Color Correction vs Color Grading

In the analog world, "colour timing" was a lengthy photo-chemical process that took place in a photo laboratory. Now colour processing is done digitally; the colour profiles of images and footage can be utterly transformed with just a few clicks of a mouse.

There are two main types of colour manipulation, and their names are often (mistakenly) used interchangeably. Colour correction and colour grading are similar in the process, but different in how and when they are used.

Colour Correction

Colour Correction is a singular process that involves making adjustments to an image to "correct" any deviations from its standard appearance.

These corrections include:

• Exposure
• White Balance
• ISO Noise
• Contrast

Colour Correction can be used to cover mistakes made with camera settings as well as to pull more information from flat-profiles. I should colour correct my footage whenever possible, as it creates cohesion between shots.

Colour Grading

Colour Grading is a multi-process that can change the visual tone of an entire film. Once the footage is corrected, it can work to change the thematic and aesthetics. Grading is used more as a brush to paint a picture with purpose. These include:

• Shot Matching
• Removing Objects
• Shape Masks
• Cinematic Looks (day-to-night, underwater, flashbacks, etc..)

Colour Grading is considered a more "high-end" process than colour correction and it's not used quite as often for most videos. If we are looking to create more detailed colour profiles, I need to be prepared for more labour intensive editing and longer rendering times.

This video below shows the differences between colour graded footage and colour corrected footage.