[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (Back to Basics Edition)
Published: Sun, 10/14/12
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The Tao Colorist
for professional Video / Film Colorists & Finishers. Delivered Sunday.
Issue CVII Brought to you by: Tao of Color.com
Editor's Note: This is a shortened edition of the Tao Colorist newsletter. But I think there's still plenty in here to get you through two cups of coffee (or 2 pints of beer... depending on your time zone). Once my newest training launches at the end of this month I'll resume the full-length newsletter. I appreciate your understanding!
How to have a bloody good time learning DaVinci Resolve 9!
Dead Man's Lake: The Grade-Along
Click the link to watch a preview of this NEW training.
- AND -
How you can get a discount when we launch later this month.
The Craft
- Color Theory Basics - Hey... I figure after a 2-week break from this Newsletter we could all use a little refresher, right? (indezine.com via @JimWicks)
- How Color Works: A Quick Lesson - A nifty short video on how a lighting designer thinks about color. (cinescopophilia.com)
- Becoming A Colorist: A Preview - An excerpt from a documentary on color grading & finishing. This clip is from an interview with colorist James Wicks. (ColorAndFinish.com via NotesOnVideo.blogspot.com)
- Color Grading Frankenweenie - A good article with colorist Rob Pizzey on the work he did for this Tim Burton animated film. It's always interesting to read how directors interact with their colorists. (StudioDaily.com)
- Restoring Lawrence of Arabia - A good write-up on the 4k restoration process of this classic film for its 50th Anniversary. It was restored on Baselight 8 in a 4k theater by colorist Scott Ostrowsky. (magazine.CreativeCow.net via @ccrask)
- [Forum] Super Saturated 'Velvia' Look - Velvia is a Fuji film stock known for it's crisp sharpness and intensely saturated images. It's Wikipedia page is an interesting read itself. In this forum thread Josh Petok offers a Resolve node tree to emulate this look. A few posts down an alternative method is suggested. Download the .drx source image and give it a try yourself. (LiftGammaGain.com)
The Tools
- [Video] Scratch 7: New Viewer Features - A quick video showing some nice features in their new enhanced Viewer. (Vimeo.com)
- Getting Started with the BlackMagic Camera Raw - In DaVinci Resolve 9. Presented by Colorist Dan Moran. (PhilipBloom.net via NotesOnVideo.blogspot.com)
- [Podcast] Coloristos #6: Video Scopes (coloristos.podmatic.com via @jasonmyres)
- Improved chromaticity and luminance measurements using a tristimulus colorimeter - "A new calibration technique for improving the accuracy of chromaticity and luminance values obtained from a tristimulus colorimeter has been developed. Matrix manipulations similar to ASTM standard practice E 1455 are applied with a goal of minimizing the errors in x, y, and Y measurement, rather than those of the tristimulus values X, Y, Z."
A part of me wishes I knew precisely what that paragraph means. A part of me is relieved that I don't. If you grok it then you'll probably enjoy clicking through to the paper. (Gamma-sci.com via @IAmColorist)
- Update: DNG Specification - Adobe provides a summary of the latest revisions to the Cinema DNG spec. And here's the link to a PDF download of the full specification. (blogs.adobe.com via @Noctylux)
- [PDF] Quantel White Paper: Introduction to ACES - An easy to read paper on ACES and Quantel's support of this emerging standard. (Quantel.com)
- Adobe Extends 40% Discount On Creative Cloud - Until June 2013. I took advantage of this. Worth it. (NoFilmSchool.com)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Tao of Color's Official LCD Reference Monitors
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Learn More About the LM-2461W
The Business
- Using Analytics to Predict Hollywood Blockbusters - It's all about metrics. (blogs.hbr.com)
- The Year Movie Posters Turned Gray - With sampled color palettes from this year's movies. (ColourLovers.com)
- Arri Changes Ownership - As I read it, it looks like the company is passing from one generation to the next. (Arri.com)
- YouTube Adds More Original Content Channels - Including funding the full production costs for some projects. (PaidContent.org)
- Digital Disaster at New York Film Festival - An account of how DCP encryption cancelled an afternoon screening of Brian De Palma's Passion... with Brian De Palma in attendance. At Lincoln Center. (Popdose.com)
Outside 'The Box'
- An Introduction to HDR Photography (FilmmakerIQ.com)
- Review: The Padcaster and Lenscaster - For mounting your iPad onto a tripod. I used a prototype of this at NAB earlier this year. Worked great. The creator is a good friend of the Tao. (ProVideoCoalition.com)
- Video Game Narrative - How video games have evolved using powerful storytelling techniques. (MikeJones.tv)
- Corporate Portrait Primer - Nifty tutorial on shooting stills for corporate head shots. (Strobist.blogspot.com)
Edumacate Yerself
- S3D Campus - You've got 5 days left to get in your resume and cover letter to attend this hands-on eight-day training camp for stereoscoping filmmaking. Sponsored by the European Union's MEDIA program. (Stereoscopy.com)
- Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures - Like color grading, this is another one of the crafts that is not very well understood. Looks like a good book. (SpliceVine.com)
- The Advance of 4K Pro Monitors - Brought to you by SMPTE New York. This Wednesday evening. I wish I could attend. (SMPTE.org)
- Training Events: Abel Cine New York & Los Angeles - For the shooters on this list, they've got a good lineup of upcoming classes. (training.abelcine.com)
JL Cooper Eclipse | Avid Artist Color | Tangent |
Software: v2.8 |
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: |
Updated: October 20, 2011 | Updated: Feb. 7(ish) |
Sunday Morning Fun(nies)
- For Sale: Original Movie Prop from Gremlins 2 - Hurry! Only 1 left in stock! (Amazon.com)
- Thirsty Work: How Long Does It Take to Afford A Beer - The only way to rank the salaries between countries. (economist.com)
- Downhill Skateboarder Hits Deer - The perfect marriage between YouTube and GoPro. (Kottke.org)
- Our Buggy Moral Code - Why do people cheat? How can you reduce cheating? And the power of group-think. Very interesting for content creators. (TED.com)
- [Halloween] Freak Your Friends with iRemote Control Bugs - This just ain't playing fair. (9to5Mac.com)
- [Video] LEGO Dr. Strangelove - One of my favorite movies... in LEGO-vision? I can't wait until Sunday Morning to sit down and watch this thing! (FilmmakerIQ.com)
- Apple Maps App Wreaks Havoc with New York Magazine Cover - Cute parody from MAD Magazine. (MadMagazine.com)
- How to Dress Up Your Dog for Halloween (UberHumor.com)
- Cinerama, the Forgotten Future of Cinema - An early IMAX-type format that died an early death. (TheVerge.com via @post_vfx)
Beyond the Interface. Learn Technique. Includes: Resolve 9*
Color Grading MasterClass: DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve, DaVinci Resolve Lite : Mac & Windows!
Also available: Colorista II | Apple Color | FCP 7
*Resolve 9 training is currently being rolled out
New Kid on the Block
- [Video] RED Meizler Module - This thing is cool. Including sending HD-SDI wirelessly. Plus, of course, it has a tricked-out iPad app. (Red.com)
Next Step Is A Doozy
- 100,000 DPI Full-Color Printing - Using nanometer-sized structures. By comparison, today's color inkjet printers offer about 10,000 DPI. (ScienceAlert.com.au via David Bell)
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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