Fine-tune tone curves in camera raw – Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Importing and managing footage items
Last updated 12/21/2009
in the shadows, with much less change in the midtones and highlights. Using the Blacks slider is like using the black
point slider for input levels when using the Photoshop Levels command or the After Effects Levels effect.
Brightness
Adjusts the brightness or darkness of the image, much as the Exposure property does. However, instead of
clipping the image in the highlights or shadows, Brightness compresses the highlights and expands the shadows when
you move the slider to the right. Often, the best way to use this control is to set the overall tonal scale by first setting
Exposure, Recovery, and Blacks; then set Brightness. Large Brightness adjustments can affect shadow or highlight
clipping, so you may want to readjust the Exposure, Recovery, or Blacks property after adjusting Brightness.
Contrast
Increases or decreases image contrast, mainly affecting midtones. When you increase contrast, the middle-
to-dark image areas become darker, and the middle-to-light image areas become lighter. Generally, you use the
Contrast property to adjust the contrast of the midtones after setting the Exposure, Blacks, and Brightness values.
Fine-tune tone curves in Camera Raw
Use the controls in the Tone Curve tab to fine-tune images after you’ve made tone adjustments in the Basic tab. The
tone curves represent changes made to the tonal scale of an image. The horizontal axis represents the original tone
values of the image (input values), with black on the left and progressively lighter values toward the right. The vertical
axis represents the changed tone values (output values), with black on the bottom and progressing to white at the top.
If a point on the curve moves up, the output is a lighter tone; if it moves down, the output is a darker tone. A straight,
45-degree line indicates no changes to the tone response curve: the original input values exactly match the output
values.
Use the tone curve in the nested Parametric tab to adjust the values in specific tonal ranges in the image. The areas of
the curve affected by the region properties (Highlights, Lights, Darks, or Shadows) depend on where you set the split
controls at the bottom of the graph. The middle region properties (Darks and Lights) mostly affect the middle region
of the curve. The Highlight and Shadows properties mostly affect the ends of the tonal range.
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To adjust tone curves, do any of the following:
•
Drag the Highlights, Lights, Darks, or Shadows slider in the nested Parametric tab. You can expand or contract the
curve regions that the sliders affect by dragging the region divider controls along the horizontal axis of the graph.
•
Drag a point on the curve in the nested Point tab. As you drag the point, the Input and Output tonal values are
displayed beneath the tone curve.
•
Choose an option from the Curve menu in the nested Point tab. The setting you choose is reflected in the Point tab,
but not in the settings in the Parametric tab. Medium Contrast is the default setting.
•
Select the Parametric Curve Targeted Adjustment tool
in the toolbar and drag in the image. The Parametric
Curve Targeted Adjustment tool adjusts the Highlights, Lights, Darks, or Shadows curve region based on the values
in the image where you click.
Note: The Targeted Adjustment tool does not affect point curves.
More Help topics
Adjust color or tone using the Targeted Adjustment tool in Camera Raw