Lost Video Island

[scarlett_106]

I am totally overwhelmed by coloring! I've never really tried it before....I've done "effects," such as HSL Adjust or Glow, but I'm not sure if that's the same thing. I get the sense that coloring is a combination of effects.

What I don't get--do you create a "coloring" and then apply it to the entire vid (by doing a track effect?) Or each individual clip? If the entire track/vid, I get confused because in one vid, I have Jack and Juliet in the Dharma shark tank (very dark), but also them on the beach in sunlight (very bright). So how can one coloring or effect work for both?

I see posts about people saving colorings, and I am just clueless. I looked on YouTube and there are tutorials up there, but I tried a combination they did--of Color Curve, Color Corrector, Glow, etc. and used the same numbers they showed, but it looked terrible on my vid.

This is probably a really complicated question, I just would like to know a basic definition of coloring, how you apply it (whole track or clip by clip), and how you adjust it for different clips.

Thanks!

ETA: Here is a link of a tutorial I tried. It looks SO good in her vids, but I tried it in mine and first, it's impossible to copy the "Color curves" because I don't have exact numbers, just try to make my curves look like hers. And some effects, like sharpen, etc. make the dark clips in my vid look really weird. Ugh!

[tjmack1986]

Hey hun! coloring can be very confusing and intimidating. I myself, just started to try to make my own colorings. A lot of the ones I use are ones that others have created, and then I just mess around with the settings.

I can totally make you a tutorial? Do you use Sony Vegas? If so, which version?

As far as how to add it to the track. What I do is I figure out which effects I want to use. Then I add them all to the track FX, so that the coloring will take effect over the entire video (other wise you'll be adding in the coloring with every clip you lay down)

This video has the first coloring that I've made that I've really, really liked and have actually saved to use again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxlSAcFXAlg

For this one I used simple effects: Color Corrector, Color Curves, Black & White, and Sharpen.

Really coloring is just all about messing around with your effects until you get a desired outcome. It takes patience, which is why I don't make them often, lol.

Once you get all your effects the way you want them, and you're ready to save the coloring so that you can use it again, when you click on the green "track fx" button, it'll pull up a menu that has all the effects that you've laid down. At the top, right hand corner, of that menu is another green button, it looks exactly like the "fx" button. Click on that and another little menu will pop up. There will be things like "remove" and stuff like that down the right hand side of the menu, simply click "save as" and name the coloring whatever you wish, and click okay. Then it should be saved for continuous use.

Another way that you can get colorings is if someone has the same or earlier version of whatever vegas you're running, then can save you a .veg or .vf file with the coloring, and then you can save it (using the same process as above) and then you have that coloring. If that would be easier for you, I can send you some of the colorings I use, with the username of the people who made them so that you can credit them? I can even send you the one I made if you like it? Just let me know!

[scarlett_106]

Wow, thank you for the detailed response! I really appreciate it.

One thing I still don't get...even if you do get a coloring you really like, how does it apply equally well to all sorts of different clips? Nighttime, daytime, outdoors, indoors, etc. I don't get how one coloring can work for all of them! And is there any way to adjust each clip (say, the color curve but just for that clip--leave the rest of the clips the same)? Otherwise, I like the coloring I adapted from the YouTube vid I saw, but not on the dark scenes--you can barely see poor Jack's face! So I'd want to slightly brighten that...would I do so by manually adding an effect to that clip, say, luminence or something?

Your vid is awesome! Aside from showcasing some of my favorite ships (especially the OTH ones yay), the coloring was indeed gorgeous! I'd love to experiment with it if you don't mind sharing. I'm using Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 13.0. That was really pretty! Of course I'll credit you if I use or adapt your coloring!

[tjmack1986]

What I generally do if the coloring is "too dark" or "too bright" on certain clips is use the brightness/contrast effect. If it needs to be brightened, I generally set the top two choices to .10, and it will generally brighten the clip enough to see what's going on.

If I need to darken a clip, I will set the top two choices to -.10, and it will generally darken the clip enough so that it's not so "In Your Face"

Thanks . That one took me a while, lol. About a week'ish, I believe, lol. OTH is one of my all-time favorite shows. It's the reason I started vidding in the first place, and Lucas & Peyton will always be one of my top favorite ships, ever.

Oh, I will definitely share the coloring. I probably won't be able to upload it for you until tomorrow though, I hope that's okay?

If you want/need help with what effects are best for creating you're own coloring, I can help you out ... a little. Lol. Like I said, I've only just gotten the hang of messing around with my own coloring's as it is, but I'll do what I can to help you!

[scarlett_106]

I will take the coloring whenever and if ever you are able to send it! No rush. I may just play around with what I have anyway, not sure. But I"d love to see yours and experiment with it if you're still up for it!

Thanks again for all these replies!