Can you adjust color temperature without RAW?

Musician wrote on 6/13/2008, 10:11 AM

I am starting to do more color correction on my still photos by shooting RAW and dialing in everything myself. I know that you can do this also with cameras like RED because they shoot in a RAW format. I can't afford RED so am thinking about buying an EX1. I have often wondered if there is a simple way to adjust color temperature in post using Vegas? I know how to use the color correctors to get a certain "look", but right now I am only interested in color temperature. I'd like to hear how most people approach this to find the simplest method available. Thanks.

Comments

LJA wrote on 6/13/2008, 2:38 PM

When I am not doing it by the seat of my pants, I photograph a "gray card" and apply "complementary" color dropper in the color corrector. My Kodak gray card kit is over 30 years old, but I suspect Kodak, or somebody else, still makes them. You can also use a white sheet of paper, but no two pieces of "white" paper are the same color, however the differences may not be significant for your purposes.

Musician wrote on 6/13/2008, 5:04 PM

I do the same thing when I am actually the one shooting a scene. Unfortunately, I often edit video for people who shoot their own stuff and don't know how to white balance their cameras. So I often get indoor settings used for outdoor shooting and vice versa. I have always just fudged color correction by adjusting to taste with my color correction tools. But when a a tape has 50 clips on it, and every one is not white-balanced correctly, it can take a lot of time. What I am wondering is if there is a simple plugin that I am not aware of that makes it easy to add "warmth" or "coolness" to the highs/mids/lows on poorly shot video. - in essence "white balancing" non-RAW footage. Any easy suggestions?

baysidebas wrote on 6/13/2008, 5:31 PM

You may want to read this recent thread:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=596646