The procedures required to digitally colour grade footage depend on your goal, the shots used in your scene, and the architecture—logarithmic or linear—that you are working in. Scenes consisting of footage shot on the same camera equipment and under consistent conditions may be colour graded quickly and easily. Scenes created from footage shot on multiple cameras across several months and under varying lighting and weather conditions require more work.
Because you often work with a wide variety of shots, there are a variety of workflows you can use when grading a scene. However, it is important to keep in mind the order in which colour grading tasks are processed in Lustre. Colour effects are applied to the image in the menu order. For example, modifications you make in the Grading menu are applied to the image before modifications you make in the Curves menu.
The following table outlines processing order and a typical colour grading workflow from balancing a shot to performing final adjustments. You may not complete all the procedures. You may also revisit procedures as you create continuity grades and artistic effects.
| Step: | Refer to: |
|---|---|
| 1. Select the project colour space. | Setting Logarithmic or Linear Mode. |
| 2. With primary colour grading, balance colours in the shot and develop a continuity grade to create a consistent colour look. | Primary Colour Grading. |
| 3. Further develop the colour look using the RGB and Hue curves. | Colour Grading: RGB and Hue Curves. |
| 4. Perform secondary colour grading to colour grade objects and colour ranges in the shot. | Secondary Colour Grading. |
| 5. Use Sparks plugins to apply image processing effects such as grain reduction. | Creating Lustre Sparks Effects. |
| 6. Adjust the colour look using the RGB curves. | Colour Grading: RGB and Hue Curves. |
| 7. Perform any necessary primary colour grading to adjust the colour look and complete the colour grade. | Primary Colour Grading. |
