A proper hardware device by Blackmagic Design (BM for short) and a calibrated screen has been the iron law for any professional user of DaVinci Resolve (DR for short). But for all those working under MacOS, this may have been valid for the longest time. We are looking at recent changes in DR for those without one. Spoiler: calibration still matters!

How to check

To see what’s going on when playing your movie on other devices and players you can compare your own footage, for sure. At least, if you were the colorist, you should know how it should look like. But if you are unsure (and our memory for colors can be tricked easily), there is the classic SMPTE chart in DR, which has the so-called PLUGE pulse (short for picture line-up generation equipment) in the lower right. In the wider black bar there are two narrow zones with a value just above black, the left one being the darker one (check your waveform).

If your blacks are not crushed by a false gamma interpretation, you should be able to see the right bar just faintly inside the black stripe. The middle one may only become visible if the shadows are lifted too much. Of course, it all depends on your screen too. If it’s not capable of showing black or at least near black, the rest of that whole area will not be pitch black, making it harder to judge the subtle differences. Actually, there is a third bar to the left of the two, but that is reaching down into the sub-black area and only visible if you have exported the file with “Retain sub-black and super-white data” activated. Normally it is just cut off.

Calibration options

DisplayCal is plugging into DR and sending its test patches through the grading software over any compatible I/O device to the screen you need to calibrate. The resulting LUT can be copied into DR and used as a monitoring LUT to correct deviations of the connected screen. This approach works absolutely correctly with the right settings in DisplayCal, being able to avoid any interference of the operating system, be it MacOS, Windows or Linux. Final precision is limited only by shortcomings of your monitor, like weak shadow areas, as visible below. BTW, those small spikes and minor shifts in the waveform are caused by compression in our recorder.

In our series of articles for those not able to spend a fortune on high-end solutions, we have shown how to get a proper LUT with the help of free software and second-hand hardware for Apple silicon. But now we have two solutions pretty much on par regarding calibration in the operating system by an ICC profile. So, we wanted to know if one can live without such an I/O device and that perfect calibration over the whole chain. Actually, BM has recently changed how preview windows and full screen display color and contrast. So, ICC profiles may not be insufficient any more for DR on a Mac with a screen adhering to standard!

Direct monitoring

BM has supported the use of Mac display profiles in DR’s viewers under MacOS for quite some time, even in 10-bit. But due to peculiarities carried over from older systems, they needed to use a non-standard version of Rec. 709, called 709-A. That was nothing but a crutch, and it was not only Apple’s fault that contrast and brightness were inconsistent between many players and other devices. If you are seriously bored, you can read this thread, with over 20 pages, the longest one ever in the DR user forum. You can follow some true experts and many wannabes there, discussing a ‘final’ solution. So, what’s our take on it?

The Never Ending Story: Are Apple XDR devices suitable for reference use in colour grading?

The main problem is lack of timely standardization when everything went from tubes to digital cameras and screens. The Rec. 709 standard for HDTV was defined based on analog technology, which behaved differently from modern cameras and screens. The newer addition to that standard is called BT. 1886, but it was only published by the ITU in 2011.

At that time there were already too many digital technologies in use, and most manufacturers didn’t really care much about adherence to a standard coming so late. BT.1886 defines a gamma (a contrast curve) of 2.4, which is fine for viewing TV in a rather dimly lit living room. Adjusting that curve is not really adhering to the standard, but on this model of a TV, for example, a value of +2 will get it to 2.2.

This slightly older Samsung TV, as a typical example, is offering modes like Movie, Natural, Standard, and Dynamic. Nothing says “Rec. 709” or “BT. 1886” right away, but „Natural“ is actually adhering to BT.1886, even fixed to it. „Standard“ is BT. 1886 too by default, but allows you to override that gamma in the expert settings – go figure. “Movie” is also adhering to BT.1886, but with a very warm tint – which again can be overridden, just like gamma. Recent ones have the “Filmmaker” setting, which is supposed not to change anything, and “Dynamic” is for bright rooms. Have fun with all the creative names and options of other manufacturers!

A lighter and less contrasty gamma of 2.2 might be better in a brighter environment. Mobile devices in particular are watched wherever you go. Even if some can reach very high brightness values these days, details in darker areas of the image can get lost if the content was graded as 2.4. Encoding clips for social media instead of movies for cinema buffs may profit from a gamma of 2.2, which is correctly flagged as 1-4-1 by DR. It even adheres to a standard, called BT.470 System M, as shown by MediaInfo (free). But this was a standard for analog television in some parts of the world only, and is now considered historical.

But do TVs and other devices really check such flags, which contain the information about encoding in your digital video files? They should tell the playback device which colour primaries, which colour matrix, and which gamma (called transfer characteristics here) were used. If you check with the info function for a video file on a Mac, the ones for Rec. 709 BT. 1886 are code points 1-1-1 or flags (I’ll use flag from here). They will be listed by cross-platform software such as MediaInfo as Rec. 709 for all three parameters.

In a perfect world, all playback devices and software players should respect such flags and show your video accordingly. Well, at least most of them assume your sources are 1-1-1, but often don’t care if it’s flagged as anything else, like 1-4-1 or 1-2-1. Some even force 1-1-1 on your clips, whatever they are. As we all know, YouTube is recompressing your sources, which is acceptable if the quality is good enough. But what’s absolutely unacceptable: whatever your original flagging was, YouTube will set it to 1-1-1 without even asking you! Just try to send one of your clips to YT and read it back. The free video patcher AMCDX by Alex Mogurenko will help you to correct wrong flags, but you need to remember the original encoding.

What to do?

In consequence, your results, which you encoded as gamma 2.2 for viewing in brighter environments, will actually be displayed darker and loose detail in the shadows. And if you encode from DR as Rec.709 gamma 2.4, which is offered as another option, it may too bright and lack contrast and saturation on players or a browser not respecting the flags. So, always encode as Rec. 709 (Scene) and hope for the best. It should look right on a TV with the correct settings. These can normally be found on most modern TVs or monitors if you dig deep enough into the menus, either as Rec. 709 or BT. 1886. Out of the box, many TVs are set to a very contrasty and saturated look, shouting out “Buy Me!” to the visitors of a mall for electronics.

The very popular VLC player is another example of ignoring flags, while we can recommend mpv player or its descendants for observance of flags. Of course, this says nothing yet about the quality of the screen attached to it. If that one is not calibrated, or at least set correctly in its menus, the image may still be far off. And then, there are all those image ‘enhancements’ imposed by digital TVs for viewing conditions, like bright environments or late hours. Or think of a projector meant to be visible in a not so dimly lit boardroom and optimized for (visual!) clarity of business charts.

Recommendations

Recent MacBooks and iPad Pro models have excellent blacks and offer reference modes for several standards, including HDTV (BT.709-BT. 1886). These are factory-calibrated and deactivate any image adjustments, assuming an environment properly lit for grading. Now, there is some sample variation and according to our own measurements, the nit value for white can be a tad low, like around 90 instead of 100 (some experts even suggest 120). Nevertheless, such screens come pretty close to a properly calibrated screen in the lower price range and offer much better blacks than conventional IPS panels.

If you are working for TV, we would still advise a professional, calibrated monitor via an I/O device. But, at least with the settings explained above, your viewers in DR will not look completely off when a client is looking over your shoulder. For all those working for social media, where your audience will have devices that you can’t control anyway, we suggest sticking to the only widespread norm: Rec. 709 with a gamma of 2.4. If you are concerned about visibility in bright environments, change the lighting in your room and check with an average smartphone, but avoid the setting for gamma 2.2 when rendering.

If you work for clients who want your results for social media, but are picky about how their movies look, you may need to supply them with an iPad Pro for presentations. Set it to a reference mode, block that, and try to explain to them why their average boardroom projector may look different. You may even want to take a photograph of TVs in an electronics market showing the same content next to each other.

Let’s do it on a Mac

So you’ve got a MacBook Pro (MBP for short) with Apple silicon and you’ve got a calibration probe, be it by Datacolor or Calibrite. But working just for the internet, you didn’t invest in an I/O device. We don’t care which generation of that laptop, as long as it has the nice XDR screen and reference modes. But who likes to work with DaVinci Resolve on such a small screen (even the menu bar is too short for all the little extras)? Let’s say you have a larger screen with decent color quality attached when you start grading at your home base. After all, not only Apple says that you should be grading to standards in a controlled environment – something hard to find in a hotel room or on the road. Now calibrate that external screen with your probe, and you’ll be generating just an ICC profile for the Mac in this case. More than one profile can be prepared for the correction of different monitors, which will be managed by the system.

Brightness according to BT. 1886 would be 100 nit, but 120 fits modern screens better. The steps needed for calibration are fully self-explanatory with the Spyder Pro software, and the result on a decent screen is very close to what we see on the MBP when set to reference mode. OK, DisplayCal may be a tad more precise. But it’s more complicated and taking many more measurements, resulting in excessively long lunch breaks.

You need to set the system preferences of DR to use the Mac profiles, as already shown above, and now you have to stick to Rec. 709 (Scene) on the Deliver page to get your output and its flags right. Do not use Rec. 709 Gamma 2.4, even if theoretically it should be the same!

Your timeline can be whatever you prefer: Rec. 709, ACES, or DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate (DWG). Of course, with manual settings your first node should get a CST (Color Space Transform) to adapt the incoming camera sources to DWG. Resolve’s automatic setting, called DaVinci YRGB Color Managed (aka RCM) set to SDR would also deliver the flags as 1-1-1, by the way. But you may need to check if the incoming footage’s color and gamma is identified correctly or needs to be set manually. That’s often the case if some difficult source has been transcoded into an intermediate codec, like ProRes, DNxHR, or Cineform.

Conclusion

In the end, you need to understand that rendering into a specific colour space and gamma is actually changing the visual content of your results. 
Tags are just metadata, which should trigger the right interpretation in players. That’s the point where chaos breaks loose, because manufacturers often don’t care for the tags and display your video based on assumptions. The only reliable approach is encoding to Rec. 709 with a gamma of 2.4 and having the tags set to 1-1-1, which is automatically done if you render into Rec.709 (scene).

The post LUTs, Tags, or ICC: Getting Colours Right in Resolve on a Mac first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

Even if you really want to, you have your workflow and rarely have the time to really get to know the new software. In the end, I was tired of getting slowed down by a constantly crashing software and not being able to render without artefacts. I thought the time spent on these issues with Premiere would have been better spent switching, especially since I was already colour grading in Davinci Resolve. To make the transition easier, here are some tips for switching from Premiere Pro to Davinci Resolve so you can get started as quickly and efficiently as possible:

Project Manager: Wait, where did I save my project?

One big difference between Davinci Resolve and Premiere Pro is how projects are managed. For this, the first thing you will see when opening the software is the Project Manager. This is the place to create and manage your projects. I’m honest: when switching, that was something that needed some time to adapt to, but it’s worth it.

While Premiere Pro projects are saved as files where you decide where, Davinci Resolve works with managed Libraries. These are structured containers that serve as a central repository for all project data. Libraries are managed via the Project Manager and can be hosted on your computer, on a networked server or in the Blackmagic Cloud. To switch between the three options, simply click on the one you choose in the top left corner of the Project Manager.

If you tend to make copies of your project on your computer to keep backups, this will change your workflow. But we’ll take a look at that later. For now, it’s important to know that projects saved in your active project library can easily be exported to your hard drive as a .drp file for a manual backup or transfer to another system. To export your project, right-click it and choose export.

Libraries come with some advantages. My favourite one: multiuser collaboration. I can’t describe how useful this is! Editors, colourists, VFX artists and sound engineers – everybody can work with the same project file on different workstations. Even at the same time, in the same timeline. Brilliant and timesaving.

Also speeding me up: powerbins. These are useful when working with media I use in multiple projects. They make media easily accessible across different projects, as long as it is in the same Project Library.  

Pages: Where do I start?

When switching from Premiere Pro, you’ll probably be used to using Dynamic Linking to get your edit into Audition, After Effects and Media Encoder to complete your postproduction process. In Resolve, this is what the Pages are for.

These follow the typical postproduction process from ingest to delivery, which provides a great advantage: you can have your whole postproduction in just one software. No exporting timelines for audio postproduction, visual effects or colour and no translation issues between software. There’s no need to manage multiple project files or export assets to get them from one project into another. Changes made in one page are instantly accessible in others, and you can quickly go back and forth as needed to change things.

I think to start, it’s important to say: Most things can be achieved in the Edit Page. Don’t get scared away by the masses of pages and functions! There are different ways to achieve your goal when editing, and you will get around very well, mostly by starting in Edit Page. Lots of functions from other pages are also available there. If you like, you can even turn off pages you don’t want to use in the preferences. To still give you a bit of orientation, here’s a quick overview of what the different pages are for:

The Media Page is for ingesting and organising. Right next to it we find the Cut page, which is an editing interface designed for speed. In the Edit Page, we have the traditional editing interface, which should be very familiar to you, coming from Premiere Pro. Quite different from After Effects is Fusion, the node-based workspace for compositing and VFX. The Colorpage – quite self-explanatory – is made for colour grading. Fairlight is the page where you can mix and master your audio after editing to then, finally, render your video out in the Deliver Page.

Interface basics: Where to find what you need

It will probably need some time for you to adapt to what’s different. One of the things that took me a while to get used to was the fixed panel places. While we’re used to being able to move everything around freely in Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve allows only view windows to pop out and be moved freely throughout all pages. But once I adapted, it made total sense where everything is.

In the Edit Page, one big part of the window is the timeline in the lower part of the screen. Above that, we’ve got the source viewer and timeline viewer. Note: When your screen is too small or your screen resolution is too low, you might only see one viewer. Don’t worry, you can easily switch between those pressing Q.

In the Edit Page there are nine panels you can open and close by clicking their buttons located in the upper part of the screen. The ones on the upper left side will then open on the left and vice versa. The Media Pool on the upper left will give you fast access to your footage. It’s the same Media Pool as in the Media Page which we’ll look at later. The Effects panel, the index, and the mixer should be intuitive when switching from Premiere, though the feature I love most in the panels is the Inspector on the upper left side.

It could be compared to the effects controls in Premiere but has basic effects like crop already integrated, as well as more advanced effects like stabilisation, speed change, retime, and scaling.

Even though most panels are fixed, you can give yourself some more space by closing the panels you don’t need. Depending on whether you have opened multiple panels from both sides or not, they can be full-screen height or half-screen height. Accidentally messed up your UI? Don’t worry. You can quickly reset your UI layout in the menu Workspace > Reset UI Layout.

You’ll find dual-screen mode, full-screen Timeline, and, using Resolve Studio, permanent full-screen video out in the same menu.

Live Save and Project Backups

When working in Premiere Pro I often feared software crashes. I tried to save after every single thing I did because autosaving just didn’t cut it. Davinci Resolves Auto Save, which is called Live Save, is on a completely different level. I never fear that something is gone! I’ve got way fewer issues with the software crashing, but if it does, I know that what I did last will be there.

To restore the backups, right-click the project in the Project Manager. This won’t overwrite the current project version you’re working in. If you’re used to copying your Premiere Pro Sequence to revert to an earlier version of your edit, you may like to check out the Timeline backup function. It works just like Project Backups and can be activated and customised in the same spot. To restore a Timeline Backup, right-click on the timeline in either the media panel or Media Page. Just note: Timeline Backups will be stored locally, even when working on Network or Cloud Libraries, so they will only be accessible on the system where they were created.

Media Page: Import and Media Organisation

The one time I’d highly recommend switching pages is when importing media into your project. Even though it is possible to import media on all pages except Deliver, the Media Page offers many options for importing and managing your media.

The Media Page is split into Media Storage and Media Pool. The upper-left is Media Storage, which might be familiar to you if you used the Media Browser in Premiere Pro. It’s effectively a file browser for finding or exploring files on drives mounted on your computer. What I find very useful about this: you can quickly review or check footage in the viewer in the top-right corner of your screen, even without importing. A little extra: hovering over the footage lets you scrub through and preview without loading a clip into the viewer.

The lower part of the screen is your Media Pool – the project-specific repository for all the assets you’re importing or creating in Resolve, like footage, audio files, timelines, etc. On the left side, you’ll find the current projects bin list with the master bin. It’s the top level of your projects’ folder structure where all the other bins containing your project’s footage are listed. The right side shows the inside of the currently opened bin.

To get your footage into Resolve, simply drag and drop it from Media Storage, Finder, or Explorer into the Media Pool. If doing so on the Media Storage Bin list, the folder structure will be translated into the bin structure of your project. When adding to the right side, all the footage will be unpacked into the current bin

But there are other import options that let you stay in Resolve, leading to the same results: when you navigate to your folder in the Media Storage and right-click it, you’ll see the option to import your footage folder and all its subfolders into the current bin. This I find useful when working e.g., with Sony in camera folder structures, where you don’t want all the extra bins. Alternatively, you can choose “add folder and Sub folders into Media Pool (creating bins)” to get your complete folder structure as sub bins in the current bin. This is helpful if you already have your folders sorted out on your hard drive and want to copy the structure into Resolve.

Ways to create and work with proxies

Depending on the footage you’re working on, you might want to render some proxies. This is one particularly strong thing in Resolve and speeds me up quite a bit. You’ve got two options: if you’ve already set up your project and imported your footage, it’s super easy to create proxies by right-clicking on some highlighted footage and choosing proxie media > generate proxy media from the project settings.

In this case, it will automatically create proxies for the highlighted clips and save them in the location that is set in the project settings > master setting when scrolling down to working folders.

The Quality of the proxies can be defined in the same menu at optimised media and render cash. The proxy resolution is defined in relation to the original resolution. Possibilities are, for example: original, half of the original, a quarter of the original, etc. By default, it’s set to “choose automatically”, which will generate at the current set timeline resolution. When working with proxies, you can switch fast between disabling All proxies, preferring proxies and preferring camera originals, in the Timeline viewer.

You can also see whether proxies are attached by the white (for high-resolution) or purple (for proxies) icon on your clip, which will be visible in the thumbnail of your clip in the media pool.

If you really want to speed up your preparation process in advance, you should look into the Blackmagic Proxy Generator, an external tool which will automatically be installed with Davinci Resolve. It gives you the opportunity to render proxies in advance, without even having to get your project set up before. The proxies will then automatically be attached when importing the footage into a project.

This process will ensure you can go straight into editing when setting up your project. The strongest part of this tool is the watch folder function, which continues to scan your chosen folders for additional footage even after generating proxies. Very useful when you keep adding footage to folders you’re already working with.

Organising footage with scene metadata and smart bins

After you’ve added everything to your bins, it’s time to organise your footage. With Premiere Pro, I used to either restructure footage directly in bins, which made everything messy quite quickly, or sort my footage into sequences. In Resolve, I recommend using the scene metadata and smart bins. I know that Premiere Pro also lets you create smart bins using metadata, but it wasn’t intuitive enough for me to use back then. Resolve on the other side makes it super easy:

On the Media Page, click one clip or highlight multiple, then navigate to the top-right to close the audio panel. This will give your open Metadata panel more space. Choose “shot and scene” from the three-dotted menu. There, you’ve got lots of options to set metadata. One thing I like to use in this context is Clip colour, since it gives me an easy way to differentiate between different footage, for example, interviews with different people. Other than that, you can set metadata and let Davinci Resolve create smart bins based on it. For a start, I’d recommend you use Keywords. To do so, enter a Keyword you want to sort your footage by into the Keyword cell.

Then navigate to the bottom-left of your screen to find the Smart Bin List. By default, there should be a bin for Keywords. Davinci Resolve automatically generates one smart bin for every keyword you set before. By clicking on ‘Keywords’, a menu with all the smart bins will open.

Personally, I love this feature because it lets me keep my original folder structure while allowing me to sort my footage more intuitively. It also allows me to have the same clip in different bins, e.g., for location and person, which speeds up my process. With all this said, you should have everything you need to make your first steps in the software. Next up: how to get your Project Settings and Timeline right to start your first edit in Davini Resolve.

The post Getting your bearings: Switching from Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Jana Johnston.

Time in Pixels has introduced Live Pack, a premium add-on for Nobe OmniScope Pro that extends the software beyond the grading suite and onto the set. The new package is aimed at DITs, live production teams, and multi-camera environments where signal analysis must happen quickly, preferably without ritual sacrifice to the cable gods.

A scope that wants to leave the desk

Live Pack adds seven features to Nobe OmniScope Pro: SDI output via supported Blackmagic DeckLink and UltraStudio hardware, direct Pomfort Livegrade integration, multi-input monitoring with composite grid layouts, file recording, interval-based snapshots, focus peaking, and loudness metering for EBU R128 and ATSC A/85. The add-on is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, which remains refreshingly free of rental fever. An existing Nobe OmniScope Pro licence is required.

The useful bit: less hardware nonsense

The most interesting addition for on-set colour work is the Pomfort connection. Live Pack integrates directly with Pomfort Livegrade and uses software-based GPU signal sharing instead of SDI loopbacks or extra routing hardware. This should be near zero latency and a feature that requires Pomfort Livegrade 7.1 or later and is available in the 1.11.x beta line. In less ceremonial language, that means fewer cables, fewer boxes, and fewer opportunities for a tiny connector to ruin everybody’s mood before lunch.

More inputs, less squinting

The multi-input side also makes sense in context. DP’s January 2024 look at OmniScope already highlighted the Input Strip as one of the software’s most useful additions for handling multiple signals.

Live Pack extends that idea with support for multiple inputs and composite views in layouts such as 1×2, 2×2, 2×3 and 2×4. That gives users a built-in multi-viewer for camera matching, confidence monitoring and side-by-side signal comparison without having to spread the job across three screens and a prayer.

Recording, snapshots and the quiet luxury of evidence

Live feeds can be recorded directly to disk, and the snapshot system can capture stills at fixed intervals down to milliseconds. Those snapshots can then be reused as live input sources for side-by-side comparisons.

This is exactly the sort of feature that looks modest in a bullet list and then becomes extremely persuasive the moment somebody insists that Camera B definitely looked different twenty minutes ago. Now there is evidence, which is terribly inconvenient for mythology.

Focus and loudness join the party

Live Pack also adds focus peaking and loudness tools, which makes the package more relevant beyond pure colour work. There are two peaking modes, Enhanced Edges and Normal, plus adjustable thresholds and peaking colour. The loudness meter supports both EBU R128 and ATSC A/85, which gives the software more value in broadcast and event workflows where technical monitoring and compliance need to coexist without becoming a relay race between applications.

For those who do not know the tool

Nobe OmniScope has been one of the more respected software scope solutions in this part of the industry for years. In DP’s January and February 2025 coverage of CineMon, OmniScope was (and is) still the leading option on macOS and Windows in this category, even as newer competitors started poking at the edges of the market. That matters because Live Pack is not trying to inflate a lightweight utility into something grand. It is extending a tool that already had a reputation for serious signal work and unusually deep control.

That pattern also shows up in Time in Pixels’ recent releases. In February 2026, DP covered Nobe LutBake and noted the same general design logic: practical, clear, and built for people who would rather work than admire a fashionable interface. Live Pack fits neatly into that line. It does not try to turn OmniScope into an everything machine. It takes the parts that matter on set and in live environments and makes them faster, tighter and more immediately useful. Which, in production, is usually more valuable than a hundred visionary claims and a launch trailer full of glowing particles.

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Pricing

Pricing is currently a launch offer of 99 US dollars or 85 euros for a 2-seat licence, with a regular price of 149 dollars, available until 24 March 2026. Nope, still no subscription, no recurring fees, just a simpüle license. Do you remember the golden times, when that was the standard?

Why this matters for DP readers

The practical takeaway is straightforward. If you already use OmniScope in post, Live Pack makes the jump to on-set and live monitoring much more credible: specific, practical and allergic to fluff. Some tools announce a revolution. Others quietly remove three recurring annoyances from your day. The second category tends to age better.

Nobe OmniScope – so far!

// Live Pack Documentation

https://docs.timeinpixels.com/nobe-omniscope/live-pack-add-on

The post Nobe OmniScope gets Live Pack for on-set and live monitoring first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

LOOKSfilm brought Overmind Studios in as the sole VFX vendor for all six episodes of A World Divided, a historical drama following six real figures from World War II through the 1960s. The series blended archival material with recreated drama and moved across locations from New Mexico and China to Russia, Israel and French Algeria.

Shot in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Poland, the project demanded constant geographic reshaping and period-authentic cleanup to sell multiple continents and decades, all while working to rolling episodic deadlines.

Tobias Kummer was VFX lead on A World Divided at Overmind Studios. He supervised on set on key shoot days, built the project pipeline and delivered the work alongside André Gerhardt as a two-person VFX team. (Site | IMDB | Linkedin | Xing)

DP: How did you come onto A World Divided, and what was the overall scope?

Tobias Kummer: LOOKSfilm brought us in as the sole VFX vendor for all six episodes. We’ve worked with them before, so there was already trust there. The series was a historical drama following six real figures from World War II through the 1960s. It wove archival material together with recreated drama and jumped across locations from New Mexico and China to Russia, Israel and French Algeria.

André Gerhardt and I handled the VFX work as a two-person team, with me also covering on-set supervision on key days. Across the season, we delivered around 125 shots in total.

DP: What were the main categories of VFX work across the season?

Tobias Kummer: Most of the work fell into a handful of categories. The biggest chunk was geographic transformations and set extension work. The show was shot in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Poland, but it needed to represent locations across multiple continents, so we were constantly reshaping the world. We made the Pustynia Błędowska desert in Poland read as New Mexico in some scenes and as Israel in others. We replaced window views with believable locations and extended sets to fit both the period and the geography.

Period cleanup was the other constant. Removing anachronisms took up a steady portion of the workload, such as power lines, phone masts, wind turbines, modern signage, contemporary vehicles, basically anything that didn’t exist between the 1940s and 1960s. Some removals were straightforward paint-outs, while others required proper tracking and reconstruction for moving shots, especially given the anamorphic lens characteristics to account for.

Beyond that, there was a lot of environmental and atmospheric work. We added snow to summer shoots where winter was required, enhanced practical smoke and explosions with additional elements, and built the nuclear explosion sequence. There were also the smaller, problem-solving shots that always appeared on a show like this, including window inserts, moon replacements, damage work, retouching visible wig seams and removing on-set facilities from reflections. Many shots weren’t just one technique. A single exterior might have needed cleanup, set extension and atmos all layered in one comp.

DP: What constraints shaped the work most?

Tobias Kummer: What shaped the work was the schedule and the fact that we were a two-person team delivering an episodic shot count with rolling deadlines. Episodes moved into colour on a rolling basis, which meant we had to work sequentially and finish each episode properly before moving on to the next. We couldn’t cherry-pick shots across the whole season when we needed breathing room. There was a clear rhythm to the work. However, we had to maintain strict discipline.

“What shaped the work was the schedule, and the reality of being a two-person team delivering an episodic shot count with rolling deadlines.”

DP: How did the anamorphic photography affect VFX, especially cleanup?

Tobias Kummer: The anamorphic photography added complexity in places you might not expect. Distortion and breathing made tracking more challenging than it would have been with spherical lenses, particularly on handheld or more dynamic shots. We had everything from locked-off tripod plates to dolly moves, cranes, and handheld coverage, so even simple cleanup could have become complicated if you wanted it to sit cleanly while preserving the anamorphic feel.

DP: What did on-set supervision change for you in practical terms?

Tobias Kummer: On-set supervision helped in practical ways. Sometimes it was about making sure we had clean plates and tracking markers. At other times, it was flagging modern details before they became post problems. Or it was a small camera placement decision that saved hours of rotoscoping later. We had an initial planning phase with the DOP and directors in May 2023, and on-set supervision ran through the shoot from May to July.

Then there was a long gap. We didn’t receive VFX plates until May 2024, nearly a year after wrapping, because production was working through the edit in the meantime. That delay reinforced something I always try to stress. Write everything down during on-set supervision. No matter how certain you are that you’ll remember something, you won’t a year later. Good notes made it possible to pick the work up again without having to guess.

DP: How did the schedule work once plates started arriving?

Tobias Kummer: Once plates started arriving, we had roughly two weeks per episode, regardless of complexity. VFX production ran for over 12 weeks across the six episodes. Shot complexity varied widely. Some cleanups were quick, while sequences with multiple iterations took longer, but the template system helped. The first shot of a new type might have taken time to establish the approach, but similar shots afterwards moved much faster.

Approvals were efficient. Most shots were approved in versions 1 or 2, and only a handful needed additional revisions. When revisions did happen, they were usually about creative direction rather than technical fixes, which came back to communication and understanding intent early.

DP: How did you split responsibilities as a two-person team?

Tobias Kummer: André and I divided the work in a clear way, but we kept shot ownership flexible. I handled on-set supervision, project planning, client communication and pipeline setup, and I also did shot work as well. André focused on shot execution and handled the motion graphics. We didn’t rigidly assign shot types. It was more fluid. Whoever was free took the next thing that needed doing. Because we were working remotely, communication was essential. We stayed connected throughout the day, and if one of us got stuck, a quick call and a screen share often solved what might have taken hours otherwise in minutes.

DP: What did you use for project management?

Tobias Kummer: For project management, we used Ramses by RxLaboratory. That was our central truth for what was in progress, what was out for review, and what was approved.

I wanted to avoid the usual folder wrangling that came with episodic work, so I built a small Fusion plugin that connected directly to the Ramses API. In practice, it meant that when you opened a shot, the setup was already done. Correct plates, correct naming, correct version number, correct saver paths, and comp settings that matched the show spec. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it prevented mistakes and kept us moving. Templates were the other foundation. I kept them rigid where mistakes were expensive and flexible where a shot needed freedom.

DP: Can you break down the plate specs and colour pipeline?

Tobias Kummer: Plates came from Avid as 4K MXF containers in DNxHR HQX 12-bit with a 1.8 anamorphic squeeze, in ARRI Wide Gamut 4 and LogC4.
We composited in scene-referred linear, so the input linearisation was standardised. Output was standardised too. For review, we rendered previews in Rec.709 using the client reference LUT, so the work looked close to the intended look. Finals went out in ARRI Wide Gamut 4 and LogC4 so the grade could treat VFX shots like any other plate. The LUTs were helpful for context, but we couldn’t bake them into the finals without limiting the colourist’s downstream options.

DP: Why Fusion Studio, and what tools mattered most?

Tobias Kummer: All compositing happened in Fusion Studio, because it was what we knew and because the node-based approach was genuinely flexible under episodic revision pressure. When notes came back, you could restructure a comp non-destructively. Insert processing, reroute parts of the tree, try alternatives, without rebuilding from scratch.

Fusion’s tracker and planar tracker held up well on the anamorphic plates, which mattered for both cleanup and set extension work on moving shots. Magic Mask helped as well. It wasn’t perfect in every case, but it saved us more than once from manual roto. We supplemented with a handful of Reactor tools and some custom tools we’d built, but the aim was to rely on Fusion’s core toolset and maintain a consistent pipeline for broadcast delivery.

We also used Blender for 3D elements and set extension geometry, EmberGen for pyro and atmospheric simulations, SynthEyes for more complex camera solves and Affinity Photo for detailed paint work. All rendering was done locally rather than on a farm, which gave us more control and faster iteration.

DP: Pick one shot that best represented the season. What was it, and how did you approach it?

Tobias Kummer: If I had to pick one shot that summed up the work, it was a vast desert establishing shot where we turned the Polish Pustynia Błędowska into an Israeli desert landscape. The plate was shot on a crane mount, so there was a slight shake, and the camera racked focus between foreground and background. In the original plate, you could see the forest at the edges of the location, which didn’t sell the intended geography at all.

This was a case where on-set supervision paid off. Had we gone with the initial framing, we would have had the actors’ heads and the car crossing the horizon line, which would have meant rotoscoping them out to replace the background. I asked for a slight adjustment to the camera placement so everything stayed below the horizon. That saved hours of roto later and made the background replacement much cleaner.

In Fusion Studio, we used a few point tracks to stabilise and reapply the move, and we paid close attention to the rack focus because anamorphic lenses can shift and breathe, causing the background to drift if you ignore it. We built a matte painting from Israeli desert reference photos for the mountainous backdrop. We added blowing sand using an EmberGen simulation we had created and reused across multiple desert shots, and we added heat haze with a simple Fast Noise feeding a Displace node. The focus rack was matched by hand with keyframes. The shot was approved in version two.

DP: What were the key lessons you took from delivering this as a small team?

Tobias Kummer: If I had to distil it down to what kept us on time while maintaining quality, it came down to a few habits. First, learn some scripting, Python or whatever your tools support, and automate the repetitive, error-prone parts of the job. The time savings compounded quickly, especially for a small team, and you don’t need to build for massive scale to benefit.

Second, organise everything and document it. When you’re juggling episodes, you can’t waste time on version mix-ups or folder hunting, and the year gap between shoot and plate delivery made that even more important. Lastly, don’t waste time being stuck. Fresh eyes solved problems faster and a quick screen share could save hours. And honestly, sometimes the best decision was to stop and sleep. If you weren’t making progress, you’d often solve it faster in the morning.

The post A World Divided: Shaping a Global WWII Epic at Overmind Studios first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the developer: Time in Pixels develops colour workflow utilities such as Nobe OmniScope for professional grading. Nobe LutBake works with DaVinci Resolve Studio and is designed for colourists who need to generate LUTs quickly for set, monitoring, or downstream tools.

A small tool with sharp elbows

Time in Pixels has introduced Nobe LutBake, a macOS utility that captures grades from DaVinci Resolve Studio and exports them as 3D LUT files using a global hotkey. The concept is simple and, for working colourists, appealing. Instead of stepping through Resolve’s built-in export dialogue, LutBake allows users to define the part of the node tree to be baked and trigger LUT creation instantly. One key press. One .cube file on disk.

Two nodes and done

LutBake consists of an OFX plugin and a companion macOS menu bar application. The OFX plugin is inserted into the Resolve node graph. Two LutBake nodes are required. One is placed before the grade to be captured, and one after. The user performs grading as usual, including wheels, curves, qualifiers, and other LUTs. When the global shortcut is pressed, LutBake captures the RGB transform between the two nodes and writes it to disk as a standard .cube 3D LUT.

No timeline render is required. No still export. No navigating menus. The system level hotkey means the user remains in the grading interface. This is not a reinvention of LUT theory. It is an attempt to remove repetitive steps from daily prodcution.

Resolution matters

Time in Pixels states that LutBake can generate LUTs up to 100 by 100 by 100 in resolution. In practical terms, a 3D LUT samples the RGB colour cube at discrete intervals. Higher resoultion means denser sampling and potentially smoother transforms, particularly in wide gamut or high dynamic range workflows.

Tom also claims zero interpolation error when matching HALD sizes. A HALD image is a flattened representation of a 3D LUT used for exchange and validation. A free demo version is available with limited LUT resolution (17x17x17 LUT). The full version is offered as a one-time licence for 55€, with launch pricing detailed on the product page.

RGB in, RGB out

Time in Pixels is explicit about the limits. LutBake captures RGB-based colour transforms only. Spatial effects, such as blur or grain, are not preserved in the exported LUT. Temporal processing is also excluded. This is not a software limitation but a format one. A 3D LUT maps input RGB triplets to output RGB triplets. It does not encode spatial context, motion, or texture-dependent operations. For colourists building looks that include noise reduction, halation, or grain layers, this is a necessary reminder. Those elements will not survive the bake.

On set and hardware workflows

LutBake is useful for on-set and monitoring scenarios. It references exporting custom looks from Resolve for use in LiveGrade, Assimilate Scratch and hardware LUT devices such as Flanders BoxIO and TVLogic IS Mini. These devices typically ingest .cube LUTs for display calibration or on-set look management. In such environments, speed matters. A colourist may adjust a look in Resolve and need a matching LUT on a monitor within minutes.

Also: baking complex grading chains into a single LUT to optimise playback performance in other systems. Collapsing a heavy node graph into a single transform can simplify downstream workflows, provided the transform is fully representable in RGB space. Look-sharing between grading systems, NLEs, and compositing applications is another use case.

macOS and Studio only

LutBake runs on macOS 13 or later and requires Resolve Studio with external scripting enabled. The reliance on Studio indicates use of Resolve’s scripting API for communication between the OFX plugin and the external macOS application.

There is no mention of Windows or Linux support yet. There is also no statement about compatibility with the free version of Resolve. The Studio requirement is clear. Studios standardised on macOS grading suites will find this straightforward. Facilities with mixed operating systems will need to review compatibility before deployment.

Naming discipline

The product supports configurable filename templates. This allows users to define how exported LUT files are named. In structured pipelines with strict naming conventions, automated naming reduces manual intervention and the risk of inconsistent file names. This is part of a broader goal of reducing repetitive steps.

A familiar philosophy

Readers of Digital Production will know that we regard Nobe OmniScope as one of the more thoughtfully designed applications in recent years. It focuses on clarity, precision, and usability rather than decorative UI noise. LutBake follows the same philosophy.

What is not specified

The announcement does not detail how LutBake handles complex colour management scenarios, such as ACES pipelines or mixed colour spaces within a project. It does not specify how colour space metadata is treated in the exported LUT. Professionals working in scene referred or HDR workflows will need to validate the output carefully. As with any LUT generation tool, testing in context is essential before deployment in live or client-facing environments.

A pragmatic addition

At its core, Nobe LutBake reduces the number of clicks between a finished grade and a distributable LUT. For colourists who iterate frequently on looks for on set monitoring or cross application exchange, that is not trivial.
It will not replace disciplined colour management.
It will not capture spatial or temporal effects.
It will not make a poor grade better.

It removes friction from a well-understood task. For professionals who export LUTs daily, that may be enough.

Nobe LutBake product page
https://timeinpixels.com/nobe-lutbake/

The post Lutbake adds one-key LUT export to Resolve first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: DaVinci Resolve and Fusion Studio from Blackmagic Design cover edit, grade, comp and audio in one ecosystem. They run on macOS, Windows, Windows for Arm and Linux, with Desktop Video hardware for monitoring and dedicated control panels for tactile users.

Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 20.3.2 and Fusion Studio 20.3.2. This is a maintenance update. No fireworks. Plenty of fixes. Sensible improvements in places that tend to bite.

The Resolve installer adds the main application, remote monitoring components and hardware control panel utilities. It also installs Blackmagic RAW Player and Blackmagic Proxy Generator. The free version of DaVinci Resolve 20 retains the same image processing pipeline as DaVinci Resolve Studio, supports unlimited resolution media, but limits mastering and output to Ultra HD or lower and supports only a single GPU on Windows and Linux.

Resolve Studio continues to offer multi GPU support, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, multiple AI based tools, HDR tools, camera tracker, voice isolation, surround and immersive audio, additional Resolve FX, stereoscopic 3D tools and remote rendering.

Compatibility without time travel

Blackmagic states that project libraries remain compatible with DaVinci Resolve 19.1.4 at the database level. However, once a project is created or opened in 20.3.2, it cannot be reopened in 19.1.4. Facilities are advised to create full project library backups and individual project backups before upgrading. In shared environments, that advice is less a suggestion and more a survival strategy.

Edit page tweaks and trim discipline

A new preferences option enables dynamic trim in the Trim Editor on the Edit page. Dynamic trim adjusts edit points during playback, useful in dialogue heavy sequences and fast turnaroudn work. Subtitles receive more consistent kerning, a small but relevant change for broadcasters and OTT deliveries with strict QC.

Progressive renders are now supported for interlaced timelines with the same frame rate. Lens correction issues affecting vertical clips have been addressed. Media pool column header localisation issues are fixed, and slow media management startup in larger projects has been improved.

Magic Mask cache is now retained when pasting node attributes. Previously, pasting could invalidate cached analysis and trigger recalculation. The update reduces unnecessary GPU recompute in grading sessions that reuse node structures.

Faster AI scaling on Apple Silicon

SuperScale Enhanced is now up to 2.5 times faster when using the Apple Neural Engine. Blackmagic does not detail test conditions or hardware models. The claim applies specifically to SuperScale Enhanced and Apple Silicon systems with Neural Engine support. Not independently verified at press time.

Render speeds for side by side stereoscopic 3D renders have also been improved, although no numbers are provided. Timecode issues for proxies generated from stereoscopic 3D EXR files are addressed, along with incorrect render size estimates for some MXF clips.

Colour science and format fixes

Resolve 20.3.2 adds support for Fujifilm F Gamut C coloursapce and F Log2 C gamma. A ProRes RAW decode issue when using ACES has been fixed. Sony ARW decoding issues and incorrect pass through behaviour for some Sony XAVC renders are addressed.

Retention of MaxCLL metadata from XML when exporting IMF is corrected, relevant for HDR compliance. Several audio related issues are fixed, including problems with Dolby Atmos external renderers and an ADC reverb delay compensation issue in some projects. Support for Dolby headphone personalisation of binaural monitoring is added.

Fusion Studio joins the update

Blackmagic has also updated Fusion Studio to version 20.3.2. The installer adds Fusion Studio along with hardware control panel utilities, Blackmagic RAW Player and Blackmagic Proxy Generator. Fusion Studio 20.3.2 adds support for Fujifilm F Log2 C. It fixes issues with start and end render scripts on tools, resolves some character style problems in MultiText, and addresses an issue with the Import Footage menu. General performance and stability improvements are included.

Minimum system requirements across Resolve and Fusion Studio remain aligned with the current platform baselines, including macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows 11 for ARM on supported Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite systems, and Rocky Linux 8.6 on Linux. Monitoring requires Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

Resolve 7 Resolve Studio 20.3.2 and Fusion Studio 20.3.2 do not introduce major new toolsets. They fix edge cases, improve consistency and add targeted performance gains. In other words, the sort of update most facilities actually need. As always, new tools and innovations should be tested before use in production.

// Quoted info
// https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

The post Resolve 20.3.2 tidies up the edges first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF Munich) is one of Germany’s leading film schools, offering specialised programmes in directing, production, cinematography, screenwriting, and visual effects. Infinity Hotel is a surrealist short film produced by the school’s VFX students, Vanessa Chu, Vanessa Ramovic, Jim Obmann, Emil Pogolski, Sonja Latussek, and Elena Rid, in collaboration with the departments of Screenwriting and Production. Directed by Professor Matthias Zentner, and supported by Prof. Jürgen Schopper, Prof. Sinje Gebauer and Dr. Rodolfo Anes Silveira, the project combines live-action cinematography, 3D scanning, and digital environments.

A production report by the Students

Written by Vanessa Ramovic, Jim Obmann,
Sonja Latussek, Elena Rid, Emil Pogolski and Vanessa Chu.

After completing our first animated short films as visual effects students at the University of Television and Film Munich, we selected our next joint film project. The basic idea of INFINITY HOTEL, written by students Michael Schwärzler and Jakob Smolinski, immediately suggested weaving reality and surrealism together. Themes such as inner fears and memories accompany our protagonist, Clarence, an insurance salesman travelling from hotel to hotel. He enters a strange hotel room and quickly realises that something about this Infinity Hotel cannot be right. He not only wanders through twisting corridors and distorted staircases, but also through fragments of his own memories, confronting them.

INFINITY HOTEL is a collaborative film project between the VFX students and the screenwriting and production departments at HFF Munich. Directed by Professor Matthias Zentner, the film gave us the opportunity to contribute to many parts of the production process and to realise a story that would hardly exist without visual effects.

Our experiences from the animated short films WOODLAND and LITTLE STAR, created in the first year of study, helped us build on existing knowledge while acquiring new expertise. Unlike full CGI animated short films, the main challenge this time was producing photorealistic assets and shots for a live-action film. The following article reflects on our experiences during production and outlines how the visual effects of INFINITY HOTEL were created.

Concept & Painting!

In the early stages of script development, we explored the visual identity of the mysterious Infinity Hotel. The VFX students designed the protagonist’s childhood living room, the hotel corridors and colour palettes, and created initial storyboard elements for planned VFX sequences. A concept art seminar with Luis Guggenberger encouraged us to give free rein to our imagination and broaden our creative horizons.

Paintings play a central role in the film. Early in production, we gained valuable insight into the work of the production design department through collaboration with Eva Maria Stiebler, who printed our digitally designed paintings onto canvas and brought them to life. Vanessa Ramovic, Vanessa Chu and Emil Pogolski created the paintings that Clarence observes before entering the ominous hotel room.

Each painting exists in two versions, each representing a fragmented glimpse into his memories or dreams. One version might show young Clarence playing with a toy rocket or receiving his stuffed snail from his mother. The second versions depict distorted pasts and desires, such as the boy as a real astronaut, abstracted with a snail shell instead of a head, or alone and silent in his childhood living room without his mother. The paintings act as clues to the character’s past. Four works were digitally painted in Procreate and printed on large canvases by Eva Maria Stiebler, framed in wood for the set. Two additional paintings were created as charcoal drawings on paper.

Comics!

The comic books lying on the hotel room table were illustrated by Vanessa Ramovic and depict the adventurous “Cosmic Knight” Clarence’s childhood hero and career role model. Sonja Latussek animated the Cosmic cartoon shown on the small CRT television behind Clarence using the drawing and animation software Krita. She aligned the hero’s origin story with the comic books and portrayed his journey into space. Each frame was drawn individually, giving the cartoon its distinctive two-dimensional charm. In collaboration with production design, the animation was played back on the television on set.

The Endless Spiral

From the start of pre-production, we aimed to visualise Clarence’s inner emotional state. The red spiral staircase at our second Munich location provided an ideal opportunity to depict his descent into memory. Since the physical set could not accommodate infinite depth, Vanessa and Jim digitally extended the staircase. They captured a 360-degree FARO LiDAR scan of the stairwell, converting the spatial data into a 3D environment.

It was striking to see how precisely the point clouds generated by Faro Scene replicated the physical world. The resulting model was adjusted and extracted in Blender, where Vanessa and Jim animated the structure. The deformation of the staircase was particularly complex and was achieved using a geometry node system in Blender. Vanessa recreated the staircase texture in Substance Painter, based on reference photos taken on location by the entire VFX team.

The final compositing step involved integrating the digital staircase into the original footage. With guidance from lecturer Martin Tallosy, Vanessa learned how to use rotoscoping in Nuke to create nearly invisible transitions between plate and CG elements. Martin supported the integration of CG footage into all VFX shots and helped with initial colour adjustments. Lecturer Ando Avila taught us to track handheld camera movement using 3D Equalizer, enabling Vanessa and Jim to transfer the motion to the digital 3D model. Working closely with our instructors allowed us to explore new tools and combine traditional sets with digital visual effects.

The particular challenge with the spiral staircase was that the real staircase on set did not have a perfect circular shape. This required us to develop a believable transition from the set staircase into our circular CG spiral staircase that extends into depth. It was also meant to feel less steep and cramped than the real-world reference. Another challenge lay in the angles of the steps. On the real staircase, the steps were not perpendicular to the circle’s tangent at their respective positions, but instead met the circular form at a slightly offset angle. For the set extension, however, we wanted an aesthetic solution that would integrate more harmoniously into the staircase. Our goal was therefore to build a transition in which the skewed angles of the set staircase would gradually evolve into the perfect roundness of the digital staircase. We opted for a smooth progression: the closer one gets to the real staircase, the more angled the steps become, while further down they eventually align perfectly perpendicular to the respective circle tangent. This created a flowing transition between the physical and the digital staircase.

Vanessa Chu found it particularly challenging to implement the staircase in perspective in a way that felt believable while simultaneously conveying an endless depth. Normally, depth is not perceived very clearly in spiral staircases. However, in order to tell the story that this staircase extends infinitely, we had to work with tilted CG spiral staircases. Vanessa Chu and Jim Obmann therefore searched for a method to display the 3D model at an angle and stretch it in depth without introducing errors in the geometry.

By the time the iterations and feedback from Jürgen and Matthias were incorporated, the basic animation workflow had already been established. The professors’ feedback therefore focused primarily on lighting conditions and the intensity of the animation. Jim developed a workaround using a geometry node system and found a solution that allowed the staircase to be stretched in depth. Physically, this staircase is not correct, but for our visual storytelling this approach worked very well. At this point, physics was deliberately bent a little in order to convey the desired impression of infinite depth.

An Elevator Ride into the Psyche

The elevator was symbolically conceived in the script as a vehicle transporting Clarence through different layers of memory. In winter 2024, Emil previsualised the first elevator scenes, experimenting with lighting and composition to send the elevator into a threatening depth populated by oversized snails.

After Vanessa developed the elevator design through multiple concept drawings, collaboration with production designer Eva Maria Stiebler became essential. While the elevator appeared as a 3D object in full CG shots, it was also built physically in the HFF film studio. Digital concepts and real-world patination informed each other, as Vanessa’s designs guided the construction, which in turn defined the dimensions for Emil’s 3D model.

Sonja Latussek supported the team with detailed textures, giving the elevator a realistic appearance. She also carefully textured small debris objects placed on the elevator roof. Once models were finalised, Emil and Vanessa developed the layout for three full CG shots, stacking snail shells in front of a dark background. Elevator chain swings and dangerous pendulum movements were animated by Vanessa. In consultation with director Matthias Zentner and Professor Jürgen Schopper, Emil built the lighting setup, handled compositing, and fine-tuned lighting digitally.

A central task was the transfer of Vanessa Ramovic’s concept drawings into a precise 3D model. A key aspect of this work was creating a coherent connection between the set construction and the digital elevator. To ensure this, particular attention was paid to a dimensionally accurate approach. In retrospect, Emil Pogolski and Vanessa Ramovic would primarily invest more time in texturing and look development. They would also carry out tests under the actual lighting conditions of the shots at an earlier stage, in order to better align materiality and mood.

To integrate the realistic elevator into the surreal environment, Jim inserted real footage of the actors inside the physical elevator into the digital model opening. Emil added digital dust particles to intensify the ominous abyss and blend live-action and CGI seamlessly.

The Distoring Corridor

Another highlight was the hotel corridor that begins to warp and distort. After Vanessa Chu and Elena Rid created initial concepts, Jim modelled the corridor based on a long basement room at the location, captured via FARO LiDAR scanning and photogrammetry. Since the corridor needed to deform dynamically, Jim tested various geometry node systems to allow distortion at arbitrary points.

Simulating an infinite corridor directly would overwhelm most computers, so Jim devised a trick by scaling the corridor into depth. Viewed through Blender’s camera, the corridor appears endless. He developed a setup allowing control over both roll axis and depth movement. This resulted in a 50-metre corridor segment that, when scaled, created the illusion of infinity. Within this segment, movement allowed the corridor to emerge and disappear into depth.

Each light element within the segment could be controlled individually, enabling transitions from white light to threatening red flames that visually pursued Clarence. It was essential to integrate these light sources with the original plate.

Lighting movement on set had to be transferred to the 3D world and synchronised with the treadmill speed on which the protagonist ran. Once physical conditions were translated into Blender, the composite could function correctly. Jim also handled greenscreen keying and camera tracking, removing the original background and inserting Clarence into the rendered 3D corridor.

The Snail and why it should be feared

The gigantic snail shell threatening to pull Clarence into his dark past was a central element of the film. Elena Rid began sketching snail concepts before the story was fully defined. Inspired by horror films such as I Saw the TV Glow, the snail was designed to feel out of place, like a relic from another world. It represented a mutated version of Clarence’s childhood plush snail, distorted by grief.

At the beginning, a more classic texture was planned for the snail. As the planning progressed, however, the idea emerged to give it a subtle resemblance to a skull. Elena Rid then stretched the 3D model of the snail so that the spiral at its center would recall the hairstyle of Clarence’s mother. During sculpting, the student worked in fine cracks. Elena mainly used the cloth brush to add further small, swirling details and folds to the surface. Small indentations and a pore-covered structure were also incorporated into the sculpt. Elena primarily based this work on the previously created concept art and additional reference photos of old bones.

To achieve the prehistoric, fossil-like look, Elena engaged intensively with the main character. The snail thus served as a symbol for a very old, deeply buried trauma of Clarence. As references, the student mainly used an ammonite fossil from a museum.

Elena later modelled and textured the snail during the VFX phase. It was not intended as a static prop, but as a manifestation of Clarence’s fears and inner conflict, visually referencing the stuffed snail in his hand. Elena sculpted the primary snail in Blender. Additional snails with varied surfaces and shapes were created with Vanessa Chu. Texturing in Substance Painter, supported by lecturer Birgit Hämmerle, resulted in a photorealistic surface with a fossilised yet “moist” quality.

Elena adjusted lighting intensity and temperature, rendered the snail shell, tracked scenes with Ando Avila in 3D Equalizer, and refined them in a complex Nuke setup.

In several iterations, the exact shape of the “eye” was defined: how strongly it should protrude, in which direction the folds should run, and how the desired effect could best be achieved. In addition to a fold that functioned like the snail’s eye, the inner hole of the snail was also intended to resemble a screaming mouth in a face. In this area, Elena Rid and Jim Obmann worked together on the interior of the snail. Jim created a soft mask in Blender that fades toward the edge of the hole. External light sources were not supposed to influence the interior. In the end, it was meant to appear like a black hole that almost sucks Clarence in.

Texturing in Substance Painter was Elena Rid’s first experience with the software, which initially made it a challenge. We wanted to achieve a moldy look, which the student built up using many layers of moss brushes in different whitish and greenish tones on the base texture. Most of the fine grooves in the snail texture were therefore created in Substance Painter, as the details would otherwise have become too small during modeling. The focus was placed more strongly on a bony, fossilized surface.

Since no greenscreen was used, Martin Tallosy assisted with rotoscoping. Colours, contrasts, and brightness were adjusted to integrate the snail seamlessly into live-action footage. Vanessa Chu, Vanessa Ramovic, and Sonja Latussek assisted with camera tracking. Accurate match moves were essential for positioning the digital camera correctly within the large hall.

Learnigns from Set Supervision

After working on animated films in the first year, we eagerly anticipated shooting on a real film set. Preparation involved understanding the responsibilities of VFX supervision on set, ensuring VFX shots were filmed and documented correctly to avoid post-production issues. Asynchronous supervision courses at CAVE Academy helped us learn LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, and reference photography.

Once preparations and pre-produced props were complete, the four-day shoot began. Supervisory duties rotated among the team, giving everyone insight into all aspects of the role. Tasks included logging VFX shots, recording focal lengths and camera data, capturing shadows using grey balls, and placing tracking points on greenscreens. Colour checkers ensured colour accuracy and white balance. Two shoot days took place at the Munich location for corridors and reception scenes. The remaining days were spent at the HFF film studio for elevator and living room scenes.

Mentor Jan Stolz provided invaluable support as set supervisor. Cinematographer Torsten Lippstock shot the film on an ARRI Alexa 35. Simon Burger introduced us to the role of the Digital Imaging Technician. Mihail Dervenski guided data management and later edited the film, aligning technical expertise with the director’s vision.

Sound Mixing and Grading

Creating a dark atmosphere was essential. Composer Lukas Stipar, previously involved in WOODLAND, delivered a soundtrack that added weight and intensified tension. Dr. Rodolfo Anes Silveira supervised post-production sound, enhancing clarity and authenticity. A Dolby Atmos mix was created at PHAROS Studio 1, where Tschangis Charokh demonstrated object-based audio placement. Andreas Lautil handled colour grading, giving the film a consistent dark-warm palette.

Conclusion

In retrospect, INFINITY HOTEL was an exciting project for us, from which we drew important personal and professional insights.

For Sonja Latussek, it became clear above all that it is important to define clear areas of responsibility at an early stage. In hindsight, she feels she should have paid closer attention from the outset to the fixed tasks that remained under her responsibility and were primarily related to the film’s visual look, such as the textures of the snail or the elevator. An unexpected challenge for her was greenscreen compositing in Nuke, which proved significantly more complex in some scenes than initially anticipated. Camera tracking, on the other hand, went very well. Sonja learned how tracking works in principle, which points in space are suitable for tracking, when they do not work, and at what point a track becomes truly precise. Although she found all areas of on-set production particularly exciting, she would like to focus more strongly on 2D work in the future. She found the 2D animation of COSMIC KNIGHT very pleasant, as it integrated coherently with the CRT television.

Vanessa Chu mainly emphasises the importance of critically questioning technical statements and not blindly relying on hypothetical possibilities. It became apparent that an ISO setting that was too high on the Alexa camera led to heavy image noise, which meant that tracking points in 3D Equalizer had to be painstakingly corrected by hand. She therefore advocates handling technical parameters such as ISO more sensitively in the future. She also emphasizes the importance of collecting as much data as possible on set and communicating early to the production that time must be scheduled between VFX shots to gather data such as references, measurements, and scans.

Emil Pogolski summarizes his conclusion with a simple but fitting guiding principle: “Make it good, kid.” From his perspective, the production of INFINITY HOTEL proceeded overall without major complications. Planned ideas could be implemented, and post-production was structured, even if it took longer than originally planned.

For Elena Rid, it became particularly clear in retrospect how valuable an even longer and freer concept phase would have been. Elena would have liked to work with more concepts and, above all, to experiment more with the snail. Due to time constraints, this was only possible to a limited extent within the project scope. For future work, the student wants to consciously allow more room for experimentation. At the same time, Elena looks back very positively on the rest of the production process. The team made it through the intensive phase well, and in her view, the scheduling in particular proved to be a major strength of the project.

Vanessa Ramovic believes that most aspects of the production worked very well. Towards the end, she and Emil invested a great deal of time in post-production because the elevator compositing iterations required significant effort. She would also like to develop more concepts in the future and test different lighting moods more intensively. Her personal conclusion is less about technology and more about personal attitude: not losing the joy of the work. For her, making films means expressing something and perhaps even putting a smile on someone’s face. This inner light should not be allowed to fade.

Acknowledgements

What was special about our second year of studies at the University of Television and Film Munich was that our entire cohort worked together on a single project. Without question, this was a true team effort in which all six students contributed their existing knowledge to the film while continuing to develop their skills.

Our special thanks go to our professor Jürgen Schopper, who provided us with strong support in VFX supervision. His vision and creative input helped us, during the weekly classes known as “weeklies”, to push the VFX shots to their final form. Prof. Sinje Gebauer, Dr. Rodolfo Anes Silveira, Berter Orpak, Jonas Kluger, Martin Tallosy and Petra Hereth, who together with Professor Schopper form the chair of the VFX degree programme, supported us throughout the entire year with their expertise across various areas of the VFX pipeline.

Together with Prof. Sinje Gebauer, we ensured that all assets and shots were realised and integrated into the overall flow. INFINITY HOTEL introduced us to working with new VFX tools and to closer collaboration with the screenwriting and production departments at the university. Our screenwriters Michael Schwärzler and Jakob Smolinski inspired us early on with precise story ideas, which we were already able to incorporate creatively into our concept drawings in November 2024. Nevertheless, the further development of the material was a collective exchange, in which we, along with our director and professor Matthias Zentner, contributed ideas and gained insight into the authors’ working processes.

Our producers Sonja Hopf and Konstantin Holzner supported us from the very beginning and guided the production with their extensive expertise. While we, as VFX students, largely operated like a small VFX studio during post-production, we were involved in the film from the outset and gained deep insights into various departments, such as production design and casting.

We would also like to thank our actors Till Raskopf, Jonathan Tittel, Nick Woodland, and Sophie Melbinger, as well as the entire film team, for bringing the fictional characters to life and for creating a strong short film together. After the successful completion of the hotel, we were finally able to present the film to a broad audience and guests from the VFX industry at our premiere as part of the VFX Reels 2025 on 27 November 2025 at the HFF. The film premiered at the VFX-Reels 2025 on 27 November 2025 at HFF Munich.

The Producers’ view

WRITTEN BY SONJA HOPF AND KONSTANTIN HOLZNER

As student producers, our task was to realise a live-action narrative film with a high proportion of visual effects, from development through to festival distribution. Working closely with the VFX and screenwriting students, we entered an entirely new production terrain. One of our key learnings was the necessity of considering VFX shots and technical requirements from the very beginning.

We developed a solid understanding of how previs is created and how it functions, as well as what is required on the production side to make a set truly “VFX-ready”. This included scheduling time buffers for tracking markers and scans and actively coordinating between creative departments and the VFX supervisor. It became clear early on that every shot requires detailed, early planning. Learning to realistically assess how many shots can be achieved in a shooting day, and how VFX-heavy shoot days must be calculated and structured, proved to be a particularly valuable challenge.

The project could only succeed as a collective effort. Coming together early in development allowed us to contribute as creative producers and gain a deeper understanding of both the material and the production challenges. Continuous communication across departments was essential, especially as locations changed, the set expanded, and creative ambitions had to be balanced against available resources. Working with professional heads of department set a high bar and challenged us to meet professional standards, a goal we ultimately achieved, resulting in work we are proud of.

The post Infinity Hotel: Endless Rooms, Endless Renders first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by HFF Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München.

Lazy Composer 2 is a post-processing add-on designed to give Blender renders a cinematic finish with minimal effort and limited soul-searching. It runs entirely inside Blender’s compositor and focuses on film emulation, colour grading and optical effects commonly associated with live-action footage. According to its developer, the goal is to reduce the need for manual node setups while still offering detailed control.

The add-on provides sliders for exposure, balance, contrast, temperature, tint, vibrance, saturation, gamma and three-way colour correction. These are presented in a single interface rather than spread across multiple compositor nodes. The controls resemble those found in dedicated grading applications, although Lazy Composer 2 operates strictly within Blender.

Grain, Glow and Other Regrettable Decisions

In addition to colour adjustments, Lazy Composer 2 includes effects such as film grain, lens distortion, chromatic aberration, bloom, glow, Bokeh, glint and halation. These effects can be layered to simulate film response and lens behaviour, or pushed far enough to raise quiet questions in dailies. The add-on ships with more than 20 presets intended as starting points rather than declarations of artistic intent.

The developer states that parameter changes can be previewed in real time. Full post-processing reportedly adds around two seconds per frame on an RTX 4070 GPU, which is fast enough to feel interactive but slow enough to remind users that nothing in life is free.

Free, Paid and Still Subjective

Lazy Composer 2 requires Blender 5.0 or later. A Free edition includes a reduced feature set covering core effects such as film grain, chromatic aberration, vignette, glow and halation. A Pro edition adds expanded grading tools, more presets and additional controls, priced at $12at press time, with a regular price of 25 USD.

Lazy Composer 2 does not replace dedicated colour grading software and makes no claim to do so. It is positioned as a finishing tool for artists who want to stay inside Blender and avoid round-tripping renders into other applications.

As with any new post-processing tool, Lazy Composer 2 should be tested carefully before use in actual production environments, especially when deadlines, clients and taste are involved, appliyng blindly is not recomended even if presets look nice today.

The post Lazy Composer 2 Teaches Blender to Pretend It Shot Film first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: FilmLight’s Baselight is a professional colour grading and finishing system used across film, episodic and advertising pipelines. It integrates with Avid, Nuke and Flame, and extends to Baselight for macOS for flexible desktop workflows.

Complexity simplified

FilmLight has released Baselight v7, a major update to its colour grading and finishing platform. The release focuses on matte handling, machine-learning-assisted segmentation, and performance for complex, VFX-driven projects.

A redesigned matte and channel architecture underpins the release, with the new matte channel picker offering list or thumbnail previews of internal and external mattes, including cryptomattes and depth maps. Up to 128 inputs are now supported in Matte Merge, which displays thumbnails for every matte input, simplifying the selection and combination of layered mattes.

Smarter mattes, finer edges

Machine-learning tools in Baselight v7 include the Segment Anything Flexi Effect, which isolates objects using simple region selections or control points. Artists can layer multiple selections and manage visibility via the integrated Blackboard panel interface. Edge handling has been improved with an updated Edge Filter and the new Matte Refiner, which recovers fine edge and hair detail for better composite blending.

The Depth Map generator automatically extracts depth from live-action footage. Its output feeds directly into the new Depth Keyer and Depth-based operators such as Haze and Bokeh, enabling depth-informed grading and atmospheric or optical effects. All generated channels can be passed downstream or exported in multi-channel EXRs.

Streamlined finishing tools

Baselight v7 adds the Transition operator, offering multiple transition types including Flow Blend, Dissolve, Wipe, Transform and Dip to Colour. Flow Blend can repair missing or damaged frames and smooth jump cuts, effectively replicating Avid’s Fluid Morph behaviour. Additional tools include Spill Suppression for removing colour spill on chroma-keyed material and a new Chromatic Aberration operator for optical correction or simulation.

Transform Matching automates alignment between offline reference and conformed shots by analysing scale, rotation and position. It can process individual frames or full sequences, automatically generating keyframes when needed. Track roles can now be assigned, such as “Offline” or “Messed up by the DIT”, simplifying comparison workflows.

Under the hood

Texture Smoothing provides subtle skin cleanup while maintaining fine texture detail. A revised caching system improves responsiveness and reliability during client reviews. Cache protection prevents critical files from being overwritten, while the new Cache View provides visibility into active and protected scenes. Processing-intensive effects, including Flexi-based operators, now support default strip caching to pre-render complex operations. Enhanced animation graphs allow per-keyframe interpolation control across transform and retime operations. Baselight v7 also integrates ACES 2.0, Dolby Vision review, and OpenTimeline I/O.

Flexi: the plug-in brain

Flexi, FilmLight’s effects and machine learning framework, now extends to developers. It supports custom models, including Segment Anything, and exposes interface primitives such as point lists, keyframe animation and tracker-linked regions. According to FilmLight, this allows facilities to integrate their own AI-based tools directly into Baselight’s stack architecture.

System and support

Baselight v7 runs on FLOS 8.4 or later and macOS 14–15 (or macOS 26 Tahoe) on Intel or Apple Silicon. Minimum recommended memory for machine-learning features is 48GB VRAM or 64GB unified memory. NVIDIA NVS 510 and K600 GPUs are no longer supported.

FilmLight describes the update as a refinement aimed at handling modern post-production complexity. Colourists are encouraged to test v7’s machine-learning features within controlled environments before full deployment.

FilmLight Baselight v7 Datasheet
https://www.filmlight.ltd.uk/products/baselight/overview/

The post Baselight v7 refines the colourist’s toolkit first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Boris FX Sapphire is a long-standing plugin suite for compositing, finishing, and broadcast design. It runs in Premiere Pro, After Effects, Avid Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve, and Nuke. Sapphire Builder, the node-based editor inside Sapphire, lets users combine multiple filters and create reusable presets for a consistent studio look.

From Synthesis to Sapphire

Following the well-received Syntheyes Essentials training, Boris FX is back with Sapphire Builder Essentials, a free 11-part video course that takes about an hour to complete. Published in December 2025, the training focuses on getting both editors and artists comfortable with Sapphire’s Builder environment and its cross-host workflows.

The videos, presented by product specialist Grant Kay, introduce Sapphire’s extensive filter library, Lens Flare Designer, and the Builder’s node-based workflow for combining multiple effects. The lessons are structured for quick learning, moving from basic setup to professional features such as linked parameters, preset export, and transition creation.

Get all the Videos here: https://borisfx.com/free-training/sapphire-builder-essentials/

Multi-host, one look

Once the groundwork is set, Kay demonstrates how Builder expands Sapphire’s traditional one-filter-per-clip workflow into a modular, node-based design space. Users can layer, branch, and combine filters into complex effects while keeping parameters clearly organised for team-wide use.

Smart presets, real pipelines

A significant portion of the course covers parameter linking and preset management, features often overlooked in casual plugin use but essential in production environments. Viewers learn to connect parameters, expose only relevant controls, and export custom presets to the shared Sapphire Preset Browser, ensuring every workstation produces identical results.

Further episodes explore practical aspects such as handling multiple inputs (foreground, background, and matte), integrating text or graphics from the host, and managing preset compatibility across machines. The training ends with a look at Builder’s system messages and how to handle common warnings, particularly those related to parameter limits in Premiere Pro and time-based effects.

Designed for working artists

Although relatively short, the course presents a clear path for professionals wanting to bring order and repeatability to Sapphire-based looks. By concentrating on collaboration, preset standardisation, and version consistency, Sapphire Builder Essentials positions Sapphire not only as a creative toolkit but also as a reliable production component across hosts. The entire 11-part training is available for free on the Boris FX training portal. As with all new tools and updates, users are advised to test Builder workflows in a controlled environment before rolling them out to client projects.

The post Sapphire gets the “Essentials” treatment first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

According to the official Blackmagic Design (Germany) website, several PYXIS and Pocket Cinema Camera models are now significantly discounted, and not by the usual token amount after riasing prices (I see you, cat-toy-manufacturers!). The company’s German store currently lists the Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and the PYXIS 6K EF, both reduced from 3 089 € to 2 165 €, while the PYXIS 6K PL drops from 3 279 € to 2 300 €. These prices include VAT.

The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2, the 6K Pro and the Cinema Camera 6K also receive a 25 percent reduction. So, from 2675 € down to 2010€. The Blackmagic PYXIS Monitor range receives a smaller but still notable discount. The base monitor, the Monitor Kit and the Monitor EVF Kit are all down by 20 percent. The official banner labels every promotion as “Begrenzt verfügbar” (limited availability) and no end date is given.

Who this matters for

A 30 percent reduction on full-frame 6K cameras brings the PYXIS 6K EF and PL models into the low-two-thousand-euro bracket, a price point rarely seen in this segment. The promotion lowers the entry barrier for cinematographers moving up from mirrorless systems or small-format video cameras, and makes it easier for small studios to standardise on a 6K workflow without crossing into high-end rental territory.

For mobile operators, the Pocket 6K G2 and 6K Pro remain attractive for lightweight production and second-unit work, offering internal BRAW recording and colour science that integrates smoothly into DaVinci Resolve pipelines. At current pricing, the cost-to-performance ratio is difficult to criticise.

Check before you click

The promotion appears genuine and active across Europe, though stock levels are not specified and availability may differ by region. Prices on the German site include VAT, but delivery charges and import duties can still apply within the EU. Not every configuration or lens mount is discounted; buyers should confirm the mount type (EF, PL or L-Mount) before ordering. It is also worth verifying firmware compatibility and accessory fit if the camera will join an existing rig. As with any newly purchased production hardware, thorough testing before live use remains essential.

A rare exception

Digital Production does not usually cover seasonal shopping events. But when a company called Blackmagic runs an actual Black Friday promotion, the pun alone justifies a short mention and the discounts happen to be serious.

The post Black Friday Turns Blackmagic: 30% Off Cinema Gear first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.