Primary Correction

Overview

Primary Correction (German: Primärkorrektur) in color grading refers to all adjustments that uniformly affect the entire image or the vast majority of all pixels. It is the first step in color processing and serves to unify the exposure, white balance, contrast, and color balance of a shot, remove color casts, and create a neutral, balanced starting point.

Secondary Corrections build upon this foundation – adjustments that affect only specific image areas or individual colors (e.g., via masks, power windows, or qualifiers). While primary correction acts "globally," secondary corrections work "selectively."

Tools

Primary correction is typically performed using the following tools (names according to DaVinci Resolve):

• Color Wheels / Lift-Gamma-Gain (LGG) – Lift primarily affects the shadows, Gamma the midtones, and Gain the highlights. This separation by tonal range is the industry standard in professional grading applications.
• Offset – shifts the entire image uniformly and is used for white balance, among other things.
• Primary Bars – adjusting the Red, Green, and Blue channels separately.
• Global controls for contrast, saturation, temperature, and tint.

Workflow Integration

Primary correction is at the beginning of the grading chain. It first ensures a technically clean, balanced image (often understood as "color correction") before creative color decisions are made in secondary corrections and the actual look development. Consistent primary correction across all shots in a scene is the prerequisite for a uniform appearance (shot matching) and for any creative color design built upon it.