27 Using the Three-Way Color Corrector

#27 Using the Three-Way Color Corrector

When correcting a general colorcast issue, the Auto Color and the Fast Color Corrector effects should get the job done. On the other hand, if you need to adjust the shadows, highlights, and midtones individually in an image, the Three-Way Color Corrector is your best option. Figure 27 shows what I mean.

Figure 27. This tonal view shows the three ranges adjusted by the Three-Way Color Corrector effect: shadows, midtones, and highlights.

Less Is More

Don't use the Three-Way Color Corrector to correct white balance and color casts because uneven adjustments between the three tonal ranges can produce bizarre results. For simple problems like these, try the Auto Color Corrector and Fast Color Corrector effects (in that order).

In Figure 27, the Program Monitor shows the image with Tonal Range Output, which splits the image into shadows (blacks), midtones (gray), and highlights (white). The three color wheels apply separately to each tonal range, so you can adjust them separately.

To operate the effect, do the following:

1.	In Premiere Pro, select Effects > Color Correction > Three-Way Color Corrector, and drag the effect onto your clip.
2.	Click the Effect Controls tab and when the panel opens, click the triangle to the left of Three-Way Color Corrector. The controls shown in Figure 27 will appear.
3.	Choose the eyedropper that corresponds to the tone you need to correct and click it on the whitest white, grayest gray, and blackest black in the frame, then adjust further in the color wheel.
4.	Fine-tune these adjustments as needed with the numerical controls found at the bottom of the window, accessed for each tonal range via the Tonal Range drop-down menu (set to Highlights in Figure 27). How to Reset and Start Over The Yiddish term farblunget (flahbun'jet) refers to a state of being all messed up, kind of like SNAFU. Growing up in a Jewish household, I heard this term quite often (homework, room, priorities, hair, clothing, and so on). Oftentimes, when you're working with color correction, things get so farblunget that it's best to just start over rather than trying to fix what you've got. In these instances, click the Reset button to the far right of the Effect name in the Effect Controls panel (see Figure 25a), and you'll be presented with a tabula rasa.