Color grading is one of the most important (yet overlooked) parts of video and photography. Color grading is what gives your images life and mood.
And, in my opinion, color grading is actually the most enjoyable part of editing a new video.
But what is color grading?
Let’s get a brief understanding of what color grading is before we provide some additional resources you can use to hone your craft.
So, What is Color Grading?
Essentially, color grading is the process of taking photo or video images and stylizing them to better capture the intent of the creator. The process of color grading imbues an image with emotion and can even provide additional context to what the viewer is looking at.
Don’t confuse color grading with color correcting, though! Color correction involves making corrections to a raw image that “normalize” it. Color grading is where you can have some fun and use color to add to the story you’re telling or to evoke emotion.
Let’s take a look at a few useful resources for better understanding what color grading is.
Color Grading Resources
To learn more about color grading theory, check out this links:
- A Complete Overview of Color Theory
- Why is Color Grading Important – this post here at BEM includes some examples from popular movies that help illustrate the purpose of color grading
- What is Color Space in Photography and Videography
To find tools to help you color grade, check out these lists:
- 4 Color Grading Softwares for Final Cut Pro X
- 4 Color Grading Softwares for Adobe Premiere Pro
- Best Overall Color Grading Softwares
To see how pros color grade, check out these tutorials:
- 10 Free Color Grading Tutorials on YouTube
- Color Finale 2 Review and Tutorial
- Cinema Grade Review and Tutorial