How to apply Lumetri Color "Vibrance" only to the highlights in the video clip

[rforgaard]

I'm using Premiere Pro CC 2020 (v14.3.0), and I'm trying to increase the color vibrance of the highlights in a video clip.  I am using the "Lumetri Color" effect, and when I increase the "Lumetri Color > Creative > Adjustments > Vibrance" setting to (say) 50.0 rather than its default of 0.0, the lighter areas of the clip look great, just what I'm looking for.  However, when I do that, it also darkens the shadows in my clip.  I would like to leave the darker areas of the image relatively unchanged, and only have the "Vibrance" setting apply to the highlights in my clip.  Is there a way I can do that?  I've been reading articles and watching Lumetri Color video tutorials for a couple of hours, and I can't figure out how to only increase the color vibrance of the highlights, while leaving the shadows relatively unchanged.

[Michael Grenadier]

you want to do what's called a "secondary" color correction...which allows you to limit the area that you are adjusting by luminance, saturation and hue.     doesn't look like you can adjust vibrance within a secondary within Lumetri as far as I can tell (doesn't mean you can't do it, just means I don't know how).    You might want to explore blackmagic davinci resolve (there's a free version) that has a more sophisticated interface but there can be a steep learning curve.    and it's possible there are more capabilities in after effects (but also with a steep learning curve).  

[R Neil Haugen]

You can do an HSL key applied in a 3-clip layer stack using Track Matte that will do this. And it's easier than it sounds.

• Hold down the Alt key and drag the clip up to Track 2, so you've got the original and a copy on both tracks.
• Hold down Alt key again, drag/drop to track 3.
• On track 3, go to Lumetri panel, set an HSL key using only the lightness slider to your highlights area with some decent amount of fall-off.
• Leave that layer with the HSL key mask on, set to black/color.
• On Track 2, apply the Track Matte Key effect.
• Set the "Matte:" option to Video 3.
• Set the "Composite using:" option to Matte Luma.
• NOW go to the Lumetri panel on Track 2, and you can apply any control you want, and it will only affect the highlights of the clip on Track 1.

Takes a few seconds to setup is all. And gives you a very clean key from the original image data, so it's useful not only for this, but really for any time you want to pull a clean HSL key in Premiere from original data.

What this does is take the HSL key from the original clip data on Track 3, pass that through the Track Matte Key effect on Track 2, limiting anything done on Track 2 to the pixels passed by the HSL key in Track 3. The resultant work you do is applied to the clip on Track 1.

You could also futz with the HSL Curves some, and achieve something similar.

• Set the Saturation up in the Basic or Creative Tab.
• Use the Luma V. Sat curve, put a point to protect the highlights saturation on the second major graticule line in from the right, then set another point at the middle left-right or slightly to the shadows. Drag this second, left point down a couple lines worth. (This reduces saturation in the lower values.)
• Use the Sat v. Sat curve to set a point in the middle left/right or slightly to the left side, which is the setting for lower saturation values.
• Grab the right end of the Sat v Sat curve and pull down near to the bottom. This pulls back higher saturation values without affecting lower saturation.

Now you can play with overall saturation and the two curves to shape the saturation you want. In fact, you could even use the Hue v. Sat curve to adjust overall saturation instead of the Basic or Creative tab Saturation tool. Just click on the starting line in the Hue v. Sat curve and drag up to increase overall saturation.

One caveat: with the Luma v. Sat and Sat v. Sat curves, don't EVER pull anything above the starting mid-line top to bottom, that can and will induce super-black artifacts. Avoid that mistake, those HSL curves are an awesome tool.

Neil

[Michael Grenadier]

jeez Neil, this is a great explanation.  I usually just take the shot in to resolve which seems to be set up to make it relatively easier.  but great to know how to do this in premiere...  

[R Neil Haugen]

I can do most anything I need in Premiere, and I do appreciate that my Elements panel can be fully mapped any freaking way I want to.

Resolve has a deeper toolset, but ... I don't really like the locked-down UI they have, plus half my Element's tools, all those buttons and knobs ... are 'dark' and unused at any one spot. With no mapping of the panel allowed by Dictat from BlackMagic. No, no, no ... buy our Mini-panel for a grand or full panel for $30G, and they only work in Resolve.

Nope ... I'll do what I can in Premiere, thank you.

And I've learned my way around Lumetri pretty well ... and also have the Red Giant Colorista panel as another color workspace if I want or need it.

With my tools, by the time I've gone over to Resolve and setup a new project, I'd have been long done in Premiere mostly. There are a couple things I do use over there, like the pair of tools that can use either a specific spot of the image or the whole image and told to 'hold exposure' to the value at some point in the clip. This is handy for long takes where say sun went behind a cloud and back out a few times.

Neil

[Michael Grenadier]

I hear you.  But for a complex color correction job... resolve is great and I don't think a lot of people who specialize in color correction are using premiere (correct me if I'm wrong).   you have to admit that setting up the secondary for this in premiere is not intuitive or simple while it's just a couple of clicks in resolve.  I supervised a restoration of a 16mm film from the 70's last year and watching a resolve expert work was amazing.  Of course I would never use it do any real editing...     that said, I'm doing more and more color correction in premiere...  

[R Neil Haugen]

Oh Heavens yea, complex corrections should be headed to Resolve or Baselight right off. Maybe Mistika. But of those, I've got Resolve.

The 3-layer track matte key thing takes me a whopping 20-30 seconds to do, so I could actually do that on a fair number of clips by the time I've created a Resolve project and done conform process or whatever. I'm not doing things though with 500 or 1,000 clips in a job, mind you!  😉

Neil

[Michael Grenadier]

of course it only takes you 20 or 30 seconds cause you've already figured it out (and now it will only take me 20 or 30 seconds if and when I can find this post when I need it).  Of course if you don't have a clue about resolve it's gonna take you days if not weeks to figure it out.    I've got a reminder on my calendar to work thru your technique on Monday.

This is one of the reasons I try and plow thru all the posts here.  It helps me be a better editor besides  alerting me to problems other people are having.   And sometimes, it's just an excuse not to do the work I should be doing... 

[R Neil Haugen]

I do the same ... reading through the posts here and a couple other forums for several years, I've learned most of what I know I think. And yea, any time you see a new way to do something slicker than what you've been doing, you need to do it several times to get it down. For me ... run through it a few times a day for a week and I'll probably remember it well enough to use.

Neil

[salvo34]

You guys are great. I enjoyed reading posts to respond to this question. Figured the solution would be a mask of some sort ( HSL stand for Hue, Saturation, Luminance ? ) and I've done masks with alpha in CS6. It works.

Resolve is easier cause there's power window and more direct methods, still using YRGB. But that's irrelevant. I would guess that the poster would focus on the 'saturation' area of the adjustment ?? while checking if it effects the other scopes ( rbg parade, etc. ) ??