Colour grading is a vital step in creating skilled and cinematic FPV drone movies. Whereas LUTs will be handy, they don’t at all times produce the specified outcomes. On this tutorial, we’ll cowl the fundamentals you must know for creating spectacular cinematic FPV movies, together with GoPro digital camera settings, coloration correction and coloration grading methods.
To get essentially the most out of coloration grading, begin by investing in a high-quality motion digital camera. GoPro, Insta360, and DJI are all wonderful manufacturers to contemplate: https://oscarliang.com/action-camera/
Selecting a Video Editor
On this coloration grading information, we’ll be utilizing DaVinci Resolve as our video editor of selection. It’s free, highly effective, and has all of the options FPV pilots want for enhancing their footage. I extremely suggest it if you’re new to video enhancing.
For a tutorial on getting began with primary enhancing in DaVinci Resolve, try this text: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-use-davinci-resolve/
Optimizing GoPro Settings
To seize professional-quality footage, allow ProTune in your GoPro. This function permits handbook changes for settings like shutter velocity, white stability, flat coloration profile, ISO, stabilization, and sharpness. Utilizing a flat coloration profile helps retain particulars in shadows and highlights, providing extra flexibility for balancing coloration and distinction throughout post-production.
For extra data on the most effective GoPro settings for cinematic FPV, learn this text: https://oscarliang.com/gopro-settings-fpv/
Optimizing DJI O3 Settings
In the event you use the DJI O3 digital camera as an alternative of the GoPro for filming, listed below are my really helpful settings for greatest video high quality: https://oscarliang.com/dji-o3-air-unit-fpv-goggles-2/#O3-Air-Unit-Digital camera-Settings
Making use of Stabilization
Earlier than coloration grading, be certain your footage has been stabilized first, it is going to make it rather more nice to take a look at. For GoPro, my selection of stablization device is Reelsteady, however you can even use Gyroflow, the result’s comparable so don’t stress your self with the selection. For DJI O3, and lots of different motion cameras with built-in gyro, you’ll be able to simply use Gyroflow.
Colour Correction
Colour correction goals to attain clear and pure coloration illustration in your footage. It entails fixing publicity, white stability, and saturation. Video editors like DaVinci Resolve provide instruments similar to Waveform, RGB Scope, and Vectorscope that will help you right these parts.
Right here’s uncooked footage.
Modify Publicity
The Waveform device (backside proper of the display screen) measures mild depth on a scale from 0 (pure black) to 1023 (pure white).
To regulate publicity, find a body in your video the place you’ll take into account a very powerful second (what we name the hero shot), use this as your reference.
Discover the Three Colour Wheels in your video editor, which include Raise (adjusts shadows), Gamma (adjusts mid-tones), and Achieve (adjusts highlights).
Rotate the scroll wheel below “Raise” and “Achieve” (these are the darkish and brilliant elements of your video), and align the black tones with 0 and the white tones with 1023 for optimum publicity. It’s okay to transcend the bounds (or inside) so long as you might be pleased with the way it appears to be like.
Maintain monitoring the Waveform diagram as you play the video to keep away from overexposing or underexposing elements of the footage.
Distinction
After setting the highlights and shadows, you’ll be able to fine-tune the distinction by rising the Distinction worth (Cont).
Optionally you can even barely reducing the midtones utilizing the Gamma scroll wheel – the quantity of adjustment is determined by your expertise and private style.
White Steadiness
To regulate white stability, there are 3 strategies (all situated on the high left): Auto Steadiness, Colour Picker and manually setting it.
You can provide Auto Steadiness a attempt first as a result of it’s the simplest, however it’s additionally the least dependable and I usually don’t use it.
To make use of the colour picker device, you must choose one thing white within the video as a reference. Once more, it’s a straightforward technique however it’s not at all times attainable to search out one thing white.
Alternatively, you’ll be able to manually set the white stability by getting into “Temp” and “Tint” values. A trick I typically use is by wanting on the RGB Scope (Parade) and align the purple, inexperienced, and blue depth ranges. In the event you cut back Temp, the entire scene will go blue, if you happen to improve Temp the entire scene will go purple. Tint will make the picture look both extra inexperienced or pink.
Nevertheless, in our instance, I used to be filming throughout golden hours, so I intentionally made the footage look extra orange and heat by bumping up the temperature and tint. Auto Steadiness on this case would simply make the picture look a bit extra impartial by lowering temp, which wouldn’t work in opposition to what I wish to obtain right here.
Saturation
For saturation adjustment, you should utilize the Vectorscope, which measures coloration data. As you improve saturation (Sat), the Vectorscope traces will increase. Keep away from exceeding the restrict, and intention for a pure look. In my expertise, a saturation stage of round 60 to 65 typically works effectively for many of my GoPro and O3 footage recorded with a flat coloration profile.
I typically have “Colour Increase” set to 10 to make the colours pop a bit extra.
Sharpness
In the event you recorded your GoPro movies with low sharpness, you may want to extend it throughout post-production. Values round 0.47 or 0.48 normally yield passable outcomes, with decrease values leading to sharper footage.
After Colour correction, the footage appears to be like like this now.
Colour Grading
Colour grading is a inventive course of that enhances the environment and emotion of your video. By utilizing the Three Colour Wheels and Curves, you’ll be able to create distinctive tones for shadows, mid-tones, and highlights and modify saturation, depth, and coloration in particular areas.
To start coloration grading, add one other node by right-clicking on the prevailing node, choosing Add Node, and selecting Add Serial.
Three Colour Wheels
One simple technique for coloration grading is utilizing the Three Colour Wheels. As talked about earlier, every wheel corresponds to a selected tone: shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. For every tone, you’ll be able to modify the depth and coloration. Combining reverse colours in shadows and mid-tones can create a extra fascinating look.
Curves
My favorite option to coloration grade is by utilizing the curves. Curves provide a robust option to create distinctive appears to be like by focusing on single coloration ranges and adjusting saturation, depth, and coloration.
These are the three major Curves I typically use:
- Hue vs Sat: Change the saturation of particular coloration areas (e.g., improve the sky’s saturation by choosing cyan/blue, or modify the saturation of timber by choosing yellow/inexperienced). To change saturation, drag the curve up or down.
- Hue vs Hue: Alter particular colours, to make that coloration look extra inexperienced or purple.
- Hue vs Lum: Modify the brightness of particular coloration areas to additional improve your footage.
As an illustration, you should utilize Curves to make inexperienced leaves look extra vivid, or to take away coloration tones that you simply don’t like such because the purple in brick partitions. Be inventive and experiment with totally different settings – there’s no proper or fallacious method, because it in the end comes down to private style. Benefit from the strategy of discovering what works greatest to your FPV drone movies, and create your individual distinctive fashion!
After coloration grading, the footage appears to be like like this:
LUTs
LUTs, or Look-Up Tables, can be utilized along with coloration grading. Your footage could already look nice after coloration grading, however utilizing extra LUTs might help spice issues up much more. It’s as much as you whether or not you wish to additional improve your footage with LUTs to create a particular look.
First, guarantee correct coloration correction earlier than making use of LUTs as an overlay layer (or extra serial node in Davinci Resolve), and modify the opacity to mix with the footage by going to to “Key” part, and reducing the “Achieve” worth. It’s merely a matter of selecting your favourite LUT and clicking to use, so we received’t go into element right here.
For DJI O3 digital camera, I discover the built-in LUT in Davinci Resolve known as “DJI Phantom4 DLOG2Rec709” a fairly sensible choice. The truth is I believe most individuals could be joyful to simply apply this LUT with out extra coloration grading.
Including Grain
We wish to keep away from digital noisy grain by reducing ISO, however some grain is definitely pleasing to take a look at. We will add such grain in our video by going to “Settings”, “Movie Grain”, “35mm 400T”, and modify grain measurement to your liking. The distinction may be refined however it will probably make your video look extra like an expert movie.
Upscaling For Youtube
Lastly, in case your precedence is picture high quality, it is best to undoubtedly render your video in 4K, even when it was recorded in a decrease decision. That’s as a result of Youtube retains greater bitrate with greater decision/body price movies. Typically I render my footage in 4K (3840×2160), 65Mbps bitrate.
See this text for extra details about upscaling: https://oscarliang.com/upload-dji-fpv-footage-youtube/
Conclusion
Colour grading is an important facet of making gorgeous {and professional} cinematic FPV movies. By correctly correcting colours and using coloration grading methods, you’ll be able to considerably improve the visuals of your FPV footage. No matter your flying talent ranges, understanding and making use of these ideas will elevate the standard of your movies and assist you to stand out on this planet of FPV filmmaking. So, go forward and experiment with numerous coloration grading methods and LUTs to find your distinctive fashion and create breathtaking FPV drone movies.
Edit Historical past
- Could 2023 – Tutorial created.
- Apr 2024 – Up to date.