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.
Color correction is a setting of an Effect Group in Automatic Editing — it isn't a separate transcode setting. The adjustments you configure on a group are applied to every segment inside that group.
Access: open the Video Editing tab (Project > Settings, or the cogwheel next to the project name), expand an Effect Group, and open its Color Correction settings.
Because color correction lives on the Effect Group, you can use nested groups to grade sections independently — for example a warmer look on the main content and neutral color on a branded outro. See Automatic Editing.
Color correction adds to transcoding time. 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
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.