Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 21, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
With the digital colour grading system Lustre, users can give their films their own colour style, achieve colour continuity across different shots and, for example, set the time of day of an episode. Lustre 2007 is based on a nonlinear, data-oriented software architecture. The colour correction accelerated by GPU processors offers real-time playback for primary colour correction and advanced options for secondary colour correction. The real-time functionality makes it possible to start with a master resolved in 2K and then produce first-class HD- and SD-resolution results without further time-consuming rendering passes. The colourist can also work directly with colleagues who are involved in optical effects and finishing.
The workflow based on Autodesk Stone or on open file systems makes it possible to begin colour correction before finishing has been completed. This gives the colourist more time to conduct experiments and determine the look and feel of the project. Lustre 2007 can be used, for example, to play a project from Autodesk Smoke or Autodesk Flame to Lustre and back without needing a videotape or a file export. Autodesk Wiretap (client-server access protocol) enables this route.
With Lustre 2007, the colourist can also include, reproduce and play interlaced or progressive video material, which is the ideal solution for many colour correction projects. Thanks to field-based rendering, interlaced video sequences can be colour-corrected using animated roto shapes, animated repositionings or changed aspect ratios and displayed flicker-free in 10-bit video on a transmission monitor.
Lustre 2007 consists of the following components:
- Lustre Master Station includes the complete set of creative tools and is intended for GPU-accelerated sessions in which the colourist and cinematographer work together. The Lustre Master Station contains an extensive toolkit for sophisticated visual design with resolutions up to 4K and 16-bit files. This makes it possible to perform complex tasks such as dust-busting, conforming, rotoscoping and capture/playout.
- Lustre HD Station offers cost-effective performance for short or long HDTV and HD film projects, input up to 10-bit 2K as well as HD and SD output.
- With Lustre Station, work that does not require direct intervention or direct monitoring by the colourist can be carried out cost-effectively. Multiple Lustre workstations can be used in parallel to increase throughput. Thanks to the system’s real-time functionality, tasks such as dust-busting or mastering different formats as well as preparatory work for fine-tuning during creative sessions, for conforming EDLs and for updating editorial changes using change lists can be carried out.
Lustre 2007 is also compatible with Autodesk’s new Control Surface for colourists, which has three sub-panels. These can be easily configured for both left- and right-handed operation.
Further Links:
- All features and further information about Lustre:
