Color grading is the process of using color to tell a story. While "color correction" fixes errors, "color grading" creates the mood. This manual provides a professional technical framework to transform "video" into "cinema."

Phase 1: Preparation & Technical Setup

Before you touch a slider, you must ensure your editing environment is neutral.

  • The Environment: Turn off warm room lights. Your eyes adapt to the light around you; if your room is too yellow, you will accidentally make your video too blue.
  • Hardware Check: Set your monitor brightness to a consistent level (usually 80-100%).
  • The Scopes: Open your Lumetri Scopes or Video Scopes. Never trust your eyes alone; trust the data.
    • Waveform: Measures brightness.
    • Vectorscope: Measures color saturation and hue (specifically skin tones).

Phase 2: The 4-Step Technical Workflow

Follow these steps in exact order. Mixing them up will lead to a "muddy" or "broken" image.

Step 1: Normalization (Primary Correction)

If you shot in "Log" or "Flat" profiles, your footage looks gray. Normalization brings the image back to a standard "Rec.709" reality.

  • The Manual Fix: Adjust the Basic Correction tab. Increase Contrast until the image looks natural and ensure Exposure makes the subject visible.
  • Blacks & Whites: Stretch your "Whites" up to the 100 line and your "Blacks" down to the 0 line on the Waveform without "clipping."

Step 2: Skin Tone Preservation (The Skin Tone Line)

This is the most critical step for professional quality.

  • The Vectorscope Secret: Every human, regardless of ethnicity, has the same color of blood under their skin. The "Skin Tone Line" in your Vectorscope is the universal guide.
  • The Action: Use a "Crop" effect to isolate a patch of skin. Adjust Tint or Temperature until the data sits exactly on that diagonal line.

Step 3: Secondary Grading (Targeted Adjustments)

Fix specific parts of the image without affecting the whole frame.

  • Hues vs. Saturation: Desaturate distracting colors (like neon grass) specifically.
  • Vignetting: Add a subtle dark vignette to frame the subject and draw the eye to the center.

Step 4: The Creative Grade (The "Film Look")

  • Teal and Orange: Push Shadows toward Teal and Midtones/Highlights toward Orange in the Color Wheels to create "color depth."
  • Shadow Rolloff: Lift the bottom point of your Curves slightly to turn "pure black" into a "milky gray," mimicking vintage film stock.

Phase 3: Advanced "Film" Textures

Remove the "digital sharpness" to complete the illusion.

  • Film Grain: Add a grain overlay on a layer above your video. Set the Blending Mode to Overlay or Soft Light (10-15% opacity).
  • Halation: Duplicate your video layer, add a Gaussian Blur (10-20), and set opacity to 5% to create a cinematic glow around lights.
  • Letterboxing: Adding 2.35:1 black bars instantly signals "Cinema" to the viewer.

Phase 4: Quality Control (The Final Export)

  1. Luminance Check: Ensure no clipping at 100 on the waveform.
  2. Small Screen Test: Check the grade on a smartphone. Most viewers are on mobile; ensure it isn't over-saturated.
  3. Reference Check: Compare your footage side-by-side with a movie you admire. Adjust Gamma (Midtones) to match the contrast.