Colorist Articles

Colorist Technique

• Colors That Fade: Now that DI has really taken off and the cost of owning a system has fallen sharply, the number of working colorists has grown just as dramatically. This boom in color grading may also have caused significant changes to the perception of images by the audience.

• Color Management: A case study about color management, monitor calibration and feature film DI grading. "180" is a colorful film graded for film, DCP and video distribution using THX cineSpace tools.

• Popular Looks: An overview of some common styles that are ever popular in feature films. This presentation was first given at IBC 2009 for Digital Vision in the Training Zone.

• Bleach Bypass: also known as Skip Bleach, Bleach Reduction, ENR, ACE and Silver Tint. All result in a distinctive high contrast, harsh, faded look. This article describes ways of creating that look.

• Hitting the Wall: Every colorist I have met is passionate about their job. But each of us needs a creative boost from time to time. This short article offers a few suggestions to enrich your style, and improve your technique.

• Layers: A layer is broadly defined as a set of tools that can be applied in addition to the base grade, u they sually to a selected part of the image. Why do we need lots of layers, what dodo and what they are good for?.

• One Light to Final Grade: The terminology varies, and the techniques evolve but the concepts remain the same.

• What is Color? How we see and interpret color.

• When to Color: There are three strategic points in the post-production process when color correction should occur.

• History for Colorists: A few dates that stick in my mind. Its a personal list, but if anyone -manufacturers included- wishes to send me some other milestones, I am happy to add them.

• Glossary: A compilation of definitions from the colorist point of view.

• The Beauty of ACES...: This paper explains the theory and practice of using Nucoda Film Master with the workflow developed by AMPAS.. Their aims are to improve and simplify post-production workflow, restore and preserve current motion picture assets and to create a standard that is ready for future technologies. I think they succeeded.

• Adopting New Technology: This paper considers the adoption of new technology, with specific regard to the advancements made in software color enhancement. It follows on from my paper Software Color Correction below.

• Software Color Systems: This paper considers the effect of technology on creativity, with specific regard to the advantages of software color enhancement systems. See also Adopting New Technology above

• The Need for Speed: Software color systems can have an infinite number of windows, so a new method of evaluation is needed. One old favorite is to compare speed. That seems simple enough, but actually it is quite complicated.

• Data or Video? The digital workflow offers more sophisticated tools, instant visualization and the holy grail of the media world -  the universal master. Still the question remains: am I better off using a video or data workflow for my digital intermediate?

da Vinci papers

• Defocus: Soft Skin: Using defocus with a kilovector to smooth out skin tones.(pdf)

• Colorist Toolbox: Day for Night: The da Vinci Colorist Toolbox presents the colorist with some new tools for changing day into night.

• Colorist Toolbox: Film Effect: Talk of the da Vinci Colorist Toolbox inevitably leads to a discussion on making video or electronically-originated material look like film.

• Colorist Toolbox: Reflections: To demonstrate the less-than-obvious versatility of motion blur, I use it for creating reflections on water. The harbor shot is nice enough , but it lacks a focus of attention.

• Color Restoration: I have read several sensationalist articles about the death of film, but the truth is far sadder. Film does not die, it fades away...

• 2K and 2K Plus History: da Vinci 2K and 2K Plus with all the options as a historical timeline with comments and opinions!