CDL controls
Colorista Free has two sets of controls for interacting with the CDL data. There are nine numeric sliders that expose the CDL values. There is also a CDL Burn option to visually print the CDL values on your footage.
What is a Color Decision List?
Our numeric RGB sliders follow a color correction standard called the Color Decision List or 'CDL'. The American Society of Cinematographers (or ASC) developed this universal spec for communicating color corrections. CDL is a metadata-based, XML-based spec. It is a format for the exchange of basic primary color grading information between equipment and software from different manufacturers.
A CDL provides a format for the exchange of basic primary color grading information. Think of a CDL as the PDF of the color correction world, or similar to the way that multiple edits are communicated in an Edit Decision List (EDL). CDL’s let you enter and edit color values in an application and share them across other compliant software. Colorista Free exposes its CDL data and makes that list available for an open, easy workflow that conforms to professional colorist standards.
At the core of the ASC CDL spec is a color correction model that communicates a primary-only grade via ten float values. The format defines the math for three functions: Slope, Offset and Power. Each function uses a number for the red, green, and blue color channels for a total of nine numbers comprising a single color decision. A tenth number, Saturation, controls the density of the color.
ASC CDL is a little difficult to find information about, but this Wikipedia entry is a great starting point: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASC_CDL
CDL sliders
The nine sliders in the CDL group directly enter and edit Color Decision List values. These values are used to communicate your color correction to other CDL-compliant hosts.
The sliders directly edit the RGB values of your color correction. In fact, Slope, Offset and Power are similar to Highlight, Shadow and Midtone controls, in that order, though they operate slightly differently. Moving the CDL sliders causes the 3-Way wheels to update with their RGB values, and vise versa.
IMPORTANT: The CDL sliders not very intuitive to use. These sliders are present to display show and directly edit CDL values; they are not meant to do color correction. We recommend that you use the CDL sliders only when compatibility with another CDL-compliant color corrector is important. Otherwise, the best user experience is found with our amazing 3-Way color wheels. There's nothing you can do with these sliders that you can't do more easily with the color wheels. You may use Colorista Free every day and never use these sliders.
If you do choose to use the CDL sliders, there are three ways to change their values. You can twirl down the slider and drag its handle. You can scrub the numeric value. Or you can enter CDL values directly by clicking the text field and typing in a number. The sliders can be keyframed, of course, and vary in their minimum and maximum ranges.
CDL Burn-in pop-up
Currently, there is no way to export a CDL file in Colorista Free. To share CDL data, you can either write down the CDL values in your own text list, or you can use this CDL Burn-in method.
Burn-in lets you communicate the CDL metadata by 'burning' their numerical values into your footage. This is similar to burning timecode into a shot. If you want to share the CDL data, just render out a frame and send it to your colleague. In this way, an editor can communicate her color choices to a colorist down the line.
NOTE: The Burn-in feature does not appear in Premiere Pro.