Tips for Optimizing Your Colour-Grading Workflow

Optimizing your colour workflow is the one of the most important factors in achieving a beautiful and consistent grade. Whether you prefer using Baselight, Resolve, Premiere Pro or otherwise, Sohonet's tips will help you get prepared to tackle the color grade on any project, big or small.

Develop a Strategy

By establishing a color grading strategy to utilize across every project, you’re not stuck re-inventing the wheel each time. Design a workflow that works best for you, then follow it as a baseline each time you start a new project. For instance, you might begin with adjusting exposure and contrast, then move on to specific isolations, then finish with creative looks and final touches.

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Optimize Your Workspace

Preparing a dedicated environment will ensure a more seamless grading process each time. First and foremost, calibrate your monitor. It is imperative to have a well-calibrated monitor so that the colors you see on your monitor are consistent to what will be displayed on other screens and devices.

You will be spending a lot of time in your colour-grading space, so keeping it organized with minimal distractions will help you stay focused on the task at hand.

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Set Up an Organization System

By organizing your media consistently across projects, you’ll prevent issues finding specific clips, shots and sequences. Use the same file naming conventions and group your media into categories, so you don’t struggle when navigating through media later down the line. This will help you save time and will also prevent a headache when you’re sifting through mass amounts of media in the grading process.

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Utilize LUTs

Make the most of the tools you have within reach. By utilizing look-up tables (aka LUTs), you can cut down on grading time and ensure greater consistency on a project from start to finish. While we don't recommend relying completely on LUTs to set your looks, they do serve as an excellent starting point. Many LUTs emulate looks from iconic films and other sources of inspiration. If you decide to use one, adjust it to best adhere to your footage.

Use Proxy Files to Save Time and Space

When working on any type of content, whether it be a short, series, feature, or beyond, having sufficient storage is always an important factor. It is helpful to create and work with proxy files - lower-resolution versions of your clips- to help make the grading process more efficient, especially when importing and exporting media. If you decide to grade on proxies, you can easily apply your settings to the full-resolution files later down the line.

Remember to Save Your Work

It may sound like a no-brainer, but don’t neglect the importance of constantly saving your work. Take the time to create backup files in case you run into hardware failure, internet issues, or other unpredictable and unfortunate occurrences. Utilize cloud storage or external drives to keep multiple versions of a project, so you don't encounter the frustration of losing all of your hardwork if something happens.

Organized Collaboration

 As a colourist, you often encounter multiple collaborators providing their opinion about the desired final look and feel of a project. Whether it be the director, cinematographer or other contributor, it is important to use project management tools that streamline the collaboration process. By utilizing a video collaboration software such as Sohonet’s ClearView Flex, multiple stakeholders have visibility into a project at the same time, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and not duplicating efforts.

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Lifelong Learning and Implementation

Technology is constantly in a state of evolution, and the tech and science behind color-grading is no exception. With most studios implementing HDR passes, advancements in AI and machine learning, and new tools and features on the major colour grading software, there is no shortage of skills to learn. It is always beneficial to stay on top of the latest techniques and software updates in order to expand your toolset. Learn new techniques, experiment with different styles, and collaborate with other artists who inspire you and push you to be better.

By incorporating our tips into your colour-grading workflow, you are setting yourself up for efficiency, productivity, and ultimately, the best results. And Sohonet is your partner throughout the process, to help ensure you achieve the most with your visual storytelling. The previously mentioned ClearView Flex, as well as our dailies review tool ClearView Rush, can be seamlessly incorporated into your color pipeline. Contact us for more information!