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Apple Final Cut Pro 6 User Manual

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Part III

Color Correction and Video Quality Control

The color targets of the Vectorscope scale match the colors in the color balance
controls of the Final Cut Pro color correction filters. If the hues of two shots you’re
trying to match don’t match, the direction and distance of their offset on the
Vectorscope scale give you an indication of which direction to move the color balance
indicator to correct for this.

The Vectorscope is also helpful for identifying and correcting the flesh tones of actors
in a shot. When recorded to videotape and measured on a vectorscope, the hues of
human flesh tones, regardless of race, fall along a fairly narrow range (although the
saturation and brightness will vary). This range is identified by a special target line that
indicates the average hue of flesh tones. When there’s an actor in a shot, you’ll know
whether or not the flesh tones are reproducing accurately by checking to see if there’s
an area of color that falls loosely around the Flesh Tone line.

If the flesh tones of your actors are noticeably off, the offset between the most likely
nearby area of color on the Vectorscope and the Flesh Tone line will give you an idea of
how much to change the hue to make the correction.

Flesh tones are clustered
about the Flesh Tone line.

As in the previous image,
flesh tones appear
around the Flesh Tone
line.