I delivered a seminar last week on behalf of Digital Vision at the Broadcast Video Exposition in Earls Court, in the Post Production Room. There were nearly 20 presentations over the 3 days and I was intrigued to notice that the most popular topic was color correction and many of the others topics touched on color correction. The next most popular topic was 3D and then tapeless workflows. The term 3D drives me a bit mad – the correct term is stereoscopic which gives the illusion of depth. If it was 3D we could move around and see behind objects. That type of viewing might be possible in the future – check out the Minolta HMD at http://www.konicaminolta.com/about/research/core_technology/optical/mgt_001.html
Back to the topic, my presentation was called Colour Enhancement & Mastering in Post and the general theme is that the change from telecine hardware to non-linear software is bigger than just getting new tools. In the old days colorists worked in isolation from post production either before editing or after finishing. The new systems not only give us more flexibility but they make us part of the post production process, and with a little planning we can use that integration for creativity, efficiency and economy. Yes with planning the cost, quality, time trade off does not apply. And there is the rub, instead of productions taking advantage of more quality for less money they still frequently forget to plan any color correction at all, or they wait until everything else is done so that the grading is compromised.
During the presentation I used Digital Vision Film Master to illustrate the benefits of grading a timeline that has been conformed in the system, rather than a flattened playout like the old tape to tape days. A good example is an edit dissolve. For tape to tape I need to make a color dissolve, and have little control over color artifacts that occur during the transition. If the transition is generated by the color system I simply grade two shots and there is no risk of color contamination or artifacts, nor do I have to program in a color change with keyframes. Better, faster easier. Why don’t production companies want to change from the old ways?
I am currently in Berlin working on StreetDance 3D (yes its stereoscopic !).
Happy Coloring
Kevin
