Part 1: Pinnacle Liquid Edition's Color Correction Tool
Jan. 27, 2004 - Editor's note: Looking for Part 2? Click here.
One of the most important things about modern nonlinear editors is color correction. Next to the straight cut and the cross dissolve, this is the tool that most of us will reach for in every production – whether it is to touch up a shot or give it a whole new look. With the introduction of Edition 5.0, Pinnacle brought its application up to current standards and added a few tricks to its arsenal, like integrated DVD authoring. However, though Edition 5.0 brought 3-way primary color correction to the mix, many other products already had some kind of secondary color correction. With the introduction of Liquid Edition 5.5, Pinnacle brought the CX tool from Liquid’s higher end brothers like Liquid Chrome and Liquid Blue. This color tool is comprehensive and includes two types of selective color correction and plenty of tweak tools for the discerning colorist. With this first of two articles, let’s take a look and get an overview of what the CX tool can do.
Layout of the interface
The CX tool can be applied to individual clips or whole timelines when they are nested. To access the CX tool is pretty straightforward – simply click on the button of classic FX in the timeline and it opens the interface.
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The interface contains a wealth of tools and for the most part they are well laid out. There are two windows which are similar to the source/master view of Edition’s main editing interface. Also present (and consistent with Edition’s style of interface) is each tool represented as a descriptive icon.
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| Click graphic for enlargement |
In between each of these views are interesting shortcuts to the expanded interface. In fact, in a very small space are the bulk of tools for primary, vector/shotgun and selective color correction tools. So, when you just need to grab something quick, expanding to the full interface isn’t necessary – definitely cool.
Waveforms and Vectorscope
There are several views that will give you information on the color of your picture. There is, of course, the waveform or histogram look. Liquid Edition also has the vector view. Additionally, there are a couple of other views including lightning and a unique cube view which portrays a 3-D view of Y, Cb, Cr values. Each value is laid out on an axis and offers another way to look at your picture. Finally there is what I would call a summary view which gives you a snapshot view of vector, waveform, histogram, and lightning (See graphic above). Clicking on any one allows switches to that view. All in all, the ability to gather information and make changes with feedback from Liquid Edition is one the best new “additions” to Edition. But providing feedback isn’t the only thing the waveform views provide. Curious? Read on…
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