30 second Color Grading Test.

[Jsthompson79]

This is my 30 second color grading test I created using only the built in plugins in CS6 After Effects. I was going for that late afternoon look when the sun is at its hottest. The original footage was shot around noonish. Let me know what work and what doesn't.


http://youtu.be/Rh3rwds9OTM

[jax_rox]

What does late afternoon sun look like to you? Honestly, I'd probably believe the first ungraded shot as mid-afternoon if in context. If I really wanted that late late afternoon feel I'd probably try and go for the long shadows you get from the sun being much lower in the sky. But then, that's all subjective as to exactly what feel/look you want, as well as exactly what 'late afternoon' looks like to you. If lat afternoon means everything looks more orange to you, then that's great - make it look more orange (as you have).

I'd personally do all/most of my 'look' on set and then just tweak gamma or contrast in post, but to each their own, it's pretty damn difficult to fake long shadows in the middle of the day, whether using HMIs on set, or trying to do it in post.

[Santhem]

There is alot of difference in the value of the building and the sky/foreground.
It looks to me as if you increased gamma over the entire scene, which makes the building look alot better, but you just killed your nice sky with overblown highlights (something not quite typical for late afternoons).

Id suggest you take a bit more time with this and seperatly grade your highlights, midtones and shadows.
That said: you add alot of red/yellow, which works pretty well on the building, but i'd suggest setting up a secondary grade to keep the sky blue, and the grass green. Personally I like adding just yellow to grass and sky, not that much red. The red makes it look fake.

Looking forward to the next iterations.