

After the session, the timer would return to the lab and put the film negative on a device (the Hazeltine) which had preview filters with a controlled backlight, picking exact settings of each printer point for each scene. In a film production, the creative team would meet with the “lab timer” who would watch a running film and make notes dependent upon the team's directions. The number of points per stop varied based upon negative or print stock and different presets at film labs. Color timing is specified in printer points which represent presets in a lab contact printer where 7 to 12 printer points represent one stop of light. By the late 2010s, this film grading technique had become known as color timing and still involved changing the duration of exposure through different filters during the film development process. "Color grading" was originally a lab term for the process of changing color appearance in film reproduction when going to the answer print or release print in the film reproduction chain. 4.1 Hardware-based versus software-based systemsĬolor timing is used in reproducing film elements.

3.1 Primary and secondary color grading.Since, with this process alone, the user was unable to immediately view the outcome of their changes, the use of a Hazeltine color analyzer was common for viewing these modifications in real time. The earlier photochemical film process, referred to as color timing, was performed at a film lab during printing by varying the intensity and color of light used to expose the rephotographed image. Color grading is generally now performed in a digital process either in a controlled environment such as a color suite, or in any location where a computer can be used in dim lighting. Color grading and color correction are often used synonymously as terms for this process and can include the generation of artistic color effects through creative blending and compositing of different images. Various attributes of an image such as contrast, color, saturation, detail, black level, and white point may be enhanced whether for motion pictures, videos, or still images. A photograph color graded into orange and tealĬolor grading is a post-production process common to filmmaking and video editing of improving the appearance of an image for presentation in different environments on different devices.
