Warning: went to a mixer at a local studio and saw why my reels were flopping

I was at that open house at Third Wave Studios in Austin last month. They had a guy demoing his color grading setup and I realized my stuff looked flat compared to his. He told me I was crushing my blacks way too hard in every video. Fixed it after that night and my engagement jumped like 40% in two weeks. Anyone else find out they were doing something basic wrong from watching someone else work?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.brooke10d ago

Read somewhere that most beginners crush their blacks because they think it looks more "cinematic" when it actually just kills detail. A colorist at a panel I went to said your shadows should have visible texture, not just be a void. Made that one change and suddenly my videos didn't look like they were filmed in a cave.

evand6510d ago

Ha yeah that's pretty much spot on, but I'd argue it's not just beginners. Even some mid level guys I follow on YouTube still crush blacks and call it "moody." Like no dude, you just lost all the detail in that guy's jacket.