Color Balance Controls
Color balance controls are color wheels that allow you to change the mix of red, green,
and blue that falls within the area of a specific range of luma in your clip. The color
balance controls act like virtual trackballs; you can drag anywhere within a color wheel
to move the color balance indicator. The Color Corrector filter has one color balance
control that affects the whites of a clip, as well as a Hue control. The Color Corrector 3-
way filter has three color balance controls: one affects the blacks of a clip, the second
affects the midtones, and the third affects the whites.
The angle of distribution of red, green, and blue in all the color balance controls
corresponds to the angles of those colors in the Vectorscope. The direction in which
you move the color balance indicator within the color wheel is matched by the mix of
colors moving in the same direction in the Vectorscope.
Keyboard shortcut
Function
Copies the settings from a single filter two clips back to the current
one (Copy From 2nd Clip Back).
Copies the settings from a single filter one clip back to the current
one (Copy From 1st Clip Back).
Copies the settings from the current filter to the first clip forward
(Copy To 1st Clip Forward).
Copies the settings from the current filter to the second clip
forward (Copy To 2nd Clip Forward).
Copies all filters from two clips back to the current one.
Copies all filters from one clip back to the current one.
Copies all filters from the current clip to the first clip forward.
Copies all filters from the current clip to the second clip forward.
control
2
control
3
control
4
control
5
control
2
option
control
3
option
control
4
option
control
5
option
570
Part III
Color Correction and Video Quality Control
If you hold down the Shift key while dragging a color balance indicator, the angle of
the indicator is constrained, so that the indicator can only move out toward the edge
of the color wheel, or in toward the center. This lets you change the intensity of your
color mix without changing the distribution of hues.
Unlike other controls in Final Cut Pro, a color balance control doesn’t “gear down” when
you hold down the Command key while manipulating the color balance indicator
(allowing you to make more subtle adjustments); rather, it “gears up” the control,
causing the indicator to respond more quickly and resulting in greater changes.