AntcuFaalb said:
Here's a GOUT-related question: Assuming that we don't make any color changes beforehand, how much do the reds need to be lowered to fit in with the rest of the colors? That is, what change would result in them no longer being over-represented? Is it just the reds?
frank678 said:
This is pretty much THE question for me. I saw some posts where someone indicated they could repair the red channel out of the RGB channels. My understanding is that the red shift is an organic shift in the film - its not the red channel is damaged but the greens and blues have faded leaving the red over represented. Anyone know how correct that is? If so can the green and blue be repaired?
edit: had a go at a blind ajustment to blue and green curves to find a result = http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Calling-all-Color-Correctors-Can-this-source-yield-a-different-set-of-results-to-Gout/post/598240/#TopicPost598240
This theme, from the "Three-strip Technicolor: Please help!" and "Calling all Color Correctors: Can this source yield a different set of results to Gout?" threads, is one that echoes throughout the OriginalTrilogy forum -- that of restoring faded source material.
Restoring "by eye" (usually using hit-or-miss, narrow-fix filters that don't address the full problem) or referring to other "restorations" (accomplished with their own "by eye" fixes) is well intentioned but flawed. The science of film is what's needed and we already have the tools to examine and implement a scientifically guided approach.
Being in the middle of such research, I have done enough to formulate a workable approach, demonstrated in the "THX 1138 preservations (Italian Cut available, see 1st post)" thread (starting at page 48):
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/THX-1138-preservations-Italian-Cut-available-see-1st-post/post/585765/#TopicPost585765
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/THX-1138-preservations-Italian-Cut-available-see-1st-post/post/585922/#TopicPost585922
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/THX-1138-preservations-Italian-Cut-available-see-1st-post/post/589761/#TopicPost589761
Therein is a more extreme example of "bad colors" (faded color) from a 16mm film source:
And the way to look at it is by it's color layers -- this one is the faded red channel:
The way to correct it is knowing that fade is ultimately contrast contraction, and the fix is to expand that condensed contrast back to it's original size:
The other 2 channels (green and blue) usually need such correction, too, and the result is the way it was before it faded:
Of course, the above explanation is simplistic and the "THX" thread goes into more detail about the non-uniformity of fade -- across the condensed spectrum and through the length of the source. But this is a starting point that should address all kinds of issues (skin too red, other reds weakened, etc.) in a uniform way. Hope this helps.