Color 101 - Introduction to Color Correction in Final Cut Studio June 16, 2011

Course Description
This two-day hands-on course will familiarize students with the color correcting capabilities of Final Cut Studio. Start with the basics of color balancing and correction, and move on to the fine points of secondary grading, including scene matching, using vignettes to isolate and track regions, creating advanced color effects and “looks,” skin tone adjustments, adjusting the composition and framing of a shot, and much more.

This book for this course is Apple Pro Training Series, “Color Correction in Final Cut Studio,” by Michael Wohl and David Gross.
Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for existing Final Cut Pro users who want to learn more about the color correction and grading capabilities of Final Cut Studio. The course is designed for those who prefer hands-on and interactive instruction to best explore the functionality.
Prerequisites
Students should have the following prerequisite knowledge prior to attending the course:
• Basic knowledge of the Macintosh OS
• Knowledge of color correction terminology is helpful
• Basic knowledge of Final Cut Pro 7 is required. Level One Final Cut Pro End User certification is preferred. Ideally, students will have attended a Final Cut Pro 101, 102, 200 or 250 course

Course Outline - Day 1
Note: The curricula below comprise activities typically covered in a class at this skill level. The instructor may, at his/her discretion, adjust the lesson plan to meet the needs of the class.
Lesson 1: Controlling Contrast
• Understanding Contrast, Controlling Contrast with the Color Corrector 3-Way Filter, Setting the Mood with the Mids and Creating Artificially High Contrast
Lesson 2: Controlling Color
• Understanding Color Balance, Using Primary Color Correction, Understanding the Color Balance Controls, Identifying and Correcting Color Casts, and Manipulating Color Directly in the Blacks, Mids and Whites
Lesson 3: Color Correcting for Scene Continuity
• Achieving Visual Harmony, Comparing Two Clips, Setting Up for Scene-by-Scene Color Correction, Color Correcting a Complete Scene and Project Tasks
Lesson 4: Working with the Color Interface
• Setting Up a Project, Understanding the Eight Rooms, Color’s Task-Based Workflow, Exploring the Setup Room, Applying Basic Grades, Viewing Your Images, Performing Secondary Grades, Employing Color FX, Applying Final Touches, Panning and Scanning, Utilizing Still Stores, Correcting the Sequence and The Render Queue Room
Lesson 5: Basic Grading
• Exploring the Primary Room, Using the Auto Balance Control, Grading with the Color Balance Controls, Grading with Curves and Understanding Additional Controls
Lesson 6: Basic Secondary Grading
• Three Types of Secondaries, Performing Key-Based Secondaries, Keying with HSL Qualifiers, Performing Vignette-Based Secondaries, Creating a Look and Secondary Curves

Course Outline - Day 2
Lesson 7: Advanced Secondary Grading
• Using Multiple Secondaries, Combining a Key and a Vignette, Using Multiple Keys, Creating Custom Mask Shapes, Combining Vignettes and Incorporating Curve Effects
Lesson 8: Color Effects
• Overview of the Color FX Room, Applying Nodes, Building Color Effects, Controlling Node Order, Monitoring Inactive Nodes, Adding Nodes to Existing Trees, Saving and Reapplying Effects as Presents and Working with Preset Color Effects
Lesson 9: Grade Management
• Managing Grades on a Single Shot, Switching Between Grades, Adding and Deleting Grades, Duplicating a Grade, Setting the Beauty Grade, Saving Corrections and Grades, Deleting Saved Corrections, Organizing Corrections, Saving Secondary Corrections, Saving Grades, Moving Grades from Clip to Clip, Dragging Individual Corrections, Grouping Shots, Applying Grades to Groups and Working with Multiple Grades
Lesson 10: Keyframing Effects
• Animating Effects in Color, Manipulating Keyframes, Navigating to Keyframes, Deleting Keyframes, Keyframing Other Rooms, Changing Interpolation Settings, Animating User Shapes, Adding Intermediary Keyframes and Keyframing Color Effects
Lesson 11: Recomposing and Tracking
• Using the Geometry Room, Recomposing Shots, Animating Pan and Scan Effects, Tracking Objects, Applying Tracking Data to Corrections, Offsetting the Vignette and Manual Tracking Techniques
Lesson 12: Primary Out and Rendering
• Global Changes and Final Tweaks, Modifying and Replacing Primary Out Room Settings, Creating a Stylized Look, Applying Stylized Primary Out Corrections to Grouped Clips, Manually Controlling Broadcast Safe Output, Adjusting Black Levels, Limiting Black Level Adjustments, Manually Adjusting White and Black Levels, Manually Adjusting Chroma Levels, Rendering Color Projects, Adding Clips to the Render Queue, Rendering Shots and Sending to Final Cut Pro and Using Color’s Archive Feature