Colorist Newsletter #406

Published: Sun, 06/09/19

Issue CDVI: The new New Mac Pro Edition
The Tao of Color Grading Newsletter
Curated links of news, reviews, thoughts, career advice, and humor
for professional Video / Film Colorists & Finishers. Delivered Sundays.
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The long wait is over. Almost. Apple announced the 2019 Mac Pro (to be released this Fall). At their annual WWDC event many well known creatives got an initial hands-on and were appropriately wowed by its performance.

Of course, all the accounts I've read were using ProRes and ProRes Raw as the source footage; benefiting from the dedicated hardware accelerator. As mentioned in one of the stories in this newsletter, RED has indicated they'll be able to use the 'Afterburner' card for R3D workflows. I've not read any official news if other codecs will have access to this card?

Personally - I'm very excited to see Apple back in the high-performance, user-upgradable game.

This gear is everything high-end Mac Aficionados felt was lacking in the 'Tube' Mac Pro. As someone who felt forced to adopt a Windows rig 2 years ago, when it's time to upgrade again in the 2021 timeframe I will definitely consider this incarnation of that rig.

I'm also happy that I'm comfortable waiting that long.

I'm concerned that Apple's adopted a custom GPU enclosure, only available from them. If we've not seen that enclosure updated to the latest and greatest GPUs by 2021 then I'll be reluctant to jump back on the Apple bandwagon - burned once, twice shy (as they say).

But I have high hopes that this Mac Pro is a reflection that Apple saw they were about to lose the high-end market and blinked. If they show continued interest in keeping that rig up to date then I'll be happy to jump back into the Apple ecosystem.

On the other hand, I'm a satisfied Windows customer.

Having already made the switch, the thought of continuing with the PC ecosystem is no longer the scary notion it was three years ago. Serious cross-platform competition for my professional post production dollars is what has me very happy this week. Even if you never plan on buying the Mac Pro, having Apple back 'in the game' is good news for us all.

What about Apple's Sony BVM OLED killing reference display?

Color me: Meh.

If it was so easy to produce a BVM-level display, with all the display characteristics that readers of this Newsletter expect, then we would have seen similar displays at similar price points at NAB this year. My guess? We did see similar displays at similar price points - but no one else has the marketing chutzpah to claim they're reference displays. Time will tell.

Enjoy this Newsletter. Have a great week. I'll see you next Sunday!

Happy Grading!

(and remember - if you have a story that's a fit for this Newsletter, email it to 'newsletter @ taoofcolor.com'!

- Patrick Inhofer
Colorist | Publisher | Coach
The Craft
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.
This Berlin-based color grading training program has several week-long courses in June, July, and August. If you're looking for hands-on education then check them out!
(video) This link is a webinar replay that I signed up for with SGO. I'm not sure for how long this link will work. The webinar starts at the 4:00 mark.
Click through for the specific details on how to find those streams.
When the whole, 'too dark' kerfuffle took place a few weeks ago I wrote an intro to this Newsletter that Display Daily asked to reprint. I made some edits, they reprinted, and if you missed my little rant (with possible solutions) then click through to check it out.
Sponsor
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The Tools
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.
Release notes of new features and bug fixes in the new PB 4 release.
Of interest to readers of this newsletter are several Venn diagrams showing Movie Studio and Encoding Vendor adoption of the various passive and active HDR 10 standards.
Since I'm light in the Tools section this week, I thought I'd feature a significant new release from a plug-in worth knowing about. Click through for details on this release.
Sponsor
Flanders Scientific Professional 4K HDR Reference Monitors
The 1,000nit XM311K and 3,000nit XM310K both qualify as Dolby Vision mastering monitors. The XM311K features innovative Light Modulating Cell Layer technology and now has a lower list price of $35,000.

Do you require a brighter display? Then the XM310K is one of the brightest commercially available professional HDR monitors on the market.
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Pushing Photons
These stories are from MixingLight.com's membership Library. It's a color grading website (Tao Of Color is co-Owner). Do you want to read a story listed here but not a member? Sign up for a free 7-Day Test Drive.​​​ There's also a free Resolve Course and color correction Practice Projects.
DaVinci Resolve 16 is very exciting. But it's currently in 'Public Beta'. What does that mean? Can you update to it safely now that they've released a few versions?

This in-front-of-the-paywall Insight offers some solid solutions for mimicking consumer viewing conditions in the grading suite (with advice on when in the grading session you should do so).

We continue deconstructing Resolve's Color Boost controls, offer an alternative definition, and demonstrate how it differs from Saturation.
The Gear
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.

A rational look at Apple's latest pro-gear announcement.
The FCP.co team has a great follow-up article on the MacPro. Of interest to me is their Afterburner news. Check it out. (But I'm not buying their excitement for the new Display - see my opening monologue. Plus, which standard sets 500 nits for SDR viewing?).

AMD releases their specifications of the new GPUs powering Apple's 2019 Mac Pro. Includes a comparison chart of existing AMD options.
How does the Apple laptop + eGPU match up with an iMacPro? An interesting dichotomy here between games and DaVinci Resolve.

A good review of the Mac Mini, who it's designed for, and how to get the most out of it.
When can you expect to see these faster slots? How much faster are they than earlier PCIe lanes? Click through to find out.

If you're in the market and want to future proof yourself - it looks like if you're going AMD you won't be buying previous generations of motherboards.
An interesting look at how PC manufacturers are trying to deal with the uncertainty of the US / China tariff standoff.
Sunday Fun(nies)
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.
"From Boating Knots, Fishing Knots and Climbing Knots to how to tie a Tie, or even Surgical Knots — we’ve got it covered." Oh yeah, fun.
Not fun. Definitely not funny. But if you've been watching the fantastic HBO series about Chernobyl you'll deeply appreciate these photos - and understand the stories they represent.
 
Th- th- th- that's all folks! See you next week!