Mazze

Yep - it's called Reverse Assemble. You would add a frame reference to the tray and from there recall its grade. Cheers, Mazze

I'm farily relaxed on the CPU-side of things. After all - how often do you swap out your CPUs? Normally that goes along with a change of socket for the newer CPU, requiring a new mainboard, likely requiring new memory - and while you're at it, throw in a new GPU as well. So with a CPU upgrade, you're most likely investing into a complete new system anyways. Not always, sure - but most of the time. As long as the MacPro would allow to swap GPUs, which have smaller life/upgrade circles, and retains it's PCIe-upgradeability, I think we're fine. Whether M1 in laptops might be sufficient for professional work needs to be seen. I'm counting on the 16" Macbook Pro to be released later this year. It will have a more advanced version of the M1, and according to some strong rumours will reintroduce Magsafe, physical function keys instead of that silly touchbar and also have more i/o ports. Given the rather positive benchmarks on the M1 Mac Mini, I do have some hopes for the Macbook Pro to be pretty usable for professional workflows. Whether it can also drive an eGPU needs to be seen, indeed. But then again... I've never been a fan of those christmas trees of a a mobile setup with all sorts of eGPU compromises trying to turn those laptops into high end machines. I'm not expecting Mac Pro-like performance out of a laptop.

Drivers for Apple Silicon are beta - for a reason I guess. I'd expect them to run, but the devil with those things is always in the details, that show up not working just when you need them.

Hi all, the Filmworkz DVO plugins finally went live and you can grab them from here: https://filmworkz.com/ SCRATCH of course is among the supported hosts and we've done a little tutorial on the various ways of adding a plugin inside SCRATCH - enjoy: Cheers, Mazze

Hi friends, I've made a slight production change to the aluminium rings: They now get powder coated instead of anodized. Reason for that being that a few people desired a tad more grip on the rings. Going with a rubberized soft coating clearly wasn't an option. I also tried to roughen them up with a pretty coarse grained sandblasting process, which indeed added *a lot* of grip, but did not feel or look nice anymore. So I experimented with powder coating in deep black matte colors with a fine structure finish. Took some time to also find a company that is good at it and 'gets' it. So after almost half a year, the new production batch has arrived. Stock is not too big (it's still 2020 afterall) - but they do look pretty decent. They compare quite well to the rings on the Blackmagic panels now. Here's a link 😉 : https://www.angry-face.com/ And here's some pictures: Cheers, Mazze

Hi friends, here's a tutorial that explains the newly added NDI® support in SCRATCH and Play Pro. If you've never heard of NDI before: It's basically like SDI, but without the cables. Pretty nice workflow-enabled to pipe video straight out of SCRATCH into e.g. SetStream.io, Zoom, Skype and literally any app that supports a webcam interface. And since we had Jeff Sousa show his setup for client attended remote color sessions using NDI in our last online session, check out that excerpt here as well: Cheers, Mazze

Hey everyone, if you are looking to get Assimilate SCRATCH, it's much discounted until the end of the year (about 30% off). If you are a Lowepost member, you can apply your Lowepost discount code on top of that and save even more. ==> https://store2.assimilateinc.com/product/scratch/ Cheers, Mazze

Hey friends, last week we released SCRATCH and Play Pro 9.3. You can read the press release on the common news portals 🙂 . In a nutshell, we added native support for NDI, integrated a direct connection to Light Illusion's ColourSpace CMS, and a few other niceties like a CIE Plot scope, enhanced panel mapping capabilities and media defaults in the project settings. Here's a video showing why NDI is awesome and how to use it - kudos to Jeff Sousa! Full Release notes below 🙂 Assimilate Dailies / Formats Media defaults. You can now set default decode / debayer settings per media type to speed up the loading of media. Update on ProRes RAW color spaces processing where for log spaces a normalized to reflection scaling has been added. This scaling factor has also been implemented for conversions from/to Canon Log 2 and Log3. Note that this affects existing setups. Added a Highlight Recovery option with DNG media format. CineForm RAW updates: added Exposure/Saturation, added Kelvin/Tint options which were not yet available with CPU debayer, highlight recovery with GPU debayer. Update R3D SDK 7.3.5 with various GPU decoder fixes. Native support for Panasonic Op1b MXF media, including audio. The FFmpeg reader now also processes multiple mono tracks of audio (rather than a single mono or stereo track). All QuickTime renders now include an explicit gamma metadata value (rather than a reference to a standard eotf, which is not interpreted the same by other software such as the QuickTime Player). In prior versions you had to explicitly enable this option in the advanced settings. In this version you can disable the behavior through the advanced settings. Added support for Network Device Interface (NDI) output. To enable NDI output you have to enable the (virtual) NDI device in the VideoIO settings, similar to enabling an SDI device. Rendering EXR could crash if the (EXR) source and destination were both ACES. Color Added a project setting to set the default state of the colorspace Apply mode in a project. This Color Management setting is switched off by default. Added a CIE plot display with the scopes You can now associate a panel-group with a specific ColorFX menu. The application switches automatically to the menu if a panel mapping in the group is used. Added a system setting to include layers with a qualifier in the creation of a LUT. By default grades on a qualifier layers are not included in a LUT as they span only part of an image. Misc Added an advanced system setting to specify a specific Frame Heap memory size used by the application for its image cache. Added new render date metadata code '#rdate' for filename mask. The date is fixed at the start of the render and does not change when the render runs into the next day (like the #date code does). New user settings to toggle on/off the quick keys for adding/removing/resetting keyframes to avoid unintentional adjustments of keyframes. When a layer was selected you could not change the source LUT (which is tied to the primary layer). The Note editor did not always insert a new note on the correct position. Also, the note markers on the timeline in the player now show all colors of notes at the same frame position. Fixed an issue where effects (like re-timer) where applied in a reverse assembling. The Validate Media was not always working correctly for items in the Render Queue. Added a user preference setting to enable/disable using the spacebar for start/stop playback. Some users want to use the spacebar exclusively for panning the image in the Viewport. Added the Ligth Illusion plug-in for generating color patches which are used for calibrating a monitor / projector. The plug-in can be instantiated from the Tools menu / default Construct menu in Play Pro. Cheers, Mazze

Hey People! Recording of the online session is up - we've had a blast 🙂 . Lisa walked us through the challenges of shooting the second Borat movie, and right after Jeff Sousa of Dungeon Beach, NY showed one of the main new features in SCRATCH and Play Pro 9.3: Native NDI support and how you can use it to easily connect to SetStream.io, or even Zoom and Skype. Also featured in his setup: Nobe OmniScope, running on his main workstation alongside SCRATCH, using an iPad via Duet Display. Enjoy the recording, folks: Cheers, Mazze

The thumbnail 'update' function has been written in.... I believe 2003? Back then, SCRATCH could only do primary grading. It's been kept this way for performance reasons, even after secondary layers had been introduced back in 2005 or so. That being said, updating the thumbnails to show the full grade will take quite a hit on performance, because all the thumbnails are actually live references to the underlying source footage. No proxies whatsoever, but the actual footage. So, making the thumbnails (which btw you can also scrub through by dragging at the upper corner of the thumb) reflect the full grade is somewhere on the list, but nothing for the short or mid term, I'm afraid.

The thumbnail 'update' function has been written in.... I believe 2003? Back then, SCRATCH could only do primary grading. It's been kept this way for performance reasons, even after secondary layers had been introduced back in 2005 or so. That being said, updating the thumbnails to show the full grade will take quite a hit on performance, because all the thumbnails are actually live references to the underlying source footage. No proxies whatsoever, but the actual footage. So, making the thumbnails (which btw you can also scrub through by dragging at the upper corner of the thumb) reflect the full grade is somewhere on the list, but nothing for the short or mid term, I'm afraid.

Online Session hosted by Mazze Aderhold Tuesday, November 3rd 10am Los Angeles | 1pm New York | 7pm Berlin Register here: https://www.assimilateinc.com/join-webinar/ What is this online event about? Our Creative Boost Program is coming to an end – that calls for a wrap party! And with that, many people are wondering how things will continue. Well – tune in and be first to know 😉 . Special guest for this online meet-up is Lisa Konecny of ((RADAR)) DIT. For over 12 months she was secretly working on the second Borat movie with Sacha Baron Cohen, providing rushes and clip reports for post – having SCRATCH as her wingman. Lisa will go over the challenges of a highly unusual shoot with over 73 cameras, no slates for audio syncing and an unpredictable production schedule – with some incredible stories to tell! If you have something great to share about a project you did on SCRATCH – feel free to reach out and become an active part of our wrap party! The event is free for all attendees. The content is designed for DITs, data wranglers, colorists and finishing artists. We will also record the event for you to watch later. Please send your questions, comments and feedback to: info@assimilateinc.com Cheers, Mazze

Hi everyone, In this online session, Leandro Marini of Imperial Creative will go over the problems of modern DI-workflows and how to solve them by minimizing the back and forth with clients utilizing SCRATCH’s biggest strengths: Realtime color & comp, remote & live streaming and integration of other tools right into the workflow. Leandro will show a recent project, on which he approached color and vfx finishing simultaneously in realtime via remote, from concept art through the finished sequence. This webinar will not be SCRATCH-only – Leandro will also show how to integrate After Effects efficiently into the workflow to support SCRATCH in advanced vfx workflows, bringing the strength of both tools together into the finished film. Cheers, Mazze

And the recording is online, friends: Cheers, Mazze

Hi friends, here's a quick video on how to set up Nobe OmniScope with SCRATCH (and all other Assimilate products) and also a quick overview of its features and how to use it 🙂 . Also, you can get 15% OFF by using coupon code SCRATCHOSCOPE at the checkout over at www.timeinpixels.com! Cheers, Mazze

Hi Johan, please connect with support on this. There were some changes for ACES in the last couple of builds. Could even be that all you have to do is to update to the latest build. Cheers, Mazze

Hi Johan, please connect with support on this. There were some changes for ACES in the last couple of builds. Could even be that all you have to do is to update to the latest build. Cheers, Mazze

Hi peoples, I've written a little article on refurbishing Element panels by either foiling them, lacquering them, or sandblasting and anodizing them. If you have questions, or want me to do it for you, feel free to reach out: https://www.angry-face.com/refurbish-tangent-element/ Cheers, Mazze

Online Session hosted by Mazze Aderhold Wednesday, September 16th 10am Los Angeles | 1pm New York | 7pm Berlin Register here: https://www.assimilateinc.com/join-webinar/ What is this online event about? In this online session, Leandro Marini of Imperial Creative will go over the problems of modern DI-workflows and how to solve them by minimizing the back and forth with clients utilizing SCRATCH’s biggest strengths: Realtime color & comp, remote & live streaming and integration of other tools right into the workflow. Leandro will show a recent project, on which he approached color and vfx finishing simultaneously in realtime via remote, from concept art through the finished sequence. This webinar will not be SCRATCH-only – Leandro will also show how to integrate After Effects efficiently into the workflow to support SCRATCH in advanced vfx workflows, bringing the strength of both tools together into the finished film. The event is free for all attendees. The content is designed for colorists and finishing artists. We will also record the event for you to watch later. Please send your questions, comments and feedback to: info@assimilateinc.com See you all there, folks! Best, Mazze

Such nice rings you got there on your Element 😜 .

Hi everyone, in this tutorial we're going over how to create an advanced key in SCRATCH, using multiple qualifiers, layers and blendmodes. Also we'll show how to use and navigate the node tree in SCRATCH. Enjoy 🙂 . Cheers, Mazze

Hi folks, this is a quick run-through for those, that are particularly interested in creating dailies, or new online masters from ProRes RAW material. As an added bonus, I appended the intro video about white balance controls below 😉 . Cheers, Mazze

Hi everyone, in this online session we will show you how to use Assimilate Live Assist to boost your on-set workflow and adapt to an era of social distancing and fewer bodies on the set. Whether it’s live grading, live green screen replacement, multi-cam recording & playback or using Live Assist as a Media-hub to live-stream out multiple camera feeds, or instant-review footage and grades from any phone, tablet or laptop near-set. We will also have Stefan King from Difference Live Streaming, showing us the latest developments of their private low-latency streaming platform, and how to use it with Live Assist. Live Assist On-Set Workflow: • Example setup with 2 cameras • Live grading both camera feeds • Live effects & green screen replacement • (auto-) recording and playback of camera feeds • Set up Multi-Cam Live Stream from Live Assist • Use of on-screen annotations to communicate with remote clients • Thatcher Kelley from SetStream.io showing how to stream to a secure private platform • Built-in http web interface for local on-set instant review of recorded clips and grades • Generating reports and grade index for post houses • Post Workflow for dailies • Short- and Mid-term plans for Live Assist • Q&A Cheers, Mazze

Hi everyone, This online session does not only highlight why you want to do dailies in SCRATCH, but also show you how to do it. Mazze walks you through the complete dailies process – from import to export, incl. all the advantages that come with it. You’ll walk out of this online session, fully prepared to start a dailies job on SCRATCH. Also we will have Ansgar from the COPRA team to show the latest features for v5 their web dailies platform! Dailies in SCRATCH: • settings & project creation • importing clips • offloading • import of ALE/EDL • Media Browser Tool • LUT/CDL loading & matching • audio sync (TC-based + manual sync) incl. LTC • metadata QC + Scene/Take • dailies grading + RAW decode options • color management (i.e. monitor HDR and SDR side by side) • timeline automation • output tree with different deliverables and metadata burn-ins • output filenaming + preset creation • render check / QC reports • import offline clips into Avid, incl. all clip metadata • COPRA Dailies Platform - new Version Demo • Q&A Cheers, Mazze

Yes people - it just went up online 🙂 . Here you go: Cheers, Mazze