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Tip #910: Vibrance vs. Saturation

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #910: Vibrance vs. Saturation

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Vibrance also prevents over-saturation of highlights or shadows.

Vibrance settings in the Lumetri Color panel > Creative.

Topic $TipTopic

Ever wonder what the difference is between “vibrance” and “saturation?” Well, for video, the difference is significant.

SATURATION

Saturation uniformly increases the amount of all colors in an image, regardless of how saturated they already are. This can result in over-saturating (clipping) certain colors, or skin tones. This tends to make skin tones look too orange and unnatural.

VIBRANCE

Vibrance is a “smart-tool” which increases the amount of the more muted (less saturated) colors without adjusting the well-saturated colors. (Think of this as an audio limiter filter applied to saturation; soft passages are boosted, without changing the louder passages.) Vibrance also prevents skin tones from becoming overly saturated and unnatural.

Vibrance becomes especially helpful in not over-saturating highlights or shadows.

EXTRA CREDIT

The Vibrance setting is located in Lumetri Color > Creative.

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Tip #911: The Skin Tone Line is Your Friend

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #911: The Skin Tone Line is Your Friend

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

All of us are the same color, but not the same grayscale value.

The skin tone line (red arrow) in the Lumetri scopes.

Topic $TipTopic

One of the most powerful color correction / grading tools that we have is the skin tone line. (Indicated by the red arrow in the screen shot.) Once you know how to use it, it is easy to quickly fix color problems and make your on-screen talent look great.

Human skin is translucent. That which gives skin it’s color is the red blood circulating underneath; and all of us have the same color red blood.

That which adds variation to our skin is its grayscale. You can verify this for yourself the next time a piece of dead skin falls off. If you look at it, it doesn’t have any color, just varying shades of gray. Some of us have lighter or darker gray skin than others.

So, if you have a shot with an incorrect color balance, crop to isolate a well-exposed piece of skin – avoid makeup or hair – then adjust color settings so the color values are parked ±2° on the skin tone line.

NOTE: Generally speaking, Asians tend to be 2° below the line, everyone else is either on it or 2° above it.

Of course, there are individual exceptions and lighting can make a big difference. But, if you are looking to salvage a problem shot, the skin tone line can help you get things back on track.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s a tutorial from my website that describes this in more detail.

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Tip #912: The Hidden Dynamic Search Bin

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #912: The Hidden Dynamic Search Bin

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

All searches are dynamic, with bins appearing in the Files panel.

The Create Search Bin window, displaying searchable metadata.

Topic $TipTopic

Hidden in plain sight in Premiere’s Files panel is the ability to create bins that search all clips in a project based on specific criteria and display the results – dynamically – in a bin in the Files panel.

It’s called a Search Bin.

Click the small folder icon immediately to the right of the text search box at the top of the Files panel. This displays the Create Search Bin dialog (screen shot).

You can search on a variety of metadata, as indicated by the popup menu.

Additionally, lower red arrow, you can refine your search using Boolean logic; specifically AND or OR; by selecting it from the middle popup menu.

The results of these search criteria are stored in a bin in the Files panel, named after your search.

Best of all, the results are dynamic. As different clips meet your search criteria, they will appear, or disappear, from this search bin.

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Tip #891: Hmm… So, What’s the Benefit?

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #891: Hmm… So, What’s the Benefit?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Playback resolution may help rendering, but it won’t help storage or your CPU.

The Playback Resolution setting in the lower right corner of the Program Monitor.

Topic $TipTopic

For years, I’ve thought there was a benefit to changing Playback Resolution. I thought that changing Playback Resolution decreased the load on the CPU, allowing it to play more complex clips more easily. Then, I measured the results. Hmm… surprising.

This week, on the basis of some brief tests and measuring the results using Activity Monitor, I learned that changing Playback Resolution did not affect the CPU, GPU or storage.

I played back a 1.4 GB 4K clip in Premiere. Regardless of where Playback Resolution was set, the first time the clip played the data transfer rate was the same.. (After that, the clip was cached into RAM, thus minimizing the work the storage system needed to do.)

Regardless of the Playback Resolution setting, the CPU expended between 325% – 350% during playback.

And, after applying a Gaussian blur (set to 50), the GPU didn’t change, regardless of Playback Resolution. (Though this result might also reflect Premiere’s lack of GPU support.)

So, for now, I’m leaving it set to 1/2 and doing some more tests.

EXTRA CREDIT

You can measure this yourself using Activity Monitor. Open it along with Premiere and measure the impact Playback Resolution has on your own footage.

NOTE: Keep in mind that Premiere will attempt to cache files in RAM where possible. So if you play the same file more than once, all playbacks after the first will most likely play from cache.

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Tip #892: The Little Known Overlay Menu

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #892: The Little Known Overlay Menu

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Custom Settings enable you to display timecode data in an easy-to-access format.

The Editing Overlays, displaying timecode values for timeline clips under the playhead.

Topic $TipTopic

At the bottom of the Wrench menu in both the Program and Source Monitors are the Overlay and Overlay Settings menus. These provide very useful information about your clips during editing.

  • Overlay. This toggles the overlay menu (see screen shot) on or off. It is off by default.
  • Overlay Settings. This allows you to select between Editing overlays (screen shot), V1/A1 timecode, or create your own custom settings.

These custom settings are extensive. Displaying data in four quadrants, you can select from:

  • File names
  • Video timecode
  • Audio timecode
  • Markers
  • Project clip names
  • and much more

This window also allows customizing where Action Safe and Title Safe are displayed on your screen. The default is 5% and 10% in from all edges, but you can change this.

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Tip #893: Timeline Mouse Shortcuts

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #893: Timeline Mouse Shortcuts

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Changing timeline track heights is easily done using the mouse or keyboard.

Drag the circles on the right to change video (top) and audio (bottom) track heights.

Topic $TipTopic

One of the problems of being a keyboard shortcut junkie is that I can easily overlook interesting mouse shortcuts. Here’s one; well, two, actually.

  • To change the height of a timeline track, drag the horizontal line that separates two tracks (the left arrow in the screen shot).
  • But is it easier to see and drag one of the white circles on the right side of the timeline. The upper circle changes the video track height, the lower circle changes the audio track height.
  • Drag the space between the two circles in the middle to change where the division between audio and video occurs in the timeline.

EXTRA CREDIT

Just so keyboard folks are not left out:

  • You can change the height of video tracks in the timeline by typing Cmd + [plus] / [minus]

NOTE: Control, for you Windows folks.

  • You can change the height of audio tracks in the timeline by typing Option + [plus] / [minus]

NOTE: Alt, for you Windows folks.

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Tip #873: The Magic of Auto-Ducking

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #873: The Magic of Auto-Ducking

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Auto-Ducking saves time with the mix, while still allowing changes at any time.

This composite shows the Ducking settings and the results in a music clip.

Topic $TipTopic

Auto-ducking is the process of automatically creating keyframes to reduce the level of a musical background when someone is talking. This is a relatively new feature in Premiere and the good news is that this creates settings which are infinitely adjustable, so if you don’t like the results, they are easy to change.

Here’s how this works.

  • Switch to the Audio workspace.
  • Open the sequence you want to adjust into the Timeline.
  • Select all dialog clips, then click Dialogue in the Essential Sound panel to assign the Tag.

NOTE: If you don’t see this button, click the Edit text button near the top of the panel.

  • Select all the music clips in the Timeline, then click the Music tag.
  • Once you’ve assigned both dialog and music Tags, select the music clip you want to adjust.
  • Check the Ducking checkbox to enable the feature. Leave the default settings as is until you see what this does.
  • Click Generate Keyframes and see how Premiere automatically adds keyframes to reduce the volume of the music whenever dialog is going on above it.

EXTRA CREDIT

Review the Premiere Help files to learn the different options for this feature.

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Tip #874: A Faster Way to Add Presence

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #874: A Faster Way to Add “Presence”

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Most sound effects are subtle. This setting helps sound reinforce the image.

The Creative > Reverb settings for Ambience and Sound Effects.

Topic $TipTopic

I was playing with the Essential Sound panel, looking for an idea to write about, when I discovered this: Reverb. This alters the reflections, or reverb, of a clip to more accurately sound like it is playing in a specific space.

NOTE: This effect only applies to clips that are tagged as Sound Effects or Ambience.

  • Switch to the Audio workspace and display the Essential Sound panel.
  • Tag a timeline clip as either Sound Effects (a short duration sound) or Ambience (a longer duration sound).
  • Click the word “Creative” to display this section of the panel.
  • Check the checkbox next to Creative to enable it.
  • Click the Preset menu to choose the style of reverb/reflectance that best matches the sound to the picture.
  • Vary the Amount slider until the effect sounds the best.

This is a fun effect to play with.

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Tip #875: The Slip Tool Simplifies B-roll

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #875: The Slip Tool Simplifies B-roll

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Slip tool makes selecting the best B-roll fast and easy.

The Program Monitor display when the Slip tool is in operation.

Topic $TipTopic

B-roll, which are images that reinforce what the speaker is talking about, are essential to most documentary and feature films. While the person on-camera describes a situation, B-roll shows what they are talking about.

Becasue each B-roll image needs to fit within the very specific time when the speaker is talking about it, our challenge is to quickly find the best possible section of each B-roll shot.

That’s where the Slip tool can help.

  • Select the Slip tool from the Tool palette (Shortcut: Y). The Slip tool allows you to change the content of a shot, without altering its duration or position.
  • Click in the middle of a B-roll clip in the timeline and drag.

As you drag (see screen shot), the Program monitor shows:

  • Last frame of the preceding shot (top left)
  • First frame of the following shot (top right)
  • First frame, and timecode, of the slipped clip (left)
  • Last frame, and timecode, of the slipped clip (right)

I use this tool all the time to get the best possible section of my B-roll to fit in the time that I have.

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Tip #853: Hidden Access to Photoshop Layers

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #853: Hidden Access to Photoshop Layers

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Merge All Layers is easiest, Sequence, though, tends to be more flexible.

The Import Layered File window in Premiere.

Topic $TipTopic

When importing Photoshop images into Premiere, you are given four choices. Here’s a description of what each of these mean.

At the top of the Import Layered File window (which is most often used for importing Photoshop documents) is a menu with four choices:

  • Merge All Layers. This converts the separate layers in the document into a single, flattened PSD image. This is a good choice when you need to be sure that the entire image is displayed.
  • Merge Layers. Like Merge All Layers, this creates a single, flattened PSD image, but you chose which layers will be combined. This is a good choice when multiple versions are stored in the same image.

    • NOTE: Most Photoshop images contain dozens of layers. The buttons on the right simplify checking, unchecking or resetting the status of all the layers in the image.

  • Individual Layers. This imports each layer as a separate image into a bin containing one clip for each source layer. This is a good choice when there is no relationship between the layers and you need to manipulate each layer separately.

    • NOTE: When you import one layer as a single clip, its name in the Project panel consists of the layer name followed by the original filename.

  • Sequence. This imports the image as a sequence where each Photoshop layer is a separate layer in the sequence and stored in its own bin. This is a good choice when you want to adjust timing or animation of each layer separately, while still keeping them together in a single place.

    • NOTE: You enable or disable the display of a layer by checking the appropriate box in this window.

EXTRA CREDIT

Once an image is flattened, it can’t be “un-flattened.” Your only alternative to regain control over individual layers is to reimport it.

Here’s a tutorial with more details.

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