🎨 Colorist Newsletter #495

Published: Sun, 10/03/21

Issue CDXCV: The Geoff Boyle 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.
From The Publisher
As I sat down to put together this week's Newsletter, my Mixing Light business partner, Robbie Carman, shared this link from Cinematographer Geoff Boyle's website announcing his long battle with lung cancer is at an end.

I was shocked since I've been a Cinematography Mailing List (CML) subscriber for a VERY long time. Geoff was its founder and steward for 25 years. But I hadn't read it in quite a while and didn't realize he was in the end stages of his battle.

In his July farewell Zoom call (linked to at the top of the Crafts section) Geoff talks about his most fundamental approach to the CML:

"Tell the truth. Test something ... Put the source material up; so that people can take the rushes ... [and] have a look. If you can make it better then please do and show me what I've done wrong."

It takes incredible strength of character to publicly fulfill that vision. It's why the CML was (and is) so valuable - and contentious. Many great cinematographers followed his lead. The CML grew into a place where professionals band together, share their opinions, and open themselves up to criticism - teaching everyone in the process.

Geoff's philosophy is based entirely on the scientific method. If an opinion is proven faulty, so be it.

Geoff was a great creative talent. But his craft is based on technology. Honestly evaluating technology is essential if you're going to reach your creative heights. This includes changing your honest opinion when someone presents you with a new set of facts that you can replicate. By doing so in an open group like the CML, not only do you become a better creative, so does the rest of the community.

One of Geoff's last requests to the CML community was to help support CML operations by subscribing to their Patreon page. I just did so. Geoff was very pleased with the hands he gave the CML keys to and I'm happy to help keep his legacy alive.

Godspeed Geoff!
- Patrick Inhofer
Colorist | Publisher | Coach

(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.)

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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.

After 25 years, Geoff Boyle steps down from running CML. It's one of the original filmmaking mailing lists, founded in the late '90s - and running strong 25 years later. His leadership and stewardship of that group made the CML one of the most influential communities for professional cinematographers. I congratulate and thank him for his life-long work. This Zoom call is bittersweet but a fitting testament to the man and his legacy. He will be missed - but not forgotten.

I enjoyed this write-up: "The look of the show has evolved since our first discussions, but the original ideas and direction are still intact. They wanted to convey a colder, starker reality with the look of the first story, but almost the opposite with the second, which they’ve just started shooting."

A good interview with bits like this: "Marvel has also developed an incredible internal tool, appropriately called JARVIS, that connects the VFX, editorial and finishing databases. It can perform some incredibly advanced data wrangling and heavy lifting that would ordinarily take a lot of time and manual work to complete."

A great read.

Do you deliver content to one of the streaming services, or hope to do so one day? This is a terrific look at what happens behind the scenes after you upload your deliverables to Netflix. One thing is for sure: Mass distribution is way more complex these days than when I started in this business by 'printing to tape' and someone in Master Control pressed 'play' on a tape machine.

(video) "Roman's reputation of creating purposeful looks and finding elegant solutions to complex technical projects allows him the to build long-standing relationships with cinematographers, directors, and visual effects teams."

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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. 
Released this week, this LinkedIn Learning course is your Tao Publisher's follow-up to the Resolve Quickstart that was released earlier this year. It teaches you how to customize Resolve for your workflow; a variety of features to keep playback interactive and real-time; the fundamentals of moving timelines between Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro; plus how to 'trick out' your setup with different hardware devices to make you faster and more precise. Check it out!

(Livestream) In this replay from colorist Cullen Kelly: "This week we're taking a look at the inner working of images and their creation so you can have more control and a better understanding of how to create the images you want."

This blog post breaks down Dehancer's plug-in 'Color Head'. It's a good read with bits like this: "In the process of negative film printing, the effect of filters is the opposite of what is expected. For example, if you add the yellow filter, i.e. push it into the head shaft (positive values of ‘Yellow – Blue’ slider), the photo paper will be exposed to a yellower light. In terms of the negative process, the print will become less yellow, i.e. more blue, after paper development. Similar changes occur when other filters are used." (via Hector Berrebi)

(videos) This is a nice collection of editor Jonny Elwyns's favorite tips since he started his premium newsletter. There's good stuff at this link worth sharing with your favorite editors.

"The DWA compression option for EXRs now includes a quality setting.  It doesn’t sound like much, but EXRs with DWA have been my output / codec of choice for several years now, so this new update makes me very happy.  Let’s have a look at why."

(webinar) Is cloud security a concern for your clients? This previously recorded webinar walks you through the challenges in securing cloud-based collaborative projects and Avid's solution to the problem.

"Until visual search is integrated into your favorite NLE, there are some interim solutions. Most major Media Asset Management systems include some form of visual indexing and searching." Philip then shares a variety of solutions using Machine Learning for visual indexing.

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Pushing Photons
These stories are from MixingLight.com's membership Library of color grading articles, tutorials, and podcasts (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 color correction Practice Projects for purchase. 

(video) "CES is an extremely popular color management pipeline but its RRT can impose a ‘look’. In this Insight learn about OpenDRT & how to implement it."

(video) "In part 6 of his ongoing series, Cullen Kelly explores how to combine two separate DCTLs for increased user functionality without adding complexity."

(video) "What does binary logic have to do with color grading? Colorist Joey D'Anna shows you how to build switches and logic into your Resolve node structure."

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Gear Heads
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.

This is a quick overview of an adapter I'm sure many readers will find useful: "The new Dual DisplayPort Adapter from OWC utilizes the latest DisplayPort 1.4 technology to turn one Thunderbolt port on your Mac into two DisplayPort connections for external monitors."

"We'll be taking a look at the performance, power efficiency, and value proposition of the DT Max. We've also cracked the drive open in order to confirm which UFD controller Kingston is using."

(videos) "[Have you] always wanted to build your own PC? A complete guide with over 70 videos and links."

This writeup contains something that the actual product's website avoids: Pricing. I don't understand why they're so coy about it and it does make me hesitant. But since it was sent in to me I'm sure more than a few readers are curious so I'm including it: "The new SymplyFIRST end-to-end workflow storage solution enables productivity improvement for on-set, post production, and content archive, including newly released LTO-9 technology." (via Dario Bigi)

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.

I'm sure this was fun for the kids. It's also a good, uplifting read.

This could be fun if you'd like to dip your toe into projectors, without breaking the bank (but not for professional grading, either): "The BenQ X1300i steps beyond a standard gaming projector with its LED light source and multiple gaming modes for specific game types. It supports 120 Hz gaming at its native 1080p resolution, plus serves really well for movie and TV watching despite its somewhat elevated blacks."

If you're a Windows user, click through for a good laugh at what you're missing. For Mac users? Not. Funny. I 100% concur with the opinions expressed at this link.

 
Th- th- th- that's all folks! I'll see you next week.