I'm pretty terrible when it comes to color grading/color correction/etc and I've been looking into it more and more, trying to get a better grasp on it. I've been messing around with color correction tools, adjusting levels and saturation, and playing around with Color Gradient overlays and other composite modes, but regardless of what I do it comes out looking terrible. So I wanted to make a discussion thread on the different methods behind it and maybe have a conversation on the different kinds of theories on the whys and hows it can look good and things to keep in mind.
So anyone and everyone who is far more competant and knowledgeable about this than I am, please feel free to really kick off this discussion in any way by giving a detailed overview about what to look for when adding/changing colors or just a quick rundown of a few tips and tricks.
I'm far from an expert on the subject, but the way I do it is to just keep tweaking the colors until I get the look I want (I know, really helpful). I find that duplicating a layer and applying a mask to the one allows you to get a more subtle effect than applying a single color alteration to the entire composition.
Anyway, I'm just gonna post two videos that I think use color really well:
I really enjoy the way color is used here; it really enhances the mood and there's some incredible imagery that is accentuated by the color alterations. Note 1:56-1:59 with the hand falling in front of the stained glass... The colors used are predominantly dark red, purple, and dark blue; analogous colors, which means less variety, but also a more natural and organic feeling that I think helps this scene stand out from the other clips.
On the opposite side of the spectrum (see what I did there?) from Trial by Drowning is P.Y.A. which I think uses the lack of color and color isolation to help bring out the helplessness and fatalism that the editor was trying to convey.
So that's this amateur's interpretation. Where are the people who REALLY know this stuff?
I can't say that I've done a ton of color correcting in videos, but as Castor said, it can depend on what you're trying do to do. Different methods will yield different results, and sometimes multiple methods are required to achieve the results you want. One tip I can offer is the importance of matching up blacks, whites and neutrals. Maybe you match the blacks in one anime to the blacks in another, maybe you take both and match them to some mutually compatible happy medium, but it's a good place to start.
You also can color correct "by the numbers," but this is getting really technical, I don't know if it works for anime and I have no idea how to do that in a video editing program. Might be worth experimenting with, though, if you like numbers. It's something I've done only in Photoshop, but the principles are sound and might carry over to other programs. I can dig up details, if you want them.
What are you trying to do that is coming out looking terrible? Maybe you've just picked a really horrible batch of video to color correct!
JudgeHolden wrote:Poor Shin, he must have known he was walking into a trap.
I really should have seen it coming D:
>.>
But anyways, to those that contributed, thanks. I'm not looking for any specific thing just general tips on aesthetics. So tips regarding on how much saturation is too much saturation, or a warning on how purple to yellow gradient overlays don't generally mesh well in maintaining most atmospheres or moods, or generally things of that nature is what I was hoping to dig up.
