Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Balancing Color with a Flat Pass Waveform Monitor
Another way to tell that an image has a color cast is with the standard
composite waveform monitor set to flat pass (sometimes called YC in
some software applications).
Of all of the colorists that were interviewed for this topic, the only per-
son that utilized this technique regularly was Neal Kassner, the colorist at
CBS's 48 Hours , but it's also a technique that I've employed occasionally.
Both of us were taught this technique in the days before the widespread
acceptance and use of RGB waveform monitors when we were learning
to “shade” or “paint” multicamera shoots.
Shading or painting generally involved pointing all of the cameras in
a multicamera shoot at a single chip chart such as the grayscale chart or
the ChromaDuMonde chart by DSC Labs, which is used throughout this
book. Then a technician in the truck or control room uses overall pedes-
tal, gamma, and gain controls as well as controls for the individual red,
green, and blue color channels to make all the cameras look the same.
This step was often done without an RGB Parade waveform monitor and
usually in conjunction with a vectorscope.
With the waveform set to Flat Pass—where you are able to see chroma
information in the scope—the shader would match the level of each chip
chart on the waveform monitor and then would balance the color chan-
nels by attempting to get the flattest line possible in the shadows, mid-
tones, and highlights.
Let's attempt to dial in a color correction using nothing but a waveform
monitor in Flat Pass mode. Call up the “grayscaleneutral” clip and the
“grayscalecool” clip into Color Finesse or whatever software you're using.
D e f i n i t i o n
shade: To set up a camera
to properly match other
cameras in a multicamera
environment. It is also
applied increasingly often
to single-camera shoots
where a digital imaging
technician (DIT) assists the
director of photography in
achieving the look he or
she desires from a video
camera—usually an HD
video camera. Shading
involves manually white
balancing the camera and
setting the blacks, mids,
and white levels. It's kind
of like pre—color correct-
ing the camera. Many of
the same skills apply to
both color correction and
camera shading.
D e f i n i t i o n
paint: See “shade” above.
Fig. 3.42 Color Finesse's YC waveform monitor showing the cool chart.
 
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