Color - Introduction to FCP Color

Course Description:

This one-day, hands-on course teaches the powerful workflow in Final Cut Pro. This class is designed to help students learn the color workflow, using Final Cut’s tools to balance and grade footage.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Set up and customize the Final Cut Pro workspace for use with the color tools
• Balance clips using Final Cut’s automatic balancing tools and balancing clips manually
• Use each of Final Cut’s color tools, the Color Board, Color Wheels, Color Curves, Hue/Saturation Curves and Color Adjustments, to balance and grade footage.
• Make secondary corrections
• Use Final Cut’s color effects and creating their own effects to apply to clips
• Work with LUTs
• Understand how to use HDR footage in an SDR timeline and SDR footage in an HDR timeline.

Who Should Attend:

This class is designed for anyone looking to learn color in Final Cut Pro.

Prerequisites:

Students should have the following knowledge prior to attending the course:

• Basic understanding of the Final Cut Pro interface and workflow
• Knowledge of MacOS and computer navigation
• Basic knowledge of editing terminology is highly recommended

Course Outline:

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: Getting started with color

• Overview of the interface
• Understanding the scopes
  • Reading the waveform editor
  • Understanding the lumascope in a rec. 709 workflow
  • Reading the RGB Parade
  • Looking at the Vectorscope

Lesson 2: The Color Inspector

• Reading and using the Color Board
• Manipulating the Color Wheels
• Learning how to use the Color Curves
• How to use Color Adjustments

Lesson 3: Viewers in Final Cut

• Using the Comparison Viewer to match shots
• A review of Color keyboard shortcuts

Lesson 4: Balancing an Image

• Methods of adjusting and fixing white balance
• Manually balancing color
• Understanding exposure
• Adjusting saturation and using the HSL curves
• Color matching and copying effects
• Adjustment Layers, Auditions and Compound Clips

Lesson 5: Working with Curves

• Reading the curves
• Understanding a S-curve
• Working with color curves
• More with HSL curves

Lesson 6: Secondary corrections

• Balancing vs. grading
• Working with parts of an image
• Working with masks and vignettes
• Combining effects with masks
• Being creative

Lesson 7: HDR and SDR footage

• HDR Tools
• Automatic Color Conform

Lesson 8: Working with LUTs

• Adding, adjusting and applying LUTs to clips