Color Correction Terminology

Color Correction has a language all it’s own. The precise meaning of some terms can get a little slippery, due to individual colorists and companies using them in different ways. So for clarity, we’ll go over the definitions for the key terms that will be used throughout this course. There are nine key terms that we’re going to pin down. Luma, contrast ratio, chroma, Hue, saturation, color cast, primary correction, secondary correction, and artistic correction. Luma refers to the brightness information in your shot. This ranges from pure black to white, and includes all the grey variations in between. Luma does not include any color information. Contrast ratio is the difference between the darkest pixels in your shot and the brightest ones. The greater the difference is, the higher the contrast ratio of a shot will be. Chroma refers to the color information in your shot which includes hue and saturation. The hue is specific color on the spectrum, while the saturation is the intensity of a specific hue. A fully saturated hue is a color at full intensity, while any hue with no saturation is actually grey. Color cast refers to a tint or shift in the colors of a shot that don’t look natural. This is a common result of incorrect white balance or mixing different types of light sources. In this course, we consider primary color correction the process of manipulating your entire image, which means every pixel in your shot, for the purpose of achieving natural looking luma and chroma in your shots. Secondary color correction is the process of manipulating a specific portion of a shot. This means isolating only certain pixels for the purpose of enhancing or fixing them, without altering other portions of the image. Artistic color correction refers to using techniques to create a “look” to your footage that enhances the story you’re trying to create. Again, we’ll stress that these definitions apply strictly to the context of our lessons, and will vary industry wide.