White Balance

The White Balance operator adjusts color temperature and tint to correct color casts or create creative color effects. It is essential for matching multiple camera sources, correcting for different lighting conditions, and ensuring consistent color across your production.

Color temperature shifts colors along the blue-orange axis (cool to warm), while tint adjusts the green-magenta axis. Together, these two controls can correct virtually any color cast.

Properties

Temperature

• Temperature - Adjusts the color temperature of the image along the blue-orange axis.
  • Negative values (-100 to 0): Cooler/bluer tones. Use to correct warm lighting (tungsten, candlelight).
  • Positive values (0 to +100): Warmer/orange tones. Use to correct cool lighting (shade, overcast, blue hour).
  • Default: 0 (neutral)

Tint

• Tint - Adjusts the tint along the green-magenta axis.
  • Negative values (-100 to 0): Adds green. Use to correct magenta color casts.
  • Positive values (0 to +100): Adds magenta. Use to correct green color casts (common with fluorescent lighting).
  • Default: 0 (neutral)

Options

• Strength - Controls the blend between the original image and the adjusted image (0-100%). At 0%, no adjustment is applied. At 100%, the full adjustment is applied. Useful for subtle corrections or for animating the effect.

  • Default: 100

• Preserve Luminance - When enabled, the operator maintains the original brightness of the image after applying color adjustments. This prevents the image from becoming darker or lighter when shifting colors. Recommended to keep enabled for most use cases.

  • Default: Yes (enabled)

Output (Advanced)

• Output mode - Defines the type of output. Useful for debugging and understanding the effect. The function keys (F1-F4) can toggle the output mode when the operator is selected.
  • Final - The fully processed output with all adjustments applied (F1)
  • Temperature only - Shows only the temperature adjustment without tint (F2)
  • Tint only - Shows only the tint adjustment without temperature (F3)
  • Luminance mask - Displays the luminance values as grayscale, useful for understanding brightness distribution (F4)

Presets (Advanced)

Quick preset buttons for common lighting correction scenarios:

• Daylight (5500K) - Resets to neutral. Use as a reference point for daylight-balanced sources.

• Tungsten (3200K) - Corrects for warm tungsten/incandescent lighting by cooling the image (Temperature: -35, Tint: +5).

• Fluorescent (4000K) - Corrects for fluorescent lighting which typically has a green cast (Temperature: -15, Tint: +25).

• Shade (7500K) - Corrects for shade or overcast conditions which appear blue/cool (Temperature: +30, Tint: +5).

• Reset - Returns all values to neutral (Temperature: 0, Tint: 0, Strength: 100). Keyboard shortcut: F5.

Status

• Message - Displays status messages and preset confirmations.

About

• Information about the operator and link to online documentation.

Keyboard Shortcuts

When the White Balance operator is selected:

Understanding Color Temperature

Color temperature is measured in Kelvin (K) and describes the color characteristics of light:

To correct a color cast: Apply the opposite adjustment. For example, if your footage appears too warm (orange), reduce the temperature (move towards blue/cool).

Common Use Cases

Matching Multiple Cameras

When using multiple cameras with different white balance settings, use the White Balance operator on each input to match them before compositing.

1. Identify a neutral reference (white or gray object) in each camera feed
2. Adjust Temperature and Tint until neutral objects appear the same across all cameras
3. Fine-tune to taste

Correcting Indoor Footage

Indoor footage often has mixed lighting. Common corrections:

• Tungsten/incandescent lighting: Apply the Tungsten preset or set Temperature to approximately -30 to -40
• Fluorescent lighting: Apply the Fluorescent preset or set Tint to approximately +20 to +30 to counter the green cast

Creative Color Grading

Beyond correction, White Balance can be used creatively:

• Add warmth to sunrise/sunset scenes (Temperature: +20 to +40)
• Create a cold, clinical look (Temperature: -20 to -40)
• Stylized color effects by pushing both Temperature and Tint to extremes

Tips

• Start with Preserve Luminance enabled - This prevents unwanted brightness changes when adjusting color.

• Use the output modes for debugging - Switch between Temperature only and Tint only to isolate which adjustment is having which effect.

• Small adjustments go a long way - Values of ±10 to ±30 are typical for correction. Larger values are usually for creative effects.

• Combine with other color operators - White Balance handles global color casts. Use operators like Color Curves, Color Adjust, or Vibrance for more targeted adjustments.

• Adjust Strength for subtlety - If your correction looks too aggressive, reduce Strength rather than the individual Temperature/Tint values.