| Issue CCCXCVIII: The Understanding Dolby Vision Edition |
| The Tao of Color Grading Newsletter |
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Curated links of news, reviews, thoughts, career advice, and humor
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It's a relief that I can finally announce a training series we've been working on at Mixing Light since last September! The funny thing? You won't find it at Mixing Light. It's a 12-part training series we produced, directed, edited, and graded for our first corporate client... Dolby.
Announcing the Dolby Vision Training Series at the Dolby Institute!
In just over an hour you can learn how to create Dolby Vision deliverables from any HDR-10 color grade - without extra licensing fees. We also show what tools you get with additional licensing - including the command line utilities from Dolby.
Mixing Light co-founder Robbie Carman and Contributor Joey D'Anna are the colorists who wrote the scripts and delivered the training in front of the screen. I was Producer, Director, and Editor. And Joey handled most of the color grading.
We're incredibly proud of our work on this series.
We have several Dolby Vision items in this week's Newsletter.
First is a link in the Tools section to sign up for the training. It's free (for the low low cost of your email address). Second is a podcast recorded by Team Mixing Light talking about this Series. I've put that podcast in front of the paywall, for those of you that are interested in hearing more.
In Craft, we also have a great article from Mystery Box on understanding the various flavors of HDR, Dolby Vision, HLG and the inherent weakness of not using active metadata (or custom SDR grades) to maintain backwards compatibility in HDR workflows.
NAB is almost here (and next week's Newsletter will ship)!
Next Sunday I am NOT taking the week off from the Newsletter. So stay tuned and look for it in your Inbox. Feel free to wonder if there's a reason I've committed to shipping!
See you next Sunday!
Happy Grading!
- Patrick Inhofer
Colorist | Publisher | Mentor
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Featuring the work of creative craftsmen, the theory of color, and industry news. Learn practical workflows, useful theories, and actionable insights from existing (and emerging) leaders and teachers in our industry.
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Tuesday morning, April 9 in the North Hall, ACES is presenting their 'Road to ACES 2.0'. It's free, does not require RSVP, and will include a group discussion. If ACES is important to you then put this on your NAB itinerary.
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This looks like a NAB social event for Monday night and is sponsored by FilmConvert, Wipster, and FiLMiC. Monday, 8 April 7p-9p.
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(forum) If you're in LA the Friday before NAB then check out this thread on LGG. They're organizing a colorist meetup.
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Besides announcing a NAB presentation at Dolby's booth, this article is a GREAT primer on HDR and where Dolby Vision sits in the HDR landscape. They have a great graphic showing Dynamic Ranges that puts our various acquisition, display, and retinal capabilities in comparative perspective. Worth the click. (via Robbie Carman)
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As a colorist, I don't obsess over cameras. I've seen great cameras shot like crap. I've seen crappy cameras shot like film. It's about the brains behind the camera. Still, if you scroll past this listing of Netflix-approved camera systems, most of the series featured has pull-quotes from their DPs that a colorist might find interesting.
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"Learn how color is determined partly by the physics of light and partly by how our brains perceive it." Part of a course in animation by Pixar, this looks like something perfect to watch at 30,000 feet, on WiFi, with nothing else to do on the way to NAB. Or at ground level with coffee on a lazy Sunday. (via Joe Stern)
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A banking official has been arrested for embezzling $40 million from the CBS employee bank. Just terrible.
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Our craft keeps changing. And growing. Learn about updates to your favorite software. Discover new tools to help you work faster or more creatively. Build your toolchest with new techniques and approaches.
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I'm proud to share this Tutorial Series featuring Robbie Carman and Joey D'Anna. It was produced by Mixing Light, and directed / edited by your Tao Newsletter publisher! If you want to learn how to create Dolby Vision content, then this gets you started in just over an hour.
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The Resolve tome, written by Friend Of The Tao Alexis Van Hurkman, is updated! According to his Tweet, new info on HDR workflows, Collaborative workflows, and more.
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At NAB, FilmLight is rolling out several new technologies for color management across deliverables. Plus, some new grading tools for colorists. This article offers a quick synopsis.
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Get the scoop on their new tools and workflows. What caught my eye is new OpenFX integration of Mocha Pro within the Resolve UI.
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Sign up for this webinar on, "Practical steps to ensure that your videos maintain a similar “color look” throughout the production process, avoiding costly reshoots or “fix it in post” issues."
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If you're running an older version of Avid and holding off on updating. Then you will want to read up on big changes to licensing that might force you upgrade earlier than expected.
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(video) Dan shares his breakdown of cleaning up a bike frame using the color compressor and node resizing in Resolve.
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(podcast) We discuss a new training title we produced for Dolby. Plus, where you'll find Team Mixing Light at NAB 2019 and what we're looking forward to.
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(video) It's not always clear how Resolve's 'Color Boost' tool works differently than its 'Saturation' tool. This video breaks down the differences.
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Stay updated on the latest hardware that's shipping - because the craft of color grading isn't just about software. Plus, keep an eye on future equipment trends and camera odds-and-ends.
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Today, March 31, Flanders ends it upgrade program to the DM250. For way less than buying new, you get a new chassis and electronics to meet the feature-set of a DM250.
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If you gravitate to the Quadro line of NVIDIA cards then you'll find these benchmarks interesting. They are much more expensive than their GeForce counterparts but are designed for extended, taxing render sessions.
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The newest version of Sony's 4K sub-$5000 projector, "Sony has also made adjustments to its HDR tone-mapping this year versus the VW285 to preserve more detail in dark areas. I'll have more to say later about the 295ES's blacks and contrast."
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If you're not up on how the h.264 codec works then this a great place to answer the headline question! I especially like Solution #2 to improving h.264 editing/playback performance.
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Events and notifications that may be interesting for readers of this Newsletter. NAB 2019 expo floor is open April 8 - 11.
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On Tuesday evening, April 9, Tao Newsletter Sponsor LumaForge is taking over the SuperMeet - with the Faster Together Stage. It's a new format, being emceed by Michael Horton. I'll be attending. Click through to get your ticket and join us!
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Click through for details and show times to join Team Mixing Light at Flanders Scientific's booth #SL6328 during NAB 2019! It's over 3 days of free sessions for finishers & colorists - you have to be there to see it.
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At the Renaissance Hotel next to the South Hall, FilmLight has a day of colorists talking about their careers, their craft, their projects, and (presumably) Baselight. Plus a presentation from their Image Engineer on the differences between the real world and HDR. I hope to make at least one of these sessions. Monday, April 8.
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The Mixer is back! Sunday, April 7 at 7pm. Tickets are sold out! Get on the Waitlist. When refunds start rolling you might get a chance to sign up.
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If your new to NAB then this is a great place to meet a wide mix of industry pros. You're likely to talk to a huge array of names you'll find on message boards, in conferences and Facebook groups.
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Use this link to create an account or log into an existing account and get your Expo pass. Don't forget to get your TRAM ticket.
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Random thoughts, tidbits, and fun stuff that caught my attention this week. Maybe it's color grading related. Maybe not. Ya got'ta read to the end of the Newsletter to find out.
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It seems like Google has killed more projects than most of us have ever color graded ;-)
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If you find the intersection of technology and bricks & mortar fun to follow then you'll get a smile out of what McDonalds is doing with their biggest acquisition since Boston Market.
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After 3 generattions of revised 'buttterfly keyboard' designs - Apple lapttops sttill hav a problm. This artticl expalins itt brillianttly. Fun. Unless you own one.
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| Th- th- th- that's all folks! See you next week! |
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