Inspiring

Answered

Color Checker Chart for Premier Pro Plugin WOW!

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
March 30, 2018
8 replies
22603 views

I don't know if anyone else here has seen this. MBR Color Corrector 2 It's a color checker chart plugin for Premiere Pro CC 2018 and lower. Just stumbled upon it. I tried the free trial and it works. You can even change the colors on the chart if you have a different one. This is going to be easier than having to export an XML file and import into Resolve.

Free version also only supports 8 bits per channel but I'm not sure what that means when Premiere automatically up converts to 32 bit.

But I also think buying this is worth it.

Correct answer R Neil Haugen

I work for/with/teach pro colorists, and have used the 'auto' from chip chart in Resolve as well as via plugin in Premiere. I find both pretty ... limited, perhaps?

And I'm also well aware of the limitations of LUTs, called by colorists "the dumbest math out there" because they aren't math, just static lookup tables. Pixels with X data become Y. With a limited number of 'sample points' to the 'cube'. Even one with 64 'points' isn't that precise a tool.

So they can be made to work for some things ... but ... need to be used carefully, and ... only after you test them to find where they break your media. Because realistically, nearly all LUTs do have 'fail points'. When you know what they are, you know when and how to use them. If you don't ... well, I don't like working in the Unknown Alligator Pool.

As 'stacking' LUTs upon each other really pusher you toward the alligator pool, I avoid that if at all possible.

In Premiere, I do highly recommend using chip charts to bring cameras to as close to similar contrast and hue response as possible. But not normally via a LUT.

Bring up the clip with a properly shot chip chart on a sequence.
Do normal WB work.
Use Black, White, and gray to set the tonal shape.
In Hue v Hue, select a color and move to the appropriate color vector in the Vectorscope.
In Hue v Sat, move to about halfway between the center and the outer limit/box area. NEVER to the outer box!

Now save that as a Lumetri Preset, named for the camera/chart and maybe even lighting.

Any time you have that camera again in a project, select all the images in the Project panel, and drag/drop that preset onto them.

You may need to reset the WB on some of the clips, which is quick enough to do ... bring them up in the Source monitor, while in the Color workspace, and see to it that Lumetri instance is showing that instance, redo the WB setting.

T

Till346638292350

Participant

Hello fellow filmmaker, did you manage to purchase the Full version or are you using the trail version of this software?

D

daniel_

Participant

Unfortunately, I can only use the trial version since the purchase link for the full version seems to be offline on his site. I've tried reaching out to him via email several times, but I haven't gotten a response. Are you using the full version?

A

Anonymous

Just tried out the trial version 3 and it seems to work fine. Even the colour conversion works FAR better the the auto tone map and conversion in premiere. Colours still look natural, even without any chart correction applied. The only flaw: the effect slows down your machine massively. Even my MBP Max M2 with 32 GB slows down when scrubbing over HD Prores PROXIES when the effect is applied. So I will have to workout a good workflow to apply this correction in the end. I was hoping I could just create a sequence from my whole raw footage and apply the efect there from the color chart and then just edit the clips into my editing timeline. So I could have already consinstent colors that I just tweak a little in the end. Now I have to go into the final sequence and find the corresponding chart, apply the effects there... takes more time. OR is there a way to apply the effect and batch enable/disable only THIS effect temporarily?

T

TheLostCreative

Participant

Bit of a newbie here - BUT - I think the full paid version has the ability to export a lut. Is it possible to generate a lut and just place that onto an adjustment layer for all clips shot in the same lighting conditions? guessing that will ease up the processing power considerably.

R Neil HaugenCorrect answer

Legend

I work for/with/teach pro colorists, and have used the 'auto' from chip chart in Resolve as well as via plugin in Premiere. I find both pretty ... limited, perhaps?

And I'm also well aware of the limitations of LUTs, called by colorists "the dumbest math out there" because they aren't math, just static lookup tables. Pixels with X data become Y. With a limited number of 'sample points' to the 'cube'. Even one with 64 'points' isn't that precise a tool.

So they can be made to work for some things ... but ... need to be used carefully, and ... only after you test them to find where they break your media. Because realistically, nearly all LUTs do have 'fail points'. When you know what they are, you know when and how to use them. If you don't ... well, I don't like working in the Unknown Alligator Pool.

As 'stacking' LUTs upon each other really pusher you toward the alligator pool, I avoid that if at all possible.

In Premiere, I do highly recommend using chip charts to bring cameras to as close to similar contrast and hue response as possible. But not normally via a LUT.

Bring up the clip with a properly shot chip chart on a sequence.
Do normal WB work.
Use Black, White, and gray to set the tonal shape.
In Hue v Hue, select a color and move to the appropriate color vector in the Vectorscope.
In Hue v Sat, move to about halfway between the center and the outer limit/box area. NEVER to the outer box!

Now save that as a Lumetri Preset, named for the camera/chart and maybe even lighting.

Any time you have that camera again in a project, select all the images in the Project panel, and drag/drop that preset onto them.

You may need to reset the WB on some of the clips, which is quick enough to do ... bring them up in the Source monitor, while in the Color workspace, and see to it that Lumetri instance is showing that instance, redo the WB setting.

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

A

Anonymous

Just found out about MBR Color Corrector 3.

Any experience?

I am using lots of Sony-Cameras with 8bit cine2 color profile and slog3/cinegamut 10 bit (Fx3).

Can you use it to apply LUTs as well?

Does it blow out your highlights or does it keep them?

Do you add your lumetri-correction before or after the effect?

Any change in playback performance with the effect applied? Stability?

I dont have a color checker yet.

As a solo shooter I need something tough and small that includes white for a quick WB.

So I guess colorchecker passport video 2 is my best bet.

Any experience? Version 2 isnt listed on the website of the plugin, is it supported?

https://calibrite.com/de/product/colorchecker-passport-video-2/

R Neil Haugen

Legend

Never heard of it before, was interesting to go read about. This is one of those processes that, after you do it a couple times, takes no more time really than using that tool would.

Especially if you're working your own shot media ... as each camera's hue response will be rather consistent. Once you've got that camera's response corrected, you save that as a preset, drag/drop it onto all clips from that camera.

And when using a Passport vid-checker say, and of course, with saved presets per camera, once you've done a quick WB/shadow-cast and tonal adjustment per clip, you're pretty much done.

I've tried a couple things like unto the MBR plugin. I tended to get artifacts from them in Premiere, and in Resolve also. They tend to set the color chips out to the box near the limits of the Vectorscope, and I think that's too far. I never go past 1/2 way out.

You don't repeat that hue thing every time unless the lighting was way off and you really need to.

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

N

normanm33845938

Participant

Five years later I read this post. Thank you so much. Why isn't it a feature of Premiere. (Like Davinci Resolve?)

R Neil Haugen

Legend

Most colorists don't use the auto-chart process in Resolve because it makes a number of typical errors. Mis-reads the chart, or reads a pixel or two of the edge, something like that.

I do this manually, and if the Pr devs could get a fully functional chip reader, I'd be thrilled.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

jamesdrakefilms

Inspiring

awesome thank you!

---Cinematic Video Production, 17+ Years of Excellence.

M

mnewxcv

Participating Frequently

this is great, I have been looking for this functionality for a long time. I am trying the free version since the links to buy the full version are not working right now.