What Is Color Grading? A Beginner’s Guide to Cinematic Video
Are you wondering what the heck people mean when they talk about ‘color grading’ their photos or videos? Or maybe you want to learn how to color grade yourself so you can level up your photo and video editing skills?
With color grading, you can easily transform the look of your photos and videos with a few simple steps.
If you become really good at color grading, you can even sell your services as a freelance colorist for $700 – $1,000 a day, according to Backstage.
It can be as easy as selecting a preset, or you can level up your skills and create your own custom look — whatever suits your style best!
Get creative by adjusting exposure, saturation, color temperature, and more for ultimate control over the scene.
Let’s take a look at what color grading is and how you can use it to make your photos and videos look amazing!
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What is Color Grading?
You may have heard the term “color grading” thrown around in the film and video or photography world, but what exactly does it mean?
Simply put, color grading is the process of adjusting and enhancing the colors and tones in an image or video. It goes beyond simply correcting color balance as it involves manipulating hues, saturation, contrast, and brightness to create a specific mood or style.
Have you ever wondered why all Western movies have an orange tint to them? Or why ‘Ozark’ is always so blue?
That look was decided by the director and colorist to give a specific atmosphere to the story, which can alter how the audience subconsciously feels as they watch.
Think of it as adding an Instagram filter but with much more precision and control.
Whether you’re a filmmaker crafting a cinematic masterpiece or a content creator sprucing up your latest YouTube video, color grading is a powerful tool that can take your visuals to the next level.
Why is Color Grading Important?
Color grading is more than just a finishing touch – it’s a crucial element that can make or break the overall look and feel of your content.
By adding a carefully crafted color palette, a story can be brought to life in a way that resonates with its audience. Color grading allows a director or cinematographer to control the mood, tone, and even the narrative of a film or video.
Color grading can highlight a specific emotion, create a sense of time or place, or simply add a touch of elegance to a scene.
It’s the difference between bland and breathtaking – and in a world where visuals are everything, there’s no room for bland.
The Basics of Color Grading
Let’s take a look at some important concepts in the world of basic color grading tools.
Color Grading vs. Color Correction
Color grading and color correction are often used interchangeably, but they refer to distinct areas of filmmaking.
Color grading involves adjusting the overall “look” of a film and is typically done as one of the last steps in post-production; it includes manipulating things like color saturation, color hues, and contrast. Typically, color grading is done as one of the steps after color correction.
In contrast, color correction focuses on addressing issues like white balance and lighting inconsistencies within individual shots, as well as color adjustments to account for changes in footage between different cameras used in the same scene.
It is usually a more technical process carried out in the earlier stages of post-production to create a consistent look across the entire image. Generally, it has less impact on the creative aesthetic of the film footage.
The Goals of Color Grading
The art of color grading in film and video production involves adjusting the colors to create a distinct look, mood, or emotion.
The main goal of color grading is to enhance the visual storytelling process and help communicate the director’s vision.
Color grade can also be used to correct exposure and white balance issues that may have occurred during the shoot.
Other objectives of any color grading feature include creating consistency between shots, making the images look more cinematic or stylized, and drawing the audience’s attention to certain elements in the frame.
Color Grading Process
Typically done in post-production, color grading requires specialized software and skills to achieve professional results.
Once you have this software, you can use the tools available in the software to color grade, such as using color wheels, curves, and masks.
Color Grading Techniques
Primary Color Correction
Primary color correction is one of the essential techniques in color grading, as it allows for the control and manipulation of the fundamental colors present in the composition.
The primary colors, red, green, and blue, can be adjusted to get a dramatic effect. The process can help to create balance, richness, and depth in an image, and it can even alter the temperature of a shot, resulting in a warm or cool hue.
Primary correction is a dynamic tool that is used in a wide range of films, from fantasy blockbusters to subtle dramas, to create a consistent look in all the footage.
Secondary Color Correction
Secondary color correction is a technique used by the creative team to fine-tune the color palettes of specific objects within a shot.
Whether making a person’s eyes appear more sparkling blue, adjusting skin tones, or enhancing the reds and oranges of a sunset, secondary correction allows for endless creative possibilities.
By isolating specific hues in an image, colorists can adjust brightness values, saturation, and hue to achieve the desired effect.
Color Grading with LUTs or Presets
There are so many different techniques for color grading, but using LUTs or presets can be a somewhat effortless and practical approach.
LUTs or lookup tables, are digital filters that apply a specific color grade to footage. Similarly, presets are pre-built adjustments that can be quickly applied to footage, like an Instagram filter.
Though some film colorists may argue that these shortcuts take away from the art of color grading, the convenience and efficiency they provide are undeniable.
The variety of LUTs and presets available plus the ease of application, make them a great option for any video editor or photographer looking to work faster, not harder.
Color Grading Software
Let’s take a look at my favorite options for color grading software!
Software for Color Grading
Movavi Video
Movavi Video Editor is a footage-enhancement software that’s designed with beginners and amateurs in mind.
It'is great for video editing and adding voiceovers to videos. It's easy to use so it's perfect for beginners, it lets you remove background noise, and it has lots of interesting sound and visual effects that you can use.
It’s packed with powerful color management tools, yet it’s user-friendly and easy to learn.
Movavi offers a free trial so you can download the software and see if it's right for you!
A lot of video editing software will come with a built-in coloring space. For beginner and amateur video editors, Movavi Video Editor Plus is a popular option.
This intuitive program allows users to easily adjust colors, brightness, contrast, and saturation to create stunning visuals. It also offers a range of features, from basic editing tools to effects and transitions.
Whether you’re creating a vlog, short film, or home movie, Movavi Video Editor Plus is a great starting point to improve your basic color correction process and make your images and videos shine!
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is a leading video editing software, widely used by Hollywood studios for its advanced color grading and editing tools.
It combines video editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production in one platform. With deep controls for intricate color work, support for formats like CinemaDNG raw and LogC footage, and robust multi-user collaboration features, it’s a powerhouse for professional workflows.
Its free version is great as it makes high-end tools accessible to beginners!
Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Avengers were edited using this software -how cool is that?!
DaVinci Resolve stands out among the popular video editing software programs in terms of advanced color grading and video editing features, often being used by Hollywood studios.
With a user-friendly interface and deep controls for color correction and color grade, this software is perfect for projects with high standards and intricate color requirements.
It also has the capability of handling many different footage types from cinema cameras, like CinemaDNG raw files and LogC footage.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is a fantastic video and film editing program for professionals.
It's got a big learning curve, but it's a very popular program and it's very powerful - so it's worth the time to learn!
Adobe Premiere Pro is considered one of the best video editing software and digital color-grading tools.
Premiere Pro has various features, such as curves, color wheels, and color match adjustments, that allow users to achieve high-quality video image results.
With its user-friendly interface, beginners can learn and master the basic tools quickly, while professionals can deep dive into its advanced features.
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is an easy-to-use video editor for macOS with powerful features.
Its magnetic timeline helps you edit faster, while advanced tools let you adjust color and grading with precision. It supports 8K video, HDR, and complex projects.
Smart collections and tagging keep everything organized, making it perfect for all types of video projects.
No Country for Old Men and The Social Network were both edited on Final Cut!
As a tool specifically designed for macOS, Final Cut Pro X offers an intuitive digital color grading workflow that makes it easy for professionals to achieve a polished, professional look for their motion picture and digital video projects.
Whether you’re using Final Cut Pro X for basic color correction or more advanced grading techniques, the software’s range of powerful features and easy-to-use interface make it a top choice for video editors and colorists.
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Adobe Lightroom is great for editing and organizing photos.
It includes drag-and-drop presets, color tools like the HSL panel, and AI masking for fast, precise edits.
You can edit multiple photos at once, keep your original files safe with non-destructive editing, and access your projects on any device with cloud syncing.
Adobe Lightroom is a cult favorite for photographers wanting to adjust the colors on their images.
Lightroom offers presets you can drag and drop directly to your images, or you can use their color wheels and HSL panel to manually adjust all the coloring until you end up with the photo you imagined.
It also has a great masking feature with AI capabilities to quickly mask the right parts of your image.
Color Grading for Different Media
Now, we’ll look at how color grading changes depending on the media.
Color Grading for Film and TV
The way colors are manipulated in post-production can have a significant impact on the mood, tone, and overall feel of your film. And it’s not a one-size-fits-all process, as color grading for different media can produce strikingly different effects.
While the genre of certain types of TV shows dictates the color palette and picture profile, video color correction and grading in film allow for more creative freedom and can emphasize certain emotions or create a unique atmosphere that can transport viewers to another world.
It’s a delicate art that requires a keen eye and a deep understanding of how colors work together to create meaningful imagery.
Color Grading for Web & Socials
Social media platforms have become the go-to avenue to showcase creativity and attract audiences. But with all the content available right now, standing out from the crowd can be tricky.
By using an edgy color palette, you can grab your audience’s attention and more effectively communicate the style and mood of your content.
A properly color-graded image or video can attract more views, shares, and engagement.
Color Grading for Photography
Color grading is also an essential part of photography. Whether you’re a professional photographer or simply capturing memories with a smartphone, the correct color grade can elevate any image.
It’s not just about making colors pop, but also about creating a specific mood and atmosphere. With color grading, you can turn a sterile image into a warm, inviting scene or emphasize the drama in an action shot.
Color grading goes beyond simply applying a filter and being done with it. It demands meticulous attention to details like hue, saturation, and luminosity to achieve the desired outcome.
An excellent color-grading software program for images can help you create beautiful, artistic images that you or your clients will love!
Final Thoughts
Color grading is an important skill that lets you evoke emotion through the colors used in images and videos, just like a painter uses different pigments to show their feelings through a painting.
For those looking for creative ways to make their videos or images more interesting, color grading is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.
Take time to experiment with what works for you, and have fun along the way.
Get creative and start playing around with color grading today!
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