<p>The cheapest tool is to use a desk lamp and light the scene better to begin with and use the white balance setting in the webcam software itself.  It's a lot harder after the fact (if sufficient detail is even saved in the video to fix it at all).  </p>

<p>You could also try DaVinci Resolve Lite, it's a professional color grading and correction package that also happens to be completely free, but the much better solution is to light and shoot correctly rather than trying to fix crappy footage in post.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-28T02:14:21.590Z
2014-07-28T02:14:21.590Z
AJ Henderson
<p>Blender's compositor will do exactly what you want, just enter the compositor (on the right of the help button on the menu, change default to compositor) check nodes and backdrop, add your video as input (press shift+A on the the compositing window) you can remove the render node since you are not using 3D, press shift+CTRL+left_mouse_button on the input node and your movie will be displayed as background, now you can add color nodes to correct the colors of your image. Link nodes and you will see the color correction in the background image. When you are happy match the number of frames to those of your video and render the whole thing. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T02:34:16.493Z
It turned out that I didn't need either of these, but this was the most detailed.  I had already installed blender and couldn't figure out how to use it.
dsollen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T06:34:14.850Z
If you want to use 3D and all of its potencial then learning to use it could be difficult. But to do a simple color adjustment the compositor is not that difficult and you can get a pretty nice result.
YoMismo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T13:54:46.843Z
@YoMismo - I think you underestimate how challenging a nodal compositing system actually is to a newcomer to the field.  For those of us who have worked with advanced 3d compositors before, it becomes a pretty natural process as we are used to thinking of things in those kinds of terms, but it is not always a particularly intuitive concept for newcomers.  This is also why I've sometimes been hesitant, in some cases, to upvote Blender as a cure all for every problem.  Yes, it is possible to accomplish the goal, but it is not nearly as user friendly as most other options for a newcomer.
AJ Henderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T13:59:44.403Z
@dsollen - out of curiosity, what did you end up using.  You are free (and even encouraged) to post your own answer as to what actually solved your problem and mark that as the answer.  If Blender was too hard for you to figure out how to use, chances are decent it will be too hard for others to figure out as well.  What you ended up using is probably the best answer to the question as it is the answer that actually helped you.
AJ Henderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T14:37:49.223Z
@AJHenderson you may be right, but to do a simple adjustment like the one he wanted to do with one or two nodes you can achive the desired result, and with the directions I posted I don't think it is that difficult, but you may be right, it may not seem too difficult for me but it may be for others. Thing is that I always tend to think that if it is not difficult for me it shouldn't be for anyone. else.
YoMismo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T14:46:46.330Z
I can relate to that. Most people can't even understand what it is I do for a job in broad terms, let alone the actual specifics, so I've gotten more used to understanding the significance of prior experience on what we see as "easy". Easy and Familiar can seem very similar until you see someone else's reaction.
AJ Henderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T19:44:20.450Z
I actually got *most* of the way through blender before this answer was posted, through trial and error & youtube.  I was working on how to save the image after changing the color, but when I saved wrong and lost an hour and half to the bad save I got frustrated.  when trial and error is an hour+ lost time I'm done with it :)
dsollen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T19:47:42.560Z
I had already updated my question with the method I used, but since you asked I used youtube.  After you submit a video to youtube there is a  *limited* ability to adjust the color satuation.  It's not very powerful, but it's all I really needed.  The video's didn't come out quite as well as I liked (one ended up slightly too blue aqctually), but much better then they were, good enough for my minimal requierments of 'watchable'.  And I really liked that the rendering was done by youtube, I didn't have to sacrifice my laptop to the rendering gods for an hour each video.
dsollen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T20:02:32.647Z
Incidentally I'm a geek who is use to working with IDE's that have a somewhat similar 'feel' to the format of blender, and it still took me longer then I care to admit to get even part way to where I wanted with the help of google and youtube in blender.  I do not see most non-geeks making any headway at all, even most with my level of computer-expertise wouldn't be willing to waste as much time as I did playing around.  I don't think I would recommend blender to a laymen.
dsollen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T20:32:24.630Z
@dsollen, Ok I take note. Thing is that whenever I see "free" or "open source" Blender comes to my mind. It is an amazing piece of software that allows you to make complete movies with any kind of special effect you can think of. Does this mean it is easy? No way, I don't think there are many people out there that can say they know how to use Blender in its whole, but going with small steps you can get to achieve what you want and learn. In this special case (as I said) I don't think it was too complicated, but as it turned out it seems to be. Sorry for the answer if it didn't help.
YoMismo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-28T08:49:47.537Z
2014-07-28T08:49:47.537Z
YoMismo
<p>I'm creating some basic advice videos, which are explicitly intended to be produced quickly.  I'm using a low-grade webcam to do video captures and don't have any special lighting.  I don't need my videos to be beautiful, and don't want to put too much effort into correcting them, however, I am annoyed by my 'digital jaundice'.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a simple and <em>free</em> tool which can help me remove the yellow shade.  I don't need power, I'm not willing to pay anything, and I'm not willing to put in too much effort into correcting the color before I give up and post videos as a lost Simpson character :).  It seems like there should exist a simple open source tool for exactly this use case.  Can anyone recommend a free tool?</p>

<p>I'm sorry if this is a repeat question.  I feel like I should be able to figure this out on my own without asking, but I've honestly spent time googling and looked through this site and haven't been able to find the information, perhaps because on this site everyone has way more domain knowledge, the one question i did find that seemed to address this question the answer went over my head lol.</p>

<p>Edit:  It turns out I didn't need any tool.  Youtube has built in an ability to adjust your lighting after uploading a video.  It's not very fancy, but it's enough for my needs, simple to use, and most of all it's fast because it utilizes 'the cloud'.  Still, thank you for your feedback</p>

<color-correction><freeware>
free tool to do basic color correction?
dsollen
# free tool to do basic color correction?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-07-28)

I'm creating some basic advice videos, which are explicitly intended to be produced quickly. I'm using a low-grade webcam to do video captures and don't have any special lighting. I don't need my videos to be beautiful, and don't want to put too much effort into correcting them, however, I am annoyed by my 'digital jaundice'.

I'm looking for a simple and *free* tool which can help me remove the yellow shade. I don't need power, I'm not willing to pay anything, and I'm not willing to put in too much effort into correcting the color before I give up and post videos as a lost Simpson character :). It seems like there should exist a simple open source tool for exactly this use case. Can anyone recommend a free tool?

I'm sorry if this is a repeat question. I feel like I should be able to figure this out on my own without asking, but I've honestly spent time googling and looked through this site and haven't been able to find the information, perhaps because on this site everyone has way more domain knowledge, the one question i did find that seemed to address this question the answer went over my head lol.

Edit: It turns out I didn't need any tool. Youtube has built in an ability to adjust your lighting after uploading a video. It's not very fancy, but it's enough for my needs, simple to use, and most of all it's fast because it utilizes 'the cloud'. Still, thank you for your feedback

**Tags:** color-correction, freeware


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-07-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Blender's compositor will do exactly what you want, just enter the compositor (on the right of the help button on the menu, change default to compositor) check nodes and backdrop, add your video as input (press shift+A on the the compositing window) you can remove the render node since you are not using 3D, press shift+CTRL+left\_mouse\_button on the input node and your movie will be displayed as background, now you can add color nodes to correct the colors of your image. Link nodes and you will see the color correction in the background image. When you are happy match the number of frames to those of your video and render the whole thing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: It turned out that I didn't need either of these, but this was the most detailed.  I had already installed blender and couldn't figure out how to use it.  
> **username_2**: If you want to use 3D and all of its potencial then learning to use it could be difficult. But to do a simple color adjustment the compositor is not that difficult and you can get a pretty nice result.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 - I think you underestimate how challenging a nodal compositing system actually is to a newcomer to the field.  For those of us who have worked with advanced 3d compositors before, it becomes a pretty natural process as we are used to thinking of things in those kinds of terms, but it is not always a particularly intuitive concept for newcomers.  This is also why I've sometimes been hesitant, in some cases, to upvote Blender as a cure all for every problem.  Yes, it is possible to accomplish the goal, but it is not nearly as user friendly as most other options for a newcomer.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 - out of curiosity, what did you end up using.  You are free (and even encouraged) to post your own answer as to what actually solved your problem and mark that as the answer.  If Blender was too hard for you to figure out how to use, chances are decent it will be too hard for others to figure out as well.  What you ended up using is probably the best answer to the question as it is the answer that actually helped you.  
> **username_2**: @AJHenderson you may be right, but to do a simple adjustment like the one he wanted to do with one or two nodes you can achive the desired result, and with the directions I posted I don't think it is that difficult, but you may be right, it may not seem too difficult for me but it may be for others. Thing is that I always tend to think that if it is not difficult for me it shouldn't be for anyone. else.  
> **username_1**: I can relate to that. Most people can't even understand what it is I do for a job in broad terms, let alone the actual specifics, so I've gotten more used to understanding the significance of prior experience on what we see as "easy". Easy and Familiar can seem very similar until you see someone else's reaction.  
> **username_0**: I actually got *most* of the way through blender before this answer was posted, through trial and error & youtube.  I was working on how to save the image after changing the color, but when I saved wrong and lost an hour and half to the bad save I got frustrated.  when trial and error is an hour+ lost time I'm done with it :)  
> **username_0**: I had already updated my question with the method I used, but since you asked I used youtube.  After you submit a video to youtube there is a  *limited* ability to adjust the color satuation.  It's not very powerful, but it's all I really needed.  The video's didn't come out quite as well as I liked (one ended up slightly too blue aqctually), but much better then they were, good enough for my minimal requierments of 'watchable'.  And I really liked that the rendering was done by youtube, I didn't have to sacrifice my laptop to the rendering gods for an hour each video.  
> **username_0**: Incidentally I'm a geek who is use to working with IDE's that have a somewhat similar 'feel' to the format of blender, and it still took me longer then I care to admit to get even part way to where I wanted with the help of google and youtube in blender.  I do not see most non-geeks making any headway at all, even most with my level of computer-expertise wouldn't be willing to waste as much time as I did playing around.  I don't think I would recommend blender to a laymen.  
> **username_2**: @username_0, Ok I take note. Thing is that whenever I see "free" or "open source" Blender comes to my mind. It is an amazing piece of software that allows you to make complete movies with any kind of special effect you can think of. Does this mean it is easy? No way, I don't think there are many people out there that can say they know how to use Blender in its whole, but going with small steps you can get to achieve what you want and learn. In this special case (as I said) I don't think it was too complicated, but as it turned out it seems to be. Sorry for the answer if it didn't help.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-07-28. Score: 5

The cheapest tool is to use a desk lamp and light the scene better to begin with and use the white balance setting in the webcam software itself. It's a lot harder after the fact (if sufficient detail is even saved in the video to fix it at all).

You could also try DaVinci Resolve Lite, it's a professional color grading and correction package that also happens to be completely free, but the much better solution is to light and shoot correctly rather than trying to fix crappy footage in post.


---

