| Issue CDXXVII: The Y2K20 Edition |
| The Tao of Color Grading Newsletter |
|
Curated links of news, reviews, thoughts, career advice, and humor
|
|
|
The Tao of Color Grading Newsletter welcomes you to it's first edition of the 2020's. A reading of the news headlines shows that 01012020 was no more dangerous to our binary overlords than Y2K. Happy thoughts, there.
During our holiday break I saw the final installment of the Star Wars Tri-Trilogies. I don't know why it didn't get the reception of other films. As a child of 'New Hope' and 'Empire Strikes Back', I was completely satisfied.
Plus, I got to watch it with my Dad in Dolby Vision (which was an okay presentation - but I didn't expect much from this franchise in this regard so I wasn't disappointed). All in all, a great way to close that circle.
In other news...
Apple released their eXtreme Dynamic Range professional display, that at $5000 has 576 beautiful, perfect, 'no-one-needs-any-more the droids may move on' backlight zones.
How well was the XDR received by the crowd of pros that Apple promised would perform like a Sony BVM HX310 at 6 times its price? If high-contrast blooming is a feature, then Apple aced that test! Place those purchase orders!
While the XDR is likely to get filed in the same bin as the never officially discontinued Power Mac Cube the new New Power Mac looks to be a smashing success! Good for them. They listened to their pro customers jumping OS platforms. Luckily I've got about 18 months before I'm scheduled to upgrade off my current PC rig. By then I should have a good sense if Apple is committed to updating that platform - or will sit on it for 5
years?
If the latter, then now may be the best time to get bang-for-buck, since a rig purchased today should get you 4-5 years of usable grading suite usage.
Star Wars and Apple wasn't the only news these past two weeks.
Keep scrolling, start reading, visit a Sponsor or two (FSI is running an impressive sale on their HDR reference displays), and I'll see you next week!
Happy Grading!
(and remember - if you have a story that's a fit for this Newsletter, hit reply or email it to 'newsletter@taoofcolor.com'! Include a quick reason for the suggested link.)
- Patrick Inhofer
Colorist | Publisher | Coach
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Read the 2nd half of this blog post and tell me if you think that developers won't be a part of every major content creation pipeline 10 years from now? Like focus-puller. Or assistant colorist.
|
|
|
Are you looking for skin tone references? This is the mother lode. The accompanying embedded video is an interesting watch. (via VanHurkman.com)
|
|
|
Won't this be nice: "Unlike some picture modes which may require the user to enter one or more menus to find and select, Filmmaker Mode will be activated either automatically, through metadata embedded in the content, or through a single button."
|
|
|
(video) DP Rodrigo Prieto does something very difficult in this promo piece for Netflix's 'The Irishman'. He provides behind the scene details that even professionals will enjoy, in a few quick sound bites. It's worth 3:21 of your time. (via Rich Roddman)
|
|
|
"Let’s take a last look at who was king and queen of the multiplex over the past 12 months, as well as who ended up in the bin with the popcorn sweepings."
|
|
|
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.
|
|
I highly recommend this article for anyone working with RAW codecs. Puget's run some benchmarks which show the potential impact of having Resolve assign the GPU to do your debayering rather than the CPU. The results may seem counter-intuitive to you.
|
|
|
(video) This video has an honest assessment of ACES support in Avid plus an update on the Title+ tool.
|
|
|
Are you looking for a Baselight learning series that's free, has media for following along, and can be followed in Baselight Student? Luke Ross has you covered in this 5-part YouTube series.
|
|
|
(videos) Multiple tutorials are posted here to get you started, "If you’re someone new to the industry, who’s looking to get up to speed on a DIT workflow, to break through into that field, learning Scratch is almost essential, as DIT’s will use Scratch in the field to create dailies to send to post houses as productions are being shot."
|
|
|
In the latest version of Calman, the C6 HDR2000 now supports a large range of meter modes tagged for specific monitors/backlights for improved accuracy without needing a spectro (including the LG B9). Click through for the full release notes.
|
|
|
A Tao Newsletter reader writes in about these scopes: "8k scope with bells and whistles for $900. I use the 4k HDR scopes with much joy, in large part because of real time error logging letting me know about issues and sort them while I have the eyes with approvals in the suite." (via Dermot Shane)
|
|
|
If you're like me, you're a big fan of the StreamDeck hardware for quick access to keyboard shortcuts. The tough part is building out the icons. For a very fair price, you can download 800+ icons, each on 4 different colored backgrounds (because colorists are particular about these types of things). Plus a 10-page Stream Deck Profile, ready to go. Check it out! Looks solid to me.
|
|
|
"Red Giant, where I’ve been Chief Creative Officer for a couple of years now, but making filmmaking tools for you for 17 years, is merging with Maxon, makers of Cinema 4D."
|
|
|
(podcast) In this episode, Team Mixing Light waxes nostalgic and makes predictions about the coming decade.
|
|
|
(video) Learn two different methods (with different levels of control) of emulating the beauty of film halation using DaVinci Resolve.
|
|
|
(video) Learn the benefits of a 'fixed node tree' in DaVinci Resolve. Get a look inside one colorist's node tree - and how it evolved over time.
|
|
|
Are you wondering how much colorists, DITs, or one of their assistants charge per-hour in your city? Katie Hinsen shares the findings from a survey.
|
|
|
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 hardware odds-and-ends.
|
|
How fast can you render "multi-GPU aware" apps when you cram FOUR GPUs into your 2019 Mac Pro? These results include the DaVinci Resolve Standard Candle tests.
|
|
|
With 16 lane PCIe 3.0 slots, the 2019 Mac Pro accepts advanced PCIe- based flash RAID cards. How fast can they transfer data compared to the 2010 Mac Pro?
|
|
|
So... that 22-year-old intern you've got cleaning your facility's panels... what's the chance they forget to heed this warning??? I can laugh because I'm such a huge Apple fan-boy that nothing they do surprises me. No more audio ports. Check. Special polishing cloth for those 576 zones? Of course. Keep in mind, this is only if you order the special nano-texture glass.
|
|
|
As interesting as the original post is, scroll down where Scott Simmons updates it with completely alternate advice. Then, decide for yourself what you should do. My hot take: Start the New Year finding hard drives that aren't backed up and focus on those! Then follow Juan Salvo's advice.
|
|
|
(podcast) I just realized that PVC started up a podcast. Good for them. Ep. 9 is a good place to jump in.
|
|
|
"Just like we have guides dedicated to the best CPUs and best GPUs you can buy, this is our hall of shame equivalent."
|
|
|
Wait. Blue light helps you sleep? Are blue-blockers the new eggs? “Our findings suggest that using dim, cooler, lights in the evening and bright warmer lights in the day may be more beneficial."
|
|
|
While this review of a $6K ultra short throw projector might make it into this Newsletter simply for it's 'nifty' value, that's not why I'm sharing it. I'm sharing it for the look at how finicky these projectors can be to set up. But for the right space, the price and performance are both impressive.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
(video) Are you already full-speed into work and want a quick reminder of the holiday just passed? Do you enjoy visiting museums? Then don't pass on this little ditty performed in an amazing space.
|
|
|
If you don't think this is fun then you might be in the wrong business ;-)
|
|
|
| Th- th- th- that's all folks! See you next Sunday. |
|
|
|
