Colour grading with a BMPCC

[MombasaFlash]

I have a brand new Blackmagic Pocket that has been sitting in its box for about six months now. Recently I have had time to charge the battery and get its firmware updated etc. and try it out.

I can sling a video clip together like everyone else but certainly make no claims to being an editor and I am stumped by the files the BMPCC produces. Now I understand all the principles behind the whole colour grading thing but how the hell does one process these washed out images so that they look 'normal'?

Da Vinci Resolve barely runs on my 17" 2011 MacBook Pro but even so I cannot work out how to lift out the colour and neither can I figure it out in FCP or Apple Color.

So what is the trick?

 

[redridinghood]

Some guides that might help.

http://wolfcrow.com/blog/davinci-resolve-crash-course-for-beginners-part-one-setting-up/

http://www.colorgradingcentral.com/blackmagic-camera-tutorial-series

 

[raybans]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jX45Yi1spY4

This a link to an intro video from Larry Jordan. He also has an excellent (pay for) web site dedicated to all things FCP-X and Adobe CC. As mentioned in the linked video, reading scopes is the most important part to understand. In FCP-X you can save your corrections as a preset then it is an easy process to apply your 'standard' look to new clips. You can of course, also choose to shoot in video mode - rec 709 if you can live without the wonderful dynamic range of film log.

 

[yeehaanow]

I make a preset in FCP with the 3-way color corrector that gets you mostly there. If you adjust it to your liking then drag the plugin to the Favorites folder it's easy to drop on clip and will work for most shots, or at least be a starting point for you.

I'm not sure why, but the colors seem to be very sensitive to change on this camera. It's easy to make it look weird. It can produce a gorgeous image, but it sure will test your color correction abilities!

Here's a screenshot shot of my settings. Sometimes you need a second 3-way CC with just saturation boosted. This works best when you have exposed the highlights to lay just below clipping point. If the highlights are significant'y lower, then boost the highs for added contrast. I have not changed any of the colors in this example, just the levels and saturation.

I like to work with Apple Color, because just like you, my machine can't run Resolve. In color, you can use the curves to fine-tune the contrast. If you use other programs or plugins that have curves, like Magic Bullet, you will be able to get better results. The 3-way is crude, but you can get a decent look that way.

 

[MombasaFlash]

Appreciate the responses, gents.

A bit more reading and general poking about revealed the 'LUT'. The Look Up Table. This works effectively as preset to instantly correct the image, lifting out the colour and applying contrast.

Unimpressed. The GH3 image looks great - without all this tiresome faffing about - plus the battery lasts all day.

BMPCC for sale.