#Change color final cut pro x how to
#Change color final cut pro x manual

The Waveform Monitor, which shows relative levels of luma or chroma. There are three basic kinds of video scopes.

They measure things like relative levels of luma and chroma in our images and then display it in easy-to-understand graphs. Luckily, Final Cut Pro X has some tools to help us overcome our physical deficiencies. In the same way, color casts can start to seem perfectly natural if we look at them long enough.

Another image might seem too bright in dark circumstances, but too dark in brighter ones. This is because our perceptions are often influenced by comparison and circumstance.Ī well-balanced image might look dull next to an over-exposed one. When evaluating the color, contrast, and exposure of an image, you should not rely entirely on your eyes. The legend underneath the adjustment window will tell you exactly how much you have increased or decreased each value from its baseline. You can also alter the values in each tonal range by selecting its slider and using the up or down arrows on your keyboard. The grey slider in the center is for mid-tones the white one, highlights. The black one on the left adjusts values for shadows - that is, the darker aspects of an image.ĭragging the slider upward makes them brighter, while dragging downward makes them darker. The three smaller circles represent what we call the 'Tonal Range.' They are shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. It is the global control.ĭragging upward on it would be like dragging each of the other controls upward at the same time, increasing all values equally. We will show you why in a moment.Īs you can see, the larger slider is off to the left, isolated from the others. On the Color tab, they can also move left and right. If you would click on the Exposure or Saturation tab, you would see the sliders can only move up or down with those tabs. You drag them upward to INCREASE values and drag them downward to DECREASE values. It is the image exactly as uploaded and means that no corrections have been made. The center line represents, essentially, zero. Indeed, they work in similar ways.īelow the tabs, there are four circles on a center line. As you can see, each tab and the tools associated with it is similar in layout and arrangement to the others. Begin with exposure, then move on to color, and finish with saturation.Ĭlick through each of the tabs to become familiar them. When doing basic color correction, you should always follow a certain workflow. This is not the order in which we are going to use them, though. They are Color, Saturation, and Exposure. There are three tabs at the top of the Color Board. To reach the Color Board, go to Window > Go To > Color Board You will find all of the tools you need to manually correct color errors in your project on the Color Board. Saturation refers to the intensity of a color. It is discussed in terms of hue and saturation. We will learn more about luma and how it is measured later on in this article.Ĭhroma refers to color without regard to luma values.

Color values are not included in luma measurements. (IRE stands for Institute of Radio Experts.) The IRE scale ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 representing the darkest blacks, and 100 the brightest whites. Luma is how we calculate the bright and dark areas of an image.

#Change color final cut pro x manual

Do not worry, though, manual color correction is pretty easy, too.īefore we begin, you should familiarize yourself with the following terms:

#Change color final cut pro x how to

For that reason, we are going to teach you how to do it yourself. However, it is important to understand what color balancing is, how it is done, what steps are taken, and in what order. The easiest way to correct for color errors is to have Final Cut Pro do it for you. Without it, clips from different scenes, sources, or camera angles would seem disjointed or jarring. You use it primarily to remove color casts and ensure that each clip has a consistent look, lighting, and exposure.

Color correction is an important part of any editing project.