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Jerron Smith/4 min read

Music Video: Adjustment Layers & Color Correcting Videos in Premiere Pro

Color-Correct via Adjustment Layers

Adjustment Layers Are Not Clips

They affect every clip below them on the timeline — perfect for global color correction.

Open the Multi-Cam Project

Before You Accuse Me—Color Correcting.prproj — already has multi-cam edits and b-roll done.

Apply Lumetri Color to the Adjustment Layer

Effects → Lumetri Color → drop on the adjustment layer to grade the whole sequence.

Layer Multiple Adjustment Layers

One for primary color correction, another for creative grading — easy to toggle on/off.

Master Premiere Pro at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate teaches Premiere Pro alongside After Effects.

Discover the ins and outs of color correction in Premiere Pro with this detailed tutorial, covering topics such as adjustment layers, achieving the right look and feel for your video, and using correct color aberrations.

Topics Covered in This Premiere Pro Tutorial:

Color Correction, Adjustment Layers, Using Adjustment Layer Clips

Exercise Preview

preview color correction

Exercise Overview

When working with video footage, it is often necessary to adjust or correct the source footage. Sometimes you are trying to fix a problem while other times you may be trying to achieve a specific look and feel with the colors.

Getting Started

  1. If you have a project open in Premiere, choose File > Close All Projects.

  2. Let’s start with a project file that has our multi-cam edits and b-roll editing all done. Choose File > Open Project or hit Cmd–O (Mac) or CTRL–O (Windows).

  3. Navigate to Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Intermediate > Multicam—Music Video > Finished Projects.

  4. Double–click on Before You Accuse Me—Color Correcting.prproj to open it.

    NOTE: If you see a dialog about Converting Project (from a prior version) refer to Fixing Version Compatibility Issues section in Exercise 1A. If the Link Media dialog opens refer to Locating Missing Media in Exercise 1A.

  5. Go to File > Save As and:

    • Name the file Before You Accuse Me—Your Name.prproj
    • Save it to Desktop > Class Files > Premiere Pro Intermediate > Multicam—Music Video (replacing any existing file).

Color Correcting with an Adjustment Layer

If the colors in your video don’t seem right to you, a couple of basic adjustments can often help refine them.

  1. Choose Window > Workspaces > Editing.
  2. Choose Window > Workspaces > Reset to Saved Layout.
  3. Hit the \ (backslash) key to zoom out to see everything in the Timeline.

  4. On the left side of the Timeline, CTRL–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the Video 1 track name and choose Add Track.

    This adds a new track above the one we clicked on.

  5. Hold Shift and hit the + (plus) key to expand the height of all tracks on the Timeline.

  6. In the Project panel, click on any empty area to deselect any active files or bins.

  7. At the bottom right of the Project panel, click on the New Item button_newItem button and choose Adjustment Layer.

    • The default settings are fine, so click OK.

  8. Drag the new Adjustment Layer clip to the beginning of the Video 2 track on Timeline.

  9. Choose the Selection tool tool_selection.

  10. Drag the end of the Adjustment Layer clip until it matches the length of the video on the Video 1 track.

  11. Choose Window > Workspaces > Color.

  12. Choose Window > Workspaces > Reset to Saved Layout.

  13. If necessary, click on the Adjustment Layer clip on the Timeline to select it.

  14. Move the Timeline playhead to 4:15 so you can see a clip of the main performer.

  15. In the Lumetri Color panel on the right, if the Basic Correction is closed, click on it to expand it.

  16. Under White Balance, drag the Temperature slider to the left until it reads -75.

    This cools off the image, removing the orange tint that is present in all of the music video footage.

  17. Under Tone, change Highlights to 40.

    This brightens up the lighter areas of the video.

  18. Also in the Tone section, change Shadows to 20.

    This brightens up the darker areas of the video.

  19. Preview the Timeline to see that these color adjustments affect any video that is located below the Adjustment Layer.

  20. In the Timeline, CTRL–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the Adjustment Layer clip and choose Rename.

  21. Rename it to Main Color Correction and click OK.

  22. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or CTRL–S (Windows).

Adding a Color Grade with a Look

In addition to correcting color aberrations that may occur in your video, the Lumetri Color effect can also be used to stylize colors.

  1. In the Timeline panel, there’s a divider between the Video and Audio tracks. Drag that divider down until you can see the Video 4 track.

  2. Drag a second copy of the Adjustment Layer clip from the Project panel to the beginning of the Video 4 track on the Timeline.

  3. Extend the duration of the new Adjustment Layer clip with the selection tool so that it matches the length of the clips on Video 1 and Video 2.

  4. CTRL–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the Adjustment Layer on Video 4 and choose Rename.

  5. Rename it to Color Grade and click OK.

  6. In the Lumetri Color panel, click on the Creative section to expand it.

  7. From the Look menu choose SL BIG HDR.

  8. Change Intensity to 80

  9. Change Vibrance to 30.

    Vibrance is similar to Saturation, but more subtle and natural.

  10. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or CTRL–S (Windows).

    Keep the project open because you’ll use it in the next exercise.