For color management, Adobe’s Premiere Pro has a history of lagging a bit behind certain other similar software apps. Well no more.
In its Premiere Pro Beta update, Adobe has now included a completely new color management system.
In a change that many videographers who use all kinds of different cameras with often very different color management systems will appreciate, Adobe’s new update tackles the previously difficult issue of color correction in Premiere Pro.
Historically, many photographers and videographers have had complaints about using Premiere Pro to mix and match footage taken with different camera types, often even if they’re from the same brand.
The work in question could often involve plenty of manual adjustment, saving custom LUTs and other improvised changes. In some cases, users of the software would even export their projects into other platforms such as DaVinci Resolve as XML files for the sake of improved color grading.
Adobe’s new update tackles this by giving Premiere Pro an “entirely new” color management system.
With this new update, editors can mix and match their raw and log videos much more easily and have the processed pieces match each other smoothly in their timeline.
According to Adobe, the new color management system covers the vast majority of cameras and lets videographers abandone things like corrective LUTs completely.
According to Adobe’s recent press release,
“There are dozens of raw and log formats, each with their own unique characteristics. While managing complex color science is second nature for professional colorists, editors need a foolproof system that gives them great results with minimum input, while also providing deep pros the level of control they need to create custom workflows.”
The software company then explains,
“The all new Premiere color management combines all of this technology in a way that makes it easier to work with raw and log formats natively in Premiere Pro so you always get a great starting point — you’ll see great-looking footage as soon as clips are dropped into the timeline — without having to spend time adding LUTs. This automatic system normalizes raw and log media while taking advantage of all that data in the color pipeline for better control and beautiful images.”
Basically, according to Adobe, any recording device, “from an 8K RED V-Raptor to the iPhone 15 Pro in your pocket” can now have its footage matched to the video from another camera in Premiere Pro. Just dropping the video into the timeline will let users have it pretty much automatically correct.
This should now make what Premiere Pro offers a go-to solution for even the most inexperienced beginners who want their video projects color-corrected as easily and quickly as possible.
It should also let hardcore pro video editors have a much easier time with Premiere Pro while using its other robust tools.
The specific changes being added through this color management update to the Premiere Pro software include a new Properties Panel that lets new users of the software learn the ropes quickly while letting experienced editor create a more efficient workflow.
Other major updates through the new color management update include:
“An entirely new color management system that automatically transforms RAW and log footage from nearly every camera into great-looking SDR and HDR, so users can spend less time managing LUTs and start editing right away.
A new wide gamut working color space that’s vastly larger than Premiere’s HD Rec.709 working space in which all image processing operations are performed. This new wide gamut color space leverages Hollywood’s industry standard ACEScct with high-fidelity tone mapping that provides the kind of color and fidelity results that were previously impossible with Premiere Pro.
Six simple “set-it-and-forget-it” presets in Sequence Settings and Lumetri color settings let users work in traditional Rec.709 for legacy projects or the new wide gamut color ACEScct with ease.
Most-used effects, like Lumetri, are now color space aware with smoother and more flexible control for refining skin tones, balance, and creative looks when working in a wide-gamut preset.
Consistent color and brightness when using Dynamic Link to send clips to and from Adobe After Effectsfor motion design and compositing.”
For now, Adobe’s new color management features and new Properties Panel can be found in Premiere Pro Beta, which Adobe CC subscribers can download through the Creative Cloud App.
Adobe plans to introduce the same update to its next stable version of Premiere Pro in the fall.
