Click on the icon for a quick preview of the exercise and the result.

Unlike effects created in a module, soft effects are applied and previewed directly to the timeline and can be rendered at a later stage.
We will now color correct a few clips using the assembled timeline that you previously created in Smoke.

1. Continue with the timeline from the previous exercise.
2. Work in the Record Timeline view, press F5.
3. Display the Player, Press ESC.
4. Select the “3_Sandals_Left” shot on the Timeline.
5. Click on the CC Soft Effect button to enable it.
The Soft FX menu is on the left side of the timeline.
6. The LED on the soft effect button turns blue, and the soft effect indicator appears on the timeline segment (CC in this case).
7. Make sure Autokey animation is disabled, (A) button.
8. Enter the CC Editor, click on the (E) button.
9. The Overlay UI will help you color correct large frames like this HD shot.
To toggle the Overlay UI with the normal view, press CTRL+ESC.
10. From the CC popup choose CW (Colour Warper).
11. If you are using proxies in your project, make sure you’re in Full Res mode and not Proxy mode.

Enhance the image using the Colour Warper tools.

1. Drag the Black slider towards left, and make sure that you get nice deep blacks without losing too much detail.
Note that when dragging parameters using the Overlay UI, all other parameters disappear so most of the image is visible.
2. Drag the White slider to the right, to boost the highlights and increase the contrast.
3. Drag the Saturation slider towards right to make the colors livelier.
4. Tweak the Gamma to bring it up slightly.
The Gamma changes the luminance of the mid tones without affecting the black point or the white point.
RGB Gamma has independent Red, Green and Blue controls.
5. To change the RGB channels at once; click one of the channels and then ALT-Drag one of them to link the parameters.
6. You can experiment with your own settings if you want, and once you are happy with the result, click Exit.
Note that you don’t need to process now because this is a soft effect; you can process it at a later time.
7. You can click on the blue LED of the CC button to activate and deactivate the effect on the shot.

To reset a parameter to default value; hold CTRL and click on the field.

The next shot also needs some color correction. Instead of performing the color correction from scratch, copy the color correction settings you just created.

1. You can drag and drop any soft FX to other shots.
2. First expand the track to see the clip’s information and the soft FX.
To expand the timeline vertically, drag the track identifier (V1,L1) down.
Notice the CC icon on the shot.
3. Hold CTRL and drag and drop the CC icon to the next shot.
4. Scroll to the next shot “4_Sandals_right”; the effect has been copied.
5. If needed, you can access the CC Editor and modify the color correction for this second clip.
Notice that some color correction controls are also accessible from the Timeline Editing bar.

Alternatively, you can use a shortcut to select a soft FX and copy it. This is useful when several FX are used on a shot. Notice that the soft effects are numbered on the Soft FX tab. The Colour Correction hotkey number is (4). To copy the CC effect using these hotkeys, make sure the source shot is selected first. Press and hold (CTRL+4); this selects the CC FX. You can see that a yellow highlight appears on the Soft Effect of the source shot. With the (CTRL) key still down, drag from the source shot to the destination shot.

You may need to process the soft effects in order to play them back in real time. You can process the full timeline or process selected clips.

1. CTRL-Click both shots to select them and hit Process.
2. Display the full screen player, press CTRL+ESC.
3. Press the T key to replay the selected clips.
4. Press ESC to go back to the regular player.

To delete a soft FX: you can drag and drop the icon to the recycle bin while holding (CTRL) or, you can hold (ALT) and click the (CC) Soft FX button.

As previously mentioned, it is recommended to save your work regularly at every important step.

1. Choose Record Area in the Item Box.
2. Be sure that your “Smoke_Essentials” library is selected in the Library box.
3. Press Save.
4. Enter a name for the new Record Area folder, such as “Essentials_Record_03”.
5. The Record Area is saved in the currently active Library.