I would love to see some development put into optimizing AE for color correction. I truly think it's fundamentally good enough to compete with Apple Color and win, but some interface work has to be done to get it there. Here are a few things that occurred to me:
Increase the size of the interface element for Curves, Levels, Hue Saturation, etc. Each of these filters has a custom interface element in the effects controls which exists at a fixed size. This can be very frustrating. The curves box in particular is FAR too small, but the hue-saturation one is not a whole lot better.
Give the color correction effects access to masks. Some other effects do this, and it would simplify color-correction worlflow greatly to not have to make multiple copies of a layer, or a number of adjustment layers. A simple drop-down menu at the bottom of each of these effects that said something like "limit effect to" and then a menu to select a mask and an "invert mask" checkbox. Easy, and VERY helpful.
Invent a key command for "match in- and out points to..." In other words: lets say I make an adjustment layer, but I'd like it to have the same in and out points as the layer below it. I can frame over to the first frame and hit OPT-{ then frame over to the last frame and hit OPT-} or use shift drag. Neither of these methods are fast or reliable. May I suggest option-clicking, a paradigm similar to the option-drag "replace layer" feature from the project window to the timeline. In other words, if you select the adjustment layer in the timeline and option-click any other layer, it will match its in and out points to that layer.
Beef up Hue/Saturation. When you get a chance, check out Apple Color's "Secondaries" tab, specifically the "hue curve" "luma curve" and "sat curve" tabs within it. These three are roughly equivalent to the Hue & Saturation filter within AE, but the combination of curves-style control and MUCH bigger interface elements makes for a more powerful and more efficient tool. I wouldn't be at all unhappy if Adobe straight-up copied Apple's implementation of this for a better Hue/Saturation filter.
Scopes: Yes, I know Color Finesse has them. However, CF is quite limiting in that its interface cuts you off from the rest of AE, which can make it unusable for many things (matching, for example). Vectorscope, multichannel histogram, and waveform monitor would be great. I'd love them all in a separate interface tab like, but separate from, the effects controls, all automatically looking at whatever is in the comp window at the moment.
"Take a Snapshot" & "Show Last Snapshot" on steroids: This might be better suited to a dedicated "Color Correction" module within AE a la Brainstorm, but what I'd like is the ability to store and play back multiple snapshots, do side by side comparisons, adjust the split screen, move the comparisons around. In this respect, don't shoot for Apple Color. Their implementation is more flexible but more time consuming. The trick is that in order to be useful, it has to be flexible and FAST. I think the best reference in this respect is dedicated color correction systems. The best implementation I've seen thus far is on the Baselight.
Apparently, AE not have a 3-way color-corrector built in? CF does, but again, accessing it means essentially leaving much of AE behind. I'd love to get those three little wheels in the Effects Control window. CF's "simplified interface" would be a great place to do it, but at the moment, it's all text.
One media-specific one: Put the RED controls somewhere other than in the "Interpret Footage" panel where they're removed from everything else. Personally, I'd love 'em as an effect. Effects>>Color Correction>>Red Raw Controls. It would have a little drop down menu a-la Adobe Camera Raw which defaults to "As Shot" and sets the sliders accordingly.
This last one is more complicated, and again this might be better suited to a dedicated CC module, but I'd love a way to lock the position of footage in the timeline without losing the ability to add or modify filters, masks, etc. During color correction, it is easy to accidentally change the in- and out-points of footage while setting in- and out- points for multiple adjustment layers simultaneously.
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