Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:46 pm
I think I've FINALLY got this right. I've watched the video so many time I almost know it by heart. Is there a way to save the video to my computer?
This is what I understand..... Highlights use the highest number, BEFORE, and make all the AFTER numbers match the highest number. ... Shadow use the highest number, BEFORE, and make all the AFTER numbers match the highest number.
Neutral: Add the BEFORE numbers together, divide by 3. Make all the AFTER numbers the same as the result of dividing by 3.
After I got all the numbers to match, I clicked "apply". Then went back to LAB and brightened just a smidge.
JoAnn H
This is what I understand..... Highlights use the highest number, BEFORE, and make all the AFTER numbers match the highest number. ... Shadow use the highest number, BEFORE, and make all the AFTER numbers match the highest number.
Neutral: Add the BEFORE numbers together, divide by 3. Make all the AFTER numbers the same as the result of dividing by 3.
After I got all the numbers to match, I clicked "apply". Then went back to LAB and brightened just a smidge.
JoAnn H
Oh, boy...I had that ALL wrong. I was using the AFTER values. Back to the drawing board.
Thanks again for your help.
JoAnn H
So Far So Good...
Now for the tweak....
You are trying to go with Absolute values for the correction and this is not necessarily the goal. Remember that each image has it's own highlight and shadow value. Most times you do not want to drive the shadow down to "0" nor do you want the highlight to be "255".
For instance in your posted image you have shadow and highlight values in the hue clocks shown. The Highlight value is 234 on the screen shot. Your goal is to make all three channels have "234" as the value for the highlight. This makes the highlight neutral in RGB. For the shadow you have "7" All three channels should equal 7. That makes the darkest shadow you have chosen neutral.
The Mid-tone Gray is another story. As Greg M stated. The Mid-tone is an average of the "before" values. Setting it to the middle value of the hue clock will upset the contrast. You should take the before values on the hue clock and average them. I get "96" , Your value of 106 makes the mid-tones too bright and then you have to fight for contrast later.
Try out these values and see if it gets easier to find the contrast...
Greg