Encyclopedia of Color Correction

by Alexis Van Hurkman

No video project is finished until it's color corrected, and no colorist should be without Encyclopedia of Color Correction - the only Apple-certified comprehensive reference to the art, techniques, and engineering of video color correction. Professional colorist Alexis Van Hurkman demystifies the inner workings of color, contrast, and image processing in Final Cut Pro, while teaching you to evaluate images, identify improvements, and execute them efficiently and creatively.
Packed with hands-on examples and customizable techniques, this is more than a project cookbook - it includes technical detail on how Final Cut Pro handles video standards, color encoding, broadcast legality, and more. You'll discover new ways of approaching the correction process using masked corrections and vignettes, along with creative techniques including multiple day-for-night treatments, different approaches to sky correction, and targeted saturation adjustments. You'll also get practical advice on dealing with video noise and learn best practices for setting up your own correction room.

539 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2006

About the author

Alexis Van Hurkman is a writer, director, and colorist. His award-winning movie "Carry My Heart to the Yellow River” has played over fifty festivals worldwide in 2020, his science-fiction short “The Place Where You Live” screened in 2015, and his gritty desert survival feature “Four Weeks, Four Hours” screened in 2006. Alexis is best known through his work as a colorist, having graded programs that have aired on The History Channel, The Learning Channel, A&E, and the BBC, features and shorts that have played at Telluride and Sundance, and video art installations exhibited at the NYC MOMA and Whitney Museum of American Art. As an author specializing in video postproduction, he’s written the industry-acclaimed “Color Correction Handbook” (now in its second edition) which has taught color grading to new generations of post professionals, and eight editions of the DaVinci Resolve User Manual. Alexis also consults for Blackmagic Design as part of the product design team for DaVinci Resolve.

Reviews

[pdb Bernhardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

sound enough observations about color and light, and some good recipes for tough problems to solve (with ftg included on disc) but organized in a very random way with no conceptual grounding or overview at the beginning to orient learners. the dv guide to color correction by hullfish is far better in this way and also includes sample ftg and exercises.