for adjustment in the Tonal Range section immediately below.

4. Choose Mask from the drop-down Output menu. The entire Program panel is white, illustrating that without Secondary color correction the Three-Way Color Corrector would be active across the entire frame.

5. At the bottom of the control panel, click the triangle to expand the Secondary Color Correction controls. The first parameter listed will be Center. To define a color range, first click the leftmost of the three eyedroppers.
The mask disappears.

6. Move the cursor over the yellow paper in the Program panel. As you move, the swatch in the Effects Control panel shows the color of the current pixel. Click when the cursor is over a yellow pixel. The mask reappears, with the selected pixels shown in white. There will also be some gray, indicating feathered areas where pixels will be only partially affected by correction applied to the selection.

7. Broaden the color range by clicking in the Program panel with the add (+) eyedropper until the entire background of the paper is white. Then use the remove (-) eyedropper on the paper's written message to exclude colors that are used in the text.

8. When the selection includes the paper background but nothing else, switch to Composite view (Output menu). Now experiment with the Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight Color Wheels. Drag the control ring of the Midtone wheel toward the 10:30 position, for instance, to push the color of the selection from yellow toward orange. With exact control over your selection and three separate Color Wheels, you have exceptionally fine control over the paper color without affecting colors in any other part of the shot.