Next week this Newsletter is on hiatus for the US celebration of Thanksgiving.

Normally I'd hold back a few of this week's articles to keep it shorter. Instead, I'm jam-packing it since you'll have two weeks to digest it.

The usual Newsletter-reading rules apply: 

- First, scan the Newsletter, so you can get a scope of the articles. 

- Then, go back and start clicking. Most readers don't read every article (and I don't expect you to). 

If you follow this scan-then-read plan you won't feel overwhelmed!

And in a world where many of us are feeling overwhelmed - having a plan to keep this Newsletter manageable is probably welcome advice. In other news...

Mixing Light is offering Tao Newsletter readers a very special Merry holiday offer!

As a Newsletter reader, Team Mixing Light is offering you a re-run of our Spring 2020 Back To Work Premium membership sale. It doesn't matter if you're a new, returning, or existing member - you can take advantage of our continuing education website for colorists, finishers, and their assistants.

Feel free to spread the word and share the cheer!

I also send my Thanksgiving cheers to you!

I want to thank you for subscribing to this Newsletter. It's always gratifying how many of you read this every week! 

Thank you to Flanders Scientific, Endcrawl & Other World Computing!

It's no secret that I almost shut down this Newsletter after three years of Saturdays writing this publication. When FSI stepped up to support this effort - and then other Sponsors followed suit - I was brought to tears.

The financial support of my Sponsors is why I'm still delivering this to you, 300+ Sundays later.

If you're so inclined, you can thank my Sponsors by checking out the services they promote - and then clicking and buying, if the fit is right!

Thank you, my lovely Tao Treasurer!

Honestly, Sponsors or not, if the Tao Treasurer wasn't willing to lose a part of every Saturday to me writing? Well, you'd be doing something else at this moment. Thank you to my wife for being supportive of everything I do. I couldn't do it without you. Literally.

Okay. Let's get to it! I'll see you in two weeks.

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

Join the 'Color Cartel' Protein Folding Team - Rosetta@home allows you to donate the spare CPU cycles of your rig to the scientific fight against corona viruses and cancers! The Tao 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.

I like the questions asked and the specificity of the answers. A good interview that's an easy read.

For you color-loving programmers: "Colour is an open-source Python package providing a comprehensive number of algorithms and datasets for colour science." (via Robbie Carman)

(forum) He's been doing this for a few years, but I love that BMD's Peter Chamberlain writes these forum posts announcements listing the ChangeLog for each new version of Resolve. Whereas, the Read Me lists the full 'What's New In Resolve 17' feature list. 

No matter, if you've installed R17b1 then you probably should upgrade to R17b2 (but don't make the mistake I did and install the R17.1 beta 'fork' - currently, those of for Big Sur M1 Macs, only).

(video) "Assimilate Scratch 9.3 includes native support for NDI and integrated a direct connection to Light Illusion’s ColourSpace CMS. In addition, a CIE Plot scope, enhanced panel mapping capabilities, and media defaults in the project settings." Embedded is a 23-minute video about Scratch's NDI streaming.

"The November NVIDIA Studio Driver is now available, with support for eight new GPU-accelerated creative app updates including DaVinci Resolve 17, Trapcode Suite 16, and Magic Bullet Suite 14."

If you're thinking of dishing out for a M1-based Apple product for production work then you probably want to bookmark this page.

"Blackmagic is offering a week of free, What’s New watch & learn online sessions via Zoom. These sessions will run the week of November 17 and November 30. These sessions are free to everyone and available via the Zoom links below."

(video) A good guide for upgrading (or how to decide not to). I love his opening remark: "I will not insult you by explaining how to double click the installer". This video clocks in at just over 11 minutes. Not bad for what is a more complicated topic than it seems.

Johnny does his usual roundup of resources for saving money as we enter the holiday season.

Prepare yourselves for this source footage.

This is a short, succinct explanation of how CineMatch is based off FilmConvert (which a lot of colorists like) and answers what's the differences between CineMatch, FilmConvert, and FilmConvert Nitrate?

"Instead of an extension, Resolve uses Python scripting. These scripts only work with Resolve downloaded from the Blackmagic Design website or via a reseller. They do not work with the App Store version of Resolve." 

On Mixing Light I've been experimenting with captioning our tutorials (right now, about 5% of our content is captioned). Based on this article I think I might give this service a try since it may streamline and accelerate the process.

New features include: "Color Handling – a wide range of new color input and output transforms; Huenity – simplify the color palette by customizing a range of hues... " and more... Click through for all the details.

Earlier this summer I took a 'Train the Trainer' course in Fairlight. By the end of that class, I wanted to become a mixer! Most of that credit probably goes to BMD's Mary Plummer, a talented mixer in her own right who also writes the Resolve certification training material. 

Still, it's a very accessible app (even if you're a colorist) - if you have the inclination. Click through for more details on the R17 enhancements and new hardware surfaces.

Ha! The subheading for this article definitely resonates with me: "Media Composer listens to its true power users: the assistant editors." 

(webinar) "Register for a live Mixing Light webinar on how to properly create end titles, how they can go wrong, and the new Endcrawl.com interface." Your Newsletter Editor will be hosting the creators of my long-time Newsletter supporters. 

The webinar is free to the world to sign up and attend!

"With the holidays nearly upon us, in this installment of Color Correction Gear head discover several 'stocking stuffer' pieces of gear to add to your list!"

As it seems the world goes through another round of lock-downs, Team Mixing Light is offering all Newsletter readers our Back To Work sale from earlier this year. 

Get up to 50% off the first term of a Mixing Light Premium membership, with up to a permanent 20% discount for the lifetime of your renewals!

(podcast) "Blackmagic Design just announced Resolve 17. We jump on a call to discuss the release, its timing, new features, and our initial thoughts." 

Since this podcast clocks in at about 90 minutes, it's the perfect thing to listen to while cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

"In these days of massive tech acceleration, the drives you buy this year are almost boat anchors 18 months later. And when your client list grows, you find yourself making painful decisions about what to keep on the server and what to toss to make room for new projects. That’s where creative.space’s other service tiers start to make a lot of sense."

Honestly, I didn't have time to read this whole article today, but it's interesting enough that it's on my To-Do list for this holiday break.

(videos) Obviously, Final Cut Pro is going to be Apple's poster child for their new M1 silicon chips. This post is a round-up of various videos that put FCP through its paces.

"During the launch event, one thing that was in Apple fashion typically missing from the presentation were actual details on the clock frequencies of the design, as well as its TDP which it can sustain at maximum performance." Click through for those real-world numbers.

If you work Premiere Pro and use Loupedeck+ then these look like a huge productivity booster.

This is a good read if you're interested in following these things: "The Visual Display division has recently changed its position on miniLED LCD backlights from a mild interest to a strong commitment . . . They believe that these devices can compete with OLEDs "

A-yup: "You may have noticed that external SSDs from top-tier vendors are pricey—especially when they’re Thunderbolt. If you’re looking to lessen your financial pain a little, then OWC’s $79 Envoy Express T3 (Thunderbolt 3) enclosure might be just what the doctor ordered."

This is a really good roundup and explanation of today's storage market, covering everything from micro-shops to big post houses. It's worth the read.

This is a short Q&A that you'll find interesting if you're new to buying storage. It's also a plus for me that they're interviewing a trusted colleague of mine, Steve Manella, from my days working in NYC post houses.

Well, their results seem pretty definitive. Unfortunately, no test results with the DaVinci Resolve 17.1beta that's specifically for the M1 Macs running macOS 11.