Color Corrector

Color Corrector [CC] is the classic Fusion color node for a single 2D image, not a one-click grade for an entire edit. Place it on the branch that needs matching before its final Merge.

Correction contains FOUR Menu modes: Colors, Levels, Histogram and Suppress. A screenshot of the Colors wheel is not the whole Inspector: switching Menu reveals different algorithms and controls.

Colors provides a Hue/Sat/Tint/Strength wheel and Contrast/Gain/Lift/Gamma/Brightness controls. This is global or tonal-range grading rather than a Hue-vs-Hue qualifier: choose Master/Shadows/Midtones/Highlights first.

Master and the three tonal bands hold independent adjustments. Changing Shadows does not overwrite Highlights; Master is applied after the individual bands, so a neutral Master does not reset the entire node.

Within Colors, Channel = RGB/Red/Green/Blue selects which correction components to edit. It is different from Ranges > Channel, which decides what component builds the tonal selection.

Gain multiplies values relative to black; Lift targets the darker range; Gamma affects midtones while preserving endpoints; Brightness adds an even offset. The old fictitious “Offset” entry has therefore been corrected to the actual Brightness control.

Tint Mode offers Fast, Full and Better: a speed/quality choice for tint processing, not three separate color grades. The capture shows Better, not a universal best setting.

Levels provides input/output black and white points, Gamma, a histogram, and Master or RGB channel control. Levels remapping is not interchangeable with the Colors sliders, especially when preserving smooth gradients.

Histogram is a real operating mode rather than a decorative graph. Keep leaves the input unchanged, Equalize redistributes its values, and Match compares the input against the green Match Reference image; the white Match Mask defines the matching region.

Histogram matching provides channel/luminance strength, Precision and Smooth Correction. Snapshot Match Time freezes the reference histogram to reduce frame-to-frame pumping; Release Match restores the live reference. Aggressive equalization can posterize gradients.

The manual documents an important limitation: Histogram Match/Equalize on float images converts the result to 16-bit integer processing. Check your HDR/linear pipeline rather than assuming an unrestricted 32-bit float operation.

Suppress uses a six-component suppression wheel and Suppression Angle. It reduces unwanted color components rather than extracting a valid key; keyed hair and alpha-edge spill may still require Despill or a keyer.

On Ranges, Result/Shadows/Midtones/Highlights first controls preview, not a second set of four color wheels. Channel = Luminance/Red/Green/Blue/Alpha determines the spline source; four spline points and handles define shadow/highlight boundaries and falloff.

The “Output the range you see now as final render” checkbox changes the actual image Output to the selected grayscale range. With the box off, viewing Shadows is diagnostic only and Output remains the corrected image.

Even when range output is rendered as a grayscale image, the Color Corrector.Output socket remains an image. Convert it through Bitmap (image → mask) before connecting a mask input elsewhere; do not wire incompatible ports directly.

Options contains Pre-Divide/Post-Multiply for premultiplied RGB correction, Histogram Proxy Scale, Histogram Ignore Transparent and Process Order. The latter explicitly offers Gamma Before Levels or Gamma After Levels and can affect results.

The green Match Reference and white Match Mask are documented Color Corrector inputs missing from the old site diagram. Neither replaces the blue Effect Mask: it gates output contribution, while Match Mask selects the area sampled during Match.

Five authentic PNGs cover the three main tabs and expanded Ranges Range/Channel lists. They do not show the Levels/Histogram/Suppress or Settings panels; those are documented from the Blackmagic reference and require live Resolve 21/21.1 UI verification.