Color grading vs color correction are both mentioned in the same breath, they are not the same thing, but they both contribute heavily to perfecting your finished footage’s look and feel.

What is the difference between colour grading and colour correction?

Color is one of the most important parts of post-production. Depending on your setup, it would be an editor working on it for smaller film setups or even the filmmaker as a whole on an indie project.

However, for larger budget features, you’ll have someone specific working on the color grading and another specialist team on the color correction for the film.

In this article we will address what color grading is and how it differs from color correction – we will also delve into use cases for each topic to give you a detailed explanation.

Let’s check them out.

Color Grading vs Color Correction

Here’s our quick overview of what color grading is and what color correction is before we get into the detail of it and how they both can complement each other rather well.

What is Color Correction?

Color correction is a technical process to fix any color issues to give it a natural feel. The aim is to produce color that looks as real as if seen through the human eye.

Color Grading vs Color Correction

The adjustments made in the color correction stage help bring the image back to its natural look. This complements color grading well, as it allows the color grading specialist to work on a blank slate.

Now when they start to color grade they’ll be able to manipulate the footage to fit with the film’s look and feel, but still keep the quality there.

Read More: A beginners guide to Adobe Premiere Pro: Learn Premiere Pro in 15 minutes

Why should I color correct my footage?

You should color correct your images, simply to maintain them at the highest level of quality. Your story can be brilliant, and the sound spot on, but, if the image quality is terrible it can ruin the audiences experience.

This process helps to keep consistency of the footage quality from scene to scene. There’s nothing worse than unintended fluctuations of quality from shot to shot. It also provides an ideal platform to color grade the footage and layer on the tones on to an optimised canvas.

What is color grading?

Color grading is a technical process but it leans more towards the creative side of filmmaking. This is where you can start to add to the films atmosphere, and stamp your own style to the footage. This helps bring your film to life, it also adds to the scene.

Colour grading vs colour correction

For example, you can change the color tones to match the scene, for instance, if there’s tension in the scene, you can change the color style to help elevate that further. It will capture the audience and capitavate them.

Why should I color grade my footage?

The reason you should color grade is to add depth to your video footage. To allow you to create atmosphere, excitement and to ultimately help you produce a high quality piece of cinematic excellence.

Color grading also adds to the audience’s experience, it really can be the difference between good and excellent – it defines your film.

Read more: What is color grading? Everything you need to know!

How do color grading vs color correction complement each other?

Both are integral to getting a completed, finished look to your footage. You want to use color correction and color grading alongside each other to get a cool, crisp finish relative to your project’s genre.

These work synonymous with one another, as the color correction helps tweak the footage quality to allow you to color grade and bring to life the tones and shades to match the feel of the scene.

This will build an atmosphere for the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats wanting more.

We hope this article was helpful! Please leave a comment in the comments section and also let us know what you want to read about next.

One Comment

  1. I appreciate you helping me learn more about how color correction and color grading is used in films. It was really interesting when you explained that color grading helps the viewer connect with what they are watching because it sets the atmosphere of the scenes and therefore captivates the audience even more. Ever since we got her a new smartphone, my little sister has been making these short films from our backyard, and I’m going to suggest this article to her so she canlearn from these tips. Thanks!

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