[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The Who Needs A Colorist Edition)

Published: Sun, 08/10/14

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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 CCVI                                                                              A TaoOfColor.com Publication

     Publisher: Pat Inhofer                                                            Managing Editor: Jim Wicks

From the Publisher

  • Are you in NYC this week?
  • I'll be manning the DaVinci Resolve booth at the Blackmagic Design event this Wednesday. 
  • If you visit, be sure to say hi and let me know you're a reader! I love meeting you all.
Reminder:
  • The Tao Newsletter is in its First Annual August Publishing Schedule.
  • In short: We're only publishing every other week until after Labor Day.
  • Have a great Sunday and see you in two weeks.

Happy Grading!
The Craft

  • [podcast] The Language of Color - Colorist Tom Parish poses a very interesting question: how do you communicate with other people creatively when it comes to color? Tom interviews Art Schmehling, Business Manager for X-Rite/Pantone. Click through to listen in. (tomparish.com)

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The Tools

  • [videos] How to be a DIT - editor Jonny Elwyn continues his blog series on how to be a Digital Imaging Technician. Click through for a detailed post with lots o'videos and info. (jonnyelwyn.co.uk)
  • [video] Who needs the colorist anymore? - researchers have created a new algorithm that changes the weather, time of day and other attributes of photos with a simple click. Check out the video demonstration and start feeling insecure about your job. (news.brown.edu via Gray Marshall)
  • Super High Quality Monochrome Images - "ClipToolz Monocle bypasses the [Color Filter Array of a RAW camera] by using only the luma-only values - and discarding the color values. This means there will be no color information for software to need to interpolate, and the end product is a clean monochrome [image] provided by the luma-sensitive pixels only." $9.95US. Windows only. (cliptoolz.com)
  • [update] DaVinci Resolve out of beta - Version 11 is now available for download. This latest version is Build 60. Link is directly to the Support site. (blackmagicdesign.com)
  • [video] Assimilate Scratch Dailies - doing Dailies with Scratch Lab v 8.1. Andrew Wahlquist from Local Hero Post in Santa Monica, CA, gives you a rundown of the new features in Scratch Lab and how they'll work for you if you're doing dailies.  (vimeo.com)
The Business

  • House of Cards - the Kevin Spacey/Netflix series is getting a lot of attention for its 4K post workflow. In this latest post, the head of Encore is interviewed about the post-production workflow to get the series ready to air.  (hdvideopro.com)
  • Hollywood buys film in bulk - "the agreement is likely to see studios commit to buying from Kodak in set quantities for upcoming years regardless of their plans to actually shoot movies in the format." It's one way to keep film being produced. (theverge.com)
  • Son of Hollywood buys film in bulk - Martin Scorsese issued a statement behind the rationale of finding a way to keep motion picture film prints from disappearing. (blogs.indiewire.com)
  • The Peril of 4K - Wes Anderson's DP, Barry Braverman, weighs in on the darker side of 4K. He poses the question: who's in control of the image? (redsharknews.com)
  • 4K Questions, Answered - you've got questions - they've got answers. The presenters from a live webinar on the future of 4K for content creators answer every question that was submitted. Click through for the answers. (provideocoalition.com)
Friends & Family

MixingLight.com is a companion membership website to TaoOfColor.com. Want to read a story listed here but not a MixingLIght member? A free 24-hour test drive is available.

  • When Color Management Fails -  Dealing with client revisions... when the client is basing their comments on real-world uncalibrated displays. (mixinglight.com)
  • [video] Resolve 11: Highlights and Shadows Controls - "we're taking a look at some great new controls in Resolve 11 called the highlight and shadow controls. They can be found under the color match tab in the new version and provide new creative options when it comes to setting and matching the contrast of your footage." (mixinglight.com)
  • [video] Shot Matching: The Importance Of Matching Skies - Like the title says. Why paying attention to your skies is so important when shot matching exterior images. (mixinglight.com)
Outside 'The Box'

  • [video] The Speed of Dark - pour yourself a cup of coffee and tune into this trippy off the wall brain teaser. What is the speed of dark? Click through to find out. (youtube.com)
  • [video] Walt Disney explains Photoshop - we've featured this before on the Newsletter. It just popped up in our feeds again and given we've relocated to Orlando... why not? check out this 1957 video of Walt Disney's 'MultiPlane' - think layers, and you've got the industrial-era Photoshop. (youtube.com)
  • Filmmaking, Piracy, and Me - this is a thought provoking blog post from a young indie filmmaker who made a movie worth stealing. And his advice on what he'll do different next time. (filmschoolrejects.com)
  • [video] Movies in your Brain - Walter Murch & Jon Favreau discuss the science behind the way we perceive movies. Murch offers more details on his well published idea that human eye blinks are actually a very natural cut point. Watch the discussion. (nofilmschool.com)
  • [video] Coil it Right - take 60 seconds and watch this video to learn how to properly coil your Macbook power cord. Did you know there was a weak link in the cord? You will after you click through to watch. (youtube.com)
Edumacate Yer'self

  • Blackmagic Design Day - Register to attend. New York City. August 13th. Your humble Tao Newsletter editor will be manning the Resolve station in NYC. If you drop in, say hi and let me know you're a reader! (blackmagicdesign.com)
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
JL Cooper Eclipse: Software v2.9.9 | Updated February 24, 2013

Tangent Design: HUB v1.1.7 | Wave Firmware v1.12 | Updated July'ish 2014

Avid Artist Color: Mac v3.1.3 | Win v3.1.3 | Updated June 30, 2014
Sunday Morning Fun(nies)

  • [video] How To Make A Latex Batman Mask From Scratch - Sounds fun, right? (filmmakeriq.com)
  • Pop Culture Heroes Join Neighborhood Watch - Or so one renegade artist wants you to believe. (laughingsquid.com)
  • Is Belgium's Blue Forest really blue? - Answers after the click. (mymodernmet.com)
  • 50 Creative Ways To Repurpose, Reuse and Upcycle Old Things - Upcycling. Interesting word. Check out numbers 1, 5 and 45 for a good laugh. Huge shoutout to the blog for not making us click through 50 pages. (twistedsifter.com)
Getting Ahead

  • Build your career the Pixar way - Pixar has pumped out hit after of quirky original cartoon hit. How do they do it? Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar, shares how his business encourages creativity through two words: serendipitous collisions. Find out what it is and you can make it work for you. (hbr.org)
  • The Power of Two - no man (or woman) is an island. Collaboration is key. One of the most brilliant creative pairings is the famous partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Click through to learn how opposites can not only attract but also create magic. (theatlantic.com)
  • Headphones and the bottom line - yes, headphones help block out the world and focus, sure. But like anything else, moderation is key. Click through to learn how to stay connected and stimulated. The key is headphones could be shortening your career. (wired.co.uk)
  • Ping-Pong Date Setting - you want to meet. They propose a time. You counter. Before you know it, it's been a few days and even more emails. Avoid email ping pong with an 'if-then' statement. (timemanagementninja.com)

    Is it time to turn color correction into skill set you can sell?


    Remastering Mother Died:
    A Color Correction Home Study


    => Download a short film (shot on RED, 5K, 5:1)

    => Grade Along with TaoOfColor founder Patrick Inhofer

    => Send Patrick your work, he'll evaluate it as your Senior Colorist


    Click for full details

    Showcase

    • [video] Matchmaker - check out this short film from cinematographer Sean Aquilina. Sean emailed us with the details: "We shot this on the canon c300." Colorist Nicolai Aquilina had some challenges. Says Sean: Nicolai had to pick certain colors so there was some intense rotoscoping involved." Color graded on DaVinci Resolve. (vimeo.com)
    The Next Step Is a Doozy

    • [video] Psychic Phenomena or Not? - this Illusionist will eventually guess your card - we promise. But you have to watch to the end. (youtube.com)
    A Step Too Far?

    • [video] Duct Tape + GoPro + Tire - You may want to sit down for this one.  (vimeo.com)

    Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you in two weeks. 

    Happy Grading!
      
    6,750+ Stories Now Shared

    The Book Shelf
    • Color Correction Handbook, Updated - Alexis Van Hurkman has updated his Color Correction Handbook, which has set the standard for learning all things color correction. (amazon.com)
    • Color Correction Look Book - This is the second part of the Color Correction Handbook, exploring the creative techniques for over 200 different visual looks. A sort-of recipe book for colorists. (amazon.com) 
    • The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction - Read how a dozen different colorists grade the same footage with the same gear, differently. A fantastic approach to learning the craft of color grading by Steve Hullfish. (amazon.com)
    • Autodesk Smoke Essentials - Walk through grading a short sci-fi film (with downloadable ProRes4444 source material) while learning the ultimate online finishing app...  Autodesk Smoke. (amazon.com)
    • Color Grading with Avid and Symphony - Written for version 6. Fully applicable to version 7. I was a contributor. (amazon.com)
    • Adobe Speedgrade CC: Classroom in a Book - A solid book for a solid grading app. (amazon.com)
    • Digital Cinematography: Fundamentals, Tools, Techniques and Workflows - Don't let the title fool you. I'm only a third way through this book and its explanations of how digital images are recorded, sampled and viewed is essential knowledge for anyone who's craft intersects with digital images. Not light reading. But not filled with math either. I highly recommend this book. (amazon.com)
      Have a book you think should be in this list? Reply to this email and let me know!

      FCC Disclaimer: Links in this email to Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or ToolFarm.com are Affiliate links that help support the TaoOfColor.com. FSI and SpectraCal are paid sponsors and BlackMagic Design is a current client. We thank you for your support.

      Patrick Inhofer
      Published by:
      Patrick Inhofer: Photon-Wrangler, Fini.tv | TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com
      patrick@taoofcolor.com