Edit Well: Final Cut Studio Techniques from the Pros

Appendix A. Secondary Color Correction Using Vignettes

ALEXIS VAN HURKMAN

The word “vignette” means different things to different people. Optical vignetting occurs when a (usually) inferior lens exhibits darkening or blurring around the outer edge of the image. Mechanical vignetting is an even harsher effect, seen most frequently as black corners around the edges of a recorded image that was shot using a zoom lens at its widest setting.

As far as color correction techniques go, vignettes are targeted image adjustments that use shapes, usually ovals and rectangles, to isolate a portion of the picture for specific adjustment. The classic vignette effect, used most often to simulate “old-timey” film, is a round, feathered vignette isolating the outer ...