Ditch the Beginner-Look Today
This simple trick will transform your colour grades
Hey Creators! 👋
Today, I will show you a very common mistake beginners make that screams “newbie” to the pros.
So, let’s talk about what it is, how to tell if you’re doing it and, of course, how to fix it.
Have a look at these two examples and tell me which one feels more “pro.”
I bet you said Option B. But why is that?
If we examine the Red, Green, and Blue channels, you’ll notice that the color balance at the black point is all over the place.
You might be thinking, “If we’re going for an orange and teal look, isn’t it kind of the goal to tint the highlights and shadows?”
And you’d be right! But watch your language—highlights and shadows are not the same as white and black.
Here’s a little pro secret:
“As long as black is black and white is white,
you can sell everything in between as a look.”
(Of course, this is a rule of thumb—there are always exceptions!)
Looking back at our example, Version B has the same teal and orange vibe. But the difference is that the color balance at the black and white points is… well, on point. Because the black and white points aren’t polluted with any color, it feels more professional.
So, how do you achieve this?
Your first instinct might be to use the RGB curves and tweak the black and white points until they’re balanced. Plenty of creators and colourists do this—but I’d argue there’s a better way.
Let’s approach it from a different perspective: The Red, Green, and Blue values at the black and white points should be equal. Now, what happens when RGB values are equal?
Whenever the values of Red, Green and Blue are equal, the result is some shade of grey. “Pure” shades of grey don’t have any saturation. So, we can conclude that any point where R = G = B has no saturation.
This means we can treat that issue as an issue of Saturation. So, you don’t need to mess around with the RGB curves. Instead, you can use a handy tool called “Luma vs. Saturation.”
This curve adjusts saturation based on luminance (black on the left, white on the right).
Our goal is to keep white as white and black as black. Neither has any saturation. Again, whenever there’s no saturation, the RGB values are equal.
If I use a Luma vs. Saturation curve like this:
I’m essentially telling the software: “Keep the saturation as it is, but reduce it as we approach white, and reduce it as we approach black.”
This means I can freely apply split-toning adjustments before using the Luma vs. Saturation curve, and it will handle the rest. No more wasting time meticulously tweaking the RGB curves.
Play around with this technique and try different saturation roll-offs. But make sure the order of these adjustments is correct and the Luma vs. Saturation curve comes after your split toning/look. Otherwise, this technique doesn’t work.
I hope this was helpful!
By the way, if you want to 10x your colour grading, you can now book a one-on-one call with me!
See you next week!
Best,
Eric
