Step-by-step Color Grading in Final Cut Pro | FCPX Tutorial

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~~~~~ 🔴 CHAPTERS 🔴 ~~~~~
00:00 Step-by-step Color Grading in Final Cut Pro
00:45 Workspace and Video Scopes
02:44 Step 1: Set the Correct Black and White Values
03:36 Step 2: Adjust Contrast
04:08 Step 3: Correct White Balance
05:01 Step 4: Create a “Look” or Mood
06:16 Step 5: Make a Few Creative Tweaks
07:07 Step 6: Final Adjustments
07:36 Before and After
08:02 Color Grading Second Shot
09:49 Color Grading Third Shot
In this video, I’ll be taking you through my step-by-step approach to color grading in Final Cut Pro. Color grading is a topic that can’t really be covered in just one video but I’m going to attempt to give you as much information as possible and hopefully by the end of this video you will know how to color grade in Final Cut Pro. My color grading workflow is usually a 6-step process including adjusting contrast, correcting the white balance and creating a look for your color grade.
On this channel you’ll find Final Cut Pro tutorials, filmmaking and photography tips and other things like travel vlogs when we Donna and I get the chance to travel, so if you enjoy that sort of thing then please subscribe to the channel.
#FCPX #ColorGrading #FCPXTutorial

[@Brad_West]

What do you think of these longer, more detailed tutorials? Do you prefer them to the shorter tutorials? Let me know in the comments below 😊👇🏼

[@ibfotografa]

Love the in-depth tutorial, i have never come across such on youtube. Thanks

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoyed it Femi 😊👊🏼 Thanks for watching!

[@ibfotografa]

A friend introduced DAVINCI RESOLVE to me saying Finalcut can't colour grade i almost fall for it not until i came across your video. Thanks once again.

[@Brad_West]

Haha FCPX definitely has powerful color grading tools 😊👊🏼

[@kiranaketi]

This didn’t felt long as it quick and easy. I didn’t realise the duration for the first time. You present things pretty good and very precise. Thank you for that.

[@annaculinarealtor]

Hands down THE best color grading video I've seen.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Anna! Truly appreciate that. Glad you found some value in those tips. 😊🙏🏼

[@Amaboamahfilms]

Hey Man, I just want to say thank you from Ghana. You are the really good teacher

[@Brad_West]

Hey Ama Boamah! Thanks very much. I’m glad you’re enjoying the tutorials 😊👍🏼

[@classicmikestar]

Your channel is by far the best for FCPX.

[@Brad_West]

Thank you so much for saying that! Appreciate it Mike 😄🙌🏼

[@classicmikestar]

@@Brad_West Your welcome Viggo Mortensen :D

[@TheAlexniko]

i consider this is the best collor correction video.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Alex. I appreciate that!

[@EmilyBreck]

I love the in depth tutorial, it felt organized and concise. As a beginner, the step-by-step approach is super helpful. I appreciate your variety of videos; some with quick tips, and others with more in depth coverage.

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoy this type of tutorial as well. My goal is to always give us much value and as many actionable tips as I possibly can. Thanks for watching!

[@TheFinalCutBro]

Dude love these in-depth tutorials. I know you felt like it was long, but I think it was perfect length. I didn't feel like you were wasting any time, and giving great info with every statement! Keep it up!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks dude. Really appreciate the feedback 😄🙏🏼 It’s tough to know if a tutorial is too long or not but I’m glad you enjoyed it! 👊🏼

[@andreazanchi6850]

This tutorial is NOT long at all, I love the detailed explanation! Thanks!

[@Brad_West]

You're very welcome! I'm glad it was helpful 😊

[@jamesaubry752]

Love these in-depth videos Brad, especially on the intricacies of colour grading. Thank you

[@Brad_West]

So glad to hear it James! I will definitely be doing more color grading videos.

[@jamesaubry752]

@@Brad_West Please do mate. The way you explain things is spot on. I've learnt a lot from you and it's helped my editing significantly.. keep 'em coming please!

[@annac3514]

Wow, thank you!!! This is the BEST and most precise tutorial on color grading. Thank you so much!!!

[@Brad_West]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching Anna! 😊🙏🏼

[@FishplateFilms]

Howsit Brad :-). A great tutorial Sir! Straight to the point and no BS ....and not a "lut" in sight...LOL . I've been dabbling in colour correction in FCP for a few years now, but I recently bought a Sony FS5 , that shoots S log , so I need to up my grading game. This video is fantastic and answers all my questions without making things too complicated or messy...which many videos do. Thanks again and cheers, Gregg.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much Gregg! Really appreciate the feedback and I’m glad you found the tips helpful 😄🙌🏼

[@veeco50]

This is actually one of the shorter color grading videos I've watched but I think it's by far the most comprehensive and one that I'll actually able to translate into good use. Information was presented cogently.

[@Brad_West]

Truly appreciate that feedback Eagle Creek Running 😄🙏🏼 Thank you. Let me know if there are any other topics/tutorials you would like to see in future. 👍🏼

[@SaprilMuhammad]

Clearly step by step how to color grade with final cut pro x. Thank you so much!

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😊🙌🏼

[@MR-AK]

i watched only half of the video and got some answers i was looking for. I've done decent color grading but just by intuition. Thanks for this.

[@Brad_West]

I’m so glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching 😊👍🏼

[@kiranaketi]

Awesome video. No fus. Just want is required. 👌

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching 😊👊🏼

[@evtyler]

I think this is the best color correction video I've seen for FCP. Thank you so much for sharing all this great information! This will be my standard correction process going forward.

[@Brad_West]

Wow, thank you! I'm happy to hear that you got some value out of this video.

[@jithu8905]

man your colour gradings are lit i just loved it im gonna follow your steps and colour grade my videos like this

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much 😊🙏🏼

[@opixtm]

from this I confirmed my self that I don't need any third party plugins to do color grading in fcpx

[@Brad_West]

Absolutely! FCPX has solid built in tools for color grading 😊🙌🏼

[@lesbradley3903]

No problem with long or short. Choose the length as needed! This was a very informative video.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for your feedback Les! Appreciate you watching and I’m glad you enjoyed it 😄🙌🏼

[@theherbiebrown]

It's obvious that you know what you're doing and have logged in hours of grading. Your ability to work efficiently is on point. I will be studying this video many times in the future.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for the kind words Herbert. I'm glad that the video is useful to you. Thanks for watching! 😄🙌🏼

[@andrepena]

This is by far one of the best tutorials on KZbin 👏🏻👏🏻 well done

[@Brad_West]

Thanks André! Truly appreciate that 😄🙌🏼

[@jaikavi5464]

Awesome tutorial. You really know how to use the tools properly to achieve the look you want. Thanks

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Jai! Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching 😄

[@jaikavi5464]

@@Brad_West is helping me alot! I’m using your techniques to polish up a video I’m about to deliver to a client. I’m really having trouble with skin tones on certain clips

[@Brad_West]

Awesome 😊 One technique for grading skin tones which I didn’t cover in this video is to scale your clip up by a lot and crop if necessary so that you’re just seeing skin on your screen (no clothes, background, etc). Doing that will show you exactly where the skin color falls on your scope. You can adjust it until it aligns nicely with the skin tone indicator and then undo the scale and cropping and tweak the rest of the grade from there. Hope that helps! 😊

[@jaikavi5464]

@@Brad_West that helps thanks. I've been doing a similar technique by masking out a patch of skin and monitoring skin tone line on the vectorscope, which usually works, but sometimes if the skin is too yellow or red it looks weird dragging the sliders to blue/teal to compensate

[@Brad_West]

Yeah true! In that case, using a color mask to affect only the skin tones is probably your best bet. Good luck with it! 😊👊🏼

[@yolcu_almanya]

best color grading video. thank you.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much 🙏🏼 I’m glad you enjoyed it 😄

[@TravelWithLinAndBilly]

Thank you. You make it really easy to understand and follow the tips.

[@Brad_West]

I’m so happy to hear that. Glad you enjoyed it 😊👊🏼

[@BrandonMinguez]

I'm sure everyone watching this and commenting here is trying to grow their channel, but this is easily the third or fourth video I've watched from you and every time I come back I'm shocked at how you don't have at least 50k subscribers because your work is just that good. Definitely loved this tutorial as color grading is still something new to me but I'm trying to get better and I think this helped!

[@Brad_West]

Thank you so much for saying that! It means a lot 😊🙏🏼 I’m working hard on getting there. If there is anything specific regarding color grading that you need help with, let me know and maybe it’s something I can do a video on 😄👊🏼

[@andrebonsor]

Currently binge-watching your channel - lots great and concise information up for grabs here. Many thanks! I'd be interested in any tips on good practices for staying organised with tons of footage and old libraries all over the place..the gigabytes are adding up fast!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much for watching the videos 😊🙏🏼 That’s a great suggestion for future a future video. 2 quick tips for you: 1. Don’t copy files into your library on import, rather reference the media/footage externally. 2. When you’re done with a project, select the library and go to File > Delete Generated Library Files to remove proxies, render files and optimized media to reduce the file size of your FCP library. I hope that helps 😊🤞🏼

[@travisreed5965]

Fantastic Tutorial - Super Quick And Made Sense To Me - Me, Being A Rookie, No Clue About All The Mask Options - I Was So Mesmerized With All The Features That Time Was Irrelevant - You Create The Episodes And I Will Watch Them Cheers

[@Brad_West]

Glad you liked it Travis. I appreciate the support! 😄

[@massimodemajo]

Great work as usual. Thank you! Please, make your tutorials as long as you want. So informative and a pleasure to follow.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Massimo! I appreciate that and I'm glad that you are getting something out of these videos 😄

[@kimkima8040]

This is Helpful Bro Keep giving us more Tutorials of FCPX , thank you so much

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Ethan, glad you found it helpful! There are definitely more to come 😊

[@Panther-]

I dont know why I did not subscribe sooner,I have watched 2 of your vids in a space of a week which I found very useful,2.30mins into the video paused and had to respectfully subscribe, great content keep up the great work.

[@Brad_West]

Thank you so much! 😊🙏🏼 Really appreciate the support and I’m glad you got some value out of the videos 😄🙌🏼

[@rawdeeon]

it was useful and I am sure it will yield great results! Thanks for the vid! )

[@Brad_West]

I hope so! Thanks for watching 😄👊🏼

[@trackingfootprints7830]

I love it and thank you. I think it good long of VDO. Good detail

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoyed the longer video. If you enjoyed this one, then my recent video where I grade other peoples footage might interest you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqPXZZ-ZgJ6gas0

[@Jason_Hermann]

Excellent tutorial, thank you!! I've been dabbling with grading and this tutorial really helped me figure out a proper grading workflow. Also, great tips with the shape mask for the sky and selective masking for specific color adjustments. Thanks again, huge fan of your final cut videos! I also do not mind the videos being longer at all ;) All the best, Jay

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much Jay! Really glad you enjoyed the video and that it was helpful to you 😊 Those are some cool little tricks that can really help you take control of your grade. Thanks for watching and for the support! Appreciate it 😊🙏🏼

[@LeonardReyes88]

Very useful, and length is just right (y)

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Leonard! I’m glad you enjoyed it 😄🤙🏼

[@neujus]

Excellent tutorial… thanks a lot 🙏🙏

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Juan! Glad you enjoyed it 😄🤙🏼

[@stefanbernhard2710]

Definitely would love to learn more how colors schemes define a specific look. It's overwhelming learning howbto convey the right mood

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for your feedback Stefan. I’ll definitely be doing more color grading tutorials in the future!

[@rickjohnson4887]

outstanding job.

[@Brad_West]

Thank you very much!

[@encristofimls7045]

Thanks for taking the time to make these very well explained videos! They help me so much.🙌🏻

[@Brad_West]

You are so welcome! Really happy that the video was helpful to you 😄

[@temialabi]

This is Amazing!!! Thank you!!

[@Brad_West]

You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it 😄🙌🏼

[@NeverZtopRiding]

Awesome tutorial, so easy to follow. The video is not long at all. Keep it up!

[@Brad_West]

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😊🙏🏼

[@rickclise6883]

Great tutorial. Do you have a KZbin video about how to correct and match shots when the camera set-up changes and lighting changes? For a short narrative video I'm editing where my camera guy used very minimal LED lighting plus practicals. Thank you!

[@Brad_West]

I have a video on matching colors that might be handy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5WYgqGwYpirY9k Let me know if that helps.

[@a-51labsstudio90]

Great video! I'm practicing with your videos and I'm learning a lot. For me this video is great. It's already on my color grading playlist. Thanks for your help! ❤

[@Brad_West]

I'm so happy to hear that! Glad you found the video helpful 😄🙌🏼

[@a-51labsstudio90]

@@Brad_West your work here is important. I hope it pays off, Brad. Cheers!

[@Brad_West]

@@a-51labsstudio90 Truly appreciate those kind words 😄🙏🏼

[@PhilipCutting]

Very useful tutorial. Easy to follow and I learned a lot. I did think that we, at last, were not going to get a “let’s dive straight in”... but the phrase just sneaked in when I was beginning to relax! 😂

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Philip. I’m sorry I caught you, just as you began to relax 😂 I’ll do my best not to do that to you next time 😉 Thanks for watching!

[@dag2B3]

Very good job. Cheers from Prague :-)

[@Brad_West]

Thank you 😊🙏🏼 We absolutely LOVE Prague 😄🙌🏼

[@TonyVic]

Extremely helpful!

[@Brad_West]

Glad you think so! Thanks Tony!

[@jonnytacooutdoors]

Great video

[@Brad_West]

Thank you!

[@MyHomeFarm]

Nice one. Thank you. Don’t mind the slightly longer tutorials. Made it all the way through, and to be honest the tutorial was a bit rushed, but it’s a complex subject.

[@Brad_West]

Awesome, thank you for the feedback! There's definitely a lot to cover in a color grading video. I'll try slow it down a little next time haha 😉

[@user-ic3cb1yk5h]

sir thank you,,From muse India ,Tamil Nadu

[@Brad_West]

You're welcome!

[@kipling1957]

Fantastic!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks 😄🙏🏼

[@aragorn767]

You just saved my life, mah dude.

[@Brad_West]

Haha happy to hear that 😄👍🏼

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

Would love a “long” video on color correction.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll add it to my list 😊🤙🏼

[@InUAndo]

Like it! Both are good

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for watching 😊👊🏼

[@Addisgold]

Thanks

[@Brad_West]

My pleasure 👍🏼

[@Bryantfstephens]

Oh my! This was great! You explained everything I need to know. Seeing the little adjustments you made, I couldn’t see differences much. Then the pre grade and graded and I literally said beautiful. Thank you so much. Is there anything you’d recommend to understand what you did at a basic level. Like why you chose hue or the meaning of the diagrams. You made a subscriber out of me! Thanks a lot

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much Bryant! I’m so glad the video was helpful to you 😊 Most of the changes I made to the grade (especially when it comes to the hues) was purely done according to my own preference. I am planning on doing more grading videos in the near future so I’ll do my best to address the basics as well as the scopes for you. Thanks for watching and for the support 😊🙏🏼

[@julius00007]

Awesome!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Fredson 😊👍🏼

[@frodhor1111]

Super!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Frodho! 😊👊🏼

[@roamingyak]

Thanks!

[@Brad_West]

Wow! Thank you for the support! 😄🙏🏼 I truly appreciate it.

[@chrystonfloyd6323]

Very helpful!

[@Brad_West]

Glad you think so!

[@cesarcabacungan5415]

Short and sweet but I suggest a second or third viewing to relish the pointers. Great great great!

[@Brad_West]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching 😊🙌🏼

[@NateGigovic]

very good video

[@Brad_West]

Thanks Nate 😊🙏🏼

[@fdphy]

Great tutorial.

[@Brad_West]

Glad you liked it!

[@Jonbhamm]

I love this, thank you.

[@Brad_West]

You're so welcome! Thanks for watching 😄

[@fersil01]

Genial!

[@Brad_West]

Thanks 😊🙏🏼

[@supunwedasinghe1]

Awesome

[@Brad_West]

Thanks!

[@supunwedasinghe1]

@@Brad_West want to ask a silly question , why don’t you put any LUTS to your edit videos, though it’s must as I don’t no much about color grading , thanks

[@Brad_West]

I usually like to be pretty specific with the way I grade so I don’t often use LUTs but there are a bunch that I use 😊

[@mukeshragavendra7807]

Tq bro

[@Brad_West]

You're welcome!

[@TheIndianFankaarShowTalkStyle]

Great job. I want to is it sony slog 3 and pp 6?

[@Brad_West]

It’s actually a custom Cine4 profile that I use. Same settings as Cody Blue. Not sure if you’re familiar with his channel?

[@NaviSingh]

U r too Gud bddy

[@Brad_West]

Thanks man. Appreciate the kind words 😊🙏🏼

[@topcalcio1017]

how you do title animation?

[@Brad_West]

Are you talking about specific titles? Some I do in After Effects, some are done in FCPX 😊

[@smackent_9]

question! Why not work off of one color wheel ? how come you created so many wheels? would you not get the same results using one or two wheels?

[@Brad_West]

You absolutely can work off one wheel. Sometimes I like to separate the different adjustments into layers, especially for more complicated grades where I’m masking and affecting shadows or highlights differently. Sometimes if you want to copy adjustments from one clip to another, you might only want to copy the exposure and contrast adjustments but not the white balance so I can copy and paste only the color adjustment steps that apply instead of needing to grade each clip from scratch. Hope that helps 😄🤙🏼

[@smackent_9]

@@Brad_West ​That makes total sense! appreciate it man

[@howardkennerley4851]

I don't have color finale,do you have a tutorial using the normal fcpx colour board? Thanks

[@Brad_West]

This video is literally all about using the built in color tools in FCP?

[@howardkennerley4851]

@@Brad_West my final cut doesn't have the colour wheels though

[@Brad_West]

When you have your color inspector open, click on the down arrow at the top and you should be able to add color wheels. If you go to Final Cut Pro > Preferences > General, you can change the default color correction to color wheels. Does that work?

[@howardkennerley4851]

I'll check tonight,thankyou veryuch for replying 👍

[@Brad_West]

No problem!

[@fletcherbrown728]

Great content but I feel like you still went through everything a little too quickly. Seems all the KZbinrs want to make shorter videos but it sacrifices real transference of knowledge in the process. Keep up the good work love your videos.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm working on slowing down (I naturally speak pretty fast) but I'm glad you found the video helpful 😊

[@anjanadevi5549]

How to set dropzone in fcpx

[@Brad_West]

Sorry, I don't understand what you want to do with a drop zone? Can you elaborate?

[@lorrainechittock]

So I'm thinking that perhaps I should've watched your tutorial or ANY color grading lesson, instead of relying on my eye the past two years of editing... :P :P :P

[@Brad_West]

Haha! I’m glad you found the video helpful. The scopes will definitely help you out so that you don’t have to rely on your eye only 😊👌🏼

[@MR-AK]

I am seeing stars when i do proxy mode play back. Do you know if any View settings could cause that? It plays fine in the Original media mode. Thanks.

[@Brad_West]

That sounds odd. I’ve never seen/heard of that myself. Are you able to email me a screenshot or screen recording so I can take a look?

[@MR-AK]

@@Brad_West thx I can do that. Your email?

[@Brad_West]

KZbin won’t let me post it here in the comments. It’s in the about section on the channel 😊👍🏼

[@MR-AK]

@@Brad_West I got it thx!

[@MR-AK]

I found your email and thanks for taking interest in my issue. It turns out its only one clip and thankfull not others. I checked all other projects. So Im not going to worry for now. Happy video making! Keep posting and do check out my channel for investing advice.

[@P.A69]

✌🏼👱🏻‍♂️

[@Brad_West]

😄👊🏼

[@Wizconsin]

This video wasn’t long for the amount of info given. Be thorough. >5 min quick. 5-15 short 20+ med 1 hour is loooong

[@Wizconsin]

I rewatch your stuff 1preview. 2nd notes 3rd work on a a clip while watching. 456789 because I forgot something.

[@Brad_West]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I’m glad that you find the videos helpful. The next video is going to be my longest one yet but still less than 20 minutes. 😄👍🏼

[@gert-janvanbuseck]

I have watched this video several times, yet I can't find a comment by me on it. 🫢 Another helpful tutorial, Brad. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge 👍

[@Brad_West]

Haha thanks Gert-Jan. I’m happy to hear that you’ve referenced the video a few times 😄🙏🏼 Appreciate you watching and commenting!