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- This is the last Newsletter of 2017!
- Team Tao takes off the Christmas and New Year holiday weekends to re-charge and refresh (a concept we highly recommend to everyone).
- That said, we think we
have two weeks worth of stories in here! So don't feel the need to consume this Newsletter here and now.
- Go ahead: Star, flag or otherwise mark this email so you can come back to it time and again as we wrap up and get ready for 2018.
- The entire Tao Colorist Newsletter staff (Pat, Jim and the Treasurer) plus
the Newsletter Sponsors (Flanders Scientific, Lumaforge and EndCrawl) wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Happy
Grading!! |
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- HDR and Wide Color Gamut Explained - "a comprehensive explanation of the color and imaging issues involved" faced by both broadcasters and manufacturers as they strive for better pixels, improved color reproduction and a higher dynamic range. The price? Your Name and email address to download the white paper. (axon.tv)
- Pantone's Color of the Year Is... - "It's rich, it's regal, it's—supposedly—the future." Click through for the color. (architecturaldigest.com)
- Why You Can Never Have Perfect Skin Color - even if you use color charts. "When you calibrate your colors using a color chart or a white balance card, you are taking a photograph of a surface that doesn't have the layers, glossiness, transparency,
texture, and all other properties of the skin." (fstoppers.com)
- Collaborative Color Workflow on Woody Allen's New Film - colorist Anthony Raffaele talks about creating core looks for cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. "He grew up with the idea of flashing the negative – which gives you more details in
the shadows – and flashing the positive for more in the highlights. So I created layers for each of those elements." (filmlight.ltd.uk)
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- Train your eyes to see color, the easy way - "Color awareness is a learned skill. All you really need is a car." From one of this Newsletter's favorite authors, Art Adams. Do not skip this. (provideocoalition.com)
- The $600 Brim Linny LUT: Deconstructed - "Amongst one of his claims was that there was no way to reproduce the LUT inside a grading app. Challenge accepted." Nice DaVinci Resolve node tree. Worth replicating on your own to better understand the Resolve toolset. (juanmelara.com.au)
- DaVinci Resolve 14 Colour Grading Tips and Tricks - like the title says. A deep dive roundup by a friend of the Tao. (jonnyelwyn.co.uk)
- Resolve 14’s Best Editing Features - if you are an online content creator, this story may be for you. (premiumbeat.com)
- Need To Know: Resolve's 14's Latest Media Page - "Let’s have a look at some of the subtler changes you’ll find on the media page — and how you can use them or deactivate them." (premiumbeat.com)
- 7 Post Production tips from the Pros - to save you time, money and headaches. (nofilmschool.com via Marc Wielage)
- HEVC and the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (FCU) - "a more irritating issue is the one for users with systems capable of Netflix 4K playback. Instead of 4K, FCU restricts them to 1080p streams at 5.8 Mbps (as those are
encoded in AVC)." (anandtech.com)
- Check out these techniques for working with and mastering depth - "While a shallow depth of field is a great beginning, there are many things you can do as a cinematographer to help depth play a
key role in your work." And a colorist can mimic these techniques. (premiumbeat.com)
- How Premiere could be great at Color - "there are actually quite a few things that Premiere could do to be amazing at color that have nothing to do
with Lumetri." Advice to Team Adobe, from the creator of Colorista. (prolost.com)
- How to use and read the four Primary Video Scopes - "if you get high blood pressure and a rash from opening the scopes panel in your editing software, this article will cure your scope-o-fobia." As introductions to scopes go... this one has our stamp-of-approval. (blog.frame.io)
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- Are movies based on true stories better than fictional stories? - the answer to the question will take you down a rabbit hole of metascores, film critics, and the Oscars. Good info on the movies we grade. (stephenfollows.com)
- HBO Experiments with Branching Narrative TV Series and App - "filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “The Knick”) has directed “Mosaic,” an interactive series with branching narratives." Interesting. (etcentric.org)
- Cinema is Coming to Saudi Arabia: Winners and Losers - "The aim is to have 2,000 screens in over 300 cinemas by 2030 in the country of over 32 million inhabitants. Below we examine the prospects
of potential cinema operators." (celluloidjunkie.com)
- RedBox Announces New On-Demand Streaming Service - they are following Netflix is getting out of the disc-delivery business. Better late than never, eh?
(9to5mac.com)
- 2017: The Year That Changed Everything In Online Video - " The past year in digital video can be distilled down to three intertwined trends that together are changing the industry, and provide different implications for many players."
(tubularinsights.com)
- HDMI 2.1 Specification Finalized: Variable Refresh, Dynamic HDR, & More - the spec was finalized a few weeks ago. Get the full details, and features, at the link. (anandtech.com)
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The stories featured in this section are from MixingLight.com, 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 7-Day Test
Drive. - Colorist Podcast 2017 Look Back - host Josh Petok CSI says, "we delved into many different topics, like collaborating with DP’s, working in foreign countries, and emerging technologies like HDR." (mixinglight.com)
- [video] Behind the Curtain: Basic Cleanup - colorist Dan Moran CSI shows you how he handles getting called into VFX duties. (mixinglight.com)
- [video] Can you save this Shot? Part 2 - your Tao Publisher tackles problematic, 8-bit footage and shows how he handles it, "On this shot, I had to break one of the smaller issues into two parts. A single solution just wasn’t possible." (mixinglight.com)
- The 12 Days Of Running A Better Color Correction Business - "while improvement can mean many things, for the sake of this article, I mean earning more money, being
more efficient and being better at your job. I can absolutely attribute these 12 things to helping me have my most successful year yet." (mixinglight.com)
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- Blackmagic Design Conference + Expo - "three days of sessions on DaVinci Resolve Studio, Fusion Studio and Blackmagic Design cameras. Come meet the Blackmagic Design product team, and network with like-minded peers." Your Tao Publisher will be there. February 11, 12, 13. Burbank. (blackmagicconference.com)
- The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 14: Editing, Color and Audio - just released book
by Blackmagic Design as an introduction to the app, with downloadable media to follow along. Your Tao Publisher is a contributing author. (amazon.com)
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Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers |
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- [video] How Close Are We to the Perfect Smart Home? - the Tao Treasurer and I love our smart home, and the apps that help us run it all. But how close is the world to having everything fully “smart?” (youtube.com)
- 2017 Christmas gifts ideas for the Editor - 'cause you only have a week left for your favorite someone to buy you something off this list. (provideocoalition.com)
- [video] Joan Nathan's Chosen Food: The Ultimate Sufganiyot - i've never been invited to enjoy a Sabbath meal. Now I know why... my friends didn't want to share this awesome looking
holiday carb-bomb. I think this will go over equally well at a Christmas or New Year's meal. (youtube.com)
- SPOILER-ALERT! The Beautiful Brilliance Of The Ending Of The Last Jedi - read this only after watching The Last Jedi. I agree with almost everything in here, "I'm seeing some catastrophically horrible takes from the movie on Twitter . . . I got a little bit fired up and decided it would be better to write out some thoughts on the themes and character arcs of The Last Jedi instead of arguing vaguely with strangers on Twitter." (roosterteeth.com)
- Create A Killer Home Theater Setup With Apple Tv 4k - from TVs to soundbars to streaming
services and stocking stuffers. (9to5mac.com)
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- Flanders Scientific's new XM 65" Professional Client Display - the shipping version of FSI's new display is a, "UHD, HDR-ready grading monitor is now less expensive and goes from 55" to 65". (nofilmschool.com)
- [video] Apple’s New iMac Pro: First Impressions - "I think it's really easy to hate on the new iMac Pro because it's very expensive and also not upgradable at all. What kind of Pro machine isn't upgradable at all. And that's definitely it's greatest weakness for sure."The embedded video review is well produced and gives a sense of
Apple's target market. (techcrunch.com)
- Apple's Head Designer Says He 'Hears' Your MacBook Criticism - that sound you hear is the sound of creatives leaving Apple, "And we hear — boy, do we
hear." (flipboard.com)
- LTO-8 Ultrium tape drives - with double the capacity and faster transfer speeds. (backupworks.com)
- Hands on with the new Apple Pro Lineup - "one of the biggest purchasers of Pro machines is Apple's own app developer community." (fxguide.com via Marc Wielage)
- Sony KD-77A1 OLED - "a symphony of picture and sound" (hdtvtest.co.uk)
- Final Cut Pro X 10.4's new color grading tools - "VR 360 editing and HDR workflows are among the highlights but it’s the color tools that will matter to most editors." (provideocoalition.com)
- Will QDOG have it's day? - fascinating discussion about QDOG, (not a rapper but Quantum Dot on Glass) and new innovations in LCD production. (displaydaily.com)
- Apple off to a promising start with its revamped pro Mac lineup - "After many years’ worth of fretting and worrying, Apple once again has a pro-level desktop that boasts the modern technology. And all is right with the
world. But is it?" Some readers of this Newsletter will not be happy with the conclusions of this article. (macworld.com)
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- Samsung 2017 QLED/UHD TVs to get Amazon HDR10+ - "HDR10 Plus is an open standard dynamic metadata technology that’s backed by Samsung and most recently 20th Century Fox and Panasonic . . . to provide a royalty-free alternative to Dolby Vision’s proprietary system." Click through
for a short list of HDR10+ titles at launch. (hdtvtest.co.uk)
- BenQ launches EW277HDR: 27 inch FHD display with DCI-P3 & HDR10 - this sub-$300 display does a "whopping" 400 nits, 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 8-bit and 93% of DCI-P3. I thought BenQ was smarter
than pushing this kind of hype as HDR. I'm disappointed. Though I guess they figure their target market doesn't know any better... and isn't reading this Newsletter. So sad. (anandtech.com)
- Fusion Drive or hybrid drive: which one should you use? - "Macworld reader Terence would like to upgrade an older iMac to a newer version of macOS, and wants to create his own Fusion Drive." Can he? Should he? (macworld.com)
- First impression of the new iMac Pro - "For other tasks, notably VR, the iMac Pro supports software that simply cannot run on any other Mac today". Plus, a roundup of other high-quality reviews. (daringfireball.net)
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- AI Taught to Get Emotional Over Movies- "Just by analyzing the visual elements of a movie, the algorithms could detect where the tear jerkers would be, and how the overall emotional arc of a story would develop." Uh-oh. Can you hear it now? "Patrick, notes just came back. Push the 2nd act brighter and add more pop to the midtones - the AI is getting bored in
that section". (variety.com)
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- [video] Voice Recognition Technology - in an elevator ...in Scotland. First published online 6 years ago. Then 5 years ago. Then 11 months ago. Why is it in A Step Too Far? Because voice recognition technology still isn't where it needs to be. Oh. And it's funny. (youtube.com)
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Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! We'll see you in 2018. Happy Grading! 13,100'ish Stories 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)
- Color Grading with Avid and Symphony - Written for version 6. Fully applicable to version 7. I was a contributor. (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 are Affiliate links that help support the TaoOfColor.com. FSI is a paid sponsor. Tao of Color, Inc. is part owner of MixingLight.com—which
is a 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, CSI
Colorist, Coach: TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com patrick@taoofcolor.com
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