Color Adjustments filter in Motion

Adjusts common color and luminance details of an image or clip (such as highlights, midtones, exposure, and contrast) using HDR-optimized controls. Because you can work with both SDR and HDR media in the same project—and because the maximum luminance range varies greatly between SDR and HDR formats like HLG and the upper limits of PQ—the Color Adjustments filter provides a Control Range parameter that scales the filter’s sliders to the correct luminance range of the clip.

Adjust this filter using the parameter controls in the Filters Inspector:

Control Range: Sets the scale of the sliders to a specific luminance range. Choose an option that matches the color space of the selected image or clip. For example, to adjust the highlights of a Rec. 2020 PQ (4000 nits) clip, click the Control Range pop-up menu, then choose “PQ 4000 nits.” This maps all the sliders in the filter to the PQ clip’s peak brightness of 4000 nits, allowing you to affect the correct ranges of the clip when you adjust the Highlight slider. (In this example, if you set the Control Range pop-up menu to SDR, instead, the sliders are mapped to 100 nits peak brightness, well below the PQ luminance range, so adjusting the Highlight slider would have minimal or no effect on the clip.)
Tip: To determine a clip’s color space, select the clip in the Media list, then check Color Space in the Metadata area of the Media Inspector. To determine the nits value of an image or clip, you can display HDR luminance values in the Motion canvas.
Choose an option to tune each slider to the maximum luminance range of the clip:
- SDR
- HLG
- PQ 1000 nits
- PQ 2000 nits
- PQ 4000 nits
- PQ 10000 nits
Exposure: Lightens or darkens the image, revealing more detail at the low end or high end of the image.
Contrast: Sets the relative amount of contrast between light and dark areas.
Brightness: Sets the overall of brightness of the image.
Note: Because increasing brightness affects the entire image (including the shadows), a brightened image may look washed out.
Saturation: Adjusts the color (chroma) intensity of the image.
Highlights: Adjusts color, saturation, and brightness in the lightest regions of the image.
Black Point: Sets the point at which the darkest parts of the image become completely black (no detail can be seen). Setting the black point can improve the contrast in a washed-out image.
Shadows: Adjusts the detail that appears in the darkest regions of the image.
Highlights Warmth: Adjusts the color temperature of the lightest regions of the image. Increase the value to add warm (orange) tones to the image, or decrease the value to add cool (blue) tones.
Highlights Tint: Fine-tunes the white balance in the lightest regions of the image by neutralizing a remaining green or magenta tint. Increase the value to add a magenta tint to the image, or decrease the value to add a green tint.
Midtones Warmth: Adjusts the color temperature of the midtone areas of the image. Increase the value to add warm (orange) tones to the image, or decrease the value to add cool (blue) tones.
Midtones Tint: Fine-tunes the white balance for the midtone regions of the image by neutralizing a remaining green or magenta tint. Increase the value to add a magenta tint to the image, or decrease the value to add a green tint.
Shadows Warmth: Adjusts the color temperature of the darkest regions of the image. Increase the value to add warm (orange) tones to the image, or decrease the value to add cool (blue) tones.
Shadows Tint: Fine-tunes the white balance in the darkest regions of the image by neutralizing a remaining green or magenta tint. Increase the value to add a magenta tint to the image, or decrease the value to add a green tint.
Mix: Sets the percentage of the original image that’s blended with the color-corrected image.
Note: If you change the project’s Render Color Space setting (in the View pull-down menu) after choosing a Control Range option, you may need to choose the Control Range option again. For example, if you’ve set control range to PQ 2000 nits, then set render color space to HDR Rec. 2020 PQ, the control range is set to PQ 1000 nits.

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Motion User Guide

Color Adjustments filter in Motion