This is me summarizing Stu’s excellent posts about using a floating point workflow in After Effects 7. I’m doing it to try to wrap my head around the workflow he describes.

Background info: Color correction in linear vs. gamma corrected space (Iwill be outlining this a little later.)

Linear Color Workflow in AE7, Part 1 (aka inputs)

Step 1: Set color depth and working space in the Project Settings dialog.

Step 2: Apply Color Profile Converter to all footage that wasn’t created using the project’s working space

Linear Color Workflow in AE7, Part 2

1: Blending is more natural in linear light, because there is no funky gamma to screw things up.

2: The Add mode is our friend. Screen is evil.

3: The Exposure plugin is also useful, as is the white clip on the Levels plug. White clip = gain; don’t bother with the gamma adjustment.

http://prolost.blogspot.com/2006/02/part-3-avoiding-icy-sea.html

HDR101