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Define the tonal ranges in a clip

The Luma Corrector, RGB Color Corrector, and Three‑Way Color Corrector effects let you define the tonal ranges for the shadows, midtones, and highlights so you can apply a color correction to a specific tonal range in an image. When used along with the Secondary Color Correction controls, defining a tonal range can help you apply adjustments to very specific elements in the image.

  1. Select the clip you want to correct in a Timeline panel and apply either the Luma Corrector, RGB Color Corrector, or Three‑Way Color Corrector effect.
  2. In the Effect Controls panel, click the triangle to expand the Luma Corrector, RGB Color Corrector, or Three‑Way Color Corrector effect.
  3. (Optional) Choose Tonal Range from the Output menu to display a tri‑tone image of the shadows, midtones, and highlights areas in the image.

    The Tonal Range preview updates as you make changes to the Tonal Definition controls.

  4. Click the triangle to expand the Tonal Range Definition control.
    Tonal Range Definition control

    A.
    Shadow threshold

    B.
    Shadow softness

    C.
    Highlight softness

    D.
    Highlight threshold

  5. Drag the Shadow Threshold and Highlight Threshold sliders to define the shadow and highlight tonal ranges.

    It’s best if you make the adjustments while viewing the tri‑tone Tonal Range display of the image.

  6. Drag the Shadow Softness and Highlight Softness sliders to feather (soften) the boundaries between the tonal ranges.

    The amount of falloff depends on the image and how you want the color correction applied to it.

    Note: You can also define the tonal ranges by changing the numeric values or moving the sliders for the Shadow Threshold, Shadow Softness, Highlight Threshold, and Highlight Softness.

Once you’ve defined the tonal range in the clip, you can use the Tonal Range menu to choose whether to apply the color correction to the shadows, midtones, highlights, or the entire tonal range (Master).

Choosing Tonal Range from Output menu to display shadow, midtone, and highlight regions in image.