3 Tips for Color Correcting and Color Grading on Your Phone / Tablet [iOS & Android]

When shooting a video using a drone, action camera, or phone, you don’t always have control over the lighting conditions, especially in outdoor settings.

With the color correction process, you can balance the colors in your video clips for a natural appearance. Color grading allows you to convey a specific mood or provide your viewers with a different atmospheric perspective. The color grading process is commonplace in the film industry.

With editing apps, you can complete your video’s entire post-production process on a mobile device. Let's explore three simple ways to enhance video projects with color adjustments.

We recommend downloading the PowerDirector app on your iOS or Android device to try these color-correcting tips. It's easy to use but offers all the professional video editing and production features you’ll need. With PowerDirector, you can also edit your clips on the go and upload your content directly to YouTube or other social media platforms.

• 3 Tips for Color Correcting and Color Grading
• Use Color Adjustment for Color Correction
• Use Video Filters for Color Grading
• Filter Color for Stylized Look
• Include Color Correcting and Color Grading in Your Video Editing

3 Tips for Color Correcting and Color Grading

Use Color Adjustment Tools for Color Correction

With color correction, the aim is to enhance your video to match a consistent standard, making your footage appear the way humans naturally see the world. This would mean if someone is wearing a white shirt, it looks white in your video. Color correction is particularly helpful if your project consists of clips you shot at different times of the day as the colors will shift from shot to shot.

Using the color adjustment tools in PowerDirector is among the quickest and easiest ways to color correct your footage. To use this feature, add your video to the editing timeline, then tap on the clip you want to edit. Select Adjustment from the bottom menu, opening the following color correction tools:

• Brightness
• Contrast
• Saturation
• Hue
• Tint
• Sharpness

Using these tools, you can experiment with different combinations until you are satisfied with the result. If you want to follow a process, start with Brightness, and adjust the slider until your white surfaces have a pure white hue. Then, adjust the Contrast slider to darken the blacks you lost when you adjusted the brightness.

With the Saturation slider, you can make the colors in your video more vivid or more muted. For example, if your raw footage is more subdued, you can use this tool to liven it up.

With the Hue and Temperature adjustment sliders, you can offset the underlying tone of your footage. If you shot a video during the early morning hours in natural light before sunrise, your footage will likely have a cold blue or gray tone. You can reduce this effect by increasing the color temperature or choosing a hue on the opposite side of the color wheel.

Use Video Filters for Color Grading

While color correction restores the actual appearance of colors in your video, color grading is an editing process to establish a particular look or mood. This process is prevalent in filmmaking, as the results are more atmospheric and extreme.

Great examples of movies with prominent color grading are Joker and The Matrix. Both of these films apply a greenish tint to give tan overall mood and represent a unique vision of the world. To use the PowerDirector color grading tools on your mobile device:

1. Open the app and upload the clips you want to edit.
2. In the editing timeline, tap on the clip you want to color grade, opening the bottom toolbar menu.
3. Select Filter, which is the third icon from the left.

Tapping Filter will open a library of filters you can apply to each clip, such as Artistic, Portrait, Scenery, and Food. Under each filter, you have several options, depending on how prominent you want the filter’s effect to be in your footage.

After applying the filter, you can edit your footage further using the Adjustment tools to fine tune your look.

Filter Color for Stylized Look

PowerDirector video filters aren’t the only options you have available for color grading from your mobile device. You can also filter out color to give your footage a stylized look.

After adding your clip to the editing timeline, tap on the Effect tab to open the PowerDirector library. Here, you have a wide selection of effects that you can apply to your footage, including color effects, such as Sepia, Emboss, Color Edge, or Black and White. Tap on Filter Color, then select the color you want to focus on. All other colors will be removed from your video.

You can combine the various video effects with other color grading and color correction tools, giving your footage a unique look.

Include Color Correcting and Color Grading in Your Video Editing

When it comes to post-production, color correction and color grading are among the most important processes people skip. With color correction, you can offset the effects of bad lighting, incorrect settings, or improper video recording techniques.

Color correction adjustment tools, such as Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, aim to give your footage a natural appearance, similar to how the human eye views the world. Whereas color grading allows you to denote a specific mood, time, or look by adding a basal tone to your footage.

With the PowerDirector mobile app, color correction and color grading are quick, straightforward post-production processes. The app is user-friendly with an intuitive interface, allowing you to experiment with a wide range of effects and filters with your phone or tablet.

Download the PowerDirector app to your iOS or Android device today.