Apple Final Cut Pro X (10.0.9) - Manual (Page 356)

Chapter 13 Color correction 356
Analyze and balance color automatically
Color balance overview
Final Cut Pro includes an automatic color-balancing feature. When you use the color-balancing
feature, Final Cut Pro samples the darkest and lightest areas of the image’s luma channel and
adjusts the shadows and highlights in the image to neutralize any color casts. In addition,
Final Cut Pro adjusts the image to maximize image contrast, so that the shot occupies the widest
available luma range.
The video frame used as the reference frame depends on whether the clip has already been
color analyzed:
•
If the clip has been color analyzed, either during import or while in the Event Browser: The analysis
process extracts color balance information for the entire clip. Whether you add a portion of
the clip or the entire clip to a project, the color-balancing feature chooses the frame within
the project clip that is closest to being correctly balanced. This means that if you add multiple
partial clips from the same Event Browser clip to the project, each clip is balanced based on
analysis information for its own section of media.
•
If the clip has not been color analyzed and you balance its color: You can determine the reference
frame for a clip selected in the Timeline by moving the playhead to that frame in the clip.
If the playhead is on a different clip or you’ve selected a clip in the Event Browser, the clip’s
middle frame is used.
Analyze a clip for color balance
To automatically balance a clip’s color, Final Cut Pro uses a single frame from the clip as a
reference and calculates a correction for it that is then applied to the entire clip. Analyzing a clip
for color balance allows Final Cut Pro to choose a representative frame as the clip’s color balance
reference frame.
You can have a clip’s color balance analyzed when you import it, whether importing from a
camera, importing a file, or dragging a clip directly to the Timeline from a Finder window. You
can also analyze a clip’s color balance at any time in the Event Browser.
Analyzing a clip for color balance can take from a few seconds for shorter clips to a minute
or more for longer clips. The analysis process takes longer if you also analyze for people and
stabilization issues.
After a clip has been analyzed for color balance, you can turn the color balance correction on or
off at any time. By default, color balance correction is off for clips in the Event Browser and on for
clips in the Timeline, if they have been analyzed. For information about turning the color balance
correction on and off, in either the Event Browser or the Timeline, see
Balance a clip’s colors on
page 357.
Analyze color balance during file import
1 Choose File > Import Media (or press Command-I).
2 Select the files to import, and select “Analyze for balance color” in the Video section of
the window.
3 Click Import.
The files are imported and analyzed for color balance issues.