[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The MacPro Edition + Subscription Drive)

Published: Sun, 06/03/12

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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 XCIII                                                           Brought to you by: Tao of Color.com
 

Tao Colorist June Subscription Drive 

It's June. And that means we've started our annual Subscription Drive!

If you were a subscriber last year feel free to scroll down, skip this message and re-subscribe. If this is new to you, I'll explain (and don't worry, there's a full Newsletter right after this). Here's the short version:

Many have asked me what it takes to produce this newsletter?

It takes effort. Sustained effort.

Between reading, selecting, writing, formatting and double-checking the final result - I estimate it takes about 15 hours a week to pull this thing together. In 2011 that totaled to over seventy 10-hour days. Or four straight months of regular work weeks.

Those numbers continue to amaze me. Amazing. But true.

Given that kind of commitment, and the fact that I am a full-time colorist, last year I decided I needed a way to gauge if enough subscribers found this Newsletter value-able enough for me to keep putting this much effort into it.

But how should I gauge the Tao Colorist's reader interest?

I finally settled on emulating PBS.

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is a free television network that is supported both by sponsors (thank you Flanders Scientific!) and the donations of its viewers. If you love a PBS show, the best way to be sure it stays on-air is to donate to PBS during the pledge drive at the time slot your favorite show is running.

It's a model that appeals to me.

Given the time and effort it takes to publish this newsletter, the only way for me to know if you, the reader, really thinks it's worth my while is to ask you (once a year) to support it in a tangible manner.

Tangible - as in cash subscription (or donation or whatever you want to call it). 

Hence, the 2nd Annual Tao Colorist Subscription Drive.

Unlike PBS, I don't offer rewards - like signed Yanni CDs - in return for your generous support. I don't have Irish step-dancers on-tap to interrupt your reading. But I do have a hyperlink. 

Below is a link that lets me know you really find this newsletter value-able. 

Clicking through and subscribing is how I know if I should keep going at the current quantity and quality of the Newsletter. If enough of you think it's worth my time - then I'll keep it going just as it has over the past two years.

And the suggested price? $29 smack-a-roos.

At fourty+ newsletters last year, we're talking less than 75 cents per issue. It's a friggin' steal.
  

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I also understand times are tough for many of us. 

If the cash subscription would be a hardship for you, in leiu of a monetary payment you can:
  • Or forward this newsletter to 3 of your color grading / finishing compatriots 
  • Or write a short blog post about the Newsletter encouraging people to read and subscribe at the the signup page
  • And if you REALLY dig this Newsletter, do a combination of all these things to really sing it to the world!
Thank you. Now, on to the Newsletter!

Sincerely,

Patrick Inhofer, Curator-In-Chief "The Tao Colorist Newsletter"


Our Craft

  • The Colorists: Understanding the Mysteries of DI - This is a 2005 article exploring the mysterious world of the Digital Intermediate Colorist. If you want to understand the history of digital image manipulation, this is a GREAT place to start. (CGSociety.org via Jim Wicks)
  • What's In A Name? - You've heard about the 'skin tone line' on a vectorscope, yes? Did you know that line's purpose has nothing to do with skin tones but is a legacy of analog video processing?

    This 'skin tone line', its name and the question of its usefulness in a digital world has been a source of controversy. At the center of the storm is Author and Colorist Alexis Van Hurkman and he's written a post supporting the I-Bar's inclusion in digital vectorscopes (its been disappearing from software packages).

    Personally, I understand where his critics are coming from... but I'm with Alexis on this - the I-bar has a place in modern digital vectorscopes, even if it's a distortion of its original purpose. Read his full post to get edumacated on the subject. (VanHurkman.com)
  • You Sunk My Battleship - A conversation with the DPs from Battleship. What I found most interesting was the discussion of how they handled the mixed color temperatures of all the different monitors and practical lights. Also interesting - how tightly they controlled their iris to a specific range. And then there's the final paragraph, with a universal truth facing all colorists. (ICGMagazine.com)
  • How To Color Grade Stereoscopic Footage - The title is more ambitious than the article. But the article does give a solid overview of many of the considerations when grading Stereo projects. (DigitalArtsOnline.co.uk)
  • [PDF] Case Study: Grading in 3D - This case study comes from 2008 and is a great interview with A-Level Colorist Jeff Olm. He talks about his first experience grading in 3D, the use of color to enhance story and the power of digital color grading. (pny.com via Jim Wicks)
  • [Video] Color Harmony - A 1938 film on the nature of vision and color. The narrative transition from talking about fish to talking about the human eye is quite humorous. And I'd love to know why these early educational films required the narrator to yell at us. But overall - a solid introduction to human perception and basic color theory. I suggest scrolling down and downloading the film... streaming is sloooowwwww.(Archive.org)
  • [Infographic] The Psychology of Color - An infographic with common emotions associated with Primary and Secondary colors. An evil twin of this infographic needs to be made with negative emotions. For instance: Green can represent Hope and Fertility. It can also represent Sickliness and Decay. (Visual.ly via @Jorge_Soto_Vigo)
  • Pictaculous: A Color Palette Generator - Upload an image, get back a matching color palette. (Pictaculous.com via Jim Wicks) 
 

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

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The LM-2461W is an affordable 24" color critical reference monitor featuring 10bit color depth, 3G/HD/SD-SDI Inputs, 12 onboard scopes, and DCI P3 support. All standard and all for just $4,995. 

Learn More About the LM-2461W

 

Our Tools

  • [iApp] DI Dictionary - From Company 3. Sound like a DI expert in no time. (itunes.apple.com)
  • Adobe SpeedGrade Webinar Notes - A nice summary by Notes On Video from an introductory webinar for SpeedGrade. (NotesOnVideo.blogspot.com)
  • SpeedGrade Portal: Help and Tutorials - Last month Adobe created a portal for SpeedGrade, consolidating the available tutorials and help files. (helpx.adobe.com)
  • DaVinci Resolve Training - Colorist (and Tao Newsletter contributor) Jim Wicks has a post rounding up the various training programs teaching DaVinci Resolve with a few comments about each. (JimWicks.com)
  • [Video] 5 Resolve Tips in 5 Minutes - iColorist Warren Eagles take us through five tips that he's distilled from his many training seminars. There are good ones in here. (Vimeo.com)
  • Intro To Grading in REDCine-X - Good overview. (Red.com)
  • [Video] REDCine-X Pro: Overview of the Looks Panel - Solid tutorial. And if you're always sweating over which REDGamma or RED Color Space to select - follow the suggestions in here. (Red.com)
  • [Forum] Technical Delivery Specs - From Discovery to PBS to Lifetime... the specs handed to post houses for delivering to those Networks. You'll need a Yahoo ID and become a member of the Avid-L2 list to access these files. It's well worth the hassle. Especially if you've never read one of these documents before. (movies.groups.yahoo.com)
  • [Forum] Testing A Studio Bulb for 6500k - Some tips on how to make sure your bulbs are actually 6500k. (CreativeCow.net)
  • A Cautionary Tale - Walter Biscardi painfully relates how his transition to Avid didn't work out as expected. The problem? He couldn't get his AAF exports to work, which would allow him to grade in DaVinci Resolve on a clip-by-clip basis. 

    I'd suggest there are two stories here: First, Avid has just begun learning how to open up its workflow and has many obstacles to overcome. Second, Resolve is such a great grading environment Walter would rather switch NLEs than give up his grading tool of choice.  (CreativeCow.net)

    Note: I've been successfully doing Avid roundtrips for several months now... but the workflow is dependent on converting to DNxHD before editing (when I finish up the television series I'm working on I'll share my own Avid war stories... and how you CAN survive and flourish).
  • [Video] Secondary Color Correction in FCPx - A beginner's tutorial on isolating and changing colors in FCPx using multiple color masks. (PremiumBeat.com via @FCPDaily)
  • How MacOS 10.4 Broke DaVinci Resolve 8.2beta - If you're running one of the 8.2beta builds and finding all sorts of problems, check your version of the Mac OS. Chance are you're running MacOS 10.7.4. If so, you need to update Resolve to 8.2beta3. To understand what happened, check out this pithy post. (CreativeCow.net)
  • Using Gestures to Edit with FCP X - A great tutorial on using an app, Better Touch Tool, to create custom gestures allowing you to never have to reach for the mouse. Colorists - check this out. I'm sure it'll give you some ideas. (fcp.co)

The Business

  • LightWorks Is Officially Released - And the Pro Version is available for purchase. It's only available on Windows. I've linked to their roadmap, which calls for Linux development before they port to the Mac OS. (lwks.com)
  • Laser Projectors: Cutting Through the Bureaucratic Red Tape - The biggest obstacle to implementing laser projectors for theatrical movies? Government restrictions on public lasers based on a single incident that no one can agree actually happened back in 1978. This post is a report from a recent screening of a prototype system and the Q&A that happened afterward. Very interesting write-up. (DigitalCinemaReport.com)
  • LucasFilm Names George Lucas' Successor - Lucas is getting ready to retire. I mention it here since Lucas was an early inspiration to me and many of my generation. (LATimes.com)
  • Creators Angry Over Take-Down by NBC, Jay Leno and YouTube - A cautionary tale... you post a video to YouTube. It goes viral and gets picked up by Jay Leno. NBC then claims copyright and gets the video taken down. You have no recourse since there's no one to contact at YouTube. Welcome to Big Media and the perversion of the U.S. copyright system. (ReelSEO.com)
  • Apple's 9.8% Tax Rate? Nonsense - This article is in response to a hogwash of a New York Times article accusing Apple of avoiding their 'fair share' of taxes. Here's the upshot: Taking the taxes paid in 2011 and claiming those taxes were paid for the totality of profits of 2011 is a dishonest shell game. Those taxes were paid at the rate of profits for 2010 - as most corporations pay their current taxes at the rate of last year's tax rate and then 'true up' after the fiscal year ends. This is business accounting 101 in the United States. I've got my problems with Apple. This isn't one of them. What was Apple's actual tax rate for FY 2010? And what's their estimate for FY2011? Click through to find out. (Forbes.com)     

Outside 'The Box'

  • Arri Alexa: Cool Rigs - Being a 100% post guy, I really love seeing these rigs. I especially love the Go-Pro style rig for the hockey player. K-Razy. (Cinescopophilia.com)
  • New FS100 Scene Files - From AbleCine. For readers of this Newsletter, take a look at the difference between the FS100 Standard scene profile and the AB_Range2 profile. Look at the model's forehead and the white bars in the test chart. That's the power of 'recording flat'. In my opinion unless you've got an top-notch, experienced DP most of the other profiles are just begging for color grading trouble. (blog.abelcine.com)
  • Rigging The Bird - Mark Spencer shows how to rig and animate in Apple Motion. Very nifty. (ProVideoCoalition.com)
  • [iApp] Slo-Pro: 60fps On Your iPhone 4S - This app doubles the frame rate and plays back at 30fps, result in some excellent slow motion video. Can only shoot at 720p. (LifeHacker.com)

Edumacate Yer'self

  • EditFest NY - Next weekend begins this annual celebration of the editorial crafts. They've got terrific talent on-hand. It's always a great day of discussions and networking. If you're in post-production and can make it to New York City next weekend - I highly recommend. (EditFest.com)
  • Smoke for Mac 2013: Pre-release Trial - Sign up now to be notified when you can download Smoke 2013 and provide feedback to the Autodesk team. (usa.autodesk.com)
  • Imagineer Intros Student Pricing for Mocha - Dang, I wish I had the time to learn Mocha. With or without the discounted pricing. (StudioDaily.com)
 
 
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
 JL Cooper Eclipse Avid Artist Color Tangent

Software: v2.7b2

 Mac: v2.6.2

Software: v3.8

HUB v1.0

Color Plug-in: v 1.0.5
 PC: v2.6.2
Firmware: v1.9

Updated:
March 12

 Updated: October 20 Updated: Feb. 7(ish)
 

Sunday Morning Fun(nies)

  • The Walking Dead: 1980's Style - A fantastic recreation of this hit zombie series show open... with a 1980's twist. Very funny. (YouTube.com)
  • Vessel: A Short Film - A terrific Kickstarter funded short film. It's a creature feature that's a mix between Alien and Body Snatchers. VFX are terrific. The creature is particularly well executed. The grading is solid. (Vimeo.com via Christophe Robledo)
  • Guinness World Records: The Tightest Parallel Parking Ever - Awesome drift of a Mini Cooper into a parking space just under 6 inches longer than the car itself. (YouTube.com via @robbiecarman)
  • Goal Celebration VFX - What happens when you put serious VFX tools in the hands of soccer/football fans? This is it. Viewed over 4.3 million times. (YouTube.com via @twainrichardson)
  • IMAX Loundspeakers - A visual demonstration on the single best reason to ever go see 'The IMAX Experience' version of a movie. (YouTube.com)
  • Every Line of Dialogue Rihanna Says in Battleship - "The Barbadian singer is wet for much of Battleship, her Navy uniform is uncommonly flattering, and the majority of her dialogue is composed of exclamations. It's a veritable master class in one-line utterances." (vulture.com)

Weekend Warriors

  • Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning - With the Northern Hemisphere entering beach & pool season, I'm getting a bit serious. This article could potentially save a life. Like the title says, no one drowns like they show in Hollywood movies. It's much quieter than that. Learn the signs. Maybe save a life. (MarioVittone.com)
  • DIY Triple Monitor Stand - If you don't look at this project with admiration, appreciation and a little bit of drool... you need to find a different career path. (LifeHacker.com)
  • Home Theater Calculator: Viewing Distance, Screening Size - For when(ever) that RED 4k laser projector is released. (CartonBale.com via @jasondiamond)

Gear Heads

  • DVDs and Blu-Rays Will Now Carry TWO Unskippable Warnings - Not because it'll stop piracy but for 'public education'. In other words... it's for your own good. As Bobby says on Supernatural, 'Idjits'. What's next? Telling us how big our sodas can be? Oh. Right. (ArsTechnica.com)
  • LG To Launch Consumer OLED Set in Europe - A 55" display, weighs 21 pounds, 4mm thick and priced at $8,000 Euro. (Hardmac.com)
  • Thunderbolt Cable Options Open Up - New 2- and 3- meter cables are available for purchase. (MacWorld.co.uk)
  • Activeyes: Intelligent 3D Eyeware - Works with both passive and active 3D displays. For the discerning 3d colorist. (activeyes.com via @robbiecarman)
  
Grade a short.          Go Beyond the Buttons.            Learn a Craft.

Color Grading MasterClass: DaVinci Resolve

Workflow + Technique + Interface Training

DaVinci Resolve, DaVinci Resolve Lite : Mac & Windows!
Also available: Colorista II | Apple Color | FCP 7
 

MacPro Madness

  • ProMax ONE 16-Core Tower: The Future of the MacPro? - Just how stale has the MacPro become? Read it and weep. (BareFeats.com)
  • MacPro Users Launch Online Petition - To pressure Apple into revealing the future of the MacPro. (HardMac.com)
  • iMacs to Replace MacPro, Moving Closer - A blog post detailing how were slowly moving to a world where the iMac might actually become a MacPro replacement. (BiscardiCreative.com)
  • Does the MacPro Have A Future? - Larry Jordan posts that Apple still isn't talking. And suggests it's time for Apple to come clean if they've decided to End Of Life the MacPro. (LarryJordan.biz)

Your Career

  • Thomas Edison's To-Do List - Literally. In his handwriting from early 1888. If you're prone to feelings of inferiority you might want to skip this item. It is one serious list of 'things doing and to be done'. (BrainPickings.com)
  • Worldliness - ". . . it's impossible to be smart without also being aware of the wider world. That's because it's the random interactions and the surprising coincidences that help us navigate our daily lives." A post about the value of being an expert in a hyper-connected generalist world. (SethGodin.typepad.com)
  • Skill Transformation - If you're good at one thing, there's something else you're almost certainly good at... and that something else may be where your real career opportunities lie. (ChrisGuillebeau.com)

Tweet Of The Week

"Here's one I wish I'd known six months ago: Don't agree to edit a feature shot on cell phones. #justdont"    (via @ProleArtThreat)
 

The Next Step Is A Doozy

  • SpaceX, Bigelow Announce Private Space Station - It's a low orbit station designed for tourists. They say it's an inflatable station... which makes me a bit nervous. I mean, how do you anchor it so when everyone's in their socks jumping up and down it doesn't start spinning out of control?? (ArsTechnica.com)

A Step Too Far

  • 3D It! - Take any website and give it Z-depth. Yup. Totally useless. Mildly interesting. Click through to see what I mean. After 30 seconds you'll feel like Chevy Chase at Mount Rushmore. (EdanKwan.com via @AllCreativeNY)

Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. Happy Grading!
  
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Curated + Edited by: Patrick Inhofer, photon-wrangler & founder, TaoOfColor.com
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