[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The SJ Edition)

Published: Sun, 10/09/11

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The Tao Colorist

Curated links of news, reviews, thoughts, career advice, and humor 
for professional Video / Film Colorists & Finishers. Delivered Sunday.
Issue LXV                                                            Brought to you by: Tao of Color.com



The Craft
  • Understanding Log Grading - A great post on curves and grading with Log images... leading up to the point of the article - the purpose of LUTs. (MikeMost.com)
  • Budgeting Time - How much time do you spend on a shot? Unfortunately, no one really follows up on this question on the TIG mailing list - but Steve Hullfish offers up some hard numbers on much time some colorists take to do their job. (tig.colorist.org)
  • Whatever Happened to Colour? - A cartoonist complains about the drabness of colors in today's movies - using images of the last Harry Potter film to prove his point (not the best choice, IMO). Apparently mid-century Technicolor was a more realistic palette. Read the comments. Interesting. My takeaway of his advice to all of us? Come on folks get with it: Make your films look more like National Geographic HD! (CartoonCave.blogspot.com hat tip: Gerry Fraiberg)
  • Using Templates vs. Personal Creativity - Podcast with a wide-ranging discussing that sometimes talks about the template- preset- driven nature of many of our tools and if that's a good thing or bad thing. (TheTerenceAndPhilipShow.com)
  • Get Better Results Using Presets - Simon Walker shows how to use Presets in Magic Bullet Looks to the get the look you want. (RedGiantSoftware.com)

The Tools

  • The CRT Replacement is here, FINALLY - A review of Sony's line of OLED monitors. (ProVideoCoalition.com)
  • Why Flanders Scientific (FSI) Isn't Entering the OLED Market (Yet) - From their forum on Creative Cow. Includes some thoughts on production yields, pixel counts, peak white luminance levels and more. (CreativeCow.net via @walterbiscardi)
  • All About ACES - I linked to this recently but we have a lot of new readers and ACES has been making the color grading news as more of our apps are supporting it. Find out what ACES is in this good article by Mike Most. (MikeMost.com via @robbiecarman)
  • From Final Cut to Avid to Nucoda - There's some interesting workflow discussion in this article about an indie feature that switched from FCP to Avid mid-project. And then editing in Avid using AMA-wrapped ProRes files of R3D footage. The job was finished in Nucoda. (DigitalContentProducer.com)
  • Adobe Touch: Six New Creative Suite Apps for Tablets - Plus new cloud services (NoFilmSchool.com)
  • Understanding Dynamic Range and Color Reproduction - And using the American flag to teach the Munsell Color System. (DV.com via NotesOnVideo.blogspot.com)

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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The Business

  • [Contest] Make Me A Pro! - Quantel has teamed up with a UK post-facility to find the next big talent in post production and help an industry newbie jump-start their career. If you make it past the first round of the contest, be prepared for a second round of in-person interviews in London. (blog.quantel.eu h/t Marcin Zwolski) 
  • Stereo 3D Conversions: The Technology Is Growing - The state of 3D tools, one reason why Adobe acquired SpeedGrade technology, and the power of MochaPro. (3dtv.com)

Edumacate Yer'self

  • [FREE Webinar] DIT's Demystified - Learn the scope of the role, the tools and the challenges. (StudioDaily.com h/t Marcin Zwolski)
  • [Podcast] Tao of Color Chats with High Desert Shorts Film Festival - I was a guest on HDS' relatively new podcast. It was an hour long and we covered technology, craft, setting rates and details on the Tao of Color Masterclass training. Tony is an entertaining host and I thank him for having me on. (HighDesertShortsIFF.com)
  • FCPx: The Books - A few weeks ago I linked to the Apple Pro Training Series FCPx book available on Amazon. It was then brought to my attention that the book could be had as an electronic download from PeachPit (h/t: Gerry Fraiberg). But now it looks like the floodgates have opened. Click through to the search results I got from Amazon on FCPx books and you'll see what I mean. (Amazon.com)

Live, In-Person

  • Grading at the Speed of Resolve: Tuesday, 6:30pm, NYC - I'll be doing another demo, this time in my backyard of New York City. I'm going to change it up this time around and introduce the audience to Resolve by working through a couple recent projects. Come on down! (resolveNYC.eventbrite.com)
  • [Trade Show] HD World, NYC - This Wed. & Thursday I'll be manning the booth with the BlackMagic folk to help represent the DaVinci team. If you stop by, be sure to say hi and mention you're a reader. No prizes. But maybe a big hug! Register for free. (CCWexpo.com)


Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
 JL Cooper Eclipse Avid Artist Color Tangent Wave

Software: v2.1.6

 Mac: v2.6.1

Software: v3.8

Color Plug-in: v 1.0.5
 PC: v2.6.1
Firmware: v1.9

Updated:
March 7

 Updated: August 9 Updated: Jan. 28(ish)
 
 

Sunday Morning Fun(nies)

  • "Kern Type": HTML 5 Typography Kerning Game - As a trained online guy and once-upon-a-time Chyron operator I'm a little disappointed I only scored 90. If you give it a whirl - tweet it and be sure to include me: @patInhofer (type.method.ac via @Getcolormanaged)
  • Movie House Anti-Texting PSA Goes Viral - What happens when an irate customer leaves a voicemail after being booted from a movie for refusing to text? Turn that voicemail into a PSA and thank that customer for never coming back! (YouTube.com via CelluloidJunkie.com)
  • Expendable Character's Awful Realization - A character in 'Jurassic Park' suddenly realizes he's purpose is to die so that others may live. He's none too pleased. Also: "The Red Shirt Blues" featuring a montage of the original Star Trek 'red shirts'. (FilmmakerIQ.com)
  • Epic Tea House Skills - Looking for a demonstration of mad skills? This guy has them. Out of work actors now have something else to asipre to... (YouTube.com)
  • Offical Ojai Valey Taxidermy Commercial - How can a spot for taxidermy have 5 million+ views on YouTube? Find out for yourself... (YouTube.com)
  • Everything Is A Remix: The Matrix - If you're a fan of Kung Fu movies, there's a nice fighting montage... though these classic movies could be remixed with any modern movie featuring a system of fighting since the filmic history is just so rich. The last minute of the remix is, IMO, stronger. (Vimeo.com via Kottke.org)

Weekend Warrior

  • [Survival Tip] Use Doritos to Start An Emergency Campfire - Because you'll sometimes forget to bring kindling but you'll never forget to bring a bag of chips. (LifeHacker.com)
  • [eBook] Take Control of Mac OS X Backups - Updated to reflect the changes in Mac OS 10.7. (TidBits.com)
  • How To Shoot A Fight Scene & Practical Muzzle Flashes (ReelSEO.com)
  • Your Console Is Your Cable Box: HBO To Go, Verizon FiOS coming to XBox (ArsTechnica.com)

Gear Heads

  • [Review] Apple's Thunderbolt Display - Good review on who might find this display useful, or not. (MacWorld.com)
  • Thunderbolt Display: Data Transfer Speed - Does the Thunderbolt interface slow down Firewire 800? (blog.MacSales.com)
  • How To Correctly Plug In Your USB Cable Every Time - I thought everyone knew this. Guess not. (LifeHacker.com)
  • Matrox Triple-Head2Go - If 11 is louder then three displays is more better two. Be sure to click through on the User Images. (Amazon.com via @comebackshane)
 
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Doing Better Business

  • Freelancer's Guide to Setting Your Rates - Not a bad set of advice. Interesting links at the end of the article. (FilmSlateMagazine.com)
  • Billing for the Video Industry - Blog post more focused on Production Companies but the basic concept works for colorists too. (RichardHarringtonBlog.com)
  • Why We Reject Creative Ideas - Mostly, it makes people uncomfortable. (LifeHacker.com)
  • Uncertainty, Innovation, and The Alchemy of Fear - How to live within (or create for yourself) the zone of ambiguity that seems to drive creativity. (the99percent.com)

Being A Better You

  • Upgrade Your Daily Routine: Fastest Way to Tie Shoes, Fold Shirts and More (LifeHacker.com)
  • A Master Plan for Taking Back Control of Your Life - Good stuff here including: Work in sprints; do one thing at a time; sleep until you feel rested and more... (the99percent.com)

It's That Time Again . . .

  • How To Talk to 'Siri', iPhone 4S' New Virtual Assistant (LifeHacker.com)
  • 10 Best Live Multiplayer Games for the iPhone (Mashable.com)

About That Script You Always Wanted to Write . . .

  • The CIA Has Some Predator Drones For You - If you like dry humor, also be sure to watch the 'ExtraNormal' animation showing how Michael Bay gets the CIA to buy in on his upcoming project. (FilmmakerIQ.com)

SJ

  • Steve on Steve: 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech - Really, the only career advice any of us ever needs to hear. Plus some personal moments from a notoriously private man. A classic. (YouTube.com)
  • The Good: Remembering Steve Jobs - A nice tribute with a good collection of videos and links from around the web. (Kottke.org)
  • The Bad: What Everyone Is Too Polite to Say About Steve Jobs - I've been wavering on including this article. But it's not mean-spirited and as creatives who work in an industry filled with autocratic egos, it's useful to remember the whole person - especially since so many will try to emulate him down to the nitty-gritty details. (Gawker.com)
  • The Tribute - Collection of images of people paying tribute to an iconic man. (Engaget.com)

Tweet Of The Week

  • "Don't be sad because it's over. Smile because it happened." -- Dr. Seuss (via @Coleran)
 
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