Graide Color Match User Manual
Contents
1. different lighting In order to better handle such cases Graide Color Match enables you to restrict the image analysis to only a part of the image If you select image areas with similar content it may well be possible to derive a correction that is appropriate for the whole frame In this example selecting a suitable analysis area is very simple because both images contain a color reference chart Restricting the image analysis to the areas of the reference charts produces the following result Original Input Reference Effect Output Whenever matching colors between different images does not produce sat isfactory results you can use the analysis area to influence and improve the analysis You don t necessarily need a color reference chart to successfully use the analysis area All characteristic similarities such as prominent items visible in both images may be suitable choices For example you may have recorded a scene from different angles and may be able to select what is visible in a close up in the wide shot 3 2 Analysis area Even when there are no distinct similarities it may be worth experimenting with the analysis area and manipulate the color correction by including or excluding certain parts of the image in the analysis If you plan to use a reference chart make sure that it covers a wide dynamic range and includes color patches of different shades from black to white Patches with different combinations of the thr2. mouse cursor over it and use the mouse wheel or click on the current value and enter a new value Settings The Settings button opens the settings window where you can change the program language and unlock the trial version Help The Help button opens the program help Use the table of contents at the left side of the help window to jump to a topic You can interact with the help window in the following ways Function Action Zoom Use Ctrl mouse wheel or Press Ctrl or Ctrl Reset zoom to normal Press Ctrl 0 Find text Press Ctrl F 16 4 7 Effect strength Graide Color Match also has a context sensitive help feature which takes you directly to the description of a user interface element Follow these steps to access the context sensitive help 1 Select Help What s This in the main window of Vegas Pro or Movie Studio or Click the What s This Help icon B in the Vegas Pro or Movie Studio toolbar or Press Shift F1 or Right click the Help icon A question mark will appear next to the mouse pointer 2 Click on an element of the Graide Color Match user interface 4 7 Effect strength Using the Effect strength knob you can control how much the effect influ ences the input signal With the default value of 100 the effect processes the input normally Values below 100 reduce the effect At a value of 0 the input image remains unchanged Values above 100 increase the inf
3. the images there is a command bar with the following icons Icon Description Open image file loads an image from a file BMP GIF JPEG PNG or TIF and uses it as Original or Reference image Paste image inserts an image from the Windows clip board as Original or Reference image By copying and pasting you can easily use any image from the preview or trimmer window as Original or Reference image This button is disabled if there is no image in the clipboard Copy input frame captures the current Effect Input as Orig inal or Reference image The availability of an Effect Input image depends on a few factors e The preview window must be visible and the Split Screen View e Vegas Pro only in the preview win dow must be disabled e The Graide Color Match effect must not be bypassed in its effect chain e the box next to the effect must be checked 14 4 3 Mode e The effect of Graide Color Match must currently be visible in the preview window This means that If the effect has been applied to a video event the timeline cursor must be placed over this event If the effect has been applied to a video track the timeline cursor must be placed at a point where this track is not empty The affected video events and tracks must not be muted While no Effect Input is available Graide Color Match dis plays Waiting for input image Once an Effect Input be comes available it is captured and the imag
4. what is to be achieved with the color correction e Use the constant correction to even out differences between shots such as when the shots were recorded at different times of day or under different weather or lighting conditions or the shots were recorded with different cameras filters or camera settings e Use the continuous correction to even out variations within a shot such as when exposure or white balance have been readjusted automatically during the shot the lighting conditions changed during the shot or 3 2 3 Matching color with Graide Color Match you deliberately changed the aperture shutter speed or ISO sen sitivity during the shot to correct for over or underexposure Analysis area Graide Color Match determines the required correction by comparing color and brightness in the Original and Reference images or in the case of a continuous correction in the Effect Input and Reference images By default the entire image is included in this comparison This approach may not produce satisfactory results when the content in the Original and Reference images differs a lot and any measured differences may result from this difference in image content rather than from a difference in the lighting conditions Consider the following example Original Input Reference Effect Output Here the strong contrast and cool colors in the Effect Output are caused by the different image content rather than by
5. 3ralide Color Match User Manual Graide Color Match User Manual Version 1 0 3 0 Copyright 2015 Dr Ing Michael W rner All rights reserved Software Copyright 2015 Dr Ing Michael W rner All rights reserved AMD Athlon is a trademark or registered trademark of Advanced Micro De vices Inc Intel and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries SONY is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation Vegas is a trademark of Sony Creative Software Inc in the United States and other countries All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the United States and other countries Graide Color Match Before you begin 2 1 System requirements 2 2 Installation x aoc Su 05 zu dod we ua 2 3 Using the plugin as ss 8 47 a we 2 4 Uninstallation 0 0005 eae Matching color with Graide Color Match 3 1 Constant and continuous correction 3 2 Analysisared 4 wu A The user interface 4 1 Originaland reference image 4 2 Imagecommandbar 4 3 Mode 4 oe 4464 2h wth a er eo 4 4 Shadows and highlights 4 5 Settings 44 wer an da He ee e a a AO Help owes ote ea re 4 7 Effect Strength Managi
6. 6 3 How to even out exposure or white balance changes Suppose you ve got a video event in your timeline and want to even out illumination changes over the course of the event Follow these steps 1 Add Graide Color Match as a video event effect to the event 2 In the Graide Color Match user interface set the mode to Continuous 3 Set a frame from the event as the Reference image Follow these steps a Find a frame with the correct exposure and white balance in the event and place the timeline cursor there b In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Copy input frame button in the image command bar 22 6 4 How to use a frame from the trimmer as Original or Reference image 6 4 How to use a frame from the trimmer as Original or 6 5 Reference image You can transfer the current frame from the trimmer window to Graide Color Match by copying it to the clipboard and pasting it into Graide Color Match Follow these steps 1 If the trimmer option Show Video Monitor is enabled Right click the displayed trimmer image and select Copy Snapshot to Clipboard 2 If the trimmer option Show Video Monitor is disabled N the preview window click the Copy Snapshot to Clipboard button amp 3 Inthe Graide Color Match user interface click the Paste image button A How to match two video events to each other Suppose you ve got two video events A and B in your timeline and don t want to match one event to the other but ap
7. e appears You can cancel the wait and continue to use the current image by clicking the Copy input frame button again Save image stores the current Original or Reference image in an image file BMP GIF JPEG PNG or TIF This button is disabled when there is no current image Analyze area enables or disables the analysis area This button is disabled when there is no current image or the image s pixel data has been released See Managing origi nal and reference images B Images acquired via Paste image or Copy input frame are retained permanently only if they are saved with Save image see Managing original and reference images 4 3 Mode Continuous The mode buttons switch between the constant and continuous correction modes 15 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 The user interface Shadows and highlights The Shadows and Highlights knobs adjust the brightness of the dark Shad ows and light Highlights parts of the Effect Output While you can easily adjust the Effect Output by inserting additional video effects after Graide Color Match 8 bit projects will clip parts of the Effect Output that are too dark or too bright Clipped values cannot be restored by effects further down the effect chain The adjustment done by Shadows and Highlights however is done within Graide Color Match and thus before any clipping of the Effect Output To change the value of a knob click and drag it with the left mouse button place the
8. ection In this mode there is no Original image and Graide Color Match regards the current Effect Input as the Original that is to be matched to the Reference image As a result each frame of a clip receives an individual correction The correction may thus change over the course of the clip depending on how much the current Effect Input frame differs from the Reference image In the best case this evens out color and brightness variations in the clip entirely The continuous correction can be compared to an automatic mode of a camera which adjusts white balance and exposure based on image content Note however that the readjustment done by Graide Color Match in contrast to that of a camera has no inherent delay 6 3 1 Constant and continuous correction The following figure tries to clarify the difference between these two ap proaches The left column Input shows three Effect Input images that differ in color and brightness The center column Output constant shows the result of a constant correction with the Original and Reference images shown at the top The right column Output continuous shows the result of a continuous correction with the given Reference image Original Reference ATE le While the constant correction leaves color and brightness changes in the In put clearly visible the continuous correction eliminates them almost entirely Which of these methods should be used depends on
9. ee primary colors red green and blue can be helpful too The arrangement of the patches on the chart does not matter as long as you use the same reference chart in both the Original and the Reference image If you define an analysis area in continuous mode it will be used for both the Reference and the Effect Input image The user interface The user interface is displayed when you first add a Graide Color Match effect or reopen the FX window at a later time This is where you set all parameters of the correction In Vegas Pro 10 the user interface is located under the Custom tab in the FX window Graide Color Match E Mode Sontinuous igi sel F Orig e N i Reference D Unsaved image A Original image B Reference image C Original image command bar D Reference image command bar E Mode F Shadows and Highlights G Settings H Help I Effect strength B Depending on the available space the two images may be displayed in a vertical rather than a horizontal arrangement 11 4 1 4 The user interface Original and reference image A large part of the user interface is covered by the two images that determine the color correction as described in Matching color with Graide Color Match A label in the top left corner of each image display shows the name of the file from which the image was loaded If the image was not loaded from a file Unsaved image is displayed here 8 The conti
10. ends back to Vegas It is the result of applying the color correction computed from the Original and Reference images to the Effect Input image In the example above the Effect Output has warmer colors than the Effect Input because the Reference image is warmer than the Original image In practice you will often want to match one clip to another In this case select a representative frame of the clip to be corrected as the Original image Original and Effect Input will then be similar or even identical 3 Matching color with Graide Color Match Original Reference Effect Input Effect Output Q When matching images of different brightness you will often get better results by adjusting the brighter image to match the darker one This prevents an excessive brightening of the darker image which would also increase the visibility of noise and compression artifacts 3 1 Constant and continuous correction In the default mode Graide Color Match performs a constant correction This computes a one time correction that is then applied to all input images This retains color and brightness variations over the course of a clip and changes in image content will not prompt an automatic readjustment of the correction The constant correction is similar to switching to a different light configuration in a theater scene The lighting changes irrespective of what happens on the stage The alternative to a constant correction is a continuous corr
11. event A and place the timeline cursor there 21 6 Step by step instructions b In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Copy input frame button in the command bar of the left image Original 3 Set the analysis area for event A to the color reference chart Follow these steps a Inthe Graide Color Match user interface click the Analyze area button E in the command bar of the left image Original b Use the left mouse button to move the corners of the analysis area to the corners of the color reference chart in the image For better precision use the mouse wheel to zoom into the image 4 Set a frame from event B as the Reference image Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in event B and place the timeline cursor so that this frame can be seen in the preview window b Inthe preview window click the Copy Snapshot to Clipboard button to copy this frame to the clipboard c In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Paste image button in the command bar of the right image Reference 5 Set the analysis area for event B to the color reference chart Follow these steps a In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Analyze area button E in the command bar of the right image Reference b Use the left mouse button to move the corners of the analysis area to the corners of the color reference chart in the image For better precision use the mouse wheel to zoom into the image
12. le Graide Color Match will then reload it from this file as needed 19 Step by step instructions 6 1 How to match one video event to another Suppose you ve got two video events A and B in your timeline and want to match event A to event B Follow these steps 1 Add Graide Color Match as a video event effect to event A 2 Set a frame from event A as the Original image Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in event A and place the timeline cursor there b In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Copy input frame button inthe command bar of the left image Original 3 Set a frame from event B as the Reference image Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in event B and place the timeline cursor so that this frame can be seen in the preview window b Inthe preview window clickthe Copy Snapshot to Clipboard button to copy this frame to the clipboard c In the Graide Color Match user interface click the Paste image button in the command bar of the right image Reference 6 2 How to use a color reference chart to match one video effect to another Suppose you ve got two video events A and B in your timeline want to match event A to event B and a color reference chart is visible in both events Follow these steps 1 Add Graide Color Match as a video event effect to event A 2 Set a frame from event A as the Original image Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in
13. luence beyond the normal effect To change the value of the effect strength knob click and drag it with the left mouse button or move the mouse pointer over it and use the mouse wheel The knob shows a numeric display of its current value while the mouse pointer is over it You can also use the effect strength knob to correct two clips toward each other instead of adjusting just one and leaving the other unchanged 17 5 Managing original and reference images When you insert an image from the clipboard or the Effect Input Graide Color Match keeps this image in memory and displays Unsaved image next to it If you use multiple Graide Color Match effects in a project the memory requirements of all effects add up Once an image has been analyzed it is no longer needed except for display ing it and for changing the analysis area Therefore Graide Color Match will release images that have not been used for a while once the total memory consumption reaches a certain level If you exit Vegas Pro or Movie Studio this will also release all images When an image has been released the color correction continues to work based on the stored analysis results However the images can no longer be displayed and their analysis area can no longer be changed Graide Color Match displays the mage data released message instead of the image You can make an image permanently available by clicking the Save image button and saving it to a fi
14. ng original and reference images Step by step instructions 6 1 How to match one video event to another Contents BWW W Uy ui 11 RE m ei we 12 ae A 14 a he oe ok TT 13 a Er 16 ee Bab ae 16 a ee AA 16 cS ye ae Ee Are 17 19 21 eee eee ee 24 6 2 How to use a color reference chart to match one video effect to another 21 6 3 How to even out exposure or white balance changes TERE 22 6 4 How to use a frame from the trimmer as Original or Reference image 23 6 5 How to match two video events to each other Trial and full version ul Be ee a 23 25 Graide Color Match Graide Color Match is a powerful tool for matching the color and brightness of different video clips or still images Graide Color Match enables you to e match shots that have been recorded with different cameras different camera settings or different lighting conditions e use color reference charts for matching shots e even out brightness and color changes over the course of a shot and e transfer color and brightness from one shot to another The following sections describe the installation the color match process and the user interface of the plugin If you prefer to jump right in you ll find step by step instructions for matching shots at the end of this manual If you have further questions comments or suggestions please contact me at mwoerner semw software com 8 This documents shows icons as they appear in Vegas Pr
15. nuous correction does not use an Original image so only the Reference image is displayed in continuous mode If you switch to continuous mode with only an Original image definied Graide Color Match will automatically use this image as the reference If no image is available one of these text messages is displayed instead Message Description No image selected No Original or Reference image has been se lected yet so no color correction can be com puted Use one of the buttons in the image com mand bar to open or paste an image Image file missing The file from which the Original or Reference image was loaded is no longer available No image is displayed and the analysis area cannot be changed but the color correction continues to work based on the stored analysis results Image data released The image data is no longer available because the program was restarted or the image mem ory has been released No image is displayed and the analysis area cannot be changed but the color correction continues to work based on the stored analysis results This is further explained in Managing original and reference images Waiting for input im If you click the Copy input frame button in the age image command bar but no Effect Input image is currently available Graide Color Match waits until an Effect Input becomes available and displays this message in the meantime Make sure that the conditions listed under Copy 12 4 1 Original and
16. o and Movie Studio 12 Platinum The icons in Movie Studio 13 Platinum look a little different Also the Copy Snapshot to Clipboard EE button is missing from the preview window in the Simple mode of Movie Studio 13 Platinum Instead you can copy frames by right clicking the preview window and selecting Copy Snapshot to Clipboard from the context menu 2 1 2 2 2 3 Before you begin System requirements e Sony Vegas Pro 10 11 12 or 13 64 bit or Sony Movie Studio 12 Platinum or 13 Platinum 64 bit e Microsoft Windows Vista 7 8 or 8 1 64 bit e Microsoft NET Framework 4 0 or higher e CPU with SSE2 Intel Pentium 4 AMD Athlon 64 or better e 2 MB free hard disk space Installation Graide Color Match comes with an automatic setup program which will install the plugin and register it with Sony Vegas Pro and Sony Movie Studio Platinum Download and run the setup file from http www semw software com and follow the instructions Once Graide Color Match is in stalled it is available in all supported 64 bit installations of Sony Vegas Pro and Sony Movie Studio Platinum Using the plugin As a video effect Graide Color Match can be used in four different contexts e As a video event effect which acts on a video event in the timeline To add a video event effect click the Event FX icon IF on the event e As a video track effect which acts on a video track and thus on all events it con
17. or event A click the Paste image button in the command bar of the right image Reference d In the Graide Color Match user interface for event B click the Paste image button in the command bar of the left image Original 4 Use the Effect strength knob in the Graide Color Match user inter face to reduce the effect strength of both events to 50 You can try other values as well 24 Trial and full version Right after being installed Graide Color Match will act as a trial version The trial version has a time limitation but is otherwise unrestricted You can check the remaining trial time in the About section of the Settings window After purchasing a license you will receive a license key to unlock the trial to a full version Click the Unlock button in the About section of the Settings window to enter your license key If your trial version has already expired you will be presented with an unlock option right after opening the Graide Color Match user interface 25
18. ply a correction to each event that reduces the visual difference between them without having too extreme an effect on either one Apply Graide Color Match to each event to match it to the other one then reduce the effect strength of both effects Follow these steps 1 Add Graide Color Match as a video event effect to both events 2 Choose a characteristic frame from event A and set it as the Original image of event A and the Reference image of event B Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in event A and place the timeline cursor so that this frame can be seen in the preview window b Inthe preview window click the Copy Snapshot to Clipboard button E to copy this frame to the clipboard In the Graide Color Match user interface for event A click the Paste image button in the command bar of the left image Original d In the Graide Color Match user interface for event B click the Paste image button in the command bar of the right image Reference O 23 6 Step by step instructions 3 Choose a characteristic frame from event B and set it as the Reference image of event A and the Original image of event B Follow these steps a Find a characteristic frame in event B and place the timeline cursor so that this frame can be seen in the preview window b Inthe preview window click the Copy Snapshot to Clipboard button to copy this frame to the clipboard c In the Graide Color Match user interface f
19. reference image input frame are met or click Copy input frame again to cancel the wait and keep the current image If no analysis area has been set you can interact with the image display in the following ways Function Action Pan view Click and drag with the left or the middle mouse button Zoom view Use the mouse wheel Reset view Right click and select Show whole image from the context menu If an analysis area is active its four corner points are displayed on the image as little circles The parts of the image outside the analysis area appear darkened Reference Unsaved image With the analysis area active you can interact with the image display in the following ways Function Action Pan view Click and drag with the middle mouse button or Click and drag outside the analysis area with the left mouse button 13 4 The user interface Zoom view Use the mouse wheel Reset view Right click and select Show whole image from the context menu Move corner point Click and drag the corner point with the left mouse button Move entire analysis Click and drag inside the analysis area with the area left mouse button Reset analysis area Right click and select Reset analysis area from the context menu After moving a corner point Graide Color Match may change the order of the corner points to ensure that the resulting quadrangle does not overlap itself 4 2 Image command bar Above each of
20. tains To add a video track effect click the Track FX icon in the track header e Asa video output effect which acts on the video output and thus on all video tracks and events To add a video output effect click the Video Ein the preview window 2 4 2 Before you begin e Asa media effect which acts directly on project media To add a media effect right click an item in the Project Media window and select Media FX from the context menu It is also possible to drag the Graide Color Match item from the Video FX window View Window Video FX or View Video FX onto an event a track or the preview window Uninstallation Like most programs Graide Color Match can be uninstalled in the Programs and Features section of the Windows Control Panel Select Graide Color Match in the list of installed programs and click Uninstall Matching color with Graide Color Match Matching shots with Graide Color Match involves four images Original Reference Y Effect Input Effect Output The Original and Reference images determine the color correction that is to be applied Graide Color Match computes a correction that would adjust the Original image to match the Reference image The Effect Input is the frame that Vegas sends to the plugin If Graide Color Match has been applied as a video event effect for example this is the current video frame of the event The Effect Output is the frame that Graide Color Match s
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