Changing an ink drop color

[Bruzer85]

I am trying to turn ink drop clips I've collected into water color drops.  I got some ink drop clips from youtube that have some really nice water bleeds to them which is what I'm looking for.  I have tried to luma matte them with the color I want (I've tried a shape, and a solid) but they end up losing a lot of their bleeding and become more of a solid color.  I've tried adjusting the opacity but nothing I have tried so far has worked.  I am sure there is something I'm missing.  Essentially I want to keep all the bleeds, and swirls but change the color.  Any help wold be greatly appreciated 

[Mike_Abbott]

If you could upload a full resolution still frame showing the typical bleed you want to keep that will help us advise.

[Bruzer85]

Here is an example of something similar to what I'm looking for.  The colors bleed, and are "watery" or kind of transparent and blend together.  This image may even be a little too opaque

[Mylenium]

Try a gradient tint via Colorama/ Tritone etc. rather than actually trying to isolate the ink. Also keep in mind that other colors would behave differently than the typical black, blue and white paints used for ink drop footage. Certain pigments are barely visible when dissolving in water. also of course play around with blending modes liek Overlay, Multiply and Color to get a credible appearance on top of your footage.

Mylenium

[Bruzer85]

Thanks I will give this all a try and hopefully get somewhere!

[Bruzer85]

No dice. I almost wonder if there is a ways to recreate a watercolor drop/drip with some bleeds. I have come across several templates I could buy, but I don't want to drop any money since I'm not being paid for this particular project

[Rick Gerard]

If the ink drop footage is black and white then you can probably extract some kind of a matte from the shots. We would have to see your footage to give you suggestions. If you just want to layer a bunch of footage and make it different colors then you'll have to try using blend modes. To get something that looks like the screenshot you posted is going to require something like fractal noise used as a track matte for a shape layer filled with a gradient, then you'll have to use blend modes to mix those colors with colors below. 

For example, here are 3 different shape layer ovals with gradient fills and blend modes and all of the layers take their opacity from a black solid with Fractal Noise applied and Caustics and Turbulent displace is added to an adjustment layer. 

[Bruzer85]

Thank you soo much man!  I'll have to look into this, as I am not quite familiar with all of that (I've been teaching myself via youtube for a couple of years in my spare time), but it looks like what I'm going for!

Is there a good resource for how to do this?  Ultimately I am looking to make something close to these clips, with little colored drops falling and spreading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTSY6_lu_J8&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGcwupVUMIc&feature=youtu.be