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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Where to learn how to color grade?

Actually, you just need to rent one for the day at $300 to $750 an hour :)
as I said, SPENDY.

I truly believe if you are serious about becoming a Colorist. (and not just a filmmaker who can color) and you dont se yourself become an apprentice somewhere.

then why not start by trying what Stu did in that video, on clips from say your top 50 or 100 movies. I'd argue spending time everyday for a year on trying to match looks certainly wont hurt anyone. (Netflix is very affordable)

But working with a Senior Colorist, is by far the best way to learn... lots of tricks you wont find in any tut. for obvious reasons. :)
 
Two books that are very effective and have media you can use to follow along with the tutorials are:

The Art & Technique of Digital Color Correction -Steve Hullfish
Color Correction for Video- Steve Hullfish

Great stuff, and you'll recognize some of the colorists that give insight in the books.
 
Steve Sherrick said:
Two books that are very effective and have media you can use to follow along with the tutorials are:

The Art & Technique of Digital Color Correction -Steve Hullfish
Color Correction for Video- Steve Hullfish

Great stuff, and you'll recognize some of the colorists that give insight in the books.
Click to expand...


I second the art of digital color correction. Great book. Very thick though. Will take a while to plod through.

Havnt read the second.

-J. A. Brown
 
Steve Sherrick said:
Two books that are very effective and have media you can use to follow along with the tutorials are:

The Art & Technique of Digital Color Correction -Steve Hullfish
Color Correction for Video- Steve Hullfish

Great stuff, and you'll recognize some of the colorists that give insight in the books.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will definitely have to check that out. :)
 
Joshua Brown said:
Brandon, I have found that the Color Tutorials on Lynda.com were extremely helpful firstly in helping me get comfortable with a new grading workflow (color). More importantly though it gave some really good advice on how to do some of the "magic" behind Color Correction and Grading. If nothing else, it will give you a good leg up over the 3way CC in Final Cut. At the monthly rate that Lynda charges, if you watch the whole series in one month, I think it's a MUCH better value than the tutorials for free and purchase at Creative Cow. Just my 2 cents.

- J.A. Brown
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I have been on Lynda.com for over a year and the color training alone was worth the price of the entire years subscription. Granted I have learned a great deal about all the programs I use but I have really become attached to Color. I think it gets a bad rap sometimes but it does some remarkable things if you understand it. I am hoping Color 1.5 will offer even better results

Brandon, Even if you only spend one month ($25). You could learn quite a bit.
 
Frank Weeks said:
I have to agree. I have been on Lynda.com for over a year and the color training alone was worth the price of the entire years subscription. Granted I have learned a great deal about all the programs I use but I have really become attached to Color. I think it gets a bad rap sometimes but it does some remarkable things if you understand it. I am hoping Color 1.5 will offer even better results

Brandon, Even if you only spend one month ($25). You could learn quite a bit.
Click to expand...

yep, already signed up start started watching it :)
 
Examples...

Examples...

I think a really good way to learn how to color grade is to look at examples from well shot films. Check out this site:

http://evanerichards.blogspot.com/

Its a fantastic place to look at references of famous films. Its a lot easier to see what a colorist did I think if you look at a still (some of the older films didn't have a DI obviously but most of the newer ones did). I think maybe your eye can be tricked when there is more movement in the frame. I use this site all the time to get ideas for lighting, compositions, color, etc. One of the guys from Red Giant software talked about making a "look book" from different movies to get a sense of they style they were shot in. Well heres a pretty comprehensive "look book" for 10 or 15 academy award caliber films.
 
Joshua Brown said:
Let us know how it goes! Show us some graded work!

-J.A. Brown
Click to expand...

Will do :) I'm a couple hours in and we're of course still discussing project settings, the tools, understanding color wheels, all stuff I already know so we'll have to see if there is insight to come.
 
jake blackstone said:
I don't know exactly, never bought Pablo myself, just the Baselight. May be Tim can help answering this...
Click to expand...

I would have guessed closer to $250,000 myself, but that's just a guess.
 
Brandon Fraley said:
Will do :) I'm a couple hours in and we're of course still discussing project settings, the tools, understanding color wheels, all stuff I already know so we'll have to see if there is insight to come.
Click to expand...

I just recently rewatched the section on the FX room. The part on skin softening just came in handy. The ladies love soft looking skin. Enjoy. Play. Learn.
 
Frank Weeks said:
I have to agree. I have been on Lynda.com for over a year and the color training alone was worth the price of the entire years subscription. Granted I have learned a great deal about all the programs I use but I have really become attached to Color. I think it gets a bad rap sometimes but it does some remarkable things if you understand it. I am hoping Color 1.5 will offer even better results

Brandon, Even if you only spend one month ($25). You could learn quite a bit.
Click to expand...

So what are the videos / training like at Lynda.com? Do they actually go into theory, or do they more show you what buttons to press?

(I'm more interested in the theory, then the how to use an application.)

BTW- I'll "third" Steve's suggestion about the book:
The Art & Technique of Digital Color Correction -Steve Hullfish

I'm almost all the way through it, and I'll be going through it a couple of more times as there is just so much to glean from it. (It does show how to, but there is a lot of theory in there.)
 
Ryan E. Walters said:
So what are the videos / training like at Lynda.com? Do they actually go into theory, or do they more show you what buttons to press?

(I'm more interested in the theory, then the how to use an application.)

BTW- I'll "third" Steve's suggestion about the book:
The Art & Technique of Digital Color Correction -Steve Hullfish

I'm almost all the way through it, and I'll be going through it a couple of more times as there is just so much to glean from it. (It does show how to, but there is a lot of theory in there.)
Click to expand...

There is Mostly button pushing to give the series a general outline, but there is theory peppered in there for flavoring. I found it to be a good balance of the two. Usually when showing you HOW to do something, he tells you WHY you might want to do something.

- J.A. Brown
 
What I like about Steve Hullfish's books is that they will take the same shot and ask multiple colorists how they would approach it. This gives you an interesting insight into the process and shows that there's not always one way to go about it. When you see 3 or 4 high level colorists come up with different results, it illustrates that one should learn the basics to have a solid foundation in color theory but in the end sometimes you go with your gut or with a very subjective interpretation of what the shot or scene is all about. And there's lots of practical stuff in there as well about how to use the tools properly. This combined with online tutorials should get you going in the right direction. Of course, if you do find a way to get into Mike Most's color correction suite or with any other experienced colorist that will certainly give you the in the moment experience that is very valuable.
 
filmguy01 said:
I think a really good way to learn how to color grade is to look at examples from well shot films. Check out this site:

http://evanerichards.blogspot.com/

Its a fantastic place to look at references of famous films. Its a lot easier to see what a colorist did I think if you look at a still (some of the older films didn't have a DI obviously but most of the newer ones did). I think maybe your eye can be tricked when there is more movement in the frame. I use this site all the time to get ideas for lighting, compositions, color, etc. One of the guys from Red Giant software talked about making a "look book" from different movies to get a sense of they style they were shot in. Well heres a pretty comprehensive "look book" for 10 or 15 academy award caliber films.
Click to expand...

Wow I really love this link. I just spent hours examining all the shots. I could look at stills like this for a week straight. What amazes me is that the day shots don't seem as bright as you would think in these stills. I'm wondering if they are a little darker because of projection brightens them up when in a theater?
 
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