Color Correction
Professional color grading tools to enhance your videos with precise control over tone, color, and creative effects.
Overview
Glambot Studio Desktop provides professional color correction organized into four categories: Tone, Color, RGB Balance, and Effects.
Access: Preferences > Project Settings > Transcoding Settings > Color Grading
Color correction increases transcoding time by 20-40%. Hardware encoding (Apple Silicon) significantly improves speed.
Tone Adjustments
Exposure and Contrast
Exposure (-2.0 to +2.0 EV):
- Adjusts overall brightness
- Common uses: Correct underexposed (+0.5 to +1.5) or overexposed footage (-0.5 to -1.0)
Contrast (-100 to +100):
- Controls difference between light and dark areas
- Positive = dramatic, Negative = softer
- Typical range: +20 to +40 for flat footage, -10 to -20 for harsh lighting
Tonal Range Controls
Shadows (-100 to +100): Controls darkest areas
- Positive: Brighten shadows, recover detail (+15 to +30)
- Negative: Deepen shadows for drama (-30 to -50)
Midtones (-100 to +100): Controls middle brightness (most visible impact)
- Affects skin tones and overall brightness
- Typical: +10 to +25 to brighten, -10 to -20 for moody look
Highlights (-100 to +100): Controls brightest areas
- Negative: Recover blown highlights (-20 to -40)
- Positive: Create high-key look (+15 to +30)
Workflow: Exposure → Contrast → Shadows → Highlights → Midtones
Monitor histogram to avoid clipping highlights or crushing shadows.
Color Adjustments
Temperature (-100 to +100): Blue/yellow balance
- Negative = cooler (blue), Positive = warmer (orange)
- Common: Indoor lighting -20 to -40, outdoor shade +15 to +30
Tint (-100 to +100): Green/magenta balance
- Removes color casts from fluorescent (-10 to -25) or mixed lighting
Saturation (-100 to +100): Color intensity
- -100 = black & white, 0 = natural, +10 to +30 = enhanced vibrancy
Saturation above +40 can cause color clipping and unnatural skin tones.
Common Color Looks
| Style | Temperature | Tint | Saturation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural | 0 | 0 | 0 to +10 |
| Warm Cinematic | +20 to +40 | 0 to +5 | +15 to +25 |
| Cool Modern | -15 to -30 | 0 to -5 | +10 to +20 |
| Black & White | 0 | 0 | -100 |
RGB Balance
Precise color channel control (Red, Green, Blue) for different tonal ranges.
Controls Available
- All Tones: Affects entire image uniformly
- Shadows: Darkest areas only
- Midtones: Middle brightness values
- Highlights: Brightest areas only
Each channel: -100 to +100
- Negative reduces color, adds complement (e.g., -Red adds cyan)
- Positive increases color
Popular RGB Grades
Teal & Orange (Cinematic):
Shadows: B +25
Midtones: B +10
Highlights: R +20, G +10, B -15
Vintage Warm:
Shadows: R +10, G +5, B -5
Midtones: R +15, G +10, B 0
Highlights: R +20, G +15, B +5
Temperature: +25, Saturation: -15
Creative Effects
Film Grain (0 to 100):
- 0 = clean digital
- 20-40 = modern film simulation
- 60-100 = heavy vintage grain
Heavy grain increases file size. Use 20-40 for best balance.
Vignette (0 to 100):
- Darkens frame edges to focus attention
- 10-25 = subtle, 30-50 = dramatic, 60-100 = spotlight effect
Rotation (-45° to +45°):
- Horizon correction: ±0.5° to ±2°
- Creative tilt: ±10° to ±30°
Rotation crops edges. Large angles affect composition.
Workflows
Corrective Grading
- Evaluate image (exposure, color casts, white balance)
- Correct exposure and contrast
- Adjust temperature and tint
- Fine-tune RGB balance
- Verify skin tones and critical colors
Creative Grading
- Start with corrective grading
- Define desired look and mood
- Apply creative tone adjustments
- Push color with temperature/saturation/RGB
- Add effects (grain, vignette)
- Refine and test across displays
Matching Multi-Camera Footage
- Choose reference clip
- Match exposure and contrast
- Match color temperature and tint
- Match saturation
- Refine with RGB (focus on skin tones)
- Verify seamless cuts
Presets
Saving: Configure settings → Save Preset → Name and tag
Built-in Presets:
- Natural, Warm Cinematic, Cool Modern, Vintage Film, High Contrast B&W, Soft & Dreamy, Vibrant
Management: Organize by folders, tag with keywords, export/import for sharing
Performance
Transcoding Impact
- Minimal (basic adjustments): +5-10%
- Moderate (full correction + light effects): +15-25%
- Heavy (complex RGB + grain + vignette): +30-40%
Optimization
- Use hardware encoding (VideoToolbox on Apple Silicon = 3x faster)
- Apply only necessary adjustments
- Batch process for efficiency
Quality Checklist
Before exporting:
- ✅ Check on calibrated display
- ✅ Verify no clipped highlights or crushed shadows
- ✅ Ensure natural skin tones
- ✅ Check consistency across clips
- ✅ Test on multiple displays
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Over-processing: Start subtle (±10-20), build gradually
- Ignoring skin tones: Always check after adjustments
- Inconsistency: Grade entire sequence, not individual clips
- Clipping detail: Monitor histogram during adjustments
Content-Specific Settings
Corporate: Natural temperature, +10 to +20 contrast, +5 to +15 saturation
Cinematic: Teal & orange palette, +25 to +40 contrast, grain 20-40, vignette 15-30
Social Media: +20 to +35 saturation, +15 to +30 contrast, bright midtones
Documentary: Neutral color, +5 to +15 contrast, 0 to +10 saturation
Next Steps
Need help? Check Troubleshooting.