Instructions and covered skills
Complete the test in a quiet setting with notifications turned off. Read each scenario carefully before selecting an answer. Focus on the stated source format, timeline settings, and delivery target. Avoid making assumptions that are not supported by the question. Choose the response that best preserves accurate color interpretation and consistent output. Review your selections before submitting if time permits.
Key Areas
This test assesses the ability to manage color accurately throughout a video workflow. Candidates work with the relationship between camera encoding, scene-referred imagery, display-referred imagery, timeline working spaces, and final delivery spaces. They should understand why log and raw footage require correct source interpretation before creative grading begins, and why a transform applied twice can create an inaccurate image.
The assessment also covers common delivery standards, including Rec. 709 SDR, Rec. 2020 HDR, PQ, and HLG. Candidates should be able to identify suitable output settings, recognize the purpose of file color tags and HDR metadata, and anticipate issues caused by viewing HDR material on SDR displays. Practical understanding of legal versus full data ranges, luma and chroma scopes, waveform interpretation, vectorscopes, and gamut warning tools is included.
Strong performance requires sound monitoring practices. This includes selecting a calibrated reference display, accounting for viewing environment, maintaining a consistent monitor signal path, and using scopes to verify technical limits rather than relying only on visual perception. Candidates should also understand how LUTs differ from color-space transforms and why lookup tables are not always appropriate as technical conversions.
Recommended Preparation
Review the color-management settings of a professional non-linear editing or grading application. Practice assigning correct input transforms to camera clips, selecting a timeline working space, and creating exports for Rec. 709 and HDR destinations. Compare a log image with a properly transformed image, then inspect both using waveform and vectorscope tools.
Study the purposes of Rec. 709, Rec. 2020, DCI-P3, PQ, HLG, and common camera log curves. Practice identifying clipped highlights, out-of-gamut colors, incorrect range interpretation, and mismatched display transforms. Finally, review how calibrated monitoring, embedded color tags, and platform-specific delivery requirements contribute to reliable viewer-facing results.