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Shiny things
What is it about shiny things that we can't resist?
Let's take the latest Mac Operating System... 10.11 El Capitan. Forums today are littered with 'pros' who 'make a living' using Adobe, FCPX or Resolve
systems—kicking and screaming that updating to El Capitan within two weeks of its release has crippled some vital software feature they use every day.
If you are addicted to shiny things . . .
. . . if your personality dictates you must update your iPhone, Xbox, Android and refrigerator firmware on Day 1—and you're updating to El Capitan, at least follow this
advice: - When updating to a new Operating System on a production rig, do NOT update your current boot drive. Just don't do it.
- Do a brand-new fresh install on a secondary drive.
- Slowly start installing your production software and 3rd party plug-ins. Fresh. From scratch. Yes. It's annoying. But you'll get the most stable version installation possible.
One day, if everything goes smoothly, you'll find yourself working full-time in the new
OS. And if things crash and burn, you've can get back up-and-running in minutes. Literally.
Enjoy today's Newsletter
We'll see you next week.
Happy Grading! |
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- Sharpen Your Ability to Judge Color Tone and Value - a good post written for the painter-artist: "How an artist can benefit from the use of a limited palette for a better understanding of color theory and
practice." Includes the answer to what color does gray looks like when placed against orange? (artistdaily.com)
- [video] Conquering Color Correction - still photographer Andy Van den Eynde, shooting on location, works to get his looks in camera. He starts by dropping his base temperature down to a cool 2800K and uses gels to warm things back up as needed. Interesting. (youtube.com)
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- [Tutorial] The Lumetri Color Close Up - Adobe’s Patrick Palmer (and SpeedGrade creator) shows "how you can build a Look, starting with a real-life inspiration, all the way through professional color grading in Premiere Pro, and seamlessly continue your work in After Effects." (provideocoalition.com)
- Sapphire 9 Plugin Suite - new presets, new features, and new effects. GenArts has revamped the builder, making it more flexible and useful. Free upgrade for some existing users. (redsharknews.com)
- Color LUTs for the Film Aesthetic - editor, writer and friend of the Tao, Oliver Peters, reviews a new series of LUTs from Rocket Rooster. Think of these LUTs as toolkits with different
types of files designed to be mixed and matched. (digitalfilms.wordpress.com)
- [review] Coremelt’s DriveX
Plugin For FCPX - "Track an area within a video clip, attach an effect . . have something add more hue/saturation/contrast if moving in one direction, and less if moving in the opposite direction. Or any number of seemingly infinite possibilities." (fcp.co)
- [video] Make Your Wide Exterior Shots Shine - with "tips for using gradients and blend modes to add some punch to images that otherwise look flat and uninspired." (nofilmschool.com)
- [video] Getting FCPX Timelines Into After Effects - with Automatic Duck's Ximport AE. Embedded video of Wes Plate demoing his new product. (fcp.co)
- Fusion Quick Start Cheat Sheet - in case you're starting to explore this newest addition to the Blackmagic software portfolio. @JBowdacious
- FCPX and El Capitan: Proceed With
Caution - do you use 3rd party plug-ins? Another reason to hold off on the update. (fcp.co)
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- 10+ Years of CRT Monitor Price Fixing - may entitle you to a share of a $586+ million dollar settlement. But it doesn't include Sony CRTs! So no getting any money
back on your PVM and BVM CRTs. And if you don't know what I'm talking, you probably don't qualify for the settlement, anyway. (stopthecap.com)
- IMAX With Laser Debuts With ‘The Walk’ - “by far the most visually impressive cinema experience I’ve ever had,” with a “brighter, sharper picture, along with a wider color gamut and blacker blacks.” Click through for a listing of the few cities where it's installed. (etcentric.org)
- TiVo Unveils Bolt: Set-Top Box With 4K - i thought TiVo was out of business. Good for them. (hdguru.com)
- Virtual Reality Is Here For Netflix, Hulu and More Than 100 Titles - from 20th Century Fox. Using "Oculus Video via the Oculus Rift and Samsung's Gear VR headset." (nofilmschool.com)
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The stories featured in this section are from MixingLight.com, a
companion color correction membership website to TaoOfColor.com and paid sponsor of this Newsletter. Want to read a story listed here but not a member? Sign up for a free 24-hour Test Drive.
- IBC 2015 photos - somehow I kept forgetting to link to this! It seems a great time was had by everyone at the IBC 2015 Colorist Mixer. (icolorist.com)
- Fusion 8: Expanding Your Colorist Toolbox - reasons why a colorist (or editor) might
consider integrating the VFX app Fusion into their toolbox. (mixinglight.com)
- [video] How To Handle the ‘Show Me Something’ Client Request - plus, using Resolve's Layer Mixer to switch between two different 'Looks'. (mixinglight.com)
- [video] Tales From The Grading Suite: Pains In The LUT - why one colorist dumped his LUTs in favor of working 'the old fashioned way'. (mixinglight.com)
- [video] Creating the 'Film Look' - and two strategies for working with film grain. Plus thoughts on one element of creating 'filmic looks' that most people overlook. (mixinglight.com)
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- Martin Scorsese on Film Preservation - the director discusses the importance of film preservation. The last line says it all: “there’s no such thing as an old film, just a film you’ve never seen.” (indiewire.com)
- [video] Cutting the Edge - a video essay looking at recent films with non-traditional aspect ratios. The digital revolution seems to have freed
filmmakers from following the rules of cinematic framing. (vimeo.com)
- Editing ‘The Martian’ - if you enjoyed the film then this write-up covers the basics of principal photography, reshoots, etc. (studiodaily.com)
- How Are You, Really? - when is the last time someone asked you that? And, more importantly, when is the last time you answered truthfully? So asks Kylee Peña from Creative Cow. A topic open for honest discussion. (library.creativecow.net)
- The Secret of A-Ha! Moments - the a-ha! moment (aka the Eureka effect) is that moment of sudden insight or discovery. It’s when you suddenly understand a previously incomprehensible problem or concept. Want to have an a-ha! moment? Read on. Our personal favorite: number 6. (fastcompany.com)
- Promotion, Demotion and Opportunity - author and social guru Seth Godin’s advice for being a lynchpin where you work is simple: act 'as if.’ We love Seth’s definition for ‘as if.’ It’s
in the last line of the story. (sethgodin.typepad.com)
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- FCP eXchange - workshop for FCPX users. October 24th, Los Angeles, CA (fcp.co)
- [User Group] New Features Of Adobe’s ProVideo Apps - October 15, Orlando, FL (orlandoedits.com)
- Video Insight Seminar - Tektronics presents a full-day seminar on video signals. More for engineers
than colorists - but the technically minded finisher might find value. October 14th, Philadelphia, PA (tek.gcsevents.com)
- Premiere Pro World 2015 - includes
several color correction presentations from your humble Tao Newsletter Publisher. November 17 - 20. San Jose, CA. (adobevideoworld.com)
- SMPTE 2015 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition - Oct 26 to 29, Hollywood, CA (creativecow.net)
- New York Post | Production
Conference CCW - November 11 to 12, New York, NY (magnetmail.net)
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Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers |
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- [video] Virtual Reality Meets Painting - the gap between the two worlds of reality and VR is narrowing. VR painting will certainly never take over physical painting. But it’s a really neat concept. And it’s just fun to watch. The kid in me says, “I want one!” (youtube.com)
- [video] Foreign Rip-Offs of Famous Hollywood Films - A Turkish Batman? A Bollywood Superman? A Brazilian Star Wars? Those and more were ripped off by countries that don’t follow the same copyright infringement laws as in the U.S. Oh, and did we forget to mention they’re all laughable? (youtube.com)
- [video] Supercut: I’ll Kill You With My Teacup - the weirdest weapons used in film. (nofilmschool.com)
- [video] Loading Screens You’ve Definitely Waited On - there are some serious classic 'spinning beachballs' in here. (yahoo.com)
- The Lost ‘Apple’ Logos You’ve Never Seen - yet another trip down memory lane. (thebrainfever.com)
- [video] 73,000 fps Footage Of A Pistol Firing - even Adam Savage is stunned. (digg.com)
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- JVC DLA-X5000 & X9000 Projector - are they back in the game of high-end consumer projectors? (hdtvtest.co.uk)
- Vizio’s High-End Reference Series Gets Pricing, Availability - like the title says. (hdguru.com)
- Five Best Gaming Keyboards, 2015 Edition - don't tell my you can't imagine a few these in
your grading suite. (co-op.kinja.com)
- Spectracal C6-HDR Colorimeter Upgrade - that's right, an HDR-capable colorimeter. Existing C6 owners can get a discount on the upgrade. (calman.spectracal.com)
- Samsung UE48JU7000 4K TV Review - "With the appropriate settings, blacks are convincing, colours are natural, motion clarity is high, video processing is first-rate, uniformity is good,
and gaming responsiveness is excellent." But if you want to be HDR ready, do they still recommend this set? (hdtvtest.co.uk)
- Dell Launches New Mobile and Desktop Workstations and Display - a rundown of the new lineup. (studiodaily.com)
- TVLogic VFM-058W Firmware Update - new features to support cinema cameras. (blog.abelcine.com)
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Are you looking for a steady diet of pro-level color correction education? TaoOfColor.com Presents: MixingLight.com => Learn from a team of professional colorists => New articles and videos presented every week
(like YouTube, but reliable) Click for more details
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In every grade there's always that 1 shot you just can't get.
Often best to step away, tweet your frustration, and then go back at it fresh. @j_salvo
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- (video) Tesla: Fireflies - we love those who take the initiative to pursue the creative. They inspire us. That’s what caught our attention when we watched this spec ad for Tesla by filmmaker Sam O'Hare. This commercial is gorgeous, inspired and fully CG. (vimeo.com)
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- Haunted By Data - great talk about the problem with our Data Collecting & Analysis Society: "Advertisers have built a huge surveillance apparatus in the dream of perfect knowledge, only to find themselves in a hall of mirrors, where they can't tell who is real and who is fake." It doesn't work because we're trying to model that which doesn't want to be
modeled... finicky human beings. (idlewords.com via Joe Stern)
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- [video] Peeple - lets you rate... people. Watch Comedian John Oliver lampoon it. BTW, this ‘Yelp! for people’ app has seemingly vanished. (youtube.com)
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Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. Happy Grading! 8,700'ish Stories Now Shared
Support this Newsletter: Like, Tweet or Plus =>
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!
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sponsor. BlackMagic Design is sometimes a client.
We thank you for your support.
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Managing Editor:
jim@jimwicks.com
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Published by:
Patrick Inhofer: Photon-Wrangler, Fini.tv | TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com
patrick@taoofcolor.com
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