SGO has released Mistika 11 for Mistika Boutique and Mistika Ultima. The central addition is The Gallery, a new UI panel designed for storing, applying, and managing looks, effects, and snapshots. Presets can be saved at the effect or full stack level and applied across projects.
The upgrade is available immediately in the Downloads section of user accounts, and a series of tutorials on YouTube demonstrates the new tools in practice.
The Gallery: Unified, Central, Preset-Hungry
At its core, the Gallery is an all-new UI layer for clip navigation, grading presets, and effect stack management. SGO pitches it as “a unified interface designed to elevate the colourist’s workflow” with:
- Rapid clip navigation
- Instant preset creation by drag-and-drop or right-click
- Smart snapshots for quick look management
- A streamlined panel that can be docked, undocked, or switched into strip mode
The Gallery is not just a storage bin for looks. It is designed as a working hub, connecting timeline navigation, effect reuse, and reference shot organisation.
Unlimited Galleries and Cross-Project Presets
Mistika 11 allows unlimited galleries. Each can be customised independently, pulling material from projects, external folders, or internal preset libraries. Colourists can build dedicated galleries for each show, or mix multiple sources in one place. Presets can be saved at either the effect level or as an entire effect stack. To apply, users drag them onto clips; holding Alt applies the full stack. This flexibility enables rapid testing of different looks and re-use of established stacks across projects. SGO has demonstrated workflows where full stacks can be copied and pasted between looks in seconds. This aims to reduce repetitive grading and effects work.
Open Timeline, Folder, and FX
The Gallery supports three external modes:
- Open Timeline: Recover effects, snapshots, or stacks from any timeline.
- Open Folder: Bring in reference stills or test shots from a media folder.
- Open FX: Load previously saved presets directly from a path on disk.
Multi-Directional Drag-and-Drop
Mistika 11 introduces multi-directional drag-and-drop, which lets users move and apply effects in any direction across the interface. Unlike the previous single-axis handling, this system is built for speed and aims to keep the grading process fluid.
Colourists who prefer mouse-driven workflows will find this feature most visible in large sessions with many clips. Effects, stacks, or references can be moved into the Gallery, across the storyboard, or directly back to the timeline with one continuous gesture.
Family Mode: Cohesion With No Extra Work
The new Family Mode automatically groups related shots to maintain visual consistency across projects. By linking clips into families, Mistika 11 ensures that changes applied to one member propagate consistently across the group. This reduces the manual effort often needed to track related scenes or multi-camera angles, making it easier to maintain an overall project look.
Albums, Tags, and Metadata
Mistika 11 also replaces the Gangs system with a more flexible Albums feature. Albums act as collections of clips that can be tagged with metadata and retrieved quickly. Clips can be sorted and filtered by format, clip name, source timecode, and custom tags. With tag-based searchability, users can isolate specific shots or categories within a large timeline. For productions with complex conform workflows, this upgrade promises finer control over clip organisation.
Advanced Filtering
The Gallery integrates filtering tools directly into both the timeline and Gallery interface. Combined with Albums, these tools create a granular organisational layer that allows large projects to remain manageable. Users can:
- Sort and view clips by technical metadata (format, timecode, etc.)
- Search for clips by name or tag
- Apply metadata filters for precision grading control
Smart Snapshots and Look Management
The Gallery also adds Smart Snapshots, a quick method for capturing looks at a given point in the timeline. These snapshots can be reused, compared, or modified to build look libraries inside a project. Snapshots are stored visually, making them easy to recognise and drag onto other clips or projects. This feature extends the traditional still-store model found in other grading systems but adds metadata and tagging for retrieval.
Available Now
Mistika 11 is available immediately to all existing customers of Boutique and Ultima, and to new users via trial download. As with any major upgrade, Digital Production recommends testing the Gallery and metadata changes in non-critical environments before rolling them out into production pipelines.
