All video editors have been there. You edit and color-correct your video project only to find out that the final product is not what you expected. The contract and colors dramatically shift when viewed on a different device. In most cases, this is caused by improperly calibrated monitors, but it could also be your eyes playing tricks on you. Video scopes help in preventing this problem ensuring that the color in your video is consistent across devices. With video editing scope, you get the exact representation of the elements that make up your image, including lightness and color values. In this article, we explain what video scopes are and how you can use them in your editing projects.
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An easy-to-use video editor helps you make color correction and color grading experience for videos!
Part 1. Introduction to Video Scopes: What are They and Why You Should Use them
When grading and color correcting your videos, it is important to accurately assess your video signal. This allows you to know whether you’re crushing the blacks in the night shot or clipping the whites in the clouds. You also get to know the exact saturation and hue your logo has. Video scopes are simply monitoring tools and measurements that are used during video editing to analyze and optimize the technical quality of video signals.
Video scopes are important because your monitor may not be properly calibrated. It will likely give you inaccurate results and cannot be trusted with the video editing process. Since our eyes will naturally adapt to the image, they cannot be trusted either. However, video scopes never lie and will let you know the exact status of your video. In fact, the scope of video editing is beneficial in several ways:
- Increased Accuracy: Color correction and grading require accurate information that cannot be guaranteed by our eyes. Video scopes are highly accurate, confirming the true color and assuring you are making the correct adjustments
- Reliability: Video scopes provide reliable verification by ensuring you are not influenced by perception or what may appear as the right color grading.
- Professional Editing: The use of scopes in video editing is professional and allows you to make precise corrections of colors.
- Matching Color Between Shots: You can easily use video scopes to match your work and access various shots.
Video scopes are indeed useful in video editing. They give you the extra reassurance that your color grading and correction are accurate and representative of what you want. While they may sound intimidating for beginners, video scopes are a useful addition to video editing once you learn how to interpret them.
Part 2. Essential Video Scopes for Beginners: A List of the Most Common Ones
Scope in video editing can be a lifesaver, especially when you know what you are doing. Some are readily available for adjustment while recording, but the post-production ones are equally important. They ensure you are making the right adjustments without being interfered with by the appearance of your monitor. The scope of video editing ensures that our video will look the same across all devices. Here are the most commonly used video scopes:
1. Waveform Scopes
Waveform video scope allows you to see how dark or light your image is. In other words, the waveform represents the luminance distribution across your image, allowing you to easily identify the bright and dark elements of your image. The lightness of the picture of the image is represented as a waveform. The rule of thumb is that black is 0 while white is 100 when you are editing HD. Levels below 0 at the bottom of the scope and those above 100 near the top of the scope will be clipped. So, you have to keep your levels within the 0-100 range, which is also the true Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) video. With Ultra-HD standard, the whites can go up to 10,000, which is the High Dynamic Range.
2. Histogram
The histogram video scope allows you to see the tonal value of your clip. Most people associate histograms with still photography, but it is also useful for video work. Specifically, the histogram represents the highlights, shadows, and midtones of your image. For a standard 8-bit image, pure white has a value of 255 while dark black has a value of 0. The histogram gives you the distribution of colored pixels in every value of lightness or darkness. Although other video scopes like the waveform and vectorscope will do much of the work, a histogram is still a useful measure in video editing.
3. RGB Parade
This is one of the most common post-production video scopes. The RGB parade allows you to see all three colors in one scope. It shows the waveform of the three colors side by side, and not on top of each other. This way, the RGB parade measures the saturation of the colors red, green, and blue in an image. It becomes clear which colors are more saturated compared to others in different areas of the image. To achieve a well-balanced image, keep each color within the lower and upper limits of the video scope. This ensures that the colors are not under or over-saturated.
4. Vector Scopes
This is another common visual post-production scope. It measures the color and color saturation of your image or video on a six-point color wheel. When working with vector scopes, you have two options to choose from: YUV and HLS vector scopes. The YUV vector scopes display the saturation and hue of the colors in the image on the circular graph. The colors in the graph include red, blue, magenta, yellow, and cyan-green. Color becomes more saturated the further it is from the center. On the other hand, the HLS vector scopes show saturation and hue, but in a more detailed picture of the number of pixels that fall into each area of the video scope.
Part 3. Unlock the Power of Video Scopes with Filmora
The use of scope in video editing will up your game and improve the overall quality of your videos. They give you an effective way of balancing and correcting colors. For pro video scopes for Mac and Windows, Wondashare Filmora is a great choice. The professional video editor comes with four types of video scopes that provide exceptional results. In addition to a histogram, Filmora V13 offers more options for color balancing and correcting. Let’s have a look at how to use video scopes on Filmora.
Using Video Scopes in Filmora
Filmora has made it easy for users to utilize video scopes in their editing projects. Once you have launched Filmora and started a New Project, video scopes are easily accessible via the highlighted icon.
The four video scopes offered by Filmora allow you to achieve specific color adjustments in your video projects. Let’s have a look at how each can be used in video editing.
1. Parade RGB
The parade RGB video scope is used to change the color channel of your visual images from RBG to YCbCr or YRGB. It displays the red, green, and blue channels of the video signal, which can be helpful when you are identifying areas of the video that are too dark or too bright. You can also use the parade to check the color balance of the video.
2. Waveform
The Waveform video scope in Filmora is used to adjust the color channels of your images or videos in different ways. It displays the brightness of the video signal, allowing you to heck the contrast level.
3. Vectorscope
The vectorscope helps to identify and adjust the skin tone of your subjects. It displays the color saturation of the video signal, helping you identify areas that are too saturated or desaturated. This way, you can easily check the skin tones in the video.
4. Histogram
The histogram, and video scope display multiple adjustments graphically while adjusting color channels. It displays the distribution of brightness values in the video, allowing you to check the overall brightness level.
Conclusion
Video scopes are important measures for tracing color elements when color correcting and enhancing your video. For an accurate and easy way of using video scopes in your projects, we highly recommend Wondershar Filmora. With the recent upgrades on Filmora, users now have access to pro video scopes that give you professional editing experience. Explore the four available video scopes, including waveform and Histogram. Parade, and vectorscope to achieve better color grading and quality of your videos.
