All language subtitles for Procolor_C06_L1c_Splittinggradesintonodes

Now that
we've learned quite a bit about nodes,

I want to point out
some of the best practices for using them.

We know that each node can hold any number
of corrections and masks and controls

and everything that happens down here
in the color palettes.

And so we really have a lot of freedom
to be able to make 50

different adjustments in the first node
and then do 50 more adjustments here.

But the best way to actually use nodes to
our advantage

is to kind of split up some of these tasks
in between different notes.

So it might look something like this
in one node, you would adjust

your contrast and then in another node
you might adjust your exposure.

And then in another node
you might adjust some other control.

And the advantage here
is that you can turn one thing on or off

or you can reset it
and you keep the rest of your work.

It's kind of splitting things out

to keep you organized
as well as kind of just save time.

So let's say I have a node for contrast

right click and a contrast.

Then I can make another node by there,
right clicking and saying add node,

add serial,
or I can hit alt s on the keyboard

and now I can label this saturation

and this is where I can push up

just my saturation.

And then maybe I have another node

and this will be a warm push

and I can take my offset

and just push this
into a little bit warmer.

And now I can toggle off
and on these different adjustments

and see what each one is doing.

This is also really great.

If I have a shot that maybe just needs
part of this, maybe it needs a contrast

in saturation,
but it doesn't need to be so warm.

I can copy this color grayed over

and then in my warm push
I can either make it warmer or cooler

while
keeping the same contrast and saturation.

This is a really smart way to work.

In fact, a lot of colorists actually use
what we call a fixed node tree.

And what that means is you kind of build
a template out of these nodes

and it's the

exact same template
for every shot for the most part.

So this first node might be something
like exposure

and the next node might be saturation in

and the node after that might be contrast

and then we might have some more details.

Maybe we'll have some parallel nodes

and those all work on different details.

The shortcut to add a parallel
node is just select whatever node

you want to add a parallel node
next to you and hit alt p,

And then once we have something like this,
I can right click

anywhere in the empty space
and say clean up node graph.

And now we have a nice node graph laid out

that I can kind of use as a tablet
to keep myself organized.

Then if I want to adjust
something in the shot like exposure,

I go to the exposure node and make
whatever exposure adjustments I want.

Same for saturation.

If I want to adjust the saturation of
the shot, I do it on the saturation node.

So I always know where that

adjustment is and I can turn it off
and on really easily if I want to.

All in all, how you use nodes is up to you
and there isn't really a right way

or wrong way.

You kind of just have to pick
what works for you.

I like using a fixed node tree like this

helps me go
quicker and stay more organized.

But there's nothing really wrong

with doing your color in one or two nodes
and doing multiple things in one node.

It just kind of depends
on what works for you.