Jump to content

Grading for broadcast television.


Tomas Gomez

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone! So I am kind of a beginner in this world of color grading and i'm going to make a quick color grade for a project that's going to be shown on a local tv news channel. I am wondering if for this I have to bear in mind something specific for the workflow or is there something different that's normally done for a standard, web workflow? Thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since broadcast adheres to Rec. 709 standards, as long as you are working on a color reference monitor set to the Rec. 709 color space, you should be fine. Also, be sure to set the color space in your software of choice to rec. 709. In Davinci Resolve, this is the default working color space and can be found under the settings. Keep in mind that there are broadcast standards for saturation, which are usually marked on a vectorscope. Be sure that your color saturation does not go outside of these limits or the program may be rejected for not adhering to broadcast standards. I hope this helps. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you are done with conforming to the specs, look at your final work on TV to see how it holds up. There are all sort of TV's, but generally the TV's boost the contrast and saturation. What looks good on my monitor, looks so-so on the TV. In the end I just have to make a good enough grade that is all-purpose. Other option is I have to make grades for various viewing options. Just because it conforms to specs does not mean you are happy with the results. 

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some recent examples to illustrate the need grade by the method you are viewing. They are found footage from an old VHS tape someone had trashed. I collect commercials so cut them out of the tape. The MP4 conversions were very saturated so I decreased saturation down by 40% to 50%. After that they looked doable for old EP VHS video recordings. But after uploading to the I.A. they are too contrasty, and some parts dark with loss of shadow detail and still lots of saturation in parts. 

American Express Commercial Jerry Seinfeld 1996 VHS : D.d.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Kodak Advantix Film Commercial 1996 VHS : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

It just sums up that every viewing method needs its own grade.

I've mentioned this before to you about printing as well as scanning methods. They all inject their own look to things.

Papers, Ink and Printers…they Matter! – Daniel D. Teoli Jr. (wordpress.com)

If you got a properly balanced monitor the photo of the little girl should go from bluish on the left to normal looking on the right. With the middle photo in-between. They show the difference in papers and printers. 

 

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...