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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 CXCII A TaoOfColor.com Publication Publisher: Pat Inhofer Managing Editor: Jim
Wicks
From the Publisher |
- I think you have in your hands a fantastic edition of the Tao Colorist Newsletter. There are a ton of links that will take you a full week to get through.
- Therefore: I have nothing to say except...
- I've added a new book to the Recommended Reading list. Marc Wielage turned me onto it about 2 weeks ago. It
was featured in this newsletter last week.
- This week I've come to my conclusion: It's terrific! I'm barely a 1/3 through the book and already it's well worth its price.
- Scroll down to the end of the newsletter for my comments on the book and the rest of The Book Shelf.
Happy Grading! See you next week! |
The Craft |
- Core Concepts In Color Theory - people respond to colors in a unique way.
They can affect our mood as well as our behavior. While there is no right or wrong way to use color, click through to understand how colors work together. (colourlovers.com)
- The Art and Science Of 'The Big Bang Theory' - Colorist and author Steve Hullfish talks workflow with editor and assistant editor of one of the most popular comedies on TV. As it
turns out, the 'The Big Bang Theory' has a funny workflow. (provideocoalition.com)
- Sensor Color Balance - there is a lot of good intel in this blog piece for the working Colorist to know about. Doing a black test can really open your eyes to what is going on inside the camera. (dvinfo.net)
- Shadow Illusion - this is an oldie but goodie, and worth your time if you are just starting out as a Colorist or even if you've been at it for any length of time. (web.mit.edu via @mitch_jacobson)
- Hues, Values and Saturation - click through to dig deep into the world of hues, values, and saturation. For the Colorist, these are the three dimensions that allow humans
are able to view color. Good stuff to know. (colourlovers.com)
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S P O N S O R E D M E S S A G E Tao of Color's Official LCD Reference Monitors Flanders Scientific Broadcast Monitors The CM series is an affordable line of color critical reference LCD & OLED monitors featuring 10bit panels, 12 bit, 4:4:4 and XYZ signal formats, CFE2 Advanced LUT support
for 3D Calibration LUTs and 3D DIT LUTs , 3G/ Dual-Link/ HD/ SD-SDI Inputs, 13 onboard scopes on all inputs and world class support. All standard and starting at only $2,495. Learn More About the FSI CM Series Monitors
The Tools |
- NAB2014 Roundup - master editor Oliver Peters needed a week to decompress from everything NAB. Click through for his detailed analysis of all the new tools that he saw. (digitalfilms.wordpress.com)
- RAW, LOG, LUTs and Gumbo - on page 38 of this awful magazine-style web page, is a terrific article explaining the essentials of the topic... from the perspective of making Gumbo. Don't let this horrible web page keep you from reading (and passing forward) this fun and informative article. (issuu.com via @BobbyHolbrook2)
- [video] Klein Instruments at NAB 2014 - A quick video of their customers explaining why they calibrate their reference displays with a $6,500 meter. (youtu.be)
- [video] DaVinci Resolve: Animating a grade across a dissolve - if you've used Automatic Scene Detection to cut up a 'baked clip' and there's a dissolve... how do you handle that? Here's one answer... (vimeo.com)
- [video] Son of animating a grade across a dissolve - here's a second approach to solving the same problem. It's an Insight I created for MixingLight late last year (I've removed it from
behind the paywall for the next week or so). (mixinglight.com)
- [roundup] DaVinci Resolve 11 new features - plus a variety of other Resolve tricks and tutorials. Another good roundup from Jonny. (jonnyelwyn.co.uk)
- Skype TX: Skype in the studio - At NAB 2014 Skype was in the South Hall promoting their upcoming Skype TX service. It's designed for broadcasters. Click through for details. (theverge.com via @tparish)
- [review] Indie Essentials: Quicktime-based VFX for professionals - THAT Studio has partnered with Rampant Design Tools to package and sell 2k and 1080p clips to be used royalty-free. The interesting bit: a single purchase gets you a lifetime of updates to the package, which will see monthly additions. Read the review for more
details. (walterbiscardi.com)
- Indie Essentials: NAB Discount extended one week - Their NAB Show $50 discount has been extended for another week. And be on the lookout this week for a tutorial I'm doing on using these clips inside DaVinci Resolve. (indieessentials.com)
- [update] Magic Bullet Looks 2.5 - new features and much faster. This is easily one of my favorite 'sandboxes' to quickly explore new color grading ideas. (redgiant.com)
- Bob Zelin's NAB: Storage, Broadcast and Thunderbolt - an excellent round-up of what caught this long-time engineer's notice at NAB 2014. I strongly encourage you to read it. (library.creativecow.net)
- [white paper] Comparison of 3D LUT technologies - a NASA physicist (day job: designing radio spectrometers to study gas molecules) who is also a display calibration enthusiast applies his research skills to evaluating the Home
Theater versions of Light Illusion and CALman in generating 3D LUTs. His results speak well for both packages. I found this white paper most interesting for his methodology and language. As I get deeper into understanding display profiling and calibration I'm finding my biggest barrier is the language. This White Paper brought me closer to understanding this very peculiar area of study. (studio.spectracal.com)
- [white paper] Display Profiling
Solutions - in the previous white paper, SpectraCal's 'Dynamic Linearity Correction' algorithms were prominently featured. This white paper discusses traditional approaches to profiling displays... and why SpectraCal decided to implement this new approach. If you're new to display calibration, this is a *must read*. Tons of great foundational concepts in this White Paper. Both White
Papers require email address to download. (studio.spectracal.com)
- Twitter Tips for Avid users - if you grade in Avid, you'll probably find some of these tips useful. (jonnyelwyn.co.uk)
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The Business |
- Broadcast Gear Makers Risk Financial Ruin - "Those companies supplying traditional hardware product to broadcasters, with no great differentiation or critical
mass, are under threat." Includes interesting numbers and trends about the overall spending in the Broadcast markets. (hollywoodreporter.com via Marc Wielage)
- Post production tools are changing the DP's role - And the effect of 4k acquisition on their craft. Interesting discussion on how the business is impacting their craft. (nofilmschool.com via Marc Wielage)
- Barco Launches 4K Laser Projector - at CinemaCon. "The Barco laser projector is not only the most compact 60,000-lumen projector available, it is also the first DCI-compliant one capable of showing 4K content at 60 fps and 3D movies in full 4K resolution." (stereoscopy.com)
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S P O N S O R E D M E S S A G E Tao of Color's Official Calibration Software Announcing: CalMAN for FSI A brand new version of the world's favorite calibration and profiling software. Optimized to make your Flanders Scientific reference monitor
as accurate as it can be made. Breakthrough 3D LUT algorithms create
a level of accuracy literally never seen before.
CalMAN for FSI is available at a very attractive price,
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. - [video] Managing the Grade: A Music Video - how a professional music video colorist goes about managing his sessions to get his work done on time and on (a zero) budget. (mixinglight.com)
- [video] Using Dropbox for
Automatic Versioning - featuring DaVinci Resolve, I demonstrate using Dropbox for automatically backing up your Resolve project every time you press command-S. And then restore to an earlier version, if necessary. (mixinglight.com)
- [podcast] Photochemical color timing + the role of the DP in the color grade - Team MixingLight was
asked a series of questions for a dissertation. We opted to answer in the form of a podcast. Here are the first two questions, answered. (mixinglight.com)
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Outside 'The Box' |
- [video] Mommy, what does an editor do? - this short (under 2 minutes) animation explains that it takes more than a 6-year-old with a laptop and a copy of iMovie to be an editor. (vimeo.com)
- [video] A timeline of world cinema -
dive into this rich 6-part web series on the history of cinema. The 2 minute introduction sets up the series, and provides links to all the episodes. (youtube.com)
- [video] The long take - it's the hallmark of cinematic achievement. It's memorable, particularly when the shot in question really works in a film. Here's a good video rundown of 12 particularly impressive long takes.
(youtube.com)
- Fading Colors - even the great master painters, like Renoir, cannot escape the ravages of time. Click through to see how experts are trying to save paintings whose colors have faded. Incredible before and after image. (nytimes.com)
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Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers |
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Sunday Morning Fun(nies) |
- [video] Have Pillow, Will Travel - what were you doing on April 5? Your Tao Color newsletter staff were at NAB2014. But had we been in Amsterdam, we definitely would have joined in with the International Pillow fight. Seriously, why wouldn't you?! (vimeo.com)
- [video] Epic pen spinning - you know that thing you used to do in middle school because you were bored? Yeah, well these guys perfected it. (youtube.com)
- [video] Happy (Get Lucky) - Pomplamoose is a music duo featuring real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. This is not only a fun music video, but it was shot in one take, no cuts or invisible
editing. Very inventive! (youtube.com)
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Gear Heads |
- Design vs practicality - fresh from NAB2014, Walter Biscardi dives into the new Mac Pro. Click through to find out why he says it's powerful and fast, just not as practical as the many other desktop choices available to today's creative artist. (walterbiscardi.com)
- [review] Samsung UI8500 4K TV - Available in the UK and featuring a curved designed, how does
it hold up? Part of the review used House of Cards streamed at 4K from Netflix. Click through to learn how the image holds up. (hdtvtest.co.uk)
- Shootout: 128GB RAM kit in 2013 Mac Pro - is it worth the
upgrade over the 64GB kit? Here's the twist... the 128GB is clocked slower than the 64GB kit. Does this help? Or hinder? Hmmm... (barefeats.com)
- Performance Sweet Spot: Mac Pro 12-core vs 8-core - includes a bunch of metrics testing DaVinci Resolve, FCP 10 and RED Cine-X. Very interesting results. (barefeats.com)
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Have you ever wanted to sit with a colorist
while they color correct? Now, you can! Coming Soon from TaoOfColor.com: Mother Died: The Grade Along => Download a short film (shot on RED) => Grade Along with TaoOfColor founder Patrick Inhofer => Send Patrick your work, he'll evaluate it as your Senior
Colorist Click to read the official announcement Launching in Early May 2014
Cross Dressing |
- Comparing apples to apples - diy-ers can build a cheaper, customizable alternative to the new Mac Pro. How much cheaper? The short answer: $853.32 cheaper. (lifehacker.com)
- Go ahead, hack my day - the always up-to-date guide to building a hackintosh (OS X 10.9.2). Everything you need to know on how to build a Mac
that's a Hack. (lifehacker.com)
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New Kids on the Block |
- [review] 70mm from a DSLR - move over Canon, Panasonic, and Nikon. Ricoh/Pentax carves out its own niche, offering a new DSLR that very closely matches the old school 70 mm look for film. (performvideo.com)
- [video] Amira Showreel: Get to know yer cameras - Amira is one of the new kids on the block. The
new documentary-style camera from ARRI has a dynamic range that's incredible; it's clean and beautiful, but not overly sharp. (vimeo.com)
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Getting Ahead |
- [free download] The art of the done list - we all make to-do lists, but the secret to success is creating the done list. Download the free e-book to learn why nearly 50% of your to-do lists never get done. (idonethis.com)
- [video] I've got a feeling - years from now, no one is going to remember the color grade you made on a film. But they will remember how you, and
your work, made them feel. So don't sweat the small stuff, sit back and enjoy! (vimeo.com)
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Showcase |
- [video] In Fits in Dreams - filmmaker Gary Yost makes the most of his Blackmagic workflow for his indie-music video. Shot with a Pocket Cinema Camera in Cinema DNG/RAW and graded in DaVinci Resolve. Edited in FCPX 10.1.1. (vimeo.com)
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The Next Step is a Doozy |
- [video] Travel ain't what it used to be - baggage handlers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport are caught using gravity to their advantage. Lesson learned: always work like there's someone's watching you. (youtube.com)
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A Step Too Far? |
- How to reboot civilization - you've seen it play out in the movies. The world is decimated. Time to start over. Heros. Villains. Fade out. What if it wasn't a movie? Want to re-boot civilization? Click through to see what you'll
need. (bostonglobe.com)
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Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. Happy Grading!
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The Book Shelf
- NEW! Digital Cinematography: Fundamentals,
Tools, Techniques and Workflows - Don't let the title fool you. I'm only a third way through this book and its explanations of how digital images are recorded, sampled and viewed is essential knowledge for anyone who's craft intersects with digital images. Not light reading. But not filled with
math either. I highly recommend this book. (amazon.com)
- 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! FCC Disclaimer: Links in this email to Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or ToolFarm.com are Affiliate links that help support the TaoOfColor.com. FSI and SpectraCal are paid sponsors and BlackMagic Design
is a current client. We thank you for your support.
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Published by:
Patrick Inhofer: Photon-Wrangler, Fini.tv | TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com
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