Make the grade
How to adjust color and tone for better–looking clips
REQUIRES
Adobe Premiere Elements 2020
YOU WILL LEARN
How to improve contrast, boost color, and counteract color casts
IT WILL TAKE
15 minutes YOUR VIDEO RECORDING device — whether it be an iPhone, GoPro or D-SLR camera — will automatically attempt to capture accurate colors and details. However, you may need to tweak colors and tones in a post-production app like Premiere Elements 2020.
In a high–contrast scene, the camera might prioritize exposure to capture detail in the brighter sky, causing shadows to be underexposed. Cameras also need to perform an Auto White Balance (AWB) operation to capture accurate colors. If this fails, due to mixed lighting sources for example, then the clip might look too cold (blue) or too warm (orange).
Fortunately, Premiere Elements 2020 boasts post–production tools that are designed to make your clips’ colors look their best. You can adjust colors and tones by clicking on a preview thumbnail (to lighten or darken them, for example). Or you can take manual control and adjust properties using sliders. There’s also a collection of drag–and–drop effect filters that produce more creative looks.
Here, we’re working with a GoPro clip that was captured using the camera’s Neutral preset. This produces a flat contrast that helps ensure we preserve more detail in the shadows and the highlights. We can then grade the shot in Premiere Elements to get the contrast, color and detail we want.