We've reported here before on the news of the Color Finale 2.1 update. It has now been released and available for download: so Oliver Peters took it for a test drive in Final Cut Pro X.
Color grading roundtrips are messy and prone to errors. Most editors want high-quality solutions that keep them within their favorite editing application.
Color Trix launched the revamped Color Finale 2 this past December with the goal of building Final Cut Pro X into a competitive, professional grading environment.
In keeping to that goal, Color Trix just released Color Finale 2.1 - the first major update since the December launch. Color Finale 2.1 is a free upgrade to Color Finale 2 owners and adds several new features, including inside/outside mask grading, an image mask, a new smoothness function, and the ability to copy and paste masks between layers.
Grading with inside/outside masks
Color Finale 2 launched with trackable, spline masks that could be added to any group or layer. But in version 2.0, grading occurred either inside or outside of the mask, but not both. The new version 2.1 feature allows a mask to be applied to a group, which then becomes the parent mask.
Grading would then be done within that mask. If you want to also grade the area outside of that mask, simply apply a new group inside the first group. Then add a new mask that is an invert of the parent mask. Now you can add new layers to grade the area outside of the same mask.
In the example image, I first applied a mask around the model at the beach and color corrected her. Then I applied a new group with an inverted mask to adjust for the sky. In that group I could add additional masking, such as an edge mask to create a gradient.
The parent mask around the model maintains that the sky gradient is applied behind her rather than in the foreground. Once you get used to this grouping strategy with inside and outside masks, you can achieve some very complex results.
(Click for larger images)
Image masks
The second major addition is that of image masks. This is a monochrome version of the image in which the dark-to-light contrast range acts as a qualifier or matte source to restrict the correction being applied to the image. The mask controls include black and white level sliders, blurring, and the ability to invert the mask.
Wherever you see a light area in the mask is where that color correction will be applied. This enables a number of grading tricks that are also popular in photography, including split-toning and localized contrast control.
Simply put, split-toning divides the image according to darks and lights (based on the image mask) and enables you to apply a different correction to each. This can be as extreme as a duotone look or something a bit more normal, yet still stylized.
In the duotone example, I first removed saturation from the original clip to create a black-and-white image. Then, the boxer's image mask divides the range so that I could apply red and blue tinting for the duotone look.
In the second example, the image mask enabled me to create glowing highlights on the model's face, while pushing the mids and shadows back for a stylistic appearance.
Another use for an image mask can be for localized contrast control. This technique allows me to isolate regions of the image and grade them separately. For example, if I want to only correct the shadow areas of the image, I can apply an image mask, invert it (so that dark areas are light in the mask), and then apply grading within just the dark areas of the image - as determined by the mask.
Smoothness
Color Finale 2 included a sharpness slider. New in version 2.1 is the ability to go in the opposite direction to soften the image, simply by moving the slider left into negative values. This slider controls the high frequency detail of the overall image - positive values increase that detail, while negative values decrease it.
Since this is an overall effect, it can't be masked within the layers panel. If you wanted to apply it just to a person's face, like other "beauty" filters, then that can be achieved by using Final Cut Pro X's built-in effects masks. This way a similar result can be reached while staying within the Color Finale workflow.
One last addition to version 2.1 is that Final Cut Pro X's hotkeys now stay active while the Color Finale layers panel is open. Color Trix has stated that they plan more upgrades and options over the next nine months, so look for more ahead.
Color finale 2.1 is already a powerful grading tool for nearly any level of user. Nevertheless, more features will certainly be music to the ears of advanced users who prefer to stay within Final Cut Pro X to finish and deliver their projects. Stay tuned.
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