| Issue CDXLIII: The Cabin Fever? 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 been a strange Spring with no NAB and probably for the same reason that NAB was canceled there's also a slow trickle of product announcements ( Bueller? Bueller? DaVinci Resolve?).
Perhaps the most interesting 'virtual NAB' announcement this week was Sony's PVM-series HDR display. Back in the day of cathode ray tubes, the PVM moniker meant the display was affordable but still had SMPTE-C phosphors - it was a good deal for indie operators like me. Today, an HDR PVM costs 4x what my CRT PVM cost in 2003 and not nearly the value of its
earlier incarnation.
I'm not digging on Sony here. I'm digging into the industry. Specs and platforms are rolled out to consumers but it'll be years before a critical mass of content producers can fulfill the tech's promise because the basic gear for creators is prohibitively expensive. Even at the PVM level. And it will be for years.
Yet now they march to 8k.
After 30 years in this business, I'm not surprised. HDTV once promised an end to the PAL/NTSC plague. Instead, the number of formats, frame sizes, pixel counts, and aspect ratios multiply like a contagion, times two (do you prefer interlaced, or are we serving you progressive?).
And just because you call it 'Common' doesn't make it so (I'm looking at you, Common LUT Format).
Maybe I've just gotten grumpy? Or maybe I've gotten a little stir-crazy? Dang gone it... I gotta run, "Hey, kids... Get off my lawn!!"
I'll see you next Sunday.
Stay busy. Stay healthy.
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
P.S. - This is the FINAL weekend of a site-wide 'Work From Home' sale on MixingLight.com. Premium memberships are 50% off for their first term and then up to 20% off on renewals. If you're interested, we're only holding it over through Monday for Tao Newsletter readers.
Join the 'Color Cartel' Protein Folding Team - Rosetta@home allows you to donate the spare CPU cycles of your rig in the scientific fight against coronaviruses and cancers! The Toa Newsletter's Color Cartel is a Top 5% team and climbing. Join Rosetta@home, set up an account, start 'folding', and connect to The Color Cartel team!
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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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(webinars) This multi-day multi-discipline learning program that normally takes place live and in person at NAB, has moved to 'the cloud'. It starts today. There are literally dozens of sessions covering everything from color grading to drone piloting to VR post-production to building a live stream studio. At $299 I think it looks like a good deal because you'll have 3 months to watch what interests you.
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(forum) A recent question on the forum led to this 2018 response from Jason Meyers on how film/tv projects generally credits colorists when multiple colorists are involved in the show.
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(podcast) "Noted DP Roger Deakins recently started a weekly podcast about lighting, cameras, and color, and it’s a must-listen for colorists." (via Marc Wielage)
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As productions contemplate re-starting work (and re-filling the post-production pipeline), industry unions are not ceding their bargaining power. FYI.
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"[as] producers are immersed in bringing in medical staffs, temperature takers and sanitizers to keep casts and crews safe, a lack of clarity around insurance and completion bonds is hobbling plans to get the billion-dollar production industry off the ground." FYI.
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This item from mid-2019 was just called to my attention. It's a white paper detailing goals for studio filmmaking a decade from today. The white paper is available for download for the small price of your name and email address. (via Marc Wielage)
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"Streaming quality [is being] restored, meaning 4K HDR streaming at up to 15 Mb/s bitrate. HD bitrates are also reverting back to normal."
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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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(webinar) "Creative decision-making on a stuttering timeline in no fun. Luckily, we have the technology (and many answers)! In this webinar, Colorist & Mixing Light contributor Jason Bowdach explores everything you need to know on improving your playback performance within DaVinci Resolve" Friday, May 22. Registration required. Free to the public, replay at Mixing Light's website.
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(video) In this episode, Alexis van Hurkman starts with the essentials of gin & tonics and then moves on to the things that give us a reason to imbibe gin & tonics: Gamma curves, web delivery, selecting reference displays, keying green screens in Fusion, and more.
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(webinar) Register to learn about moving from Premiere Pro into Mistika, beauty work, versioning, storyboard and gangs, frequency separation, color matching with Snapshopts, and more. May 28.
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(webinar) Register to learn about Baselight RENDER (for custom pipelines and additional render nodes) and their new Baselight API. May 21.
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(video) This is a Zoom interview and demo, "As CineMatch grows, FilmConvert will add more features to it, like Rec2020 and other final color outputs commonly used by editors." Currently, it's in beta and for Premiere Pro. I have high hopes for it, especially when/if they take this the OpenFx route.
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"If you've ever had to create a load of end cards or lower 3rds for an edit, then you'll appreciate any tool which can make that process easier and more automatic." But it does require some initial setup.
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"I will point out the perks of each as well as how all of them can come together to make the ultimate Voltron-like plugin package for editors, content creators, VFX artists, and more."
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(video) "Learn why Sapphire's Builder effect makes it easier to composite inside Avid Media Composer."
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"Hurry and save with Avid promo codes for Pro Tools, Media Composer, and Sibelius creative tools. Discounts of 25% on subscriptions." Click through for the details, requires annual upfront payment. Promo code ends May 31.
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(video) A Zoom interview and demo about Frame.io 3.6 and their new Transfer app.
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(webinar series) Hosted by a friend of the Tao, Simon Walker, Red Giant is kicking off a weekly live webinar series. This page takes you to their weekly topic lineup - through July 2020. July is where they've got a slate of color grading related topics queued up. Click through for details and registration links.
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(video) In this webinar replay, join Mixing Light co-founder Robbie Carman as he explores HDR essentials including vocabulary, workflow, and DaVinci Resolve setup.
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(video) Learn how to leverage a powerful ACES workflow without any limitations, by customizing it a DaVinci Resolve node tree.
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(video) Are you confused about what is ACES? What is it used for? How do you use and implement ACES within DaVinci Resolve? This webinar is for you.
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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 hardware odds-and-ends.
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(podcast) Like the headline says, a discussion.
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"Since the kernel panic occurs only when the OWC Accelsior 4M2 is in slots 4 or 5, and the slot is using pool B of the PCIe lanes, the solution for your 2019 Mac Pro is easy." Kudos to OWC for getting ahead of this and letting their customers know the work-around while they work with Apple to fix.
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A recent article on the website Verge suggested Thunderbolt computers were compromised by its chipset. Friend of the Tao, Gary Adcock, goes past the sensational headlines and gives media professional actionable facts about this vulnerability.
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For Windows-based colorists: "There once was a time when Microsoft’s Windows Defender was regarded as one of the worst options when it came to protecting your PC. But the free antivirus software (AV) has matured in recent years ... and has impressed us enough that it's the only AV we generally recommend."
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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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(video) This one is simply... fun. For the whole family.
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| Th- th- th- that's all folks! See you next Sunday. |
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