Color correction on the iPad

Known for its on-set color-correction tools, Gamma & Density Co. released last year its 3cP / Image Control Pro app for the iPad and iPhone. Our very own Jimmy Shen took the app for a test-drive.

It’s definitely a professional tool for on-set color decision making and a great mobile aid for directors and DPs to make better pictures starting from on-set production. It’s a great addition to the 3cP software.

The app is quite stable, feature-packed, easy to use. Being able to communicate with 3cP is great, because you can have a full 3cP system on set and the iPad becomes an untethered mobile device like an extension to the 3cP system. Send Report via Email is very handy, even if you don’t have a full 3cP system, you can use the app as a standalone software and generate reports/LUTs for colorists or post-process down the pipe.

I am testing it on the first generation iPad, it’s a little sluggish when manipulating colors, but the controls are fairly precise. It is a processing-heavy app, so it might work better on an iPad 2 (or even iPad 3).

The color controls cover up a large portion of the screen thus obscuring part of the image (which is understandable, given the resolution and the size of the iPad screen) though the image can be pinch-zoomed and repositioned.

Here’s a look at the app’s main features:

Onset color correction, look development, profiling, LUT creation for various apps, including Flame/Smoke/Lustre, Resolve and Scratch.
Works with 3cP, can transfer images from/to 3cP. Or uses images from the iPad photo library
Project organiser, various production data can be entered.
Library of Profiles for different film stocks, digital cameras and also effects, etc as presets, can be applied to the image.
Exposure ruler.
Printer lights/Colour wheels/RGB values/Curves for grading.
Printer lights/Colour wheels/RGB values/Curves for grading.
Image Sampling Tool.
Image Sampling Tool.
Different image aspect ratio masks.
iPad screen calibration tool built-in.
Generates and emails reports with various LUT files right on the iPad.
You can also send back to 3cP or save to Photo Album.

 



– Above: watch Gamma & Density’s demo video for Image Control Pro.

You can download the app from iTunes.

1 thought on “Color correction on the iPad”

  1. Great app and an equally great walkthrough but at 1/2 the price of Resolve this is probably the first grading app to cost as much as the device you use it on.

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