Adobe ships Color mode as a dedicated color workspace inside Premiere Pro beta. It uses a streamlined layout that maximizes the Color monitor, reduces on-screen clutter, and adds dedicated color panels that only appear in Color mode.

Colour mode centres the experience around three pieces: the Colour monitor for evaluation, a Clip Grid for picking shots quickly, and a Colour Controls panel for doing the actual work. The intent reads as editorial-first grading: jump between shots fast, make decisions with the image front and centre, and keep the toolset close to what you already do in an NLE.

Color mode switches the monitor between a sequence view for checking the timeline and a clip view for focusing on a single shot. It also adds a Solo mode that temporarily disables overlays and composited elements so you can judge adjustments without extra layers muddying the view.

The new workspace design lands alongside a clear compatibility message. The Lumetri effect remains available in the beta Effects panel and stays supported. Existing projects and Lumetri grades keep their expected look. The Lumetri panel itself no longer appears in the beta UI, and Lumetri changes move to the Effects Controls panel.

Clip Grid turns your sequence into a grading playlist

The Clip Grid presents clips from the active sequence as thumbnails for quick selection. It supports filtering, sorting, and grouping to keep large timelines manageable while you grade. It also includes view controls that change between a row style layout and a multi-row grid so you can either stay focused on a short run of shots or see more of the cut at once.

Color Controls and Operations aim at repeatable grades

The Color Controls panel acts as the hub for adjustments to the currently selected clip in the Clip Grid. It organises colour operations applied to that clip, and it frames each operation as equivalent to a layer or node of colour tool modifications. That puts grade-building blocks front and centre, with a structure that can scale from quick balancing to more involved looks.

Color mode also introduces an Operations system for grade management, positioned as part of the new experience alongside the interface and control set. Operations appear as the mechanism for managing grades across clips, groups, and sequences.

Color mode also leans heavily on feedback. Many controls activate a heads-up display that combines scopes, numeric feedback, and real-time visual guidance. The goal is to help you understand what a control does while you drag it, instead of making you guess and undo your way back to safety.

That HUD concept matters because many controls are bi-directional. One axis adjusts one parameter and the other axis adjusts a second parameter. There is also a modifier for precise single-axis moves. Each control can surface its own on-screen feedback as you work.

If you already live in scopes, the pitch is simple: fewer trips to separate panels, more continuous feedback while you push the image. If you are newer to grading, the design tries to teach you by making the response visible and measurable while you move.

New controls: from contrast to zones to hue isolation

Color mode adds a set of new control groups and built-in styles and modules. On the adjustment side, the control set includes contrast with contrast and pivot, exposure with exposure and black level, temperature with temperature and tint, balance for shifting color balance, saturation, and a Detail section that covers texture and sharpness. Texture offers global, single, or multi-band detail. Sharpness includes radius and threshold controls, plus blur.

There is a Zones section that grades the whole image globally or isolates grades into shadow zones and highlight zones. Shadow zones and highlight zones support multiple preset zones and custom zones, letting you target darker or brighter parts of the image with separate adjustments.

There is also a Color Shift section with Sat Shift, Hue Shift, and Lum Shift. These controls focus on specific hues, letting you change saturation, hue direction, and brightness for a selected hue range. Automatic Hue Isolation surfaces prominent hues from the image for faster selection, and it also supports an eyedropper plus a full RGB spectrum picker for manual targeting.

Styles and Modules show up as built-in starting points. The system includes modules such as Film Color, Contrast Kit, and Flare, plus style presets such as Cinematic Contrast, Varied Temp, Varied Lighting, Varied Sat, and Monochrome. There is also a Make Your Own path that combines modules to build custom styles.

Color management: SDR and HDR workflows in the same mode

Color mode links directly into the application color management system. It supports workflows that include Direct Rec. 709 SDR and Wide Gamut Tone Mapped. It also supports SDR and HDR output formats including Rec. 709 and Rec. 2100.

Wide Gamut Tone Mapped has more flexibility when adjusting images. Tone mapping aims to create smoother highlight and shadow roll-off, with the benefit of easier exposure and color adjustments without clipping.

There are also updated tone-mapping and gamut-compression settings for handling SDR media and graphics. An advanced option called Apply Inverse Tone Mapping and Gamut Compression targets accuracy when working across mixed media formats. But never change the working color space mid-workflow, since switching after adjustments can alter the appearance of the grade and force extra refinement.

This is the part that can make or break the experience in real projects. Colour management should behave consistently across cameras, codecs, and delivery targets, or editors will revert to what they trust.

Some workflows will still need careful validation on your own media, especially mixed camera jobs and sequences that move between SDR and HDR deliverables. Test new tools and innovations before use in production, and verify the pipeline from ingest to export with footage that matches your real work.

Plans, beta access, and what it costs

Color mode is included in the Premiere beta and it comes with any Creative Cloud plan that includes Premiere, with no additional cost for the feature itself. The beta installs through the Creative Cloud desktop app. New users can start with a 7-day free trial of Premiere. The official product page also states that the Premiere single app plan starts at US$22.99 per month for an annual plan billed monthly. Pricing changes by plan and region…

https://www.adobe.com/de/products/premiere/color-mode.html

The post Adobe brings Color mode to Premiere beta first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the Lineup: The ColorEdge CS Series sits below the ColorEdge CG Series (Highend) in the ColorEdge family, while FlexScan covers general office displays. CS targets color critical work with external calibration via ColorNavigator 7, CG adds the built-in sensor luxury tier.

A big new desk buddy for serious pixels

Meet the ColorEdge CS3200X. It features a 31.5-inch panel and 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160). which makes it the largest model in the CS Series so far, built for anyone who wants more room for images, scopes, UI chrome, and timelines that look like a subway map. The core stays familiar: You get a colour-managed monitor designed for image and video work where you need to trust what you see, not just admire it.

HDR targets and a shortcut for signal switching

HDR support comes via targets for Hybrid Log-Gamma and Perceptual Quantization. That lets the display slot into HDR workflows that use those transfer functions. A standout feature for this CS model is Sync Signal. With Sync Signal, brightness, gamma, and color space can adjust automatically based on metadata of the incoming video signal. The goal is fewer manual changes when moving between SDR and HDR and fewer chances to grade the right shot in the wrong mode.

More space, fewer gymnastics

The CS3200X targets workflows that benefit from a larger working area, especially in photo and video setups where multiple panels, large tool palettes, and long sequences compete for attention. The screen area increase gets a specific comparison: roughly 36 per cent more display area than a 27-inch monitor. That extra real estate matters when you keep a viewer large enough to judge details and still leave space for controls, without turning your workspace into a tab-juggling contest.

Wide gamut coverage and ready-to-go presets

CS3200X covers 99 % of Adobe RGB and 96 % of DCI-P3. That positions it for image editing, video post-production, colour grading, and print workflows. It ships with factory-calibrated presets for BT.709 and DCI-P3, plus an Adobe RGB preset. The point is speed. Switch the monitor to the standard you need and keep moving.

There is also a Display P3 preset aimed at consistent display when working with Apple devices such as a MacBook. The monitor can connect over USB-C and charge the connected laptop with up to 70 watts, which helps keep the desk from becoming a cable museum.

Quiet by design, tidy by intent

The CS3200X runs without active fans. That makes it a better fit for quiet rooms like grading suites or any setup where the loudest thing should be your keyboard and emotional distress about the producer’s notes, not your monitor auditioning for a wind tunnel role. The physical design also shifts. The housing uses a three-sided frameless look with an ultra slim bezel, aimed at saving space and cleanliness for multi monitor setups.

For the first time in the CS series, a light shielding hood comes in the box. It attaches magnetically and is intended to reduce reflections. It is a small accessory that usually feels like a luxury until the day you work next to a window and remember why hoods exist.

Inputs, hubs, and the practical desk stuff

Connectivity covers modern and classic rigs. Over USB-C, the monitor can carry the video signal, USB data, and up to 70 watts of charging through one cable. For many laptop-based setups, that is the entire “suite of necessities” right there. For workstations and other sources, there are inputs for HDMI and DisplayPort.

There is also a built-in USB hub with four downstream ports. Two are specified at 5 Gbps and two are USB 2. A built-in switching function can connect shared USB accessories such as a webcam, audio interface, mouse, and keyboard to whichever source computer is currently active. The result is less unplugging, less replugging, and fewer moments where you stare at a dead mouse like it personally betrayed you.

Calibration, uniformity, and the long game

Hardware calibration support is included, using ColorNavigator 7 with external sensors. The calibration is a lossless hardware calibration (It is an Eizo, after all!). Uniformity control comes via the Digital Uniformity Equaliser, intended to support consistent luminance distribution and colour purity across the screen.

The housing uses plastics with recycled content to reduce resource use and lower environmental impact. The warranty is 5 years and includes on-site replacement service.

Availability and the first public showing

Delivery is expected in autumn 2026, with the note that exact timing can vary by region. The first show appearance is set for the NAB Show in Las Vegas, running April 19 to April 22, 2026, at stand N1123. Go there, have a look, say hi to the team from me.

Tec Specs for the ColorEdge CS3200X

Item	CS3200X specification
Panel size	31.5-inch
Resolution	4K UHD, 3840 x 2160
Color gamut	99 % Adobe RGB, 96 % DCI-P3
Max brightness	350 candela per square meter
Contrast ratio	1300 to 1
Processing	16-bit Look-Up-Table, 10-bit display output
Uniformity	Digital Uniformity Equalizer
Presets	Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, BT.709, Display P3
HDR targets	HLG, PQ
Sync feature	Sync Signal adapts brightness, gamma, and colour space to incoming signal metadata
Cooling	Fanless, no active fans
Video inputs	USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort
USB-C	DisplayPort signal and up to 70 W power delivery
USB hub	Four downstream ports, two 5 Gbps, two USB 2
USB switching	USB accessories follow the active source computer
Hood	Magnetic light shielding hood included
Sustainability	Housing plastics include recycled content
Warranty	5 years, includes on-site replacement service
Availability	Expected autumn 2026, region dependent
Price	No Info yet, but should be reasonable

https://www.eizo.de/coloredge/

The post EIZO ColorEdge CS3200X adds 31.5-inch 4K first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who do not know the tool: There is not much legacy history to unpack here, because Open Light is new. The more relevant context is the developer: Borja Rama is a lighting artist with feature and episodic credits including Spellbound, The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones and Carnival Row. That background suggests the tool was built from actual production irritation, which is usually a better starting point than “we disrupted light.”

Open Light is a small release with suspiciously practical ambitions. Instead of digging through old folders full of “final_light_v7_realfinal_02”, the standalone app generates HDR light textures procedurally, including softboxes, beauty dishes, gobos, Kino Flos and similar source patterns for lighting setups. According to Borja Rama, the tool came out of a very familiar problem: needing custom light textures and getting tired of hunting for them.

The useful part is that Open Light is not just a freebie texture pack with good intentions. It exposes controls for shape, falloff, surface imperfections, gels and grids, then exports the result as production-ready maps. Supported output formats include 32-bit EXR and HDR, with exports up to 4096 by 4096 pixels. Color space options include sRGB Linear and ACEScg.

Rama also lists 87 simulated Lee and Rosco gels, along with controls designed to mimic various real-world source characteristics. That makes Open Light potentially useful beyond straight lookdev. It could fit into compositing, product viz, motion design, virtual production tests, or any scene where a generic white rectangle is technically correct but spiritually depressing.

Open Light is currently available as a free standalone beta for Windows 10 and 11. The download is listed on Gumroad, and Rama’s tools page notes EXR and HDR export for use in “any DCC application”. A macOS build is in progress, but no release date is given.

Open Light on Gumroad: https://2583407267451.gumroad.com/l/openlight
Borja Rama tools: https://www.borjarama.com/tools

The post Open Light: Procedural HDR Lighting Without the Texture Archaeology first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Kraken is a Norwegian sci-fi thriller that moves between majestic fjord landscapes, industrial fish farms, studio interiors, LED-volume stages and CG-heavy underwater sequences. From a grading perspective, the main challenge was maintaining visual continuity while allowing each environment to retain its own identity.

The main priority for senior colourist Dylan Hopkin was establishing a strong, consistent foundational look across the film. “A good grade always serves the story and characters first,” he says. “What I do should be almost invisible. My colouring shouldn’t draw attention to itself.” Before the main grade began, Hopkin worked on teasers and the main trailer, a process that helped the team prepare for the actual movie, he explains. “But teasers and trailers are commercials for the film. The looks don’t always translate directly once you see scenes in their full context.”

Hopkin walks through a selection of scenes from the film, explaining how he approached colour, contrast and continuity, and how DaVinci Resolve was used to solve specific creative and technical challenges.

A bit about Kraken

Kraken (2026) is a Norwegian monster action feature directed by Pål Øie and produced by Nordisk Film Production AS, with Handmade Films in Norwegian Woods also credited on IMDb. It was shot on location around the Sognefjord and included studio work in Finland.

The story follows marine biologist Johanne, sent to investigate a salmon farm near Vangsnes after two teenagers die and strange phenomena suggest something huge is moving in the fjord depths.

Establishing a foundational look for Kraken

The main weight of the grade was creating a robust foundational look, which effectively became a bespoke show LUT implemented as a fixed node tree. From there, I focused on what each image already had to offer. I looked at dominant hues, how practical light flowed through the frame, what the most important part of the image was, and what the director and DP wanted the audience to feel. From that analysis, I usually get a gut feeling for how to adapt the image.

I try to be as respectful as possible towards the cinematography. What’s captured in front of the lens creates the DNA of the look. Creating appropriate tonal contrast so images sit right is a big part of grading. I do that using custom curves, DCTLs or different DRTs in Resolve, depending on the material. Shaping light is also critical. I rely heavily on windows, tracking and Magic Mask [more on which later] to guide the audience’s eye, in much the same way as dodge-and-burn techniques in still photography.

Maintaining continuity across scenes

This is one of the most challenging aspects of grading. I prefer to choose as few reference images as possible per scene and match everything else against them.

It’s also important to commit to a consistent set of tools. I often use colour-space-aware tools for exposure and white balance, such as Resolve’s HDR Grade tool, because the maths is very clean and respects the source material. Another approach I use is working in linear gamma with gain for exposure and white balance. The key is consistency.

Once shot-by-shot balancing is done, I use the Group Post-Clip node tree for scene-wide corrections. On Kraken, colour management was handled manually in a DaVinci YRGB project using nodes and input DCTLs. For animated features, I usually prefer ACEScct, but for live action, I still like a more hands-on approach.

Fjord landscapes

For the fjord exteriors, the goal was to keep foliage and skies natural but present. I relied heavily on the Tetra2 DCTL by Juanjo L. Salazar to tweak foliage hues, with very clean results. I also used the ColorSlice tool to add subtle density to greens without flattening highlights. Cloud texture in the skies was preserved through contrast control rather than saturation.

Kraken is the first Scandinavian feature film to be graded in Dolby Vision for theatrical release! For this additional version, Hopkin graded two days on Resolve with an advanced panel in Dolby’s reference theatre in London’s Soho. “It was an amazing experience: next level cinema,” says Hopkin.

Fish farm control room

The fish farm control room needed to feel grimy and industrial, in contrast to the high-tech control screens. It was shot in a studio with exterior views created using an LED volume, allowing precise control of time-of-day lighting while maintaining accurate reflections.

After establishing the base look, I added a subtle amount of green using primary offsets, similar to printer lights. That small adjustment added grit and helped sell the environment.

Fish farm exteriors: day and night

The fish farm exteriors had a weathered, oily quality with plenty of patina. Daylight scenes were graded with softer contrast and a colder Nordic feel.

At night, sodium vapour lighting dominated. I pushed the blacks deeper to add more bite and reinforce the industrial mood.

Kraken Underwater sequences and transitions

Underwater shots varied significantly, combining live action, CG, day-for-night and fully stylised sequences. Most daylight underwater scenes leaned green-cyan, while nighttime scenes moved more towards blue.

There were exceptions. During the nighttime kraken attack, surface lighting mixed strong sodium vapour with cooler sources. When submerged and looking up, I pushed highlights towards orange to connect the underwater shots to the surface action.

For shots moving between above and below the surface, I used keyframed grades in dynamic nodes to animate colour transitions. The HDR Grade tool, offset controls and hue-vs-hue curves were central here.

Submerged luxury restaurant

The submerged luxury restaurant was shot in a studio using an LED volume. I compressed the colour palette slightly using hue-vs-hue, managed saturated skin tones with hue-vs-sat, and controlled saturation depth with ColorSlice. The aim was restraint, keeping the environment immersive without overpowering performance.

In the restaurant, some wide shots suffered from LED moiré. I analysed which colour channels were affected and used a splitter-combiner node structure with Color Compressor, Debanding OFX and subtle directional blur, applied via qualifiers and masks.

Fish farm attack and fog

During the early evening fish farm attack, the Scandinavian light was at its best. I added subtle warmth along horizon lines and introduced fog behind Johanne using Cinematic Haze OFX.

I used Resolve’s masking tools and planar tracker to lock haze masks in place, excluding mountain silhouettes with HSL qualifiers. In total, I added fog and haze to around 40 shots.

In one canoe sequence, several shots lacked fog entirely. I tested Cinematic Haze, showed the results to the director, DP and producers, and ended up completing the remaining shots.

I like the control Cinematic Haze offers: finding the right depth-map sweet spot first, then adjusting airlight, density and resolution loss.

Laboratory bioluminescence

In the lab scenes, a green bioluminescent liquid needed to feel more prominent. I qualified the bioluminescence, added Add Flicker OFX for a smooth pulse, and used ColorSlice to push subtractive saturation into the green hue.

Red alert and the nighttime finale of Kraken

The red-alert sequence marked a deliberate escalation. This was the first nighttime attack on the fish farm, and the images needed to feel crisper and more aggressive than earlier scenes. Saturation increased due to intense red warning lights, but it was important to keep those colours under control. I relied on the Sat-vs-Sat curve to keep the reds vivid without tipping into a digital look, with gamut-mapping used where appropriate.

In the nighttime finale, Johanne leaves the fish farm by boat before the sequence cuts to day-for-night material. From that point on, the scene had to be transformed into a believable nighttime environment with a softer Scandinavian summer-night feel. I used Resolve’s HDR Grade tool for most of the heavy lifting and introduced a warm sodium-vapour tone to maintain a visual link to the fish farm. Tracked masks and Magic Mask helped preserve detail in Johanne’s performance while keeping the environment dark and moody.

Magic Mask and selective grading

Magic Mask has changed the way I work. Tasks like face relighting used to rely on tracked windows or rotoscoping, which could easily introduce halos. Magic Mask can select faces, clothing, vehicles and more with minimal setup. It’s not perfect every time, but with some tweaking, it solves complex selections efficiently. On Kraken, I used it extensively for relighting faces, isolating creatures and excluding actors from background colour manipulations, often in combination with keyers and windows.

Camera shake and lightweight VFX

In several action scenes, the DP Sjur Aarthun, wanted additional camera shake to increase impact. Solving this during the grade is far quicker than sending shots back to VFX. I used Camera Shake OFX for constant vibrations, and custom Fusion setups with damped-spring expressions for impact shakes, always with motion blur enabled. Working in Resolve allowed real-time review and better control over the scene’s flow.

Dylan Hopkin (IMDB | LinkedIn | Website) is a senior colourist based at one of Europe’s leading post-production facilities, Nordisk Film ShortCut Oslo, with more than a decade of experience specialising in high-end creative colour grading for feature films, TV dramas and commercials. He originally trained as a motion graphics designer before transitioning into finishing and online work.

Hopkin’s credits span award-winning cinema and television projects showcased internationally at festivals such as Sundance, Cannes Series, Tribeca and the Oscars circuit. He is also a certified DaVinci Resolve trainer, has created masterclasses on grading strategies and teaches at film schools across Europe.

The post Grading Kraken: insights from the colour grade 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.

Audience expectations of the cinema experience have evolved significantly in recent years. Today, viewers expect image quality that aligns with contemporary production and post-production standards – with accurate color reproduction, high contrast and visual consistency that preserves creative intent. At the same time, cinema operators are challenged to future-proof their technical infrastructure while integrating formats such as HDR in a meaningful and sustainable way. This is where Samsung Onyx comes in.

One response to these requirements is LED-based cinema display technology such as the Samsung Onyx Cinema LED display (ICD series). Designed specifically for cinema environments, the system introduces new possibilities for image reproduction, presentation quality and operational consistency.

LED technology as an alternative to traditional projection

Unlike conventional projection systems, Samsung Onyx relies on self-emissive LED technology. The display supports resolutions up to 4K with a refresh rate of 120 Hz[1] and achieves peak brightness levels of up to 300 nits[2]. This enables bright image areas to remain clearly visible without color washout or loss of detail.

Deep blacks, an almost infinite contrast ratio, and high color accuracy enable nuanced image reproduction across the full brightness range. Especially in high-contrast scenes, this results in more precise detail reproduction – an aspect that is increasingly relevant for both filmmakers and audiences.

HDR in cinema: consistent implementation of modern workflows

As HDR content becomes more widespread, its reliable presentation in cinemas is gaining importance. Modern cinema displays must not only support extended brightness and color spaces technically but also reproduce them consistently in real-world screening environments. Systems such as Samsung Onyx are increasingly designed to support HDR workflows from mastering through to on-screen playback.

This approach helps ensure that creative decisions made during production and post-production remain visible in the cinema environment, strengthening the connection between artistic intent and the final audience experience.

Flexibility for different auditorium layouts

In addition to image quality, flexibility is a key consideration for cinema operators. Samsung Onyx is available in four standard screen sizes – 5, 10, 14 and 20 meters – and can be scaled beyond these formats to accommodate a wide range of auditorium dimensions.[3] This adaptability allows cinemas to optimize screen size without compromising visual performance.

The system is also compatible with established cinema audio solutions such as Dolby Atmos, Meyer Sound, QSC and JBL, enabling integration into existing sound infrastructures.

Digital experiences beyond the auditorium

Modern display technologies are not limited to the screening room itself. Digital signage solutions enable cinemas to enhance visual communication in lobby and service areas. Energy-efficient color e-paper displays[4] can be used to present programmed information or advertising content and are centrally managed via the Samsung VXT device and content management platform.

Additional Smart Signage displays can be deployed for menu boards, trailers or brand communication, creating a consistent visual experience throughout the entire cinema journey – from arrival to the start of the film.

Display technology is increasingly shaping the way audiences experience cinematic stories. As production standards continue to evolve, solutions like Samsung Onyx illustrate how image reproduction, brightness and color accuracy can be aligned more closely with creative intent. For cinemas, this opens new ways to present content in a technically consistent and visually compelling manner – supporting the medium of cinema as it adapts to changing audience expectations.[5]

---

[1] Based on the internal data bandwidth of the screen. Actual frame rates may vary depending on the connected IMB.

[2] Peak brightness is supported when using DCI-HDR-supported IMB.

[3] All measurements in metres refer to the screen width, while all measurements in inches refer to the diagonal. The 10-metre Onyx screen is available now, with the remaining models being introduced gradually.

[4] Thanks to advanced technology, color e-paper consumes significantly less energy than many other digital signage devices, especially when displaying static images. This can result in direct cost savings. The 4,600 mAH battery also offers high energy efficiency.

[5] The quality of film screenings may vary depending on the region and cinema.

The post Samsung Onyx: How modern display technology is redefining the cinema experience first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Advertorial.

Dolby Laboratories has launched Dolby Vision 2, the successor to its flagship HDR technology, with official announcement dated 2 September 2025. This update centres on a redesigned Dolby Image Engine and introduces Content Intelligence, an AI-powered system that dynamically optimises image quality by adapting to the content type, viewing environment, and device capabilities.

Content Intelligence includes features such as Precision Black, which enhances visibility in very dark scenes without undermining the creative intent, and Light Sense, which combines ambient light detection with reference lighting data embedded in the content to fine-tune display output. The standard also introduces bi-directional tone mapping, allowing creators to better utilise modern TVs’ wider brightness and colour capabilities while maintaining artistic vision.

A key innovation is Authentic Motion, described as the first “creative driven motion control tool”, enabling scene-by-scene adjustment of motion handling to reduce judder and avoid the so-called “soap-opera effect” while preserving a cinematic feel. Dolby claims backward compatibility with existing Dolby Vision content, though only TVs equipped with Dolby Vision 2 can take advantage of the new metadata and feature set.

Two Tiers: Vision 2 Standard and Max

Dolby Vision 2 will be available in two tiers for display manufacturers. Dolby Vision 2 Max is intended for premium, high-performance televisions, incorporating additional advanced features to fully exploit modern display hardware. Dolby Vision 2 (Standard) targets broader, mainstream TVs with core enhancements enabled by the new image engine and Content Intelligence.

Industry Rollout: Hisense Leads, CANAL+ Supports

Hisense will be the first television brand to ship Dolby Vision 2 capable sets, powered by the MediaTek Pentonic 800 SoC with the MiraVision Pro picture-quality engine integrated. Timing and pricing details are not yet specified.

CANAL+, the French media group, is the first content provider committed to offering its full range—including films, series, and live sports—in Dolby Vision 2.

Summary for Production Professionals

Dolby Vision 2 delivers tangible enhancements for content creators and post-production professionals. The AI-driven Content Intelligence suite—including ambient-aware adjustments and tone-mapping—reduces the need for manual, scene-by-scene calibration. Authentic Motion offers granular motion-control, promising cinematic motion integrity that could streamline grading and mastering workflows.

That said, actual benefit depends on hardware adoption. Only Vision 2-enabled devices will leverage the new metadata. Hisense is first in line, with availability expected in 2026, starting with premium models, and broader market penetration toward 2027.

The post Dolby Vision 2 Rewrites HDR first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Electronics supermarkets for general audiences are offering calibration of TVs as an option now, and some gaming monitors will even bring along an individual calibration chart.This is part 4 of our color monitoring series (it started here).

TV and cinema

Well, according to our recent measurements, the decently priced ProArt models by Asus can suffice for Rec. 709 and even some more. We were quite surprised finding a wide QHD gaming monitor by Xiaomi also coming with a chart and meeting the specs when checked with our probes and software. But then, this all applies to screens which can meet Rec. 709 without much effort. While professional grading for cinema in DCI P3 would normally be done in a dark room with a calibrated projector, what about grading for HDR? 

Well, let’s first get some misconceptions out of the way, since most of the marketing stuff is confusing things (intentionally?). DCI P3 would be the standard for cinema, as explained above. It expects a gamma of 2,6, but only 48 nits for white – after all, it’s for a dark environment and a very large screen. You may not even notice in cinema that it has a white point around 6.300 K, which is better suited to Xenon lamps. You would not really like to watch that it in a living room or, even worse, outdoors. 

So, Apple created a thing now called Display P3. This has never really been standardised, but has been adopted by others, mainly for phones and tablets. So, a majority out there might be able to watch video like that now instead of the older Rec. 709 for TV. The white point is 6.500, standard white is 120 nit, and gamma is 2.2. The only thing it has in common with cinema is the wider color space of P3. While Rec. 709 (or sRGB) is only covering about one third of human vision for color (as defined by CIE 1931), P3 is doing more than half. And Rec. 2020?

Rec. 2020, a standard for the future

The color space for HDR TV in the foreseeable future is defined by Rec. 2020. It would cover 75% of human vision for colors, but very few technologies of today can reproduce it. RGB pure laser projectors can achieve up to 98% of the Rec. 2020 color space, and one from Christie will cost you only 84.000 € (plus tax and lens). It will eat 1.800 watts of power and resolve HD natively, but simulate more by pixel-shift (see more here at Christie’s).

Oh, and one of those is normally used for presentations in special venues, like theme parks, projection mapping, IMAX, and impressive exhibitions, not in your average local cinema. Anyway, some cinemas are going for them now for attraction and future proofing. If we are trying to get more realistic, we will look at ordinary monitors, the best of which may cover 86% of that color space. 

Technologies to get there as of today are WOLED, QD-OLED and mini-LED, to which Apple recently added Tandem-LED in the iPad Pro – as usual, without telling us the exact percentage of Rec. 2020 achieved. For some realism, read this. BTW, even a huge QD-LED based reference monitor from Flanders Scientific, a manufacturer respected by professional colorists, the XMP551, will cost you around 20.000 € and covers ‚only‘ 90% of Rec. 2020 color gamut.

What about HDR?

HDR, though, is mainly about contrast. Generally, you could increase contrast by stronger highlights, which is driving up power consumption and heat, or by deeper blacks. OLED is one of the technologies getting pitch black, other than conventional LCD screens. It also has very wide viewing angles without any image degradation. Unfortunately, OLED has a hard time with very high brightness, which may ruin it quickly without protective measures. What’s on the market right now?

Flanders XMP310 and XMP270 both can handle 1.000 nit for Dolby Vision, which is only one of the competing standards, and reach ’only’ 80% of the 2020 color gamut. But even these are well beyond 10.000 €. Apple claims 1.600 nit for their XDR screens. While these are still expensive in larger sizes, they come for less in mobile devices. But all such maximum values are for local highlights. If it would show that full screen, the poor thing would go up in flames. 

So, to protect the OLED, all of such displays use an ABL (auto brightness limiter), just like LG OLED TVs, which are also popular with pro colorists. In consequence, all of them will be able to show highlights to a varying degree of brightness, but only in a limited area. Even the expensive Flanders have ABL, and you can only switch that off by going deep into hidden service menus and ruining your warranty. Ouch! 

For any such screen, the maximum brightness achieved will be related to the percentage of screen estate that highlights are covering, and normally there’s even a difference between peak values displayed for a short time and sustained ones. Of course, any decent screen will sustain more than 120 nits on the whole screen, so it should not be a surprise if we calibrate to 120 even for HDR. What comes as a bad surprise are changes in the whole scene when ABL kicks in. So, what to choose?

We may see Apples Tandem-LED screens in future MacBooks, but I doubt any time soon in larger monitors. Under the current iPadOS you can can’t calibrate an iPad. In the end, we had a closer look at an OLED screen for gamers, the Asus PG27AQDP. It comes calibrated for SDR with an individual chart from the factory. Getting up to 600 nit and covering P3 would already give you a decent HDR look with perfect blacks. It’s not a QD-OLED, but didn’t I start with the slogan „Color Grading for Cheapskates“?

Measuring an OLED monitor

At first view, it’s very obviously targeted at hardcore gaming, being part of the „ROG“ (republic of gamers) product family. The headline we cited above also aims at that community. Nevertheless, it comes with an individual chart, surprisingly made for Rec. 709 (actually, sRGB), with a gamma of 2,24 and an average color accuracy of 1,37 Delta-E, not exceeding 2,1. It carries the DisplayHDR True Black 400 label, which is an independent label by VESA, even if the lowest level (screens with higher ones are considerably more expensive). For details, see here.

Of course, we did not want to trust just the chart or label alone, and also see what we get for the newer standards. Older probes like our trusted Color Munki or X-rite (see here) can’t handle OLEDs correctly. If you’d try the approach described in my other articles, you’d be disappointed. At first view, the values look really bad. That’s not a limitation of the screen, but those older probes are not ready for recent technologies. 

This time, we got a Spyder Pro by Datacolor (more about it in another article), which is capable of taking on OLED and very wide gamut, and handling up to 2000 nits. It is not recognised by DisplayCal, so we used the Software coming with the probe, aptly named SpyderPro, in version 6.2.

Adjustments

The software is pretty easy to operate and fast. As described in our articles linked above, one should first try to get the screen as close to specs as possible with its internal adjustments. While the color adjustments didn’t help much, at least you can turn down the brightness to the levels needed according to standards.

But we observed a strange phenomenon here: brightness always went up a bit when leaving the OSD. So, you’ll need a bit of fiddling to get it right, we ended up with a value of 42 in the OSD (for HDTV). There might be some ABL switching on and off even at these levels.

Another confusion resulted when checking the gamma: while the OSD is offering choices of gamma values, it’s always far too high, according to the Spyder Pro. We needed the lowest setting of 1.8 to meet the standard for web at 2.2, and the next value to get 2.4 for proper BT. 1886. These deviations may be corrected by Asus with firmware upgrades, but their installer didn’t work for us.

Since we didn’t get any better results from trying to adjust colors, we decided to try the presets offered by the monitor’s menu. BTW, all of these adjustments are available in performance mode only, in energy saving mode you’ll be stuck in gaming settings, for whatever reason. 

Results

Once we got brightness and gamma right, the results were not bad at all. Rec. 709 is fully covered, and P3 to 96%, which you’d hard pressed to tell from 100% visually. Rec. 2020 colours are covered to 71%, but check above how much you’d pay even to get 80. For the time being, stick to P3 for HDR. Brightness peaks close to 1.200 nits, but only for a tiny area of 2% of the screen. 

For comparison: Apple doesn’t tell us how much their Liquid XDR with Mini-LEDs in the recent MacBook Pro can cover at 1.600. While Rtings measured less than 1.500 for 2%, it can sustain close to 1.200 even for the full screen. The color gamut is full P3 and close to 73% of Rec. 2020 ( see here). Its only weakness is some blooming, and, of course, the size.

Nevertheless, you can get over 600 for 10% of the Asus screen, which is decent for practical work in HDR. Contrast ratio is, of course, kind of infinite, since black is black. One big advantage over Mini-LEDs is the absence of blooming. The screen offers detailed features to fight burn-in, the achilles heel of OLED. This may be even more important than for games if you have one single GUI like DaVinci Resolve on the screen all day long. Asus says they are using a custom heatsink to get such bright highlights.

The software by Datacolor comes with a separate app for analysis of a screens quality, called Spyder MQA. Compared to factory calibration by Asus, most of the skin tones and lighter gray values got improved by the Spyder’s calibration, while one dark cyan (1F) suffered, even into slightly visible deviation. All other patches stayed under 3 or only a tiny bit over, with an average close to 2.

Datacolor explained this one deviation at 1F by the difficulty to calibrate a monitor with very wide native colors to Rec. 709 or even P3. Without a high-end probe around, we can’t verify this, but it seems plausible. If trade-offs are unavoidable, it makes perfect sense to go for good skin tones and a neutral greyscale. While some uniformity issues for brightness are normal at this price level, color uniformity is excellent, being under 2 Delta-E at 100% brightness.

Handling

Mechanics of the PG27AQDP leave a few points to be desired. Proper horizontal alignment is difficult to find, there is no fixed position for it and the adjustment shows a lot of friction. The height adjustment simply didn’t hold for us, always returning to the top position. Reviewing only one sample, we can’t tell if this is a problem with our unit only, but I’d assume it is. 

And then, the support with its three legs is prone to let it fall off the table when there is no wall behind and it’s pushed back too far. The ProArt PA279CV doesn’t have such issues and is coming with a heavy, rectangular plate. While the gaming screen looks stylish, you ask yourself how it gained two design awards – form follows function doesn’t matter any more? Even gamers complain about the space blocked by those legs in the front.

Service

The chatbot for support is not the brightest candle, a very specific question about a ProArt PA279CV being compatible with Asus’ Display Widget Center was answered with standard marketing information, not meeting the point. But you may download very detailed manuals as PDF in several languages. Our experience with their serve center in Germany when needing repair for a ProArt PA279CV about two years old with broken backlight was excellent. No, we didn’t inform them about reviewing it, but appeared as a regular private user.

Recommendation

While you can’t get the PG27AQDP for the price of a Xiaomi G34WQi or an Asus ProArt PA279CV, which are decent for SDR, it is one of the best low-cost options for HDR. Small highlights pop in HDR, but aggressive ABL can kick in. For those who also need to grade for SDR, it’s also fine with a separate calibration. 

If you are not into hardcore gaming too, you can get the very similar Asus XG27AQDMG with a lower refresh rate for less. It’s also VESA HDR 400 approved, but glossy. So, the choice also depends on your environment, since the PG27AQDP is matte and has a bit less punch. Definitely look for that minimum VESA label, including the True Black notion, since everybody is calling their screens HDR these days, without any proper justification.

We also had an issue with fine text. It is a bit rough and less readable than on the Xiaomi G34WQi, which has the same vertical resolution. A different sub pixel layout seems to be the cause. But that doesn’t matter if you use it strictly for monitoring your final video and have another monitor for the GUI, where many prefer a wider screen anyway.

Specs of the Asus PG27AQDP OLED

Resolution: 2560 × 1440 (QHD)
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 @ROG+6@ROG+6@ROG+6
Panel Type: WOLED (3rd‑gen OLED + MLA lens array)
Pixel Pitch: 0.229 mm
Display Colors: True 10‑bit (1.07 billion colors)
Color Gamut: 99 % DCI‑P3, 135 % sRGB
Contrast Ratio: 1,500,000 :1 typical
Viewing Angle: 178° horizontal, 178° vertical
Surface Finish: Anti‑glare
Standard Max Brightness: 450 cd/m² (nits) @ROG+9@ROG+9@ROG+9
Peak HDR Brightness: 1,300 cd/m² (3 % APL) @ROG+4@ROG+4@ROG+4
Contrast: OLED-level true blacks @ROG
HDR Format: HDR10, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified
Refresh Rate: Native 480 Hz @ROG+2@ROG+2@ROG+2
Response Time: 0.03 ms gray‑to‑gray
Adaptive Sync: NVIDIA G‑SYNC Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium
Flicker: OLED Anti‑Flicker technology
Factory Calibration: ΔE < 2 (average)
User Calibration: Supported via DisplayWidget Center
Burn-In Management: ASUS OLED Care+ functions (pixel cleaning, screen saver, pixel shift, logo dimming)
Display Inputs: DisplayPort 1.4 (w/ DSC), HDMI 2.1
Uniform Brightness Mode (limits ABL)

All Specs are here at the Asus Site

The post „For Those Who Dare“ first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

This upcoming mini-series will focus on proper color monitoring with minimal cost. It will mainly be demonstrated in DaVinci Resolve (in short: DR) on MacOS, but most of the steps for calibration are just the same under Windows or Linux. The first part, though, deals with the difficulties some user are experiencing with driver software for Blackmagic’s I/O devices and their compatibility with M-series Macs.

Hardware

An important part of the business model run by Blackmagic Design (in short: BM) from Australia is giving away very capable software for free, or for a really decent price in the Studio version, and making money with hardware. While they are now also manufacturing a whole ecosphere of cameras and live recording gear, one mainstay always were I/O devices that circumvent the potential issues from the operating system interfering with color management. These devices are made to connect directly to the editing and grading software and should show the image as it is, without any unknown alterations.

While some users rely on direct output from the GPU (at least on a Mac), using a proper interface is still the sure approach. Unfortunately, not all older devices by BM are compatible with those quite capable machines with Apple’s own silicon, the M-series. It’s not really easy to find out which ones are not compatible by consulting their website, since the current “Read more” link is only listing all devices that work with Intel-based Macs and Apple Silicon alike. But if you are trying to save money by looking for something second-hand, they don’t list the older devices that will work only with Intel Macs.

Among the DeckLink series, which would need a Mac Pro or an external enclosure anyway, these are the Mini Monitor, the HD Extreme 3 and 3D, and also the DeckLink SDI, Duo, Quad and Studio models. The older Intensity Pro is also limited to Intel Macs, as are all the external Thunderbolt 2 devices: the UltraStudio Express, Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt, Mini Monitor (the Recorder too). If you own an Intel Mac, these can still be a solution for small money, even if they are limited to HD. You will need older drivers, though, since the current Desktop Video version 14.5 needs Sonoma (macOS 14) or Sequoia (15).

BM is offering all older software on their support site. So you can still use e.g. an Intel iMac 2017 (non-Pro), which is limited to Ventura, with version 12.9. After all, DR 19 is still officially supported under Ventura. They should all work under Windows 10 or 11, but for the Thunderbolt (in short: TB) devices you’ll need the right port, of course. On a Mac, those machines we would still consider usable for DR 19 usually have a TB 3 port, but those older devices have TB 2. Don’t get the wrong adapter: those very cheap ones that may look right are just connecting to Mini DisplayPort. You’ll need the expensive original by Apple, if you don’t find the cheaper AKiTiO T3T second-hand.

Of course, you may say that it’s easier to buy one of the new, compatible UltraStudio devices, if you don’t have one of the older interfaces and some cables lying around. But there’s no 4K/UHD version of those small, less expensive interfaces in a self-contained form. The UltraStudio 4K Mini (see header) carries a hefty price tag, if all you need is output to a screen. We don’t expect many users to buy the expensive Mac Pro just for its card slots, when the equally capable Mac Studio is not much more than half the price. But for all those with a recent Mac, there’s an alternative: while you can’t use an eGPU with Apple silicon, PCIe cards for I/O, like the DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K, will work in a ThunderBolt enclosure.

Software

On a PC you’ll need to install Desktop Video as an admin, and you should uninstall any older versions first. The latter is also advisable on a Mac, but the tight security measures by Apple can make things a bit more tricky. Watch carefully any message that is popping up while installing, even if you usually tend to click all that boring stuff away. Check if none of them is hidden by other windows or a second screen. With any version of 14 before 14.5, you should see two messages, as below. Make sure to follow the advice!

With these settings under Sequoia (aka MacOS 15.3.1), we had no problems seeing the video output from DR (19.1.3), Premiere Pro (25.1), After Effects (25 beta), Final Cut Pro X (11.0.1) and even Sony Catalyst Browse (2024.1.1), but we didn’t try Avid yet. Of course, you will still be looking at a screen that is unknown to the whole system, so that screen has to be calibrated. See our next post!

The post Color Monitoring for Cheapskates?Part 1 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

Adobe’s latest beta release of After Effects lets users preview HDR compositions directly within the software. Designed for professionals working with HDR content, the feature enables real-time HDR playback on HDR-compatible monitors. According to Adobe, this ensures better accuracy in visualizing brightness and color when working with HDR projects, especially compared to earlier workflows requiring third-party tools or cumbersome conversions.

Adobe After Effects Beta: HDR Preview and Enhanced Caching

The new After Effects beta introduces a groundbreaking feature: HDR preview. For motion designers and VFX professionals, the ability to view HDR compositions on HDR-compatible monitors eliminates the need for guesswork. This feature ensures that every highlight, shadow, and color appears exactly as intended, simplifying workflows for HDR projects.

The update also brings support for widely used HDR color spaces, including Rec.2100 PQ (Perceptual Quantizer) and Rec.2100 HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma). These industry-standard spaces are crucial for delivering content compatible with platforms such as Netflix and other HDR streaming services. Artists now have the flexibility to work confidently, knowing that their output aligns with current media standards.

Beyond HDR, Adobe has also enhanced the caching system in After Effects. By optimizing RAM and disk usage, the beta delivers faster playback and smoother previews, even for large compositions. This improvement is especially valuable for professionals working on intricate VFX or motion graphics, as it reduces interruptions and enhances overall efficiency.

While the HDR preview in After Effects beta is promising, it’s essential to approach the feature with caution in live production environments. Like most beta features, its stability should be thoroughly tested in smaller projects before incorporating it into high-stakes workflows. The After Effects beta, including the HDR preview feature, is available to Creative Cloud subscribers. For more information or to download the beta, visit Adobe’s official site here.

Adobe Premiere

The Premiere Pro beta adds AI-powered Media Intelligence, simplifying the search for specific clips in extensive projects. This feature automatically analyzes footage, recognizing objects, locations, camera angles, and metadata like recording dates or camera types. Editors can now type in descriptions, such as “sunset drone shot,” into a search bar, and the system will locate the matching clips instantly. Importantly, the analysis runs entirely on local systems, ensuring data privacy. Hopefully! But, if it works, it might be one of the most usefull AI-Features we have seen in a while!

Another feature in the Premiere Pro beta is Subtitle Translation, a addition for filmmakers expanding their content’s global reach. The feature supports native translation of subtitles into 17 languages, making it easier to create localized versions of projects. This significantly reduces the reliance on manual translations, which often slow workflows and add to production costs. For more details on the Premiere Pro beta and its features, visit Adobe’s official page here.

The post Adobe After Effects Beta: HDR Preview for Precision Workflows first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

---

Dolby Vision’s high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities set the standard for stunning visuals. Now, Matthias Bolliger—a seasoned DOP and Cameraman—guides professionals through the essentials with a Dolby Vision training course. Available on the Dolby Learning Platform, the course covers HDR mastering, color grading, and a unique deep dive into light scripting.

Light Scripting: Mastering HDR’s Metadata

At the heart of Dolby Vision is its metadata, and Bollinger’s training explains how to use light scripting to optimize it. Light scripting is the process of fine-tuning luminance metadata to ensure consistent brightness and color accuracy across HDR and SDR (standard dynamic range) versions. Bollinger simplifies what often feels like digital alchemy, helping you align your HDR content perfectly with Dolby’s standards—no guesswork required.

Certifiable Confidence

For those eyeing Dolby Vision certification, the course serves as a practical prep guide. While the exam isn’t part of the package, Bollinger’s training ensures you’re ready to tackle the certification requirements confidently.

Stability Meets Simplicity

Designed with production professionals in mind, the course emphasizes reliable, scalable workflows. Dolby’s tools and Bollinger’s expertise work hand-in-hand to deliver stability—critical for avoiding surprises in demanding production environments. However, as always, thorough testing is recommended before using new workflows on live projects.

---

The course is available now on the Dolby Learning Platform. Matthias Bolliger, also known for his work as an HDR trainer, can be found at matthias-bolliger.de Ready to script the perfect HDR experience? Sign up today.

The post HDR Without Headaches: Dolby Vision Training by Matthias Bolliger first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

With a curriculum built to inspire filmmakers, directors of photography, and cinematographers, this course emphasizes how HDR can enhance visual storytelling by introducing depth, richness, and precision to on-screen images. Led by the acclaimed DoP Matthias Bolliger, Visual Storytelling in HDR walks participants through best practices and the importance of HDR in early production stages—including essential tips on HDR monitoring on set. Dolby hopes this training will encourage creatives to integrate HDR into their workflow from the start, unlocking new levels of visual quality.

For those ready to take their filmmaking to the next level, enroll in the course here.

Need additional resources? Dolby also offers a Professional Support Knowledge Base and Dolby Creator Lab for a wealth of articles, tutorials, and FAQs. HIGHLY Recommended!

The post Dolby Launches free Training : Visual Storytelling in HDR first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Blackmagic Design has officially released DaVinci Resolve 19. After an intensive beta phase, the final version of the post-production software is now available for download. The new version offers many enhanced features that have been specially optimised for professional users in the areas of VFX, colour correction and audio development.

Colour correction, editing and VFX: New tools and improvements

DaVinci Resolve 19 brings numerous improvements to the workflow. The extended Cut Page enables faster multi-cam edits and more efficient work. The optimised colour correction tools and the improved DaVinci Neural Engine stand out in particular. The Neural Engine now offers more precise face recognition and automatic tracking, making it easier to work on complex visual effects.

The Fusion Page for VFX and Motion Graphics has also been significantly improved. In addition to support for USD files, the new keying tools and enhanced 3D rendering functions speed up the creation of visual effects and animations. In addition, DaVinci Resolve 19 now supports OpenFX plug-ins, allowing the software to be customised even more flexibly to individual requirements. For audio professionals, the Fairlight Audio Page offers new features such as an improved audio engine and support for Dolby Atmos.

DaVinci Resolve 19 offers innovative AI-supported functions such as automatic scene recognition, which significantly speed up the editing process. In the colour grading area, there is now an HDR grading mode and an improved curve editor. These tools enable finer adjustments and extended creative control over the image material. For teams working together on projects, the software offers improved collaboration functions. Users can work on the same project in real time and changes are synchronised immediately. This is particularly helpful for productions where editors, VFX artists and colourists work on different tasks in parallel.

Pricing and licence models

DaVinci Resolve 19 is available in a free version, which is ideal for smaller projects. The paid DaVinci Resolve Studio version offers advanced features and is available for a one-off price of USD 295. Existing users of the Studio version of DaVinci Resolve 18 will receive a free upgrade.

Further information can be found on the Blackmagic Design website and in the official documentation for DaVinci Resolve 19.

You can find more information about the new version and the official documentation on the Blackmagic Design website and in the official documentation for DaVinci Resolve 19. And our colleagues at Slashcam have put together an overview of ALL the functions that have been added.

The post DaVinci Resolve 19: Final Release first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The last major release was in October 23, but smaller improvements are added almost weekly.

Multi-input

Nobe OmniScope (NOS for short) was already able to monitor multiple signal sources, but this became somewhat confusing over time. The new “Input Strip” has made operation and categorisation easier. You can immediately see the most important technical parameters of each source, change their settings and change the assignment to the scopes using drag-n-drop.
In addition, a differently coloured frame immediately shows which of the scopes are being fed when you move the cursor over one of the sources in the strip. The QC recording is also colour-coded for each input. When starting, already defined sources, if available, are automatically connected. We could hardly find a useful signal source that could not be selected here, including common production codecs such as ProRes, CineForm, Grass Valley or DNxHD/HR.

Video files in H.264, H.265, ProRes and DNxHR now also work in the MXF container and stills are read including 16-bit TIFF. Only RAW formats are still not played as files. As before, DR, Scratch and the Adobe video programmes are supported directly via plug-in. Unfortunately, no sound information comes from DR via plug-in, but this is not due to NOS. If you also want to analyse the sound information, you will need hardware interfaces in this case. In addition to professional interfaces such as those from Blackmagic, simple HDMI -> USB adapters or the USB stream from newer Sonys such as the Sony A7 IV also work for direct video sources.

A new feature is the support of Unreal or Unity directly from the graphics card’s texture memory via Spout on PC or Syphon on Mac. In contrast to NDI, this means that there is almost no latency, giving you an ideal tool for virtual production. You can find out how the whole thing works here for Spout: is.gd/omni_unreal. It has not been tested with the Mac, and NOS has not yet been ported to Linux.

HDR

NOS is right up to date here, as HDR is comprehensively taken into account in all important standards. This also applies in particular to False Colour or the CIE plot. The new gamut scope only works with Rec. 2020. There are now SDR and HDR presets for numerous constellations, including Rec. 2100 PQ, ST2048 PQ-P3D65 and HLG. NOS also offers automatic recognition of input signals, provided the information is included. On Mac OS, you can use one of the newer laptops, an iPad Pro or the XDR monitor for HDR playback.

A Rec. 2020 PQ signal can now also be transferred from Premiere or After Effects. HDR statistics such as MaxFALL (Maximum Frame Average Light Level) and MaxCLL (Maximum Content Light Level), blanking (pure black areas) and the HDR gamut status are recorded and clearly displayed or exported as a CSV. The error logger has become much clearer, as successive errors are now automatically summarised and exported as a range in the CSV list (N frames in the description). Everything is managed consistently via OCIO.

Skin Tone

A new scope separates the skin tones, naturally within freely adjustable limits, and highlights them using a grid, a full colour or graded in false colours. The background can also be shown as a greyscale image or masked out completely. The tools in NOS have already been explained in YouTube tutorials. Daria Fissoun, who also works with Blackmagic Design as a trainer, is currently presenting the new Scope here: is.gd/omni_skintone. Over the next few weeks, she will be explaining other instruments in NOS in more detail: is.gd/omni_daria2

Operation

Saveable snapshots also make side-by-side comparisons conveniently available, similar to the Gallery in Resolve. The operation is shown here: is.gd/omni_snapshots. The assignment is largely the same as with the source signals. A magnifying glass allows you to analyse image details in the input image; holding down the Option or Alt key also displays the colour values under the central cursor. With the scopes, this key is used to display the corresponding image as an overlay.

The “Keyboard Action Editor” not only offers the assignment of keyboard commands, but also supports the Stream Deck in NOS Pro. This is an excellent addition, because many commands are already
already assigned if you want to work on the same machine. What’s more, once you’ve memorised how to use your video software, you won’t want to learn another collection for such a depth of function. In fact, we could fill the entire magazine with all the additions since the last version.

Most of this is obviously in response to user requests, and those who want to know all the details are well informed with the exemplary changelog: is.gd/nm_changelog. Among other things, the false colour display in Ed Lachman’s system will soon be available for NOS. This is practically an adaptation of the classic Ansel Adams zone system for film: elzonesystem.com, based on aperture values instead of the IRE scale. After all, all our exposure tools also work in f-stops. It’s worth looking at his wonderfully ironic argument for such standardisation: is.gd/elzone

Hardware and costs

The program has been significantly optimised once again, especially for Apple Mx computers, and there are also detailed tips for optimising performance. Tom recommends a Mac mini Pro M2 with 16 GB RAM for stand-alone operation. We can agree with this, because power consumption, silent operation and compactness make it the ideal device for NOS. NOS now runs on it without any restrictions on the precision of the measuring devices and even in UHD.
NOS now starts very quickly when all input signals are available and shows excellent overall performance, even with many active instruments. Of course, the programme also works on the main computer in parallel with video editing, but then it takes graphics performance away from the video programme. A separate computer with an inexpensive monitor is still much more affordable than any professional hardware scope.

If you want to work with older hardware that is still sitting around somewhere: In addition to the gamut check, pixel-based displays are particularly CPU-intensive. Considerable load is also generated by the output via
NDI beyond HD. As a rule, you can do without a display in 50 or 60 fps and get by with a reduced frame rate. You can find a tutorial on optimisation here: is.gd/omni_preformance
The price of NOS is quite fair, there are still graded versions and you purchase a permanent licence. You only have to pay annually if you want to continue receiving updates and full support after the first year. You always pay the same, even if you have not been ‘on board’ for a while. You can now request the 14-day trial licence directly from the program. The author reacts very quickly to bug reports: when we reported a crash when importing RAW in MXF, it took him just one day to find a solution. Incidentally, this was the only crash in the entire test period.

Comment

We know of no other product for AV measurement devices in software that has such a depth of function and flexibility as Nobe OmniScope Pro and is so intensively maintained. Classic hardware simply cannot compete with it. OmniScope Video is only reduced by a few functions and its price is not only attractive for high-end suites.

The post Nobe OmniScope – so far! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.

In nuce: Lightmap, the software developer from the United Kingdom, has made available: a 25-part package consisting of HDRI maps and a 6-part package for HDR area light textures. The highlight: the packages are completely free of charge.

In toto: The maps were created with HDR Light Studio, the lighting design software from Lightmap. The 25-piece package is intended to simulate the lighting mood of a real studio shot. The package is intended for portfolio renderings and product visualisations. The 6-part HDR area light textures, on the other hand, are intended to imitate real light sources. The two packages, which are available as EXR files, can be used in the common digital content creation tools – for example in: Cinema 4D, 3ds Max or Unreal Engine. The download is possible without registration. Use for commercial projects is permitted.

Click further: Both the 25-part HDRI maps package and the HDR area light textures in six parts are available for download at lightmap.co.uk . Digital Production last reported on Lightmap’s HDR Light Studio software on 8 February 2021 , when Xenon Drop 2 was released.

The post download 25 HDRI Maps and 6 HDRI Area Light Textures for free first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

When it comes to high-end grading, Baselight soon comes up. Reason enough to ask how it works with HDR material. And since the adverts for the Amazon series “Deutschland 86” are everywhere at the moment, Rotor Film is the perfect choice.

“Deutschland 86” is the second season of the series “Deuschland”, which tells the story of a GDR border soldier who is infiltrated into the Bundeswehr and thus experiences the last years of the GDR. The first season from 2015 was broadcast in the USA by Sundance TV, in England by Channel 4 and in Germany by RTL. Season two will be shown on Amazon Video in DACH.

Rotor was responsible for the picture and sound post-production of “Deutschland 86” and has also done a lot of work for UFA on the audio side. We spoke to Sebastian Göhs(bit.ly/sebastian_goehs) and Petra Lisson(www.petralisson.com).

DP: Can you describe the approximate process? And what material went into the grading suite?

Sebastian Göhs: We realised that the involvement of Amazon and the acquisition in 3.2K would result in quite a decent amount of deliverables – and that this would mean significantly more rendering time for us than for a normal project. Not to mention the VFX deliverables to be delivered.

In the end, we had 239.29 hours of raw material with 73.3 Tbytes over 100 shooting days – around 3 Tbytes of consolidated material per episode. The production team had decided early on to go for ProRes 4:4:4:4 for the acquisition and only use higher data rates for VFX shots.

It was also clear from the start that there would be two different language versions (with and without subtitles) as well as UHD and Full HD in HDR and SDR. It was therefore clear to me that we wouldn’t get very far with a conventional workflow if we wanted to meet the tight deadlines. Since a project like “Deutschland 86” has both budget constraints and hard deadlines, we streamlined the project as much as possible. This includes controlling the sample creation, the look preview on set and the usability of the dailies grade in the final phase.

Since we built our entire infrastructure around our Baselight systems with their dual 10GigE infrastructure, this workflow was very easy to implement using the various Filmlight products, even though a good part of the colour science and features we used were only released with Baselight v5.

We used Filmlight’s new HDR workflow including the new colour pipeline and the new HDR-capable print film simulations for the project directly in practice. Thanks to the very close contact with Filmlight, we were able to use the BLG workflow quite easily to pass on the Kodak film look decided in the look development to the post house in South Africa and the DIT responsible on set, Richard Muller. They were then able to work with the native grading tools in Baselight to quickly and precisely adapt the look to the conditions on set and the lighting situation.

However, it turned out that the vision of the showrunners and the DoPs changed over the course of the project to such an extent that we had to rework large sections in the final. But that’s the way it is with projects of this size. It’s all about getting the best out of the material. And the whole HDR thing was still pretty new territory for everyone involved in terms of acquisition and final colour correction. Another complicating factor was that we didn’t have as much influence on the Dailies software used on the set of the German shoot as we did in South Africa. We therefore had no usable grading metadata for the entire German shoot. This had to be compensated for in the preparation. “Deutschland 83” – the first season – had been graded oldschool without any colour management worth mentioning, which was completely out of the question this time given the sheer mass, the short time and the high editing frequency. There were also fewer episodes in “Deutschland 83”, and there was only one Full HD Rec. 709 delivery.

After various tests, I therefore decided that it was perfectly possible to grade the entire project in T-Log / E-Gamut colour space, working mainly with a target colour space of Rec. 709 at 100 nits. To check the highlights and the equipment on set and during dailies grading, you can switch the cursor colour space and the monitor to the respective HDR standard from time to time to check the effect, but until the final, everyone only sees the colour-managed Rec.709 image, which also went into the edit as DNxHD.

If Filmlight colour management hadn’t worked so incredibly well, we would have pretty much shot ourselves in the foot in the final. But with a little preparation time, we were able to finish grading the episodes in Rec. 709 in a very short time, add and adjust the VFX shots and then get the maximum out of the material shot in Arri LogC with a second grading pass in HDR and thus deliver absolute premium products for all UHD/HDR, UHD/SDR and HD/SDR deliveries, without having to make any compromises in terms of performance or the scope of keys and masks. The new base grade tool in particular has become my new tool of choice, where I was previously an absolute film grade fanboy. I have never been able to work so quickly and precisely as with this tool. I also think it has saved us a lot of grief and work in retrospect – and I have learnt to appreciate our Gen 6 Baselight 2 even more than I already did.

DP: Can you describe your workflow and division of labour?

Sebastian Göhs: The conforming of the finished episodes and the automatic transfer of the dailies grades from the existing timelines from South Africa was the responsibility of my dear colleague Petra. She also abstracted my other looks, which were then defined for the Germany parts in a further session with Matthias Fleischer and Kristian Leschner, with really impressive speed and transferred them to the long stretches without references, giving me an absolutely great starting point for the grading sessions with Matthias and Kristian.

Petra Lisson: We had received a very tidy project from the editing room that could be conformed without any problems for the most part. Smaller effects such as a few very sophisticated split screens were easy to realise in Baselight. Initially I only had problems with a few settings that showed perspective corrections, but these were not apparent from the editing room lists and could not be found in the Avid project. As it turned out later, these were corrections that had already been burnt into the samples in South Africa but were not documented.

DP: And what tools did you use apart from Baselight?

Sebastian Göhs: There were of course various tools that interacted with each other in the workflow. Starting with the absolute standard in editing, the Media Composer, Filmlight Prelight, Daylight and Baselight were used, whereby we initially worked with a patched 4.4m1, which was given the necessary colour management features by Filmlight in the pre-release stage, and then on the official release v5 in the final.

The large number of new tools in v5 were also extensively tested and used by Matthias Fleischer to adjust perspective, sharpness and contrast ratios in the material. Of course, this also includes the obligatory retouching, for which you no longer have to use a VFXer in Baselight. I do things like this during grading if it can be done quickly. Saves time and nerves for everyone involved.

DP: And what did the grading suite look like for a project like this?

Sebastian Göhs: We finished the project on a Sony X300 – and of course did various tests with consumer hardware in a parallel setup beforehand, but then decided that the quality of the X300 was more likely to indicate problems than the poorer picture of a consumer TV. We only checked the entire project with the Baselight’s internal scopes.

DP: Did you have to upgrade your hardware?

Sebastian Göhs: Apart from the X300 and the obligatory v5 upgrade for our Baselights, no upgrades were necessary. As we had planned the storage and network infrastructure (Baselights, network and storage) for 4K real-time finishing at the time, we were well positioned for the job. We were able to work directly from our large NAS storage in real time on the original LogC QuickTimes from the camera in full resolution.

DP: What subtleties did you underestimate in the preparation?

Sebastian Göhs: The fact that we couldn’t control the on-set solution of the German shoot as much as we would have liked meant that we weren’t provided with any usable metadata. As a result, a large part of the material ended up in the timeline without dailies grading, which we then had to adapt to the rest of the state by first determining the look with the DoPs and then using classic colourist work. Petra really excelled at this. Monochromatic artificial light sources are still a problem with footage, as they address the Alexa’s sensor in a way that generates values in the LogC, which are sometimes mapped into very extreme colours by the colour management. This must then be fixed with keys, masks or the new gamut compression tool.

DP: And which subtleties did you expect to be more difficult than they were during preparation?

Sebastian Göhs: Surprisingly, overexposures were rarely a problem, as they end up in the highlight compression in SDR and are so bright in HDR that you no longer notice them. If a lamp should be visible somewhere, it was quickly dealt with using a blur mask.

DP: How did you have to change your viewing habits for the new look?

Sebastian Göhs: Oddly enough, hardly at all. Thanks to Filmlight’s colour management, the look defined in SDR is reproduced extremely well in HDR, despite the much higher contrast. Curiously, HDR even looks better and richer with the look than SDR. After 5 minutes of watching HDR and switching back to SDR, we always had the effect of “What a pity”. HDR is definitely the future, I have no doubt about that.

DP: How do you explain the difference between SDR and HDR to someone if you don’t have a setup to show them directly?

Sebastian Göhs: Without being able to show HDR, it quickly degenerates into techno-babble and reading out numbers. Let me put it this way: in HDR, I have ten times the dynamic range and a much larger colour palette available at 1,000 nits to display the same image. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be much brighter and more contrasty, but rather that very brilliant highlights can now be much brighter than diffuse ones.

The same image can contain very rich and bright colours alongside very matt and barely saturated colours, and these differences are much clearer than in SDR. The whole picture appears more vivid and deeper, as if our brain were interpolating depth information from the higher resolution, colour and brightness, which does not actually exist in a 2D picture. It’s a much more realistic viewing experience and takes the image out of the abstract level that an SDR image on TV has. It’s just a picture on television. On a good HDR monitor, especially with HDR and HFR, you get the impression that you are looking through a pane of glass and the images come to life. This effect is a much clearer technological leap than from HD to UHD / DCI 4K, but of course it is much easier to demonstrate with a suitable setup. We show 5 minutes of graded material in UHD and SDR, sunny outdoor shots with blue skies and rich colours, water with brilliant highlights, cars with reflective surfaces, rather mottled images with low colour dynamics, dark night images with brightly sparkling city panoramas, explosions and then the same sequence in HDR. After the viewer has calmed down and sat down again after his dance of joy, we show the sequence again in SDR and say calmly in response to the “Ohhhhh … that doesn’t look … not so nice now” calmly and understandingly say: “And that’s the difference between SDR and HDR.”

DP: Let’s look at the delivery – how did you play out the master and how many variants did you make?

Petra Lisson: We mastered “Deutschland 86” completely in Baselight due to the HDR deliveries. Amazon had ordered HDR10, so we created a max. 1,000 nits HDR master with the PQ curve (SMPTE ST 2084) and a Rec. 2020 colour space container. Unfortunately, Baselight is not yet able to analyse the static metadata MaxFall and MaxCLL, which is why we had to use an external application for this.

We ended up with around eight BaselightScenes / timelines per episode, i.e. a total of 80 timelines. And these 10 episodes in UHD-SDR/UHD-HDR10, each in English/German/clean, plus recaps and textless reels, which had to be maintained and updated at the same time, especially during QC (quality control).

DP: If you were to make “Deutschland 87” – i.e. a third season – what would you do differently?

Sebastian Göhs: I would vehemently insist that the metadata-supported workflow be adhered to everywhere. Furthermore, it would be a very high priority to use Filmlight systems on set for pre-visualisation and dailies creation. If that’s not possible, I would at least make sure that we can work with the grading data from the dailies system. A lone ranger or “we’ve always done it this way, so I’m going to do it this way” mentality has only ever led to problems for everyone else at the back of the chain for as long as I can remember. I would also like to bring editing, VFX, grading and on-set even closer together. Keywords here could be BLG, remote grading and remote editing. On the audio side in particular, there is still a lot of room for development in terms of several departments working in parallel and synchronising their work.

At the time, I had developed a basic concept that was supposed to address these problems, based on available technologies and systems. However, it’s like all great plans and concepts: when they meet reality, they collapse – except for the grading part, which went great! (laughs)

However, the answer to these problems cannot lie in installing a Media Composer on a virtual machine in the data centre, streaming the GUI via remote desktop and believing that this will change the world. That’s a start, but in itself it’s just the old concept, which has only been put into the cloud by a trick. I’m talking about a real integration of the different departments of editing, sound design, VFX, mixing and grading in a framework that is database-based and provides every creative with the tools and view of the project that they need, thus virtualising administration and project management. It makes no sense to want to do everything with the same application. In my opinion, this only leads to lazy compromises and, on the software side, to an absolute development nightmare. So far, there is nothing that actually goes radically enough in this direction – but the topic is also anything but trivial. Adobe may have started the whole thing with its CC Suite, but the whole thing isn’t really well rounded either – apart from the fact that the internal tools from Premiere or AE don’t come close to the expertise, quality and performance of Filmlight, especially when it comes to colour correction.

DP: With the experience of what it can look like: What would your perfect home cinema for HDR movies look like?

Sebastian Göhs: I would go for a Sony X300 if it was available in a large size. Plus a nice Dolby surround setup in a black room with optimal acoustics.

Petra Lisson: Watching the final-graded episodes on the Sony X300 was very impressive. I really suffered at times, because I had the feeling that nobody apart from Sebastian and me would be able to watch all the episodes in this quality. The consumer HDR devices have not yet been able to keep up, especially when it comes to black levels.

However, I’ve heard that the new Sony HX310 is supposed to be even better than the X300, so I remain optimistic that things are progressing on the consumer side.

The post Germany in Baselight first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

In nuce: According to a recent press release from Atomos, both Ninja V and Ninja V will support the Panasonic Lumix GH6 in the future. Both devices will record with Apple’s ProRes RAW. In addition, the slightly more powerful Ninja V will support the DCI-4K standard, recording at up to 120 frames per second via HDMI.

What are Ninja V & Ninja V (and what can they do)? According to the press release, the Ninja V and Ninja V HDR displays faithfully reproduce the film images captured by the Lumix GH6. It also states that the 5-inch touchscreen offers access to numerous software tools, including waveforms, false colours, check focus, framing guides, LUTs and image magnification.

What can the Ninja V/V and Lumix GH6 do together? The press release goes on to say that processing ProRes RAW files at DCI 4Kp120 requires the Ninja V’s skills. At the same time, however, Ninja V and Ninja V offer an extensive range of alternative formats and frame rates. It is also emphasised that thanks to their robust design and compact construction, both devices are suitable for uncomplicated transport to any filming location. The Lumix Gh6 and the Ninja V/V can be mounted on a gimbal as a handheld setup – even in the tightest of spaces, as the product description describes.

ProRes Raw – what are the advantages? Atomos continues to speak very favourably about ProRes Raw in the press release and is also delighted to be able to offer its users ProRes Raw and the less compressed ProRes RAW HQ. Atomos also points out that ProRes Raw is supported by Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer, as well as a range of other popular film software such as Assimilate Scratch, Colorfront, Filmlight Baselight and Grass Valley Edius.

What products does Atomos offer? Headquartered in Australia, Atomos offers you easy-to-use, state-of-the-art 4K and HD Apple ProRes monitors and recorders. Atomos has also developed its own operating system for video recording, which is entirely dedicated to the touchscreen user interface. Furthermore, according to the press release, Atomos was the first company to introduce Apple’s ProRes RAW format for recording with cinema cameras.

Click further: You can find out all the details about the Ninja V and Ninja V devices at atomos.com.

The post HDR displays from Atomos synergise with Panasonic’s Lumix GH6! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: Researchers at Google Research present a new method that can be used to create high-resolution HDR scenes that would otherwise suffer from poorly lit source photos. The method used for this is called NeRF.

What is NeRF? The abbreviation stands for Neural Radiance Field and refers to an approach that can be used to create high-resolution, spatial images based on LDR (Low Dynamic Range) photos.

What can NeRF do? The novelty of the approach is that it can also be used to reconstruct scenes that were taken in dark lighting conditions. For this purpose, NeRF is able to use thousands of photos as input.

Who is behind it? NeRf was developed by a group at Google Research consisting of Ben Mildenhall, Peter Hedman, Pratul Srinivasan (all three Research Scientists), Ricardo Martin Brualla (VR/AR Engineer) and Jon Barron (Senior Staff Research Scientist).

The team says of its technology that NeRF enables you to create your scene based on linear raw images. The fact that raw images are output means that the full dynamic range of the scene is retained. And by rendering such raw images, the team goes on to explain, new types of HDR synthesis tasks (originally: high dynamic range view synthesis tasks) are performed.

Click further: Those whose informational horizons exceed the research of Google Research can quickly enrol at the University of California, Berkeley to study computer science – where three of the researchers completed their academic degrees. If that’s too time-consuming, you can still click through to the fascinating research work or watch the video below for an explanation of NeRF. You are also welcome to visit the clever minds Ben Mildenhall, Peter Hedman, Pratul Srinivasan, Ricardo Martin Brualla and Jon Barron online.

So: We hope you enjoy expanding your knowledge horizons!

NeRF in the Dark: High Dynamic Range View Synthesis from Noisy Raw Images

The post Will Google Research revolutionise how HDR scenes are created in the future? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

Why ACES? The question is of course completely justified. Why should I switch my own workflow to ACES? Probably the best and most important reason is to bring yourself up to date before you are overtaken by it, because one thing is now clear: ACES is here to stay and has established itself as the new standard. But there are also very practical reasons in favour of ACES. Because ACES is “Scene Referred” – earlier workflows were already like this, but ACES does this for the first time in an almost open standard. With old “Display Referred” workflows, your own display was the measure of all things.

In principle, you only worked for one output format, namely that of your control monitor. in contrast, “Scene Referred” means that with the help of colour management, the settings that apply to the respective scene are equally valid in all different output formats and on a wide variety of playback devices. Everyone sees the same image. This is ensured by a shared library of LUTs and CTLs. And especially for users who finish or comp footage from several camera types, it will be an enormous relief to know that all the material is in the same, lossless colour space. But also for artists who have different deliverables, from web content to HDR masters, ACES is the best and, with a view to future developments, the most sustainable architecture on which to base their workflow.

A short refresher course

This article will focus on the practical set-up of an ACES workflow without Pipeline TD. We will clearly focus on the post-production aspect. Before we go into medias res, we will refresh the basics a little.

First of all, let’s clarify the most important question: What is ACES? Contrary to what many people initially assume, ACES is not a colour space, but a collection of conversions, standards and yes, colour spaces. Incidentally, ACES stands for “Academy Colour Encoding System”. Within ACES, however, there are also colour spaces that contain the name “ACES”, such as ACEScg or ACES 2065-1. More on this later. You can already see that one of the hardest parts of ACES to learn are the abbreviations. That’s why we’re going to go straight into the two most important ones: IDT stands for “Input Device Transform” and ODT stands for “Output Device Transform”. The IDT is responsible for converting the footage from the camera’s colour space to the working colour space. There are two groups of working spaces, the AP0 and AP1 primaries. The AP0 primaries, also known as ACES 2065-1, are defined as a colour space so wide and open that all light perceptible to the human eye is covered, and then some. This means that not only the signal from every camera currently on the market fits into this colour space, but also that of all future cameras.

ACES abbreviations

• ACES – Academy Colour Encoding System
• AP – ACES Primary
• IDT – Input Device Transform
• RRT – Reference Rendering Transform
• ODT – Output Device Transform
• OCN – Original Camera Negative
• OCIO – OpenColor Input/Output
• LUT – Lookup Table
• LMT – Look Modifying Transform
• CTL – Colour Transformation Language

The AP1 primaries, consisting of ACEScg, ACEScc and ACEScct, are not quite as extensive as the AP0 primaries, but still larger than all the classic spaces. ACEScg, as the name suggests, is primarily intended for CGI data and therefore relies on a linear transformation of the brightness information.

ACEScc relies on a logarithmic transformation, emulating the behaviour of classic grading tools. Last but not least, ACEScct is a variant of ACEScc, which emulates the behaviour in the lower ranges, i.e. the “Toe”, for which the t stands, somewhat differently. So much for the IDTs.

The ODT in turn converts the processed image into the colour space required by the respective playback device, i.e. monitor, projector, tablet, etc., for playback. Strictly speaking, an RRT (Reference Rendering Transform) is also responsible for this alongside the ODT, but this is usually applied under the bonnet by the software without the user intervening here. For the sake of simplicity, we will only talk about ODTs in the following. For playback in SDR, for example, this would be Rec.709, for the display of web content on a classic computer monitor sRGB and for the display of fancy HDR on a state of the art monitor, this would be P3-D65 ST.2084(PQ), whereby the possible NITS of the monitor must also be specified for HDR.

We will encounter these three terms, IDT, Working Colour Space and ODT, in almost all software when we start to set our pipeline to ACES. However, you shouldn’t let this put you off too much. Anyone who has already used active or passive colour management in software will also have had to deal with input and output LUTs and a working colour space. The terminology may be different, but many processes and principles are very similar. But before we leave the theoretical part behind us, let’s talk about the different ACES versions. ACES is an active standard that will continue to grow and, as described above, should also support future cameras and output devices. This is why new versions of ACES are released at regular intervals – ACES 1.3 is currently the latest version. It should be noted that these different standards are backwards compatible.

No or only minimal changes are made to the actual colour spaces, rather new ones are added. However, the focus of these new ACES versions is on the IDTs and ODTs. This is only logical, as the ACES colour spaces are defined so openly in order to support future sources and playback options. The IDTs and ODTs updated and added in the version updates are the key to this.

Ergo: If a software only supports ACES 1.1, for example, this is no obstacle at all to continuing to use the resulting files in a software that uses ACES 1.3. What can happen, however: If a software only supports ACES 1.1, for example, but you receive footage from the very latest Sony or Blackmagic camera, the corresponding IDT may not yet be included. You should definitely take this into account when setting up your workflow.

On to practice

In this workshop, we will be focussing on some widely used VFX tools, namely DaVinci Resolve, Nuke, Flame and After Effects. If you are missing one or two CG renderers here, the focus will clearly be on applications that have to deal with different footage sources. For a CG renderer like Arnold, it is relatively easy to set the output to ACEScg; if necessary, supplied textures would have to be converted to ACES. This article also ignores pure editing tools such as Premiere or Avid, so the focus is clearly on finishing and compositing.

We will consider Resolve and Flame as ingest, grading and finishing tools and Nuke and After Effects as comp tools to and from which ACES roundtripping is possible. But this should also be mentioned here: The principles are similar everywhere and as ACES is an open standard, much more software will support ACES than this article can cover.

And one more thing: This article is not a one-to-one instruction on what an ACES workflow should look like. Rather, it is intended to provide a safe introduction to the most common applications on the market – how you use these different apps in ACES together, whether Flame or After Effects, for example, appear in your equation or not, is not at all important.

Resolve

The top dog among grading tools is well prepared for ACES, but Resolve loves its own “DaVinci YRGB” colour science. We now have two options as to how we want to set up our workflow: Do we rely on Resolve’s colour management or do we prefer to do it ourselves on a scene-by-scene basis.

If Resolve is only used for drawing plates and grading, but the finishing is done in a different system, then it may make sense to leave the colour management to DaVinci. However, if we also want to finish in DaVinci, a manual workflow makes sense – working with titles and graphics in particular is easier if the colour management doesn’t interfere unintentionally.

Colour management through Resolve

In the preferences, which we can access via the cogwheel at the bottom right, please select the “Colour Management” area in our current project and select ACEScc. Alternatively, we can also use ACEScct. Technically, it makes no difference which colour science we choose here. Next, we select our ACES version; ACES 1.3 is the current version for Resolve 18. We can now select a predefined IDT. This makes sense if you only have footage from one and the same source in the project, as it saves you having to tag it manually when importing later. However, this also bypasses the automatic detection, where Resolve tags the colour space correctly based on the metadata. Exceptions to this are RAW files, where Resolve always takes over the input mapping.

However, this does not explicitly mean setting the debayer, exposure and colour temperature settings. To start with, we will not select an Input Transform and move on to the ODT. Unfortunately, Resolve is a little awkward here, as it uses the same Output Device Transform for the display on the monitor and for the export. For us, this means that we first select the ODT that we need for correct display on our grading monitor. Before exporting, however, we must then return here and select the correct ODT for the export. Depending on what our individual setup looks like, we now select sRGB, Rec.709 or another suitable ODT.

That’s it for now with the preferences. But if we haven’t selected any IDTs in the preferences, how can we tag our clips? The simplest way is to right-click on the thumbnail in the colour tab. Here we can then select the IDT suitable for our footage under “ACES Input Transform”. The usual suspects such as ARRI Alexa, Sony Venice, Black Magic etc. are available here.

User Managed Colour

Just because we take colour management into our own hands doesn’t mean we have to do without ACES. We can leave the preferences alone for now, the preset “DaVinci YRGB” and an output transform that matches our setup are perfectly fine here. We simply move the step that is usually performed by the colour management, namely the conversion from and to ACES, to the node level. In the “Colour” tab, we also find the ACES Transform Node among the OFX plug-ins. This offers us the same options as colour management, only at a clip/timeline level and not for our entire project
entire project.

This means that we can also select our ACES version, our IDT and our ODT here. Depending on the footage, we now select the corresponding input transform and select ACES as the output. However, our image will still be displayed incorrectly in the viewer, because although we have linearised our image, our display is not linear. Unfortunately, unlike Flame and Nuke, Resolve does not have a dedicated Viewer Transform. However, this is not a major problem. We can take the timeline level of our colour tab (set the drop-down menu from “Clips” to “Timeline” at the top right) and select an ACES Transform again. This time we select “ACES” as the input transform and the colour space of our monitor as the output transform, i.e. Rec.709, sRGB or whatever matches the device on the desk.

This transform now lies like an adjustment layer on our entire Resolve timeline and thus ensures a correct display on our monitor – it is only important that this transform is switched off again before the export, otherwise it will be included in the export and we will not export a correct ACES.
If you find it too tedious to go through each clip individually and manually distribute Ace’s colour transforms, here’s another tip.

Resolve has the wonderful option of combining various clips into groups. If you have combined several clips from the same camera into a group, you can define not just one but two transforms for the group – a pre-grade and a post-grade. This means, for example, that the pre-grade group can contain the ACES colour transform node with the transform from camera colour space to ACES and post-grade can then contain the conversion from ACES to the output format. In this way, a large part of the work can be automated even without colour management. However, it gives us the freedom to leave ACES again at a certain point if this is necessary for our workflow.

Exporting files from Resolve

Whether in the managed or manual workflow – Resolve does not recognise a viewer transform and so either our output transform must be set to “No Output Transform” in the preferences or our ACES transform must be deactivated at the timeline level. Once this is done, we can switch to the Deliver tab and prepare our export. OPEN EXR in RGB Half PIZ compressed is the most suitable export format here. Half stands for 16 bit, which is more than sufficient for our footage files and PIZ as lossless compression is read by Nuke and After Effects without any problems. In any case, we should render in Source Resolution. Under Advanced Settings, we select “ACES AP0” as the colour space tag and click the checkboxes for “Disable sizing and blanking output” and “Force Debayer to
highest quality”.

Who still needs LUTs?

We’ve been working with colour space conversions for quite a while now and haven’t needed a single LUT. Well, that’s not quite true, because the IDTs and ODTs that we use all the time are, strictly speaking, also LUTs.

But, and this is the important distinction, this time we don’t want to make a technical conversion to a different colour space, but rather make the creative look that was generated in Resolve visible and usable in other software. This is intended for the case that we either do the grading in Resolve ourselves or we want to have LUTs delivered by a colourist for our ACES pipeline. Please note the following: All corrections that use masks, gradients, blurs or similar limitations, for example, will be ignored by our LUTs. However, if only the colour value of a pixel is actually changed, these changes can be saved in a LUT and transferred to another tool.

For example, to see directly in Nuke what the comp looks like with a rough grade applied, this is a great way to avoid unnecessary roundtripping. To export a LUT from Resolve, we activate the nodes in the node tree of the colour tab that are to be part of the LUT, right-click on the thumbnail of our clip and select “Generate 3D LUT(65 Point Cube)”. Select the target folder and a name – done.

And what about graphics?

When we talk about graphics, we need to make a fundamental distinction. Are the graphics part of a scene, for example a screen insert that is tracked into a smartphone, or are we talking about titles, belly bands and other graphics that take place outside the scene, so to speak?

Let’s start with the first scenario: We receive a screen insert in sRGB, for example as a tiff file. We can provide this with an IDT from sRGB to ACES and then work with it as normal within the scene in which it is to be used. This is not a problem because we have a common denominator for the black and white values within the scene and can then match them with each other. So we also work “Scene Referred” here.

Things get more complicated when we have graphics that are not related to the scene. Let’s take the previously mentioned belly band, for example. Its white value has no relation to the scene on which it sits, but it should be white for the end user. However, ACES is not an output format and the biggest problem when dealing with graphics is the incredibly wide range of brightness values that one display can have in comparison to another. A white font in Rec.709 has a brightness of 100 nits. With an HDR display, however, we quickly reach 1000 nits – the 100 nits of Rec.709 are a pale grey. As you can guess, this is very much about the display. So we are working with “Display Referred”, something,
aCES is simply not designed for.

Strengths and weaknesses

And this brings us closer to the real reason why the ACES workflow managed by Resolve is not practical for mastering. If you select ACES colour management in the preferences, every timeline within the project is considered ACES. You do have the option of setting a Graphics White Level in the preferences, for example.

This defines the brightness of titles, colour areas and gradients generated in DaVinci, but in practice this function fails the moment you import external graphics. The bigger problem comes when mastering, when you always have to set this white level value via the preferences in order to create different output masters. It is simply very difficult to understand and prone to errors.

This is the strength of the manual workflow, where thanks to the ACES colour transforms, the transformations do not take place globally, but locally from scene to scene. Here you can finalise your grade on a master timeline and then move it to the colour space of the respective deliverable via the corresponding ODT. If you then place graphics and titles on the timeline afterwards, you can do this in the best possible quality for the respective output medium. And if you have to create several deliverables, you can copy the timeline, adapt the ODTs and place the graphics on it accordingly.

Roundtripping to Nuke

Colour management systems are like opinions – everyone has one and far too many keep them to themselves. So Resolve has “DaVinci YRGB” and Nuke has – very creatively – “Nuke”. This is the name of the in-house colour management system, which has basically ensured since Nuke’s earliest days that all scenes in Nuke are first linearised and then comped. However, Nuke only takes the gamma curve into account, the colour gamut is completely disregarded. Fortunately, since version 11, Nuke has been supplied with OpenColor IO (OCIO) profiles to which we can transfer the colour management. And in the current Nuke 13.2, these also support ACES version 1.2.

This means that we first go to the Scene Settings in Nuke (park the cursor in the Node Graph and press “S”) and switch to the Colour tab. Here we select OCIO instead of Nuke. Directly below this we can then select the OCIO Config File and take ACES 1.2. Below this we see the suggested behaviour, which types of files should be provided with which IDT by default. We can of course adapt these to our workflow, but the defaults here will work perfectly for the start. There is one last thing we need to do: Unlike Resolve, Nuke has its own viewer transforms for ACES, and so we need to set our viewer to the correct colour space. For a standard PC or Mac monitor this would be sRGB(ACES).

Exports

Now we can load our exports from Resolve into Nuke via a read node. If we still have the previously exported LUT, we can load it via the “OCIO File Transform” node. It is important that we select the same colour space here as in Resolve, i.e. ACEScc. The output should now be exactly the same as in Resolve (please remember to switch on the ODT that was previously deactivated for the export). Of course, we can also create the OCIO File Transform Node as a viewer input to make it usable more quickly at any point in our comp. Otherwise, the work at this point is not much different than in the classic Nuke workflow. Only when exporting from Nuke do we now have other options in the Write Node that OCIO makes available to us.

Ultimately, an ODT is also applied in the write node, and so we can set our colour space for an EXR sequence to ACEScg for roundtripping back to Resolve or, if we want to be completely correct, to ACES 2065-1. In principle, however, there is nothing to stop you from rendering a file in Rec.709 or sRGB directly from Nuke for matching purposes, as long as you select the correct colour space in the write node.

ACES in After Effects

We have already talked extensively about graphics and “Scene Referred” vs “Display Referred”. So it should come as no surprise that we are talking about pure “Scene Referred” work in After Effects, i.e. working on the plate. Unfortunately, After Effects is inherently ill-equipped for ACES (still! See interview from page 16).
On the one hand, After Effects loves to do a lot of colour management itself. Secondly, it does not even come with the required OCIO plug-in and the corresponding config files as standard. However, we can download and install these at is.gd/ocio_in_ae and is.gd/ocio_config.
Now it’s time to get rid of the colour management in After Effects. In the Project Settings under the Colour tab, we set the Bit Depth to 32 and the Working Space to “None”. Now we can get started and import our exports from Resolve. However, After Effects still wants to interfere, which is why we right-click on our footage under “Interpret Footage” and tick “Preserve RGB (disable colour management for this item)”.

And now?

The image will now look quite dark, as we are once again looking at a linear image without a viewer transform on a non-linear display. So we need a viewer transform, which After Effects doesn’t have by default. So we use another trick that we have already used in the manual workflow in Resolve. There we applied an ODT to the timeline level. We are now doing something similar in After Effects – with an adjustment layer. So we create an adjustment layer above our footage and name it “Viewer Transform”.

Now we select “Guide Layer” by right-clicking – this way it will be ignored later during rendering and we won’t accidentally include our Viewer Transform in the export. Then we look for our newly installed OpenColorIO plug-in. We select ACES 1.2 as the configuration and the input transform should correspond to our export from Resolve, i.e. ACES 2065-1.

We use Rec.709 as the output transform, as After Effects always uses Rec.709 as the default setting. By the way: We can also apply our LUT from Resolve in exactly the same way, i.e. using the Adjustment Layer and OpenColor IO plug-in, if we want to.

If we now want to use graphics – which is quite common with After Effects – our OpenColor IO plug-in is used – this time not as an adjustment layer but directly on the file. We set the input to Utility – sRGB – Texture and the output to ACES 2065-1. From here we can continue comping as normal in After Effects.

To render, we now put our scene on the Render Queue. In the Output Module Options we select an OpenEXR Sequence and the already familiar PIZ compression in the Format Options. In Colour Management, we tick the “Preserve RGB” box again – otherwise After Effects will want to mess with our image again.

Editor’s note: While this article was already on its way to the printers, After Effects was updated. ACES workflows are now actively and natively supported in the beta version, but we do not yet know when this feature will be available at the time of going to press.

Tagging and input rules – ACES in Flame

While Resolve’s colour management aims to make things as easy as possible for the artist by carrying out as many transformations as possible under the bonnet, Flame has a diametrically opposed approach.

Flame’s colour management is designed to be adapted, modified and changed at any point. This makes it a little confusing and intimidating at first, but also gives us a lot of freedom and options that are not available in Resolve. In the conform and grading phase, this is not yet so interesting for us. However, this changes abruptly when it comes to finishing and exporting.

Let’s start with the very basics: We create our project. Under “Colour Policy”, “ACES 1.1” is available as a selection option in Flame 2023. Together with our other default settings such as frame rate and resolution, we select these. All these settings, including colour management, are regarded by Flame as a starting default rather than being set in stone.

This means that Flame allows us to create a Rec.709 composite or an sRGB timeline even in an ACES project. These project settings only ensure that ACES is selected as the standard for new nodes and timelines and that some import and viewing rules are created that are helpful for the ACES workflow, which we will discuss briefly later.

When importing clips in the Media Hub, Flame offers us two options that we should discuss briefly: Firstly, we can tag clips, and secondly, we can convert them. Tagging means that the actual media is not converted, but the clip is given a marker within Flame to indicate which colour space the clip is in. When converting, the clip is converted from its native colour space to a working colour space. Both working methods have their advantages, but precisely because Flame offers the option of colour space conversion in so many places, we should opt for tagging at least to begin with – even if only to gain a better understanding and practice in dealing with Flame’s colour management.

In addition to the pull-down menu with the previously mentioned options, there is another pull-down menu with the colour space that is to be tagged (or converted if necessary). The default setting here is “From File or Rules”, which means that Flame will attempt to recognise the colour space either using metadata (from File) or using the previously mentioned “Input Rules”. If we now briefly leave the Media Hub and go to the Preferences, under the Colour Management tab, we can see these rules – at least the ones that Autodesk has added to the ACES Colour Policy. In short, tokens can be used to create automations so that, for example, files that have a certain name, a certain extension or are located within a certain folder are also assigned a certain colour space.

This is extremely powerful when setting up your own workflow, but it is also definitely an advanced feature. To start with, we will tag our clips manually. It’s relatively quick and it’s simply more transparent what happens where. If we now open the pulldown, we can select the colour space of the material and drag it into our library.

The tagged colour space is now literally attached to the clip; we will now be able to see it on every thumbnail, in every info box. And just to avoid any misunderstandings: The clip is not yet in the ACES colour space.

There are various places in Flame where a clip can be converted and Flame is also very lenient where clips of different colours can coexist. A batch setup can therefore contain several clips of different colour spaces and a timeline in which a RAW clip lives between an ACES clip and an sRGB clip is also possible in principle – albeit with restrictions.

Timeline

Let’s start with the timeline: How does Flame manage to display these three different colour spaces next to each other correctly? Well, Flame has one thing that we have already sorely missed in Resolve: The View Transform: this is basically an ODT for our used playback display. However, it is not fixed, so it doesn’t just convert from ACEScct to Rec.709, for example. It is also not applied to the export by default – unlike in Resolve – but is switched “live” to the viewer. The View Transform refers to a second set of rules – the Viewer Rules.

we can also take a look at these in Preferences under the Colour Management tab. They are used to define how which material is converted and on which type of display what exactly is shown and how. This is why tagging is so important in our workflow – this is how Flame receives the information about what the material looks like and how it needs to be converted. Incidentally, we don’t need to create our own viewing rules – the set supplied by Autodesk should be more than sufficient for most of us.

Batch

In Batch we can process these images from different colour spaces together, but the colour science will definitely be wrong – we have to bring the images into a common colour space. Like almost everything in Batch, we do this via a node, namely the “Colour Management” node. Here, in addition to a few other “legacy” options, we can carry out two transforms that will be important for us: The View Transform and the Input Transform. You might think that Input Transform is Flame Lingo for IDT and View Transform for ODT, but that’s not quite true.

To create an IDT, we always use an Input Transform and select “From Source” under “Tagged Colour Space”, as we have already tagged our source correctly. We then select our ACES colour space under “Working Space”. As with Resolve, this can be ACEScc or ACEScct, but ACEScg is also very helpful in a comp-heavy app like Flame. However, this process can also be reversed using the “Invert” button and can therefore also be used to create an ODT.

The View Transform, on the other hand, is purely intended for the ODT and works according to the WYSIWYG principle. Flame looks at the active viewing rules and takes these as the ODT to be applied. Very practical if you want to export a clip or a timeline quickly – but rather unsuitable for converting in batch. So we stick with the Input Transform and convert the clips to the ACES flavour of our choice. From now on, we can combine all clips diligently in Action – Action behaves here as in any other colour policy: it either adopts the colour space of the inserted background or jumps back to a default that was defined in the preferences. For Flame’s ACES colour policy, this is ACEScg. This is also important when generating things like lens flares or particles in Action.

The IDTs and ODTs just described in the form of View Transform and Input Transform can be found in half a dozen places in Flame. We can set it on the media level, we can set it on the incoming clip in batch, we can do it in a separate node as just described, we can mess it up within the render node, we can apply colour management on the timeline or during export. This all makes perfect sense, but it’s far too much to start with. We limit ourselves to three levels: Within the flowgraph in batch (which we have already discussed), on the timeline level and when exporting. Now let’s move on to the timeline level.

We have already been able to admire how Flame can wonderfully display three different colour spaces in succession, but we have not yet discussed the associated limitations: Blending between Slog3 and sRGB, for example, won’t work.

If the timeline is not at least 16 bit, we will have to deal with a lot of clipping. Certain effects, which can also be applied to the timeline, are calculated differently or sometimes incorrectly depending on the colour space – a defocus, for example, may only work with linear material.

So we have our correctly tagged material coming from different colour spaces. How do we get all this material into a common colour space? The solution is a timeline effect called “Colour Management”, which is structured in exactly the same way as the node of the same name in Batch – in fact, it is also the same operation and the same source code as in Batch, just applied in a different part of Flame. However, there are two effects with the same name, one in green and one in Flame’s typical grey. The green one takes effect before all resizes and other effects, and thus converts at the source level – above all definitely before the image effect, which is used when grading in Flame.

Gap FX

However, the colour management effect can also be used as a gap FX, i.e. as a kind of adjustment layer on the timeline. Wait a minute, wasn’t there something in our manual Resolve workflow with an ODT that we applied to the timeline level? Exactly! Here, for example, we can use the View Transform to bring an entire timeline of ACES clips into a colour space like Rec.709. Of course, this timeline must also be able to handle ACES, i.e. it must be at least 16-bit float, even if our deliverable is Rec.709, as in this example.

What is really exciting, however, is the fact that this effect is simply a layer on our timeline. A layer over which we can place other layers. With graphics and belly bands and titles… in the correct target colour space. And the View Transform really lends itself to this, as it allows us to make three settings: The tagged colour space, in this case the ACES colour space we are using. Then the View Transform, where we can specify the exact colour science behind the conversion. For example, “ACES 1.1 SDR video”.

And under Display, following the aforementioned WYSIWYG principle, Rec.709. We won’t see any visible difference on the timeline itself, but if we switch between the layer on which our ACES clips are located and the one with our colour management gap FX, we will see the colour space jump in the bottom left-hand corner of the display. And if you want to be extra sure, click on the “Active” button in the viewer and bypass the ODT on the display. The difference should then be clearly visible.

Finally, the export: We won’t go into every detail here because, as mentioned before, the basic structure of colour management is the same everywhere in Flame. If you only want to bring your timeline into the target colour space when exporting, select the somewhat old-fashioned “Use LUT” under Advanced Options. From here you can then assign the same ODT to the individual export as we have just done with the timeline. In principle, however, I would advise against this, because unlike a timeline effect or a node in the batch setup, the export settings are no longer attached to the clip. That’s why, especially for beginners, I would advise everyone to make the transformations where they can still be traced afterwards: in the batch and on the timeline.

Stumbling blocks

Fortunately, ACES is now widely supported. Boris FX has made many of its products compatible with OCIO in recent releases, which means that plug-ins such as Mocha Pro or Silhouette can also be used in an ACES workflow. However, not every manufacturer is that advanced and we have already noticed it a bit in this workshop – Adobe is unfortunately not really “ACES Ready” by default.

With After Effects, this is a minor annoyance, but it can be solved with a few downloaded config files and a few changed settings. Things are more difficult with the industry standard Photoshop. Photoshop is unfortunately the definition of “display-referred” software, and the concept of colour spaces, at least as we know them from the video world, is simply not known here. To make matters worse, not all Photoshop functions work in 32-bit. Daniel Brylka has described a hack on his very good blog www.toodee.de on how to use the proofs in Photoshop to work logarithmically on ACES looks, but it is anything but intuitive. There is definitely some catching up to do here.

If you’re serious about ACES, you should definitely create a small test project and put your own pipeline through its paces before sending the first customer job through. If you don’t want to download test footage of Kamers from ten different manufacturer sites, we recommend at least this page: is.gd/aces_central_references.
Here you can find wonderful test images in all possible colour spaces, which should definitely reveal any errors in the pipeline. And it offers us the wonderful opportunity to experience what ACES promises – that our images really do look the same in any software.

Conclusion

Using ACES outside of a large pipeline is now absolutely feasible – even if the support in the various tools varies, good roundtripping is feasible. ACES is here to stay and there are good reasons to use ACES.
Making your own work future-proof, no longer bending colour science, but using it for better images and using the maximum possible colour space are all good reasons to take the step towards ACES.
Finally, I would like to say thank you, because this article would not have been possible without the great work of Finn Jaeger, Daniel Brylka, Chris Kasten, Grant Kay, Lars Wemmje and Randy
McEntee, who have already shared their knowledge with the community. I have put their respective articles or videos in the link box and would warmly recommend them to anyone interested.

The post Putting the „Ace” in ACES first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Christoph Zapletal.

From SIGGRAPH, it’s on to IBC 2019: Blackmagic Design is presenting its new updates and products in Amsterdam today. These include the new Blackmagic RAW (1.5), new monitoring models, a new live mixer and more.

Blackmagic RAW 1.5

The new Blackmagic RAW 1.5 update finally supports editing in Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer. In addition to support for NLEs, the update also includes Blackmagic RAW Speed Test for Mac, Windows and Linux, as well as performance improvements and bug fixes. The update is now available here.

Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR

With the Blackmagic Video Assist 12G, there are two new models in the monitoring product range that you can use to expand your cameras for better recording, monitoring and codecs. They each feature brighter HDR screens, integrated videoscopes, more powerful batteries, 12G-SDI and more.

The screens come in a new design with touchscreen operation and are particularly suitable for live productions, digital signage and archiving:

• 2500-nit LCD with HDR support and focussing aids
• 10-bit colour accuracy for Rec.601, 709 and Rec.2020
• Support for SD/USH-II cards, as well as direct recording via USB-C
• 12G-SDI and HDMI for recording in SD, HD and Ultra HD
• Integrated videoscopes with waveform, vectorscope, parade and histogram
• Multirate 12G SDI technology for SD, HD and Ultra HD
• 3D LUTs can be used for monitoring and during recording
• Major codecs such as Blackmagic RAW, ProRes, DNxHD, DNxHR and more
• Support for multichannel digital and analogue audio

The Blackmagic Video Assist 12G will be available from September 2019 for 795 USD!

ATEM Mini – Live Production Mixer

The new ATEM Mini is equipped with four HDMI inputs and is specially designed for live streams with multi-camera setups on online platforms and software such as YouTube, Facebook Live or Skype. Cameras, computers or games consoles can be connected to the HDMI inputs. In addition to the HDMI inputs, the feature highlights include

• USB output functions as a webcam and supports any video software
• HDMI video output for direct programme recording
• Two stereo audio inputs for connecting microphones
• Free ATEM software control application for Mac and Windows
• DVE processor for picture-in-picture effects and DVE transitions in Full HD
• Internal media memory for 20 RGBA graphics for titles, opening boards and logos
• ATEM Advanced Chroma Keyer for green or blue screens

Available for €345 from November 2019!

Further innovations

Further information: To the Blackmagic Design website

The post Blackmagic at the IBC 2019 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.