[TaoColorist] Sunday Morning Reading (The NAB 2014 Wrap-Up Edition)

Published: Sun, 04/20/14

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The Tao Colorist

Curated links of news, reviews, thoughts, career advice, and humor 
for professional Video / Film Colorists & Finishers. Delivered Sunday.

    Issue CXCI                                                                                 A TaoOfColor.com Publication

Publisher: Pat Inhofer                                                            Managing Editor: Jim Wicks

From the Publisher
  • Is it Easter, Passover or just another Sunday for you? Whichever it is, I hope it's a good one and thanks for spending a small part of it with me.
  • This week we're jam-packed with NAB stories. 
  • In fact, I've backed off on a bunch of other Tao Newsletter categories and saved them for next week. This edition is already bordering on too many links.
  • But first... I want to thank everyone who attended the Colorist Mixer two weeks ago today!
  • We had a GREAT turnout with a broad mix of vendors, colorists, DPs, editors and their assistants.
  • A bunch of great prizes were given away, including two copies of the full version of Lightspace and a full CALMan calibration package - which perfectly encapsulates the kind of community atmosphere we were hoping to achieve.
  • And if you were with us two weeks ago in the Post ' Production World session featuring Elysium colorist Andrea Chleback - SMOKES! Wasn't that a great 70 minute presentation? In fact, that whole day-featuring workflows-was extremely successful.
  • To all of you who personally thanked me for this Newsletter… Thank YOU for continuing to inspire me!
  • Enough pre-amble. You've got a lot of reading to do...
  • And yes, if you look closely enough… you'll see I've got a sort'a, kind'a secular Easter theme going on here.
Happy Grading! 
See you next week
The Craft

  • Color Correction vs Color Grading - as a Colorist, you know the difference, right? Dive into this blog story by Toolfarm's Michele Yamazaki as she digs deep to explain the craft of both and the tools of the trade. (toolfarm.com)
  • Humans and Their Relationship With Color - A quick roundup of common colors and human emotion. (colourlovers.com)
  • Inhabiting Wes Anderson's World Of Color In 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' - Good article on the collaboration between colorist and director. (studiodaily.com via @tparish)
The Tools

  • [video] Correcting White Balance in Resolve - if you are new to color grading, this is a decent little video how to correct the white balance when it's out of true. You can skip over the  preamble, the tutorial begins @ about 2:45. (youtube.com)
  • Battle of the Color Spaces: Sony SGamut vs SGamut3 - What's the diff? (dvinfo.net)
  • [video] Grading Footage In DaVinci Resolve - a 'color correction 101' video on solving documentary-style problems. (nofilmschool.com)

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NAB 2014 Wrap-Up

  • [video] FSI: NAB 2014 - The latest from the Tao Newsletter's most awesome sponsor, Flanders Scientific. (youtube.com via FinnerKnowsBest)
  • [video] Talking GPUs with NVidia - Can you mix and match video cards for professional apps? (provideocoalition.com)
  • [video] Talking Red Giant Universe - whas'is this new thing from Red Giant? Watch to find out. (provideocoalition.com)
  • [video] Lightworks Public Beta for Mac - it's (almost) here! One of its new features? Auto-edit. And you thought colorists were in trouble... (vimeo.com)
  • [video] Dolby's new codec - AC4 is coming. What is it, you ask? (vimeo.com)
  • [podcast] Coloristos #17 'Live From NAB 2014' - Like the title says. Wide ranging discussion. (coloristos.com)
  • [video] Assimilate Scratch and Scratch Lab - Big updates from Assilimiate in 2014... including exporting ProRes on Windows 7 or 8, Decklink output support, big price drop for a 4K-capable system. (youtube.com)
  • Blackmagic URSA and Studio Camera Hands-on - And check out the size of EVF on that studio camera. It looks like a friggin' iPad. (youtube.com)
  • [video] What's new in DaVinci Resolve 11 - if you were not able to make it to NAB2014 to see the preview of the next evolution of Resolve, here it is. Narrated by Alexis Van Hurkman. (youtube.com)
  • DaVinci Resolve 11: Steve Sebban's Top 7 Features - Good round-up of major new features. (kplprod.com)
  • DaVinci Resolve 11: New Editor On The Block? - Clearly a ton of engineering went into the Editorial workflow. And did you hear the sounds of those necks swiviling at the SuperMeet? That was all the other NLE developers craning to see the Collaborative workflow in action. Really, really impressive.  (filmmakermagazine.com via notesonvideo.blogspot.com)
  • [Tig] Blackmagic Cintel Scanner - What market is this new scanner NOT appropriate for? A terrific post from an informative thread on the Telecine email group. (tig.colorist.org)
  • Avid tips toe in subscription waters - Buy a perpetual license or pay monthly. Your choice. (library.creativecow.net)
  • AJA: Introducing the 4K / UHD Camera CION - Yes. All caps. Sounds like, Cylon. ProRes-based camera. Supports RAW output. (library.creativecow.net)
  • Red Giant Bullet Proof Adds Needed Features - If Bullet Proof didn't quite meet your needs when introduced last year. Take a look at this latest update. (provideocoalition.com)
  • LaCie: Three Thunderbolt Storage Solutions For Cutting 4K - Lots of these solutions on the show floor in 2014. (redsharknews.com)
  • Cinemart CINEC Plin: ProRes for Windows - ProRes rendering in Windows for Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas and Avid. It's unclear in this article but it looks like this one of the reverse-engineered ProRes rendering solutions that have been popping up. (videoandfilmmaker.com)
  • Ninja Star: The tiny ProRes recorder - "Our customers screamed for a tiny flash based Apple ProRes recorder and player for extreme applications, their second location cameras or simply when they already had a monitor." (redsharknews.com)
  • TIG NAB Monitor Wrap up - A comprehensive listing of monitors and their specs. (colorist.org)
  • HitFilm Plugins - the makers of the alternative NLE program brings a new plugin package to your favorite NLE and After Effects. Includes VFX, compositing & motion graphics effects. $499 US. (provideocoalition.com)
  • NAB 2014: Below the line - A good set of observations on cameras, laser projectors, 4K and more... (btlnews.com via @postcolorist)
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
JL Cooper Eclipse: Software v2.9.9 | Updated February 24, 2013

Tangent Design: HUB v1.1.6 | Wave Firmware v1.12 | Updated January'ish 2014

Avid Artist Color: Mac v3.1.2 | Win v3.1.2 | Updated March 3, 2014
The Business

  • 4K Panasonic VariCam - get a closer look at what you could be grading in the near future. Just one of the new line of 4K cameras unveiled at NAB 2014. (nofilmschool.com)
  • Post Production Panel: Sundance 2014 - From 4k to workflow to examining your mistakes. (vimeo.com via Marc Wielage)
  • Netflix 4K streaming is live - how does House of Cards in UHD compare with its 1080p version when streaming over the internet? Click through to find out. (hdtvtest.co.uk)
Friends & Family

MixingLight.com is a companion membership website to TaoOfColor.com. Want to read a story listed here but not a member? A free 24-hour test drive is available.

  • Shot Matching and LUTs - Using your scopes to match two shots that share the same LUT. (mixinglight.com)
  • DaVinci Resolve: Introduction to the Offset Control - Like the title says. Includes the very nifty, but somewhat hidden, keyboard shortcuts. (mixinglight.com)
  • The Doubled-Sided Technique: An Alternate Approach - Using a grayscale image to quickly execute a two- or three-tone color wash Look. (mixinglight.com)
  • Using Annotations in Adobe SpeedGrade CC - How to use this nifty feature for taking or sharing notes. (mixinglight.com)
Edumacate Yerself

  • Editor's Lounge Featuring AVID - April 25th. Including an NAB wrap-up. (facebook.com)
  • Half-day: Media Composer/Symphony on AS-11 file creation and DPP delivery - Discussion on tips and pitfalls of the new broadcast file delivery specification. April 24th, London. (vet.co.uk)
  • [Book] Digital Cinematography: Fundamentals, Tools, Techniques and Workflows - I just started reading this book this morning. GREAT explanations of some tough technical underpinnings of our tools. This book has a good chance of being added to the Tao Newsletter's recommended reading list (at the bottom of every newsletter). (amazon.com)
Sunday Morning Funnies

  • [video] Bunny takes a shower  - At first glance you think you're watching some sick joke... it's NOT! As a former bunny owner, this is nothing short of remarkable. (youtube.com via Jason Diamond)
  • [video] Jumping Bunnies! - It's a competition. Very humorous. (youtube.com)
  • [video] Venom Trickshots - the tricks that make these type of pool shots possible are simply awesome! Oh, and did anyone notice the girl? (youtube.com)
  • [video] Toughest Job in the world - a Boston ad agency posted a real job listing online for a 'Director of Operations' position at a company that didn't exist - but for a client does. The job requirements were nothing short of brutal. Watch all the way through to learn who the client really is. (youtube.com)
  • [video] White knuckles - some people think 'extreme sports' is a fun thing to try out. Show them this video as many times as it takes until they realize they're wrong. (youtube.com)
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)
  • Autodesk Smoke Essentials - Walk through grading a short sci-fi film (with downloadable ProRes4444 source material) while learning the ultimate online finishing app...  Autodesk Smoke. (amazon.com)
  • Color Grading with Avid and Symphony - Written for version 6. Fully applicable to version 7. I was a contributor. (amazon.com)
  • Adobe Speedgrade CC: Classroom in a Book - A solid book for a solid grading app. (amazon.com)
Have a book you think should be in this list? Reply to this email and let me know!

Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. 

Happy Grading!
  
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Patrick Inhofer
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Patrick Inhofer: Photon-Wrangler, Fini.tv | TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com