Hi I do a lot of video editing and really like using the RGB Parade and Vectorscope.
Histogram for photos aren't as detailed. Is there any plugins or features that have similar functions like RGB Parade and Vectorscope for use inside Lightroom or maybe as an external editor?
Raw has become a standard for professional photographers. One of the things that makes this format powerful is its ability to store and manipulate color data. Yet there is no direct way to use color-wheel based color theory to color grade still images.
Many of us use roundabout hacks with different levels of success. A vectorscope like tool in Photoshop and/or Lightroom seems like an obvious addition to me.
This would really add a lot of value for LR. I am currently editing in PP and use stills that have been shot by the same camera as the video footage in the same lighting conditions.
Using the x-rite colorchecker photo for the stills, the corresponding LR plugin gives me a correction that looks otically sound (on a calibrated monitor).
If I then correct the video parts with the help of another big x-rite chart (which sports the same tiles) and use vectorscope and parade/waveform to correct the footage manually, I end up with a quite different overall color assessment next to the stills.
IMHO the corrected videos are better, as they seem perfectly flat, therefore providing the better basis for subsequent grading.
This, in turn, means that the x-rite plugin for the stills, while doing a good job overall, certainly doesn't provide the best possible results. Hence the requested feature should be very welcome in LR.
I am thinking of creating some kind of preset lumetri correction in PP for pre-processed stills, but I am not sure (yet) if this will hold up for changing lighting situations. Intuitively, I'd say such a tranformation preset would be too static.
Note that I am at best an ambitious wannabe-semi-pro. Nevertheless, the tools provided in PP enable even me to arrive at professional looking results, while the eyballing meets muscle memory techniques on the photography said seem arcane most of the time.
Wow, talk about resurrecting an old post (6 years old).
The best answer was from John IMHO, use your eyes.
Sets of numbers, Colorimetry is about (based on) color perception. It is not about color appearance. There's a significant difference. The reason why viewing an image or print is more valid than measuring it or sampling a group of pixels, is because measurement is about comparing solid colors. And that is what the color sampling, histograms etc are based on.
Color appearance is about evaluating images and color in context which measurement devices can't provide. Colorimetry was never designed as a color appearance model. It was never designed to even be used as an interchange space between device dependent color models. It's not designed for imagery at all. Colorimetry based on solid colors in very specific ambient and surround conditions. Color in context, color we see and evaluate, that's key.
Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
I apologize for disapointing your personal expectation of timing in the context of an arbitrarily set standard of forum viewer experience.
And I congratulate you, if "using your eyes" is your goto MO. Doesn't work for me, though, as certain genetic conditions exactly prevent you from that in the sense of achieving satisfying objective results.
That being said, your answer might be scientifically sound. Nevertheless, they are also just a "get on with it already" in the context of a real *practical* problem, like normalizing moving and still footage, that has been captured in identical situations with identical gear.
Look at all the progress made in 6 years. I apologize for disapointing your personal expectation of timing in the context of this feature request. As for science of color or otherwise:
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
6 years old and adobe still hasn't copy/pasted a function between their 2 programs.. and looking at the replies this feature is more than welcome.. they don't seem to work in the intrest of their users? I would LOVE to have these scopes in Lr right now!
Of course, that only applies if your science is correct.
I'd love to see what the significant difference between perception and appearance is. I asked a couple material engineers what that meant and they both laughed and suggested things about whoever said that. If you were trying to say there is a significant difference between an obejct's measured color and it's measured color in a camera under uncontrolled lighting conditions, then Yes, absolutely. But with the terminology you're using, I'm not finding any scientific reference to it, but perhaps I'm missing some context for finding better search results?
Of course, that only applies if your science is correct.
First of all, it isn't 'my' science. There is an entire field of science devoted to color and as I wrote, 'it' doesn't care if you believe in it or not.
Have you read Fairchild's Color Appearance Models, as I have? Even the first chapter? When you do, we can discuss what I wrote about the differences between Color Perception and Color Appearance.
Maybe you are too young or inexperienced in printing color in the darkroom. I did a lot of it; RA4, Ciba, and without any Histograms, RGB values, Vectorscopes. I'm not alone.
As for this very old feature request, let me tell you my experience: over 20 years ago, while a beta for Photoshop 2.5, I requested a Saturation Curve like my good old LinoColor software. I've asked again over the years and I'm pretty sure, based on the history, I'm not going to get it. And I can live with that, Photoshop nor any Adobe produce is mine and all I can do is request features and move on.
When my partners and I wanted tools in Photoshop that didn't exist, we created them and it was a pretty solid business. One was even introduced in Lightroom Classic itself! Maybe you can find some partners to build a plug-in and actually affect the change you want. Otherwise, there seems to be strong opinions about how software should be developed, by people (AFAIK) having no experience developing software.
Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
In Lab, the aStar and bStar values are key. Both should be positive values. Both should be within 15 units of each other. If the B value is lower than A, skin starts to appear magenta or pink looking. When B is higher than A the skin appears more yellow. The closer to zero, the more pale.
Here's a video on correcting skin tones without having to resort to CMYK, using Lab:
Given the suite of tools across the adobe suite, wouldn't it be nice if they were more adjustable. For example, when adjusting skintones in a photograph, I'd like the ability to do a vectorscope so that I can be certain my grades or colour correction isn't messing up the skintone.
After few years, somehow there have a solutions for "viewing" the vectorscope with 3rd party tools. The solutions had been mentioned in this disscusion. Here is the software screenshot, please ignore the language of my LRC.
Ha, at that cost, just buy a field monitor with a vector scope and have that duplicate your screen. You can buy one for $300, or a nice one for $700 and Then you have a nice field monitor in case you get into video content. As an added bonus, your computer doesn't have to calculate the vectorscope, which is pretty intensive (although in premiere it just got GPU acceleration) And yes, field monitors are small, but you only need it for the scope, so that's no big deal.
Well that's true. A relatively easy way around that is to use OBS to show only a certain area, then display that stream on that other screen. Some monitors also let you crop the screen directly, and Of course, then you're back to using your processor again. And you'll also be limited in color, where if you're outputting HDMI you might be able to output 10/12bit color.
Every year I look for a plugin or some way to get scopes I am used to using in professional color grading work into lightroom. Eevery year there is only the workaround of checking my exports in a color studio like resolve. Being able to switch out the histogram for an RGB waveform would be a GAME CHANGER.
1st and most obvious reason: Histograms are not an accurate scope for HSL work and as lightroom gets more tools to work with color, knowing the diference between 2 points too little and 2 points too much is becoming absolutely mission critical.
2nd: Color blind photographers and users without high end color accurate displays (basically everyone), but espeically the former have no built-in way of currently judging color other than by eye.
3rd: This would help balancing shots, replicating looks, and grading photos WAAAYYY easier.
If lightroom gets a waveform, it would be absolutely killer for photoshop to get one too, this would make roundtripping incredible for anyone who adds their extra pops in photoshop while doing the brunt of the heavy lifting in lightroom.
At some point in the future I will get on my knees and beg for this, until then I simple ask please Adobe, get us some good scopes, it's beyond time!
HDR image output has entered beta for Camera RAW in Bridge, which makes me assume (hope) that HDR image output is also on its way to Lightroom. Unfortunately the only scope available for image data is the histogram, and for HDR where NIT-values are more useful, an RGB waveform would be more useful to judge image brightness. Though, I also wish the waveform view to be compatible with SDR images.
Having used DaVinci Resolve in the last few years, i was mindblown that it had so much more advanced tools for working with color.
What i sometimes need (and miss in LR and PS) is a way to view RGB values in their spacial relation to the photo. It's great for quickly identifying and removing color casts/shifts, for example in old analog photo and negative scans.
Therefore, i gladly add my voice to the choir: Please add scopes to LR and PS, Adobe.
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