Grading

I tend to shoot with Technicolour's 'Cinestyle' profile to give more options come post. It leads to better final product but the footage straight out the cam is very flat looking, lacking contrast and colour.
The question is would clients prefer ready graded to just drop in their editor or prefer a good base for their own grading?
Do you think the flat look of the footage may be offputting when they browse?

Ungraded, definitely. Every TV project I work on has a different style and would be graded differently or often with stock footage to match the footage around it.

Or do we offer both the original for those that will grade and a version that shows what we feel is the best grade for those that are just "looking for a suitable clip" perhaps as a cutaway in a news feature?

I would have to agree with @TheEngineer....

While an experienced editor might find a 'flat file' with as much data in it preferable when it comes to their Color Grading phase..... a buyer not experienced in the intricacies of Color Correction might prefer a clip which is already graded.

I tried and uploaded both options graded and ungraded. Only the graded clips had sales. The ungraded clips didn't even had views here on P5.
If you put a thumbnail that looks flat and boring next to a candy eyecatching color graded clip everyone will click on the graded clip first. Thats how our brain works. It likes healthy, fresh looking colors.

When I do my color grading I try to not overdo it.
http://danielschweinert.com/blog/files/aea8e6c5b42604435eddcebed24aed1b-17.html

That's what works for me.

Pond5 used to say to not to color correct or color grade files. I have seen senior p5 members say that appealing color corrected clips sell more than off the camera files. Just by taking a look at the clips that sell it is obvious that many of them have gone through some type of color and contrast enhancement.

Do you buy dull apples or shinny apples in the grocery store.

HI Daniel

Thanks for that - invaluable insight.

TE

P5 ... do you want to double or triple the number of footage submitted by getting graded and ungraded? Same question about PJPEG, h.264, prores etc etc?

You may want to created different graded versions (styles) and upload those as variations. Ungraded footage is about the most visually unappealing image imaginable.

In my opinion if you color grade it just right (not too much) you can avoid uploading different versions and save time and space.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/028/1/d/color_grading_comparison_by_danielschweinert-d4nw8pp.jpg