There are a few ways for matching backplate colors in a composition. Typically working with the individual channels provides the best results.

Dries Lambrecht provides a quick tip for matching your Matching BackPlate Colors in your composited element (be it footage, or a CG element) footage in After Effects. This is pretty much color correction 101, using the levels control to have everything sit in the composition and live harmoniously.

Just a quick tip on how to match color/atmosphere of any footage/render/image to your backplateDries Lambrecht

 

Matching BackPlate Colors

The thing to remember is that when it comes to color, your eyes will deceive you. This is why hammering color correction down in compositions is done in plain black and white. It is easier for the eye to discern values according to luminescence and tone rather than the visual noise of color information. If you use individual channels when matching backplate colors, you will find it takes not only the guess work out of it, but also the monitor’s set up itself.

Color correction like this can be done easily by simply by changing your preview window to a color channel, and setting the same corresponding channel to a levels effect, and matching the tonal values for that particular channel. If you want to be much more accurate you can use the info window or sample parts of the image to hone in on the correct values rather than adjusting them by eye.

A quick and dirty method to matching backplate colors in Photoshop is by way of the “match color” effect which works great. Although there is no similar effect in Ae, I have used the Color Link effect in much the same way. It will transpose the color of the source layer to the layer being color corrected. With a few tweaks its pretty good, and is great to visualize a rough color correction in a pinch.