Chapter 32 — Quiz

Thirty self-check questions on color grading: the difference between correction and grading, the node pipeline, LUTs, secondaries, skin on the vectorscope, consistency and restraint, and how the grade sits in the finishing workflow. Mix of multiple choice, true/false (justify your answer), short answer, and "what's wrong with this grade?" perception items.

Answer from memory first, then check the key at the end. Where a question asks you to justify, a right answer with wrong reasoning is only half credit — the reasoning is the point.

Multiple choice

1. Color grading differs from color correction mainly in that grading: - A) fixes exposure and white-balance errors - B) is a motivated, creative departure from a neutral baseline to build mood - C) matches shots to each other - D) removes color casts using the parade

2. The correct order of the grading pipeline is: - A) look → correction → secondaries → output - B) correction → look → secondaries → output to Rec.709 - C) secondaries → look → correction → output - D) LUT → output → correction → look

3. "LUT" stands for: - A) Luminance Uniformity Transform - B) Layered Underlying Tint - C) Look-Up Table - D) Light Under Tungsten

4. A creative (look) LUT should be: - A) applied blind as the only grading step - B) used before correction to fix the shot - C) placed after correction, on its own node, at controlled strength, then hand-trimmed - D) baked in so it can't be changed

5. A power window isolates a grade by: - A) color/hue range - B) a shape or mask (which can track motion) - C) luma only - D) frame rate

6. A qualifier isolates a grade by: - A) a drawn shape - B) selecting a range of color (hue/saturation/luma) - C) the timeline position - D) the codec

7. On the vectorscope, correctly balanced human skin of every complexion falls: - A) at the exact center - B) along the flesh-tone line (toward ~11 o'clock) - C) inside the blue target - D) at a different angle for every person

8. Between a very fair complexion and a very dark one, correctly balanced, what differs on the vectorscope? - A) the hue angle - B) nothing - C) how far out along the flesh line (saturation) and the luma — not the angle - D) which scope you use

9. The teal-orange look works (when restrained) because: - A) teal is warmer than orange - B) orange (skin) and teal are complementary, so a warm subject separates from a cool surround - C) it desaturates skin - D) it's the only look that survives Rec.709

10. The single most important thing to protect in any grade is: - A) the sky - B) the highlights - C) skin tones - D) the black point

11. You should grade: - A) while you're still editing, to save time - B) a locked cut, after picture lock - C) before you correct - D) only on the hero shot

12. A technical (conversion) LUT most commonly: - A) imposes a vintage style - B) converts a flat Log capture to Rec.709 - C) selects skin - D) tracks a subject

True / False — justify your answer

13. A look laid on top of an unmatched, uncorrected scene will look worse than either problem alone. (T/F — why?)

14. A LUT can protect skin while it stylizes the background. (T/F — why?)

15. The best grade is one the audience consciously notices and admires. (T/F — why?)

16. Building your whole grade on one node is efficient and recommended. (T/F — why?)

17. Because it's popular and flattering, teal-orange is a safe default look for any project. (T/F — why?)

18. A grade that looks great on your uncalibrated laptop will look the same everywhere. (T/F — why?)

Short answer

19. In one sentence each, state the question that correction answers and the question that grading answers.

20. Name three things that separating a grade into multiple nodes/layers buys you that a single adjustment can't.

21. Your warm look has dragged skin off the flesh line toward orange. Describe the fix that keeps the look but saves the skin.

22. Give the "pull it back" rule of restraint, and the toggle test you'd use to tell whether a grade is helping the story or just making it louder.

What's wrong with this grade?

23. A branded video: every shot has maxed saturation, shadows slammed to cyan, faces pushed orange, the same heavy look on all of it. The client says it "looks like everyone else's." Name three specific problems and one fix each.

24. An interview scene cuts between three shots of the same person: one warm, one cool, one slightly green. A single creative LUT was applied to all three. What step was skipped, and what's the correct order to fix it?

25. A grade uses six secondaries on one shot: neon skin, a glowing sky, a desaturated grey background, a brightened shirt, a color-shifted wall, and a sharpened eye. It looks "manipulated" and the edges halo. Diagnose the underlying mistake and give the governing principle it violates.

More synthesis questions

26. (Short answer.) Why is grading placed after picture lock in the post workflow? What specifically goes wrong if you grade a cut you're still editing?

27. (Short answer.) A color-managed grade ends with an output transform to Rec.709. In your own words, why grade in a wide working space and then output to a smaller, standardized one?

28. (What's wrong with this grade?) A film's night scenes are graded cold blue while its day scenes are warm gold — the same characters, the same story. The film feels like two different movies. Name the failed discipline and the principle that fixes it.

29. (True/False — justify.) You can push a poorly-exposed, heavily-compressed clip as far in the grade as a well-exposed Log clip. (T/F — why?)

30. (Short answer.) State the "amplify, don't impose" idea in one sentence and give a one-line café example of it.

Answer Key

Topics to review by question