[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The Treasure Hunt! Edition)

Published: Sun, 02/17/13

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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 CXX                                                           Brought to you by: Tao of Color.com

Editor's Note: How about some fun today? I've got myself a copy of 'Color Grading with Media Composer and Symphony 6', to which I contributed. Today you can win that copy by participating in a little treasure hunt!

All you have to be is the first person to reply to this email with the name of the story in today's Newsletter that contains the words 'Uncanny Valley' within the story itself. One entry per subscriber. One headline per entry. Good luck! Once someone wins I'll announce it in my Twitter feed (and next week's newsletter). Free shipping.

The Craft

  • Visualizing 'Django Unchained' - A good article about DP Robert Richardson and his challenge of getting the right colors for Django Unchained. (carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com)
  • The New 4K: Different from the Old 4K - An extensive post by Art Adams on 4K and how it's changing the way he shoots. He talks extensively about paying attention to and controlling how the eye moves across a frame. Great insights are in here that colorists can use. (provideocoalition.com)
  • [Video] Taking Control: Grading Dailies - A promo piece from Assimilate on DP Paul Cameron. I've put it up here in The Craft because I like how Paul wants to insure he doesn't deliver ungraded dailies and make sure the colorist gets the image data he intends. A philosophy for any grading system. (vimeo.com via @Noctylux)
  • Contrast is King: Part 1 - A really strong article on the power of contrast, how to understand it and how to use it. (aaronwilliams.tv)
  • Using Color Temp to Create Depth and Dimension with your HD Video - This article has been very popular in the blogosphere. With good reason - it's about a DP embracing the color casts of man-made light sources. (hurlbutvisuals.com via David E. Bell)
  • Demystifying color bit depth, dynamic range and linear/logarithmic scales - Occasional blogger Rich Lackey tackles a fundamental question about the Digital Intermediate process. (dcinema.wordpress.com)
  • The Hidden Colors: Practical Color Theory for Photography and Post Production - I'll be buying this eBook this weekend. It looks interesting. I'll report back what I find but I thought I'd share now first. (grygarness.com via Marcin Zwolski)
 

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

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The Tools

  • The Beauty of ACES - The uncredited writer of this blog explains the tortuous road of working within the ACES colorspace during a time when the standard is still being codified and manufacturer support is - not surprisingly - sketchy. Why go through the trouble? They love the results. (mytherapy.tv via @post_vfx)
  • [Podcast] Power to Create: Interview with Robbie Carman - A MixingLight co-founder and full-time colorist is interviewed in Richard Harrington's newest podcast series. (powertocreatetv.com)
  • [Forum] Gamma Issues: SpeedGrade and Premiere Pro - If you're having issues with the gamma not matching between SpeedGrade and Premiere Pro, then check out Post #5 in this thread from RedUser. (reduser.net)
  • Canon Cinema RAW Development Software - Ingest, play and export Canon RAW files. Includes several 'power user' features. (blog.abelcine.com)
  • DaVinci Resolve Workflows - Oliver Peters covers several common codecs and workflows for getting your footage into and out of Resolve. (digitalfilms.wordpress.com)
  • Film Print emulation LUTs for download - Looking for LUTs that emulate film stocks? This post contains 4 free LUTs for download. Plus an explanation of what they do and limitations. (juanmelara.com.au via @post_vfx

The Business

  • SKYFALL Earns Top Honors from Cinematographers - Plus the list of other winners. Congrats to all. (secure.campaigner.com)
  • Bad Visual Effect Business Practices - "Wal-Mart can ask their vendors to sell to them at lower prices because they're buying thousands or millions. If the vendor is making some profit on each product and they have a guaranteed order for a large quantity then it makes sense. A visual effects company cannot make it up in volume." Super-long article. Very interesting. But first, freshen up that cup of coffee. (effectscorner.blogspot.com via @alexm13) 
  • How to make money by violating EULAs - A popular plug-in filter and template company (motionFX) catches a competitor (Pixel Film Studios) repackaging their work and re-releasing it 48 hours later... at half the price. (motionvfx.com via @DanMoranColor)
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook: OLED color saturation and brightness don't measure up - He's explaining why Apple isn't using OLEDs. I have no doubt Tim Cook will hold to this opinion, until he doesn't. (9to5mac.com)
  • Don't worry about Apple's business, worry about its products - An article urging the Mac-believers to stop worrying about patents suits and rumors... and instead focus on what Apple is actually delivering (or not delivering). (macworld.co.uk)
  • Inside Aereo: Inside the tech that's changing how we watch TV - Well, Aereo would like to think they're changing how we watch TV. An inside look at a company that's trying to break us free from our cable boxes. (gigaom.com)

Outside 'The Box'

  • Stupid, Stupid XBox - Want to feel good about the post business? Read about trying to be an indie developer for the XBox platform. Apparently, it's an extinct breed. (ilikecode.wordpress.com)

Edumacate Yer'self

  • Mobile Systems Training - Light Iron is starting a series of educational programs on Mobile Post. First, you have to take their online course then you can sign up for in-person training; which begins Saturday Feb 23. Free. (LightIron.com)
  • How to Light Faces: Hard Light, Soft Light and Damage Control - Los Angeles, March 2, 2013 (training.abelcine.com)
  • Advanced to Digital Compositing with NUKE - May 9 - 11,  2013, Singapore (media-asylum.com)     
 
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
 JL Cooper Eclipse Avid Artist Color Tangent

Software: v2.9.3

 Mac: v2.6.2

Color: v3.8

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

Updated:
Jan. 2

 Updated: October 20, 2011 Updated: Feb. 7, 2012
 

Sunday Morning Fun(nies)

  • Colorist Valentine's Day Cartoon - Cute. (@rosshamil)
  • [Video] In Defense of Comic Sans - More fun than funny. A passionate and educational defense of Comic Sans, a short history of how it was created, its place in our world and the likely underpinnings of why so many people hate it. (filmmakeriq.com)
  • When is the last time you saw one of these? - It's been awhile for me. Even longer since I've seen one running. (instagram.com via @robsbessette)
  • Overheard in the Grading Room: 2003 vs 2013 - My oh my, how times have changed! (icolorist.com via @JimWicks)
  • [Video] Meteor Video Friday: Russia's Video Capabilities are Amazing - Lucky for us Russians seem fond of dashboard cameras. I recommend scrolling down to the very last video and playing that one down. Be patient. It's worth it. Consider... that guy was at least 45 miles from the meteor blast... (reelseo.com)
  • DSLR Lamp - I don't know about the Paparazzi bit... but this is one nifty lamp for the photographers reading this newsletter. (neatorama.com via @ilovehue)

Weekend Warriors

  • THX tune up App for iOS - In the US it's almost time to reset our clocks... and that means it's almost time to recalibrate your home theater setup. (thx.com)
  • Build a DIY Portable Light from Glowsticks - For Go-Anywhere Low Light Photography (lifehacker.com)

Gear Heads

  • Want to build a high end PC for Color Correction? - Not a Hackintosh but a home-built Windows Resolve rig. I have no idea how well it works, so buyer beware and be sure to cross-check with DaVinci's PC Configuration Guide. (blog.yegfilm.ca)
  • Could Apple unleash an update that breaks third-party unauthorized Lightning Cables? - It's a bizarre thought, that software can disable a brand of cable it doesn't like. (9to5mac.com)     
 
Put a stop to your color correction confusion...

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New Kid on the Block

  • Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera: RAW Workflows - A roundup of posts and videos related to the subject. Regular readers of this Newsletter will have seen these already. (premiumbeat.com)

Your Career

  • Nine ways Successful People defeat Stress - Useful advice in here. (blogs.hbr.org)
  • How to Master a New Skill - Several of these I can get behind including: Teach It To Others. (blogs.hbr.org)
  • Behance - If you're looking to set up a Portfolio website but don't want to be bothered with maintaining one. (splicevine.com)

Tweets of the Week

If everyone is distracted in your grading session just say "ok time to lay off". Everyone wakes up instantly @Davehussey

The Next Step is a Doozy

  • $82M Expansion at San Jose Airport, for Google Execs - NICE! After that... a Spaceport. (mashable.com via alexm13)

A Step Too Far?

  • Tesla, NY Times trade shots over cold weather test drive - Tesla claims an anti-electric car scribe purposely bricked their car during a test drive for the New York Times. The scribe says he was just doing what Tesla employees told him to do - and they often contradicted each other. Click through for all the sordid details. (ArsTechnica.com)

  

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