[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The Compositing Edition)

Published: Sun, 12/02/12

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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 CXII                                                           Brought to you by: Tao of Color.com

Editor's Note: We've had a slew of new sign-ups to the Tao Colorist Newsletter the past few weeks. Welcome to you all! And thanks for signing up.

This week we've got some gift-buying links at the end of the Newsletter, be sure to check them out. And don't forget to peruse our new color correction training package, Dead Man's Lake: The Grade Along; not only will it help you learn DaVinci Resolve, it'll teach core skills to anyone who wants to get good at color grading.

The Craft

  • [Video] The Masters of Compositing - Brew a full pot of coffee because you're about to watch the pioneers of visual effects talk about the start of the most recent age of compositing and visual effects. Killer, killer stuff in here. In all, over 90 minutes of interviews. Recorded by Jeff Foster, author of 'The Greenscreen Handbook'. (cinefotografiando.blogspot.com via Jorge_Soto_Vigo)
  • Mike Kelly's Leap of Faith - A great article about creative growth and its non-linear trajectory. Told from the perspective of a still photographer. He decided to create the portfolio of work he wanted to do (as opposed to what he previously been hired to do). (strobist.blogspot.com)
  • The On-set Workflow of 'Hitchcock' - Terrifically in-depth exploration of this RED-originated feature film. (fxguide.com via @JimWicks)
  • An Ode to the Colorist or Finisher! - Nice. And in my circles, the Online Finisher is frequently the Colorist. (philiphodgetts.com)
  • Understanding Colour: Colour Gamuts - RGB and YUV? Not color gamuts. Read this to understand the difference. (redsharknews.com)
  • [Video] The Impact of 12-bit RAW - This is both a blog post and a full-on demo video showing how much more latitude 12-bit RAW provides us in post production than any 8-bit recording can hope to achieve. Really nicely done! (OneRiverMedia.com)

The Tools

  • [Video] Sky Replacements with DaVinci Resolve 9 - How badly do Resolve colorists want basic compositing tools in this app? Colorist Josh Petok shows how badly. It's an interesting technique. Every time I do something like this in Resolve it feels like a hack... but I'm glad they've built this functionality into Resolve 9. (vimeo.com)
  • [PDF] DaVinci Resolve Keyboard Shortcuts - Recently updated. Includes the five different keyboard layouts, menu item by menu item: Resolve 8, Resolve 9, FCP X, Media Composer, Premiere Pro. (blackmagicdesign.com)
  • [DaVinci Resolve] Dailies Workflow with LiveGrade - "This article shows how color information from LiveGrade can be used to save extra grading time in Resolve by using the looks created in LiveGrade."  (kb.pomfort.com)
  • [DaVinci Resolve] RED R3D Grading Workflows - Relinking back to the original R3D files (not working off the ProRes proxies) is the key to success in this workflow. I wholeheartedly agree. (NinoFilm.net)
  • [Adobe SpeedGrade] Applying Looks Across Multiple Clips - Using Grading Tracks. (blogs.adobe.com)
  • Technicolor Releases $99 CineStyle Color Assist app - This blog post includes embeds of several official Technicolor videos showing how it works. I especially enjoy the *outrage* in the comments. (FCP.co)
  • [Premiere Pro] Technicolor CineStyle Color Assist Tutorial - Nice integration between Technicolor's CineStyle Color Assist app and Premiere. Overall, it should look familiar to anyone who has used Magic Bullet Looks but with some nice features of their own. (blog.vincentlaforet.com via David Bell)
  • [Premiere Pro] How to Create a Vignette - 'Cause a colorist who can't create a vignette is like an Italian chef who can't cook a red sauce... you can be one without knowing how to do the other. (Vimeo.com)
  • [White Paper] RED Workflows with Final Cut Pro X - With its enhanced support for RED, Apple has released this new White Paper. Click through for a summary of the highlights. (fcp.co)

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

Tao of Color's Official LCD Reference Monitors

Flanders Scientific Broadcast Monitors

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

 

The Business

  • 5 Awesome Production and Post-Production Online Newsletters - A huge shout-out to Premium Beat for including this Newsletter (in the #2 spot :-) on their list. And it's no mistake that I subscribe to the others listed. And here's a new newsletter that's starting to get my attention: RedSharkNews.com. (PremiumBeat.com)
  • Blackmagic: How to Handle Difficult PR - A pithy wrap-up of the cause of shipping delays for their new Cinema Camera. And how they've handled the PR mess of missing the shipping deadline so completely. (RedSharkNews.com)
  • Disney to shutter online movie store, website - DVD and Blu-Ray sales are down. But Disney's online service only allowed streaming to web browsers. People just weren't buying. (cedmagazine.com)
  • Disney Online Movies' Demise is Another blow Transactional VOD and Digital Lockers - In this article, Disney's decision reflects wariness of consumers to do anything more than temporarily rent content - rather than buy to own. There are some interesting numbers in here, including the shift of market share away from iTunes and towards Netflix. (videonuze.com)
  • How You Could Already be Making Money on Vimeo - I'm still not sure I understand this model... but I'm sure Vimeo will clear up the murky areas in the near future. (nofilmschool.com)
  • Vimeo Pay-to-View Coming to PRO Members in 2013, Private Beta Rolling Out Today - This model is much simpler to understand. Notice - it's for PRO (not Plus) members. (nofilmschool.com)
  • The State of International Sales for Independent Films - Home video revenue is shrinking, DVDs are becoming marginal, broadcasters are multiplying, license fees are shrinking... this is what one subset of our clients are facing. (TheFilmCollaborative.org via @cinemakinoeye)
  • Digital Cinema Financing Cheat Sheet - It's a PDF that answers questions to exhibitors about the costs of 'going digital'. Interesting to see how digital projectors are being partially financed by the studios to encourage (force?) adoption of digital cinema. (digitalcinemabuyersguide.com)

Outside 'The Box'

  • [Video] IMAX Tour - A behind-the-scenes at IMAX's Toronto headquarters. Including a look at their prototype laser projector. (youtube.com)
  • EDITING with Avid Artist Color and Media Composer - An editor makes an interesting discovery about using the Artist Color as a control surface for *editing* functions - that totally sells him on the panel. My experience of using it during color grading... let's just say I'm not so enthusiastic - but I haven't tried it in 6.5 yet. (TheFilmBakery.com)

Edumacate Yer'self

  • Color Grading with Avid Media Composer and Symphony 6 - Seeing as I am a contributor to this book, I really need to start talking about it more. It really is a great way to learn how to color correct using the Avid toolset. And it includes techniques using tools like Animatte and the Symphony upgrades (which are significant). (Amazon.com)
  • POV Hackathon 2 -  Deadline is Dec. 5 for filmmakers who want to collaborate with computer programmers in the genre of nonfiction storytelling. (pbs.org via @cinemakinoeye)
  • [Review] Two Great New Training Resources for DaVinci Resolve 9 Now Available - A write-up of both Alexis Van Hurkman's and the Tao of Color's new training titles. Alexis' focuses on Resolve 9 while the Tao's focuses on workflow and craft (while using Resolve 9). Both get the job done! (ProVideoCoalition.com)
  • New Training for DaVinci Resolve 9 - Alexis Van Hurkman musing upon his new Resolve training title. (vanhurkman.com)
  • Misha Antonich: The Fundamentals of Post-Production - SpliceVine's November guest victim blogger spends 4 weeks discussing the fundamentals. (splicevine.com)
 
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
 JL Cooper Eclipse Avid Artist Color Tangent

Software: v2.9.1

 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:
Sept. 11

 Updated: October 20, 2011 Updated: Feb. 7(ish)
 

Sunday Morning Fun(nies)

  • How to pick up a girl at the gym - Yeah. It's silly. (youtube.com via @twainrichardson)
  • The 9 Most Scathing Critical Responses to "Red Dawn" - I'm happy to point this out here since as a teenager I very much enjoyed kicking Soviet butt in the original movie. It's a narrative from another time, another place and - apparently - poorly adapted. Or acted. Or written. (movieline.com via @stevensantos)
  • The Official Color of #postdontstop Day - Which apparently is December 5, 2012. And since this blog post is talking color, it gets a mention in this newsletter. (firehawkmediaworks.tumblr.com via @predimator)
  • Freaky Realistic Optical Illusions - Like the title says. (kottke.org)
  • Determined Cat - Ah... you gotta see this to believe it. And even then, unless you're a cat owner you may not believe it. I was cracking up. (youtube.com)

Weekend Warriors

  • Hack a Dead PC Power Supply into a Rechargeable Lantern - Via the Tao Treasurer who has taken a renewed interest in such things after Hurricane Sandy. (lifehacker.com) 

Gear Heads

  • Is the Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini Monitor Competition to AJA's T-TAP? - A nice chart that lays out the differences between the two sub-$300 mini-converters. (provideocoalition.com)
  • Bluefish 444: High quality Synapse Signal Converter - They're getting into the converter box business with a focus on uncompressed workflows. (bluefish444.com)
  • I feel the need for Rendering Speed (or Why I love my GPU) - Jim Tierney tests the new version of Beauty Box on two GPUs and gets 600% - 800% faster render times than rendering from the CPU. (anarchyjim.digitalanarchy.com)
  • FireWire's demise: Here's how to cope - This article outlines one big limitation if you want to use a Firewire-to-USB 3 convertor to connect your legacy Firewire gear to new MacBook Pros. And it really gives pro users another reason to wonder if Cupertino is spending too much time measuring for curtains in their new mothership? (macworld.com via Notes On Video) 
  • Shootout: 13" vs. 15" Retina MacBook Pro - Decisions, decisions, decisions. (BareFeats.com)
  • 2012 Quad-Core Mac Mini vs. 2012 Quad-Core iMac - Don't all the 'i's and 'm's make your head spin? (BareFeats.com)
  • iMac Late 2012: A First Look for Video Professionals - Includes a look at how beefy you can build-to-order the new iMac. (ProVideoCoalition.com)
  • Buying Advice: The 'Late 2012' iMac - A round up of Frequently Asked Questions including, 'Should I buy this iMac to replace my MacPro? Or wait for the rumored 2013 MacPro?' (BareFeats.com)
  • Are the New iMacs Good Enough for Video Editing? - Larry Jordan answers this question before suggesting it's the wrong question to be asking. (PostMagazine.com)    
 
Have a bloody good time learning DaVinci Resolve 9!

Click to Learn About:

Dead Man's Lake: The Grade-Along

Featuring:
ARRI Alexa ProRes444 originated short film,
LUTs & Grading Log Footage, Roundtrip Workflows, 
Creating Looks, Film Grain, Personal Critiques,
DaVinci Resolve 9, iPad compatible

Beyond Software Training: Color Correction Training!

 

New Kid on the Block

  • Blackmagic Cinema Camera post workflows - Oliver Peters is impressed at how this camera is designed to fit into existing workflows - rather than forcing us to shoehorn new workflows. (digitalfilms.wordpress.com)
  • FXFactory 4 - The first version of their visual effects software that supports Adobe Premiere Pro. (noiseindustries.com)
  • Canon C500 is Shipping - But Canon's RAW Implementation is unlike any you've seen before. Oh, and did they mention... 1 Terabyte of storage per hour of footage? (nofilmschool.com)
  • Why you should upgrade to FCPX v10.0.6 - An article that reinforces my personal belief that Apple's huge fail in rolling out FCPx was that it killed FCP 7 immediately, rather than an overlapping launch that allowed FCPx to catch up on its core feature set. (definitionmagazine.com)

Career

  • Can't Stand a Co-Worker? 3 tips to keep your office nemesis from throwing you off your game. (inc.com)
  • How to Find what you're not looking for - Be prepared for the chance or accidental discovery when brainstorming for ideas. (creativitypost.com)
  • If you want to get paid for your freelance work... - "Scarcity is a great thing for those that possess something that's scarce. But when scarcity goes away, you'll need more than that." (sethgodin.typepad.com via @jimwicks)
  • How to determine your Day Rate - Yup. This is pretty much the perfect formula. (ryanewalters.com via jimwicks)

Tweet of the Week

"You know you work in advertising when your co-workers refer to your 9 hour day as a 'half day'" @kylewdbrock

The Next Step is a Doozy

  • This Printer Creates 3D Tissue to Re-Grow Cartilage - K-razy! (Mashable.com)

A Step Too Far

  • How to jump Apple's customer service queue: Swear - Rewarding bad behavior. Although it may result in even longer wait times for the foul-mouthed customer. (macworld.co.uk)

Holiday Ideas

  • The 2012 Cord Cutters gift guide for cable-free holidays - (gigaom.com)
  • Mophie JuicePack Powerstation: Fast volume charging for iDevices - Any device. Any time. (arstechnica.com)
  • Color Grading with Avid Media Composer and Symphony 6 - Didn't I say I'd start talking about this book some more? Makes a great holiday gift for an Avid editor who needs to expand their skill set! (Amazon.com)
  • [Holiday Buying Guide] Best TVs for picture quality at every size - CNET collects the best-performing flat-panel TVs at sizes from 32 to 65 inches among models they've reviewed. (reviews.cnet.com)
 

Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. Happy Grading!
  
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