Video Color Correction Vs. Video Color Grading: What's the Difference?

Recording videos requires a lot of effort, time, and teamwork. All such efforts and investment will be effective only if the audience enjoys it, finds it interesting and can also understand the message behind it.

To effectively create a space in the hearts of the audience, editing video properly is as vital as making it. Color grading and color correction plays a crucial part in how your content is perceived by the audience. Let’s discuss what these are and some of the best color grading tools to enhance the video.

What is Video Color Correction?

Color correction is the building block of video editing. It involves color, exposure, and white balance adjustment within a video to get natural-looking results in the end. Even when the camera is not able to record the correct colors and tones, color correction allows for making up for this and getting consistent colors within the footage.

When to Use Color Correction?

• Color correction can be utilized to remove the technical errors like underexposure, overexposure, or undesirable color casts that make the video unnatural.
• If the video has non-uniform lighting, color correction equalizes the video’s color everywhere.
• It can assist in achieving the best possible level of whiteness in a video so that all colors appear well-balanced under various light conditions.
• When you use shots from various cameras, color correction makes the assembled footage uniform.

What is Video Color Grading?

Color grading refers to the process of fine-tuning the colors in a video in order to establish a certain visual mood consistent with the concept of the video. Warmth, color, and contrast are tuned in order to have the footage look different from concepts such as vibrant, dark, mysterious, or futuristic.

When to Use Color Grading?

• Color grading is required when you wish to add dramatic color tones and aesthetics to a video.
• It can also create certain moods like vibrant colors can make everything look lively and cold, desaturated colors can make everything feel cold or mysterious.
• If you must highlight certain aspects in a footage, color grading can be employed to make the colors and contrast more appealing in order to direct the attention of the audience towards the aspects.
• Apply color grading to make the video look in a specific way like vintage appearances, futuristic colors, and distinguish the past from the present by setting the colors to different levels.

Key Differences Between Color Grading vs. Color Correction

Purpose 

Color correction’s primary function is technical. It corrects color imbalances, exposure, and white balance to make the footage appear natural and consistent. It returns precise colors that are true to what was seen by the eye when the camera rolled, establishing a neutral and realistic foundation. 

Color grading is an artistic function based on correction, using the stable baseline established by correction to add mood and atmosphere in stylization. Grading contributes to the emotional tone and visual identity of the video by introducing certain color schemes or graphical effects.

Focus

Color correction is focused on optimizing visual elements like incorrect colors, shadows and highlights, and syncing colors between scenes to foster a seamless continuity. The main goal of color correction is to achieve technical accuracy.

Color grading on the other hand targets creative expression by adjusting colors to create emotions and support the narrative proposition. Practically, grading would require devices like LUTs, selective color adjustments, and control of contrast to add a definitive character or look to footage, allowing for a clear stylistic expression.

Workflow Order

Color correction occurs first in the post-production workflow, as color correction is used to fix technical problems, creating a solid foundation for subsequent practice. This allows the colorist to make color grading modifications on footage that is balanced and neutral. 

Color grading takes place after the foundational corrections are applied, embellishing and creatively modifying the footage once it is accurate to the existing world. If the correction stage is skipped, grading can become challenging and ineffective, and grading will only escalate the color issues if it is done before the correction stage.

Required Skill Level 

Because a greater understanding of color science, color scopes, and camera calibration is needed in color correction, this technical proficiency requires a foundational skill level for editors and colorists. Being technically proficient in the use of tools such as white balancing exposure and saturation adjustment is paramount in color correction’s development. 

Color grading relies much more upon the creative skill level of the colorist, combining the understanding of color theory with the creative vision of the colorist. The colorist must also use aesthetic judgment to create moods and styles in the footage, often guided by the objectives of the story or the intention of the director. 

Impact on Final Video

Color correction affects the final video delivering a footage that is visually consistent, natural, and true to life. It eliminates all the imperfections of a footage by bringing brightness, contrast, and hues to an optimal level. Resultantly, the audience can easily focus on the contents of the video. 

Conversely, color grading assists in influencing the mood of the audience. It helps them comprehend and interpret the message of footage with ease. The color grading, when properly executed, is able to establish a particular mood for the audience to create interest.

Comparison Table for Video Color Grading vs. Video Color Correction

Feature	Color Correction	Color Grading
Goal	Fix technical color issues for accurate, natural look across footage.	Create artistic style and mood to enhance storytelling
Process	Adjust exposure, white balance, saturation and contrast.	Use LUTs, selective color adjustments and tone curves.
Result	Consistent, realistic colors.	Distinctive, mood-driven color palettes.
Impact	Ensures visual clarity and prevents distractions.	Shapes emotional tone and atmosphere.
Example	Correcting uneven lighting in an interview to standardize skin tones	Adding a warm, nostalgic tint to a flashback scene

 

3 Best Tools for Video Color Correction and Color Grading

1. Vmake AI

Vmake AI is one of the best video color correction tools that can precisely adjust the colors in a video and upscale its resolution. You do not need any advanced level skills to use it. The web-based tool can quickly process your video and adjust colors automatically to upscale it. 

Why choose it? Because:

• With advanced video processing capability, it can add the perfect tone, saturation, and contrast to the video.
• It can precisely balance tones and brightness to give the video a natural finish.
• It offers frame-level enhancement and preserves the aspect ratio and format.
• You can enhance the video in just three steps: Upload, choose, and download.

Compatibility: PC, Smartphone, Laptop.

2. ColorDirector

ColorDirector is a top-tier color correction software for video editing offering advanced grading tools perfect for users of all skill levels. It balances professionalism with ease of use, enabling creators to enhance color realism in videos while adding stunning visual effects effortlessly.

It has following features:

• The software is integrated with different illumination tools to adjust lighting, add light rays, adjust lens flares.
• It helps you replace any background with a green screen to overlay a better one.
• With AI motion tracking, you can apply effects to even moving objects individually.
• You can use the instant color matching option to replicate the colors of a previous video for the new one. 

Compatibility: Windows

3. Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is the best video color correction software that features a wide range of tools to edit text, colors, and audio in a footage. It offers auto reframing for different aspect ratios. Moreover, it has a huge library with preset templates to make the editing process more efficient. 

It offers:

• A lumetri color panel to optimize white balance, adjust skin tone, fine-tune colors, and much more.
• Color presets to evenly apply and adjust colors in the whole footage.
• RGB and hue saturation curve to precisely control the tonal range.
• Vignette to darken and brighten the frame edges. 

Compatibility: Windows and Mac.

Conclusion

Once you have created a video, color correction and color grading are required to be able to evoke emotions in the audience and deliver the message of the video. There are a few tools that can assist you with that.

You may use instant web-based tools such as Vmake to make rapid adjustment or try professional software to take your boring videos to high-quality video that mesmerizes the audience until the end.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. 1. Do I color correct or color grade first?

Color correction must be performed prior to color grading. Color correction fixes everything with the lighting, exposure, and color. After adjusting all of these elements, color grading is applied to introduce effects in the video to create a particular mood.

2. How do I know whether I need color correction or color grading?

If the video looks unnatural with over or underexposure, or has weird white balance, it needs color correction. If the colors are consistent and you want to set a specific mood like vintage, past, or horror, then color grading is required.