MBR Color Corrector 3 Manual - Reference

Simply select the option from the dropdown list that matches the settings used on the camera when filming. Usually this is obvious, but sometimes it requires a little more thought as the options may have slightly different names in the camera.

The option Rec. 709 really means ITU-R Recommendation BT.709 but is often abbreviated as Rec. 709, BT.709, or ITU709; this means that if the camera has an option called BT.709 you should select Rec. 709 as the Input Transfer Function. Similarly: Rec. 2020 or Rec. 2100 may be called BT.2020 or BT.2100 on the camera.

Some cameras have a HLG / BT.2020 option, for this you should select Rec. 2100 HLG as the Input Transfer Function.
Hybrid Log Gamma is defined in ITU-R Recommendation BT.2100, and the color space for Rec. 2100 is the same as the color space for Rec. 2020. Therefore the HLG / BT.2020 option is referring to what the effect calls Rec. 2100 HLG.

The various Canon Log 2, Canon Log 3, and Sony S-Log 3 options refer to the same transfer function, but with different color primaries. If you have a shot with the reference card in it; it really doesn't matter which color primaries you choose as the color correction based on the reference card patches will correct the primaries. (If you are correcting a shot without any reference card in it, then it is important to select the correct color primaries).

The CIExy control shows where the RGB Primaries and White Point sit in the CIE 1931 color space. These diagrams are commonly found in the specifications / descriptions of the various standards, for example the Rec 709 page on wikipedia includes one in top right.

You can change the values for where the red, green, blue and white point are by editing these eight values. As you edit them the CIExy section will update to show the new color space, and the Source card will update to match (if it is a reference card).

These options are most useful with the Linear RGB transfer function, for example if you want to use the effect to convert a computer generated overlay into some display space that you specify in the Output section.

These four options are used to set where the card is in the frame before using the Read card from frame button in the Source or Target section.

Once you select any of the four corners, the overlay should appear in the monitor. You can now drag the corners the correct location.

The overlay shows a dotted line outlining the area in the frame where the card is. The dotted line is colored to match the patches at the edge of the card, and the top left of the card is marked with a diagonal line, to help mark the card in the correct orientation.

The effect works by calculating how to match the colored patches in the Source to look like those in the Target.

How you intend to use the effect dictates how you wish to set these two options:

• If you wish to correct some footage:
  • set the Source card to the footage,
  • and the Target card to the reference card.
• If you wish to match some footage to some other footage with the correct look:
  • set the Source card to the footage with the wrong look,
  • set the Target card to the footage with the correct look. (probably by using the Load button)

Clicking on individual patch in the Source or Target option will select that patch for manual editing. Change the Patch option to update the individual colored patch by hand. (This is very useful when dealing with a partially obscured card).

The image on the right shows the top left patch on the Source card selected (it is outlined in yellow) and ready for editing.

The Adjustments section can be used to apply a simple non-linear curve to the linear RGB values before they are passed to the Output section.

If you are converting from HDR / log footage into 'normal' dynamic range, the Exposure (EV) slider can be very useful to get the correct part of the footage exposed reasonably.

The default settings only apply Highlight Protection and do not make any other adjustments.

The Curve option shows the curve that results from the Exposure (EV), Grays, Contrast, Whites, and Blacks option settings.

The Exposure (EV) option specifies how many stops to make the image lighter. For example a setting of +2 would make the image 2 stops lighter (i.e. multiple the linear values by 4).

The Grays option specifies which linear RGB value should be mapped to 0.5. You can think of this parameter as performing the same adjustment that a gamma curve would.

In the example image, the curves have Grays set to 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 from left to right.

The Contrast adjusts the slope of the curve where the output is 0.5 (i.e. the point specified by Grays).

In the example image, the curves have Contrast set to -10, 0, and +10 from left to right.

The Contrast option is only enabled in the full version of the plugin.

The Whites adjusts the slope of the curve where the output is 1.0.

In the example image, the curves have Whites set to -1, 0, and +1 from left to right.

The Whites option is only enabled in the full version of the plugin.

The Blacks adjusts the slope of the curve where the output is 0.0.

In the example image, the curves have Blacks set to -1, 0, and +1 from left to right.

The Blacks option is only enabled in the full version of the plugin.

The Saturation Adjustment option allows for tweaking the saturation of the footage. If the option is set to:

• 0% the footage will be converted to black and white.
• 100% the footage will be unchanged by the saturation adjustment step.

The Highlight Protection option controls how overexposed parts of the frame are handled.

If the option is off: then the overexposed pixels are passed to the Output step unchanged.

If the option is on: then the overexposed pixels are adjusted as follows:

1. The lightness that the pixel should be (assuming no clipping) is calculated.
2. The pixel value is clipped, and the lightness that it now is is calculated.
3. Then the pixel is lightened (by adding white) until the lightness matches the lightness calculated in step 1

The sample images are both identical apart from the Highlight Protection setting, which is off for the upper image and on for the lower image.

The Highlight Protection option is only able to be disabled in the full version of the plugin (the trial version always has it on).

The CIExy control shows where the RGB Primaries and White Point sit in the CIE 1931 color space. These diagrams are commonly found in the specifications / descriptions of the various standards, for example the Rec 709 page on wikipedia includes one in top right.

You can change the values for where the red, green, blue and white point are by editing these eight values. As you edit them the CIExy section will update to show the new color space, and the Target card will update to match (if it is a reference card).

The Export LUT option will save a .cube file that performs the same color correction as the effect. There are several reasons why you may want ot do this:

• You have multiple sets of footage that you wish to apply the same color correction to (for example a multi camera shoot, or a shoot with controlled lighting).
• You'd like to generate a LUT to load in to a production monitor.
• You wish communicate a particular look to someone (your color grader), who may not be using Adobe programs.

The Export LUT option is only enabled in the full version of the plugin.