We've reported here before on the news of the Color Finale 2.1 update. It has now been released and available for download: so Oliver Peters took it for a test drive in Final Cut Pro X.
Color grading roundtrips are messy and prone to errors. Most editors want high-quality solutions that keep them within their favorite editing application.
Color Trix launched the revamped Color Finale 2 this past December with the goal of building Final Cut Pro X into a competitive, professional grading environment.
The Color Finale team has been on a quest to bring advanced grading tools to the Final Cut Pro X ecosystem with last December’s release of Color Finale 2. Many editors are working from home these days, so the team decided to leverage the frameworks for macOS and FCPX to enable remote grading in a far simpler method than with other grading.
In keeping to that goal, Color Trix just released Color Finale 2.1 - the first major update since the December launch. Color Finale 2.1 is a free upgrade to Color Finale 2 owners and adds several new features, including inside/outside mask grading, an image mask, a new smoothness function, and the ability to copy and paste masks between layers.
Grading with inside/outside masks
Color Finale 2 launched with trackable, spline masks that could be added to any group or layer. But in version 2.0, grading occurred either inside or outside of the mask, but not both. The new version 2.1 feature allows a mask to be applied to a group, which then becomes the parent mask.
- The Most Powerful and Exciting Way to Color Grade in Final Cut Pro X Get Started Today and Grade like a Pro with Color Finale Layer Based Grading The power and elegance of grading via layers. ColorFinale 1.6 – Plugin for FCP X. October 6, 2016.
- App Installs Plugin and LUT Manager. ColorFinale 1.6.1 (169) Release Notes: Stability Improvements and bug fixes in following areas: LUT’s cache for the LUT gallery. License activation. Running Color Finale on integrated GPUs from Intel. Groups and Presets UI. On Screen Controls. Color Finale for Final Cut Pro X.
- The Most Powerful and Exciting Way to Color Grade in Final Cut Pro X Get Started Today and Grade like a Pro with Color Finale Layer Based Grading The power and elegance of grading via layers. ColorFinale 1.6 – Plugin for FCP X. October 6, 2016.
Grading would then be done within that mask. If you want to also grade the area outside of that mask, simply apply a new group inside the first group. Then add a new mask that is an invert of the parent mask. Now you can add new layers to grade the area outside of the same mask.
In the example image, I first applied a mask around the model at the beach and color corrected her. Then I applied a new group with an inverted mask to adjust for the sky. In that group I could add additional masking, such as an edge mask to create a gradient.
The parent mask around the model maintains that the sky gradient is applied behind her rather than in the foreground. Once you get used to this grouping strategy with inside and outside masks, you can achieve some very complex results.
(Click for larger images)
Image masks
The second major addition is that of image masks. This is a monochrome version of the image in which the dark-to-light contrast range acts as a qualifier or matte source to restrict the correction being applied to the image. The mask controls include black and white level sliders, blurring, and the ability to invert the mask.
Wherever you see a light area in the mask is where that color correction will be applied. This enables a number of grading tricks that are also popular in photography, including split-toning and localized contrast control.
Simply put, split-toning divides the image according to darks and lights (based on the image mask) and enables you to apply a different correction to each. This can be as extreme as a duotone look or something a bit more normal, yet still stylized.
In the duotone example, I first removed saturation from the original clip to create a black-and-white image. Then, the boxer's image mask divides the range so that I could apply red and blue tinting for the duotone look.
What software comes on a mac. In the second example, the image mask enabled me to create glowing highlights on the model's face, while pushing the mids and shadows back for a stylistic appearance.
Another use for an image mask can be for localized contrast control. This technique allows me to isolate regions of the image and grade them separately. For example, if I want to only correct the shadow areas of the image, I can apply an image mask, invert it (so that dark areas are light in the mask), and then apply grading within just the dark areas of the image - as determined by the mask.
Smoothness
Color Finale 2 included a sharpness slider. New in version 2.1 is the ability to go in the opposite direction to soften the image, simply by moving the slider left into negative values. This slider controls the high frequency detail of the overall image - positive values increase that detail, while negative values decrease it.
Color Finale 1 5 – Plugin For Fcp X5
Since this is an overall effect, it can't be masked within the layers panel. If you wanted to apply it just to a person's face, like other 'beauty' filters, then that can be achieved by using Final Cut Pro X's built-in effects masks. This way a similar result can be reached while staying within the Color Finale workflow.
One last addition to version 2.1 is that Final Cut Pro X's hotkeys now stay active while the Color Finale layers panel is open. Color Trix has stated that they plan more upgrades and options over the next nine months, so look for more ahead. Microsoft excel 2016 16 13 1 – microsofts spreadsheet app.
Color finale 2.1 is already a powerful grading tool for nearly any level of user. Nevertheless, more features will certainly be music to the ears of advanced users who prefer to stay within Final Cut Pro X to finish and deliver their projects. Stay tuned.
You might like Advanced Colour Grading in Final Cut Pro X With Color Finale 2.
Oliver Peters is an experienced film and commercial editor/colorist. In addition, his tech writings appear in numerous industry magazines and websites. He may be contacted through his website at oliverpeters.com
Release Date:
10/2/2020
Release Notes
RED APPLE WORKFLOW INSTALLER V17
FCP X plugin changes:
- V17 - Fixes FCP hanging or black frame decode issue on Nvidia GPUs.
- V16 - Adds support for Metal GPU decode for Final Cut Pro 10.4.9 or later.
REDcode Preference Panel - FCP X Image Pipeline changes:
- V16 - Added 'GPU decode (decompression)' option to control Metal GPU decode.
Copyright © 2004-2020 RED.COM, LLC. All rights reserved.
Release Date:
8/25/2020
Release Notes
RED APPLE WORKFLOW INSTALLER V16
Versions of the components inside:
![Plugins for final cut pro Plugins for final cut pro](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/12/import-imovie-project-final-cut-pro-10-41.jpg?quality=82&strip=all)
- FCPX Plugin: 1.50
- Preference Panel: 2.30
- Quicktime Codec: 6.7
- Log and Transfer Plugin for FCP: 31.7
- Color Plugin: 4.16
FCP X plugin changes:
- Adds support for Metal GPU decode for Final Cut Pro 10.4.9 or later.
Hands off 4 1 0 2. REDcode Preference Panel - FCP X Image Pipeline changes:
- Added 'GPU decode (decompression)' option to control Metal GPU decode.
Copyright © 2004-2020 RED.COM, LLC. All rights reserved.
Release Date:
5/21/2020
Release Notes
RED APPLE WORKFLOW INSTALLER V15
Versions of the components inside:
- FCPX Plugin: 1.24
- Preference Panel: 2.20
- Quicktime Codec: 6.7
- Log and Transfer Plugin for FCP: 31.7
- Color Plugin: 4.16
REDcode Preference Panel - FCP X Image Pipeline changes:
- Replaced 'Import IPP2 as HDR' option with 'Decode Transform' list.
- 'Decode Transform' overrides are applied to both Legacy and IPP2 imports.
- 'Decode Transform' options:
- Auto (SDR or Log): based on camera metadata and is the default
- LOG (RWG / Log3G10)
- SDR (Rec.709 / BT.1886)
- HDR (Rec.2020 / HDR-2084)
Copyright © 2004-2020 RED.COM, LLC. All rights reserved.
Release Date:
5/30/2019
Release Notes
REDAPPLEWORKFLOWINSTALLER V14
Versions of the components inside:
- FCPX Plugin: 1.21
- Preference Panel: 2.18
- Quicktime Codec: 6.7
- Log and Transfer Plugin for FCP: 31.7
- Color Plugin: 4.16
CHANGES SINCE v14 (BETA):
- Moved FCPX panel to the left and added import footage as HDR check box in the REDCODE preference panel
- Overhauled how IPP2 (native, or forced) clips come in. If HDR check box is disabled, IPP2 clips will come in as Rec.709 + BT.1886. If HDR check box is enabled, IPP2 clips will come in as Rec.2020 + HDR2084
- REDCODE preference panel now saves its changes as soon as you make them (Note: Requires FCPX restart for changes to be visible)
FCPX PLUG-IN CHANGES:
![For For](https://www.rippletraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/top-ten-plugins-for-final-cut-pro-4.jpg)
How To Install Fcpx Plugins
- IPP2 clips import in SDR mode per default, but you can change the default to HDR in the REDCODE Preference Panel.
- Creative 3D LUT sidecar now gets applied properly if media imported is left in the original place. If “Copy to library” is selected, sidecar files need to be manually copied and RMD removed so the RMD can be regenerated.
- Legacy clips forced to IPP2 will have their default color space and gamma mapped to valid IPP2 options on import.
- In Forced IPP2 mode, only IPP2 valid color space and gamma options are available when modifying RED RAW settings.
- In IPP2 mode, Chroma Noise Reduction and Flashing Pixel Adjust can be set by saving an RMD file from REDCINE-X PRO.
- Fixed: OpenCL memory leak.
- Fixed: Missing audio for incomplete DSMC clips.
- Fixed: Regression issue in high frequency handling in IPP2 demosaic or when DEB is enabled in Legacy mode.
REDCODE PREFERENCE PANCEL CHANGES:
- Added: Import IPP2 as HDR option (default is off) to the FCPX Image Pipeline panel
- Changes are now saved immediately (Note: Requires FCPX restart for changes to take effect)
- FCPX Image Pipeline panel is now the first page
Copyright © 2004-2019 RED.COM, LLC. All rights reserved.
Release Date:
5/3/2018
Release Notes
REDAPPLEWORKFLOWINSTALLER V13
Versions of the components inside:
- FCPX Plugin: 1.19
- Preference Panel: 2.17
- Quicktime Codec: 6.7
- Log and Transfer Plugin for FCP: 31.7
- Color Plugin: 4.16
What’s New
FCPX Plugin changes:
- Fixed: AMDGPU crashes.
- Fixed: High frequency handling in IPP2 demosaic and Legacy mode DEB.
- Improved load times for R3D clips recorded on newer sensors and firmware
Preference Panel Plugin changes:
Note: REDROCKET support requires driver 2.1.23.0 and firmware 1.1.18.0 or higher.
Note: REDROCKET-X support requires driver 2.1.31.0 and firmware 1.4.1.16 or higher.
Note: QuickTime Player 7 is needed to play R3D QuickTime wrappers. Visit https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201288 for more information.
Copyright © 2004-2018 RED.COM, LLC. All rights reserved.