Mac Format - UK (2020-04)

Premiere

Elements’ post-

production

tools make

your clips’

colours and

tones look

their best

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APPLE SKILLS Mac software

42 | MACFORMAT | APRIL 2020

Make the grade

How to adjust colour and tone for better-looking clips

IT WILL TAKE

15 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN

How to improve

contrast, boost colour

and counteract

colour casts

YOU’LL NEED

Adobe Premiere

Elements 2020

Your video recording device

• whether it be an iPhone,
  GoPro or D-SLR camera –
  will automatically attempt
  to capture accurate colours and details.
  However, you may need to tweak colours
  and tones in a post-production app like
  Premiere Elements 2020 to overcome
  problems with the picture.
  In a high-contrast scene, the camera
  might prioritise exposure to capture detail
  in the brighter sky, causing shadows to be

underexposed and lack detail. Cameras

also need to perform an Auto White Balance

(AWB) operation to capture accurate colours.

If this AWB operation fails, due to shooting

in mixed lighting sources for example, then

the clip might look too cold (blue) or too

warm (orange).

Fix it in post

Fortunately Premiere Elements 2020 boasts

a range of post-production tools that are

designed to make your clips’ colours look their

best. You can adjust colours and tones by

clicking on a preview thumbnail (to lighten or

darken them for example). Alternatively, you

can take manual control and adjust properties

using sliders. There’s also a collection of

drag-and-drop effect filters that produce

more creative looks.

In this walkthrough, we’re working with

a GoPro clip that was captured using the

camera’s Neutral preset. This produces a flat

contrast that helps ensure we preserve more

detail in the shadows and the highlights. We

can then grade the shot in Premiere Elements

to get the precise amount of contrast, colour

and detail that we desire. George Cairns

1

Adjustments

Click here to

access a range

of adjustment

tools to help you

tweak colour

and tone in

your clips.

2

Auto

Smart Tone

This tool

automatically

adjusts colour

and contrast.

You can then

fine-tune the

final look.

3

Presets

Click on a

preset thumbnail

to adjust

properties such

as Brightness,

Contrast and

Exposure.

4

Creative

effects

Click here to

access creative

drag-and-

drop grading

effects, such

as Hollywood

Looks.

Our unprocessed clip features drab colours and a flat

contrast so will benefit from some grading.

PART 2 OF 3 Adobe

Premiere

Elements

2020

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