//// Disclaimer I am NOT a professional colourist, I just like colour ////
There are many ways of doing anything; for such a “complex” task as editing a video/film the possibilities greatly multiply 'cause there are more steps and each of them can vary, adapted to and for the person doing it. The deadline, the length of the finished project and moreover the amount of material one is dealing with “should be” the cornerstone to figuring out a sensible workflow.
That said, and if you’re following a more classic (“logic”, optimised and tested) approach you’ll always grade towards the very end - when you start hearing the archangels’ trumpets - normally when the edit’s locked, some do it before the sound work.
{ manual entry: here a loose silly yet interestingly truth-full phrase }
Planing is like super OMG, OMG!!! The backup of editing ,-)
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More often than not the editor has to deal with “issues” even before starting the process.
This is what I call BAcTH time.
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INGEST (Asses, organize, reference ← catalogue) = it’s about the content
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EDIT (Layout, build, trim ← to tell) = it’s about the flow
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GRADE (Colour correct, VFX, grade ← look) = it’s about coherence with the whole & subtle harmonies
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More often than not the editor has to go back and change things, a “healthy” process would have implemented feedback sessions along the way, besides its normal conversation enriching function this helps to avoid nasty surprises at the end.
A personal note on speeding the (grading) process.
The video editing suites have evolved a lot, probably today one can get away colour correcting and grading in some of them. For the non linux (and excluding multiplatform DR and Lightworks), I’ve used almost all of the big boys but Avid.
For what it is worth I can tell you that the single most important thing that improved quality and time spent doin’ color was when I started using the proper tool. For me was jumping from Final Cut Studio to Apple’s Color. Today that tool is without a doubt Davinci Resolve and it is fucking free!!! For all the steep that the learning curve might look (there are plenty good quality, serious tutorials available) the payoff is worth it, specially if you’re expect to do more such a work. Nodes are just way faster, more sophisticated and useful to grade with than layers IMO
There are several other ways to cut corners like creating an overall LUT (look) and apply it once the main colour correction is done; but if you’re using resolve you won’t even need that, just group your clips under the same tree and be done =)
Here a video example of someone who (despite annoying voice and some generalisation; mostly due to time constrains and target audience) knows what’s he is doing
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So, to answer your question, a combination of 2 and 3.
