Patryk,

Nice work as usual. Would you please post or email me your color correction settings and other filters used?

Here:

color grading process

This is great Patryk, thanks. What a difference.
Would it be possible for you to post a screen shot of the color corrector filter settings of the second photo?

Very cool procession of pics, Patryk.
I'd very much like to see a few more examples like that, if you have others that are as detailed as that.
Thanks!

Very, very nice!

Could you post your .veg file too so I could make my footage look like that also?

:O(~)

Other than not having as much to play with in the shadows, what did you think was the biggest challenge in grading HDV footage?

Yes, very nice. Thanks for posting.

Now get her to take that damn cumbersome robe off. It's so hot in there.
(I keeed, i keeed).

Seriously, I've never even thought of grading for style like this, good post.
A lesson in "a little goes a long way".

Ok, I need help! What is grading? What were the two nearly black pictures? Were they overlays that were made nearly transparent? I'd love to have the process explained a little better. But no matter what you've made me want to experiment now with overlays!

Paul, grading is short for "color grading." simply put, it's using various strong or subtle color tones gradually changing to the normal look or another look of the image part way through the picture. Similar to a graduated filter that goes on the front of your camera.

Those ones with all black are where the masking tool (found in the pan/crop tool button) has been used to cut out the area that he wants to have show up in a different color, the black areas are actually transparent.

Hope this helped, anyone who wants to correct me, feel free, I've always got room for more learn'n :)

Dave

Yeah, besically it's trying to emulate with effects would normally would be done (to some lesser control) with analog filters going in front (and some cases back) of the lens.

Here is the image from a TV pilot i shot recently where the effects were ahieved in camera:

see it here

with 2 grad filters -- one orange on the top and another clear ND on the bottom.

Patryk! Great stuff. I always get to your work asap! And fabo tute on the grads too.

. . IMO and the reason WHY we do grading - analog or digital - is to make the "subject" of the frame pop/stand free of the BG and/or give an overall emotion/feel/weight to the shot. Same thing for creating shallow depth of field. We need layers. Our eye and brain make sense of layers. So by providing layers we are stimulating the viewer's brain to be more interested and sit up and take note. So, if I can keep my head, while I AM analyzing a shot, then I have a chance in getting back to the studio WITH the narrative already streaming away on the timeline. Our brains don't do "flatness" very well. Being involved in visual stuff makes us all even more sensitive to layers. If you can interpret THAT to a viewer you will give them something that will stimulate them to be attentive to your work. What does that mean? Happy clients. And what does hapy clients mean? . . . . get the picture . . ?

Anyways, that's my take on it!

I've used analog filters solids & grads on my camera. They have given me stuff that Vegas can not come even close to. But there is often NO going back! For me its a swing door usage of my set of tools. Do I get the best image - bland or whatever - OR do I force the issue and slap a analogue filter on the front? My slim experience has shown me to try both - with and without. Often the circumstances will make a decision straightforward! The Sunlight is just TOO BIG! So on go the ND (neutral density) sunglasses ( I have a range from .3 to .9 - kinda get by here in .. ahem . .sunny London!); need to use a grad 'cos I want the lower/upper/right/left half of the frame illuminated; Blue skies just aint 'appening without a Pola and getting contrasty stuff with Black Mist. And there's the "other" thing. Once in digital you've lost the analogue dynamic. But times change . . times change. . . oh for the Big "Red" One!!

Well, there are advantages and limitations to both in-camera technique and in post. For instance you will never get back teh clouds you have lost becaus you didn't use ND grad in an outside shoot, on the other hand changing filters can take up some valuable time so if you know you can replicate a particular effect in the post it saves some time. Then again if you know you won't get to do color grading on the project -- as sometimes it's the case...

Thanks, Dave, Grazie and Patryk. I want to experiment with this some. I use a few filters on my camera occasionally, but I'm always looking for some way to make things "pop" and this deserves experimentation.