🎨 Colorist Newsletter #418

Published: Sun, 10/13/19

Issue CDXVIII: The Catalina 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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This week I want to formally welcome BorisFX as a Newsletter Sponsor!

I'm excited to have them because they are the custodians of my two long-time favorite suite of plugins: Sapphire and Mocha Pro.

Sapphire plug-ins have always been the high-end suite you lusted over. Today, with BorisFX, the pricing is better than ever making that plug-in suite accessible to more creatives.

Mocha Pro is a skill-set in itself, and one skill that can have the right set of clients coming back to you time-after-time.

BorisFX is a good sponsor for a color grading and finishing focused Newsletter. Check out Sapphire and Mocha Pro to see if you agree.

Should you expect to see more Sponsors on this Newsletter?

Nope. Four is my limit. It's a nice balance between commerce and community.

A weekly Newsletter (now shipping it's 418th edition) can't survive on passion alone (just ask the Tao Treasurer).

The emails sent to me and the greetings I get at trade events are the Why I keep doing this. The Sponsors are the How I keep doing this.

When you're thinking about buying your next reference display, kitting out your newest SAN, laboriously building your next credit roll, or deciding how to round out your suite of visual effects plugins, head over the TaoOfColor.com and click on one of those Sponsors. It keeps this Newsletter rolling to your Inbox.

Thanks again to BorisFX for joining this team!

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, hit reply or email it to '[email protected]'! Include a quick reason for the suggested link.)

- 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.
If you live in LA and don't make your way to the TCL Chinese Theater, then you're missing out on the only screening in the world exhibiting this film as intended to be seen. I'm jealous of you ALL!!! Click through to see what format you're more likely see in a theater near you.
 
(so jealous)
(video) "Cinematographer Carolina Costa deconstructs what the Veiling Technique is and how it's been used in many different ways in cinema." The video is embedded at the end. A good term to understand for the well-rounded colorist.
Oh. You know you've been wondering about this your whole career. This post tries to answer that question in spite of the murky details surrounding film revenue figures.
Sponsor
Flanders Scientific Professional 4K HDR Reference Monitors
The DM240 SDR Mastering Monitor pairs perfectly with the XM311K HDR Mastering monitor.

They are an excellent visual match, allowing you to be certain that the differences you see between your HDR and SDR monitors are attributable to your grades rather than fundamental differences in display technology.
LEARN MORE about FSI's Professional HDR Reference Monitor
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.
(video) Yes... The next version of Scopebox is coming. It includes an OpenFX version if you don't want to dedicate an external MacMini to your rig. Tons of great new features. Very exciting. Click through for the promo video. Releases Oct. 29.
The latest Desktop Video 11.4.1 software update gives HDR support on several Decklink, UltraStudio products plus supports DNxIQ and DNxID boxes. The Purple keeps pushing forward. It's good to see. Click through for the models.
I'm not saying this because BorisFX is the Newsletter's newest Sponsor... MochaPro is a great tool for a colorist to offer an additional skillset to your clients - and eliminating the delays of unexpectedly sending work out to a VFX artist. If you think you might be into mastering this tool/skill, sign up for this webinar.
Reactor is an open source plug-in manager for Fusion. It's worked, mostly, in Resolve 15. But now support is official. Cryptomatte is an interesting plug-in I've had clients walk in with that's given me trouble in the past that's installed with Reactor. I guess it's time to reinstall this whole package and see how it's working in Resolve Fusion 16. This article has a link to an overview video on how it all works (it can be confusing).
For those of you who luxuriate in Linux... "It is no secret that installing the lasted Nvidia drivers can be a bit of a pain. In this article, we will be covering how to install Nvidia drivers via the command line and the GUI."
I'm seeing this warning throughout the Mac-based post-production world. Before updating make sure all your apps and plugins are 10.15 ready, since it doesn't support your old 32-bit apps. This article shows you how to find those apps and tips for a dual-boot setup. If you're on a Mac, definitely read this before updating.
(videos) In addition to GPU acceleration, the app is now fully Metal. Click through for a 'What's New' video and a 'How To Safely Update' video.
Oh! Perfect for when you're in session and can't take calls, "you don’t have to be driving to take advantage of your smartphone’s Do Not Disturb While Driving feature . . . you can customize the auto-responder so it tells people why you aren’t available and when you’ll respond to their texts or calls."
Since I don't do personnel moves in this Newsletter, why is this here? It's the talk of new workflows and Machine Learning initiatives that Frame.io has on tap. Our industry is about to undergo another revolution similar to the digital transformation. Frame.io is an interesting player to watch (and learn).
Sponsor
Sapphire OFX Plugins for DaVinci Resolve
Sapphire 2019 is a set of over 270 visual effect plugins, featuring a revamped Lens FlareDesigner tool complete with over 30 professionally designed flares.
 
Compatible with macOS, Windows or Linux and accelerated for top GPU performance with CUDA, Sapphire OFX plugins are the artist’s choice for VFX, compositing,and editorial workflows.
 
Annual subscriptions start at $495.00.
Take a Free Trial of Sapphire
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 14 Course and color correction Practice Projects.
This curated guide through our library of color grading tutorials focuses on ideas for building editing or color grading suites.
Discover our color grading tutorials and articles on creating HDR and Dolby Vision content. Learn the fundamentals and specific workflows. Plus links to critical external resources.
Learn how to use DaVinci Resolve to finish and output coutless versions of broadcast promos, easy fast and without any mistakes.
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 hardware odds-and-ends.
(video) For a decade, Tao Newsletter Sponsor FSI has been the only display company to offer lifetime display calibration of their panels (you only pay round-trip shipping). Well - that hasn't changed. But now Sony sees the value in the overall concept by offering their own, fee-based, calibration services... which is good for non-FSI owners. (Quick plug: FSI also calibrates colorimeters and spectrometers for their clients... for you self-calibrators out there). Click through for an embedded video and to get a quote.
I'm a frustrated MacMini + eGPU owner who can't run his AMD 5700XT in 10.15 as a remote Resolve Quicktime render station, as intended. Grrr... that's what you get for relying on the 'grapevine' about impending hardware support for an impending software update. Click through for the full details on what's working (and, by exclusion, what's not).
If you're that person who's ready for it.
I flagged this article because of the section on Apple's dedicated machine learning accelerators. It'll be interesting to see if the refreshed Mac Pro will give post production apps this type of dedicated processing power (and if they'll take advantage of it)?
This newsletter has been 'dissing' on the marketing hype of UHD HDR displays. I figured I'd drop an item for displays that aren't pure hype. These tend to be marketed to gamers but their pricing puts them in the cross-hairs of content creators. It's a good example of baseline pricing for decent OLED displays (without all the professional connections/features). Although... UHD people, not 4K (sigh)!
Sponsor
LumaForge + Resolve = Collaboration
We've spent the last 3 years designing a shared storage device for color, editorial and VFX workflows. We call it the Jellyfish. With an integrated database server, it's perfect for Resolve's groundbreaking Collaborative Workflow.

It can now be purchased on apple.com.
 
Jellyfish Shared Storage Systems start at under $10,000.
 
CLICK to LEARN MORE about the Jellyfish at Lumaforge.com
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.
(video) "The gang gets together to discuss the . . . Sony's PlayStation 5 announcement, the new Picard trailer, and our favorite titles in Apple Arcade." Geeky fun.
A terrific graphical design that has pacing and tasteful music to keep you engaged and learning for more than 90 seconds. Fun and interesting.
 
Sponsor
ENDCRAWL.com is the only good way to make end credits.
Want to see what we're all about?

TAO newsletter subscribers get to skip the waitlist.
Get your free ENDCRAWL demo project.
 
Th- th- th- that's all folks! See you next Sunday!