Tomer Bahat Discusses Using Color Finesse on His SEAT Leon "The Beat Goes On" Commercial

Director Tomer Bahat describes his experience using Color Finesse:

"I received my training on discreet (now Autodesk) products (Flame, Inferno, etc.).

When I switched over to Adobe After Effects, first as a user and then as a director, I was somewhat dismayed by the lack of controls and the output quality offered by the native color correction tools. I was therefore very happy when Adobe started including Synthetic Aperture's Color Finesse with After Effects. Aside of the many professional tools included in Color Finesse—HSL, RGB, levels, curves, secondaries, limiter, and the excellent monitoring tools—it just felt better, color quality wise (which probably has to do with the 32-bit internal processing).

I was pleased to discover that my feeling was grounded in an objective comparison. I was especially happy to find the vibrance control I know and love from Adobe Camera Raw included in Color Finesse 3.0.

Regarding this project, and a look into our work process:

I use the RED One (now RED One MX) camera extensively. I try to get as close as possible to the final color in the raw development process, and then fine tune it in the compositing/coloring process. In the smaller scale projects, we usually don't go outside of After Effects for grading, so it is important that we get a professional result with the tools available. The native support for REDRaw inside of After Effects CS5, coupled with the ability to import development data from RED's REDcine-X via .RMD files, was a real boon to us (although the workflow took some time to define and master). We start off with RED 4K, 3K and 2K, often intercut with Canon DSLR 1080p footage, and work towards a 1080p master. Another recent discovery was the use of Mocha shape bundled plugin along with Color Finesse to create moving, trackable layers of color correction. In car commercials especially, the need to isolate and bring out the vehicle and passengers from the surrounding background is essential.

In Color Finesse, we usually do a balancing pass, and then a creative intent pass, usually using the HSL and secondaries tools, and using the vectorscope tool for monitoring. After getting a good, well balanced image, we color for contrast and then for color, treating the shadows, midtones and highlights separately, rather than using the master controls. We sometime use the 35mm stock emulation presets as a starting point for the process.

I make a habit to introduce all the After effects artists I work with to Color Finesse, to the point of insisting they use it..."

Tomer Bahat's current work can always be found at www.vimeo.com/tomerbahat.

Credits:

Production Company: Firma Productions- Adar Shafran & Roni Abramowsky
Director: Tomer Bahat
DOP: Shai Peleg
Editor/Compositor: Tal Baltuch
Client: Adler-Chomsky-Warshowsky-GREY, for Champion Motors-Israel
Post House: JCS
After Effects Artists: Eyal Brosh, Tal Baltuch.

More of Tomer's Work Using Color Finesse

SEAT Ibiza "Club Seat"

http://www.vimeo.com/11258874

Another SEAT commercial, this one for the Ibiza. Shot entirely using HDSLR cameras including the Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 7D, and Panasonic GH1.

J. Viewz - Smooth Criminal

http://www.vimeo.com/2697126

Music video for J.Viewz cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." Shot on a RED One camera and composited using After Effects and Mocha/AE.

Back to the Color Finesse Showcase