[Tig] Curves for serious Color Correction

[Steve Hullfish]

I don't take offense at any of it. It's why I asked the question in  
the first place. I certainly value your opinion and realize there's  
room for varying ideas.

Curves for me allows extreme precision. I like using multiple  
trackballs to control FinalTouch. I wish Symphony had a nice hardware  
interface. Having only a single trackball or mouse as an interface is  
a definite drawback. Since I was trained by a da Vinci colorist, my  
first tool that I usually go for in balancing is the "Hue Offset"  
wheels, which are essentially the same as the three trackballs on a  
da Vinci. But Curves definitely has a place on some corrections for me.

Where Curves excels is in being able to isolate very small areas of  
the tonality of the picture. With blacks, mids and highs, you are  
limited to three essentially pre-defined tonal ranges. With Curves, I  
can effect an exact tonal portion of the picture. I can lock down  
black and pull up deep shadow without raising higher mids. I can lock  
in the bright detail and still affect a tonal range above the mids.

Also, if you watch the RGB parade, it's very easy to see exactly  
where a channel may be too hot or too low and adjust it very  
intuitively because the parade cells correspond directly with each  
color curve.

If you have access to a Symphony, try to use curves. You may not like  
it at first.
On Oct 18, 2006, at 8:40 PM, Kassner, Neal wrote:

> Sorry; I guess I missed the intent of your original post--when I  
> think of curves in a color correction sense, da Vinci's Custom  
> Curves come to mind, because until I started using PShop that's all  
> I had experience with (and not the best experience at that).
>
> That being said, I stand by my question: if you've got a big-iron  
> system like a da Vinci, Pogle, or Lustre at your disposal with  
> their various hardware trackball panels, why would you want to mess  
> around with curves to grade? I'm not trying to be difficult or  
> holier-than-thou; I truly don't understand the attraction. I  
> suppose it's what you're used to. Myself, I "grew up" using da  
> Vinci products, which themselves were easy to relate to my earlier  
> experience as a video shader in studios--camera paint pots=RGB  
> blacks, mids, and highlights (at least on the da Vinci Classic we  
> first used here). But I can see someone who didn't start with a da  
> Vinci finding PShop-like curves intuitive to use. Heck, even *I*  
> find them intuitive, just not as expedient, since you can get  
> essentially the same result more quickly using trackballs and  
> playing one color against another simultaneously--or am I still  
> missing the point?
>
> Our Symphonies all came with Avid's color correction engine  
> installed, yet the decision was made early on (by management, who  
> were prodded by Production, not us colorists) to stay with our da  
> Vincis for the color work. Personally, I'm glad they did, because I  
> think I'd go crazy trying to work using a mouse and keyboard. To  
> me, it's a huge drawback to an otherwise fine and well-thought-out  
> system. Don't get me wrong--dealing with da Vinci's bugs are no  
> picnic, either. But there's bad and good in every system, I suppose.
>
> I guess I'd have to sit down and work with a curves-based  
> correction app under fire, so to speak, to appreciate the finer  
> points of either method. As I said before, the biggest drawback I  
> can see working with curves is the one-color-at-a-time tweaking I  
> think you'd have to do.
>
> At any rate, I find the whole subject fascinating, and I'm sure  
> that as hardware- and software-based systems become more refined,  
> we'll see more crossover between their better features.
>
> Best,
> Neal
>

Steve Hullfish
Verascope Pictures
(630) 717 9069 office
(312) 399-4237 cell
www.veralith.com