Frank Wylie

Does the main grade still look the same on the IMac? Have only the stills changed? Any chance the IMac was upgraded to the latest version of IOS and not the laptop? https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/macos-high-sierra-latest-version-beta-problems-fixes-features-compatibility-3647580/#toc-3647580-2 High Sierra will also see Apple move to the H.265 video standard to support better 4K playback. H.265, also known as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) compresses video 40% more than H.264, and means high-def videos will take up less space on your Mac. High-quality video streaming will be possible too. I wonder if the stills function is somehow tied to the H.264 codec... Sounds like a machine-dependent difference. Has something has changed on the Imac and not the laptop? Done any upgrades or recent software installs?

A stunningly beautiful film. Well done, Adam!

A stunningly beautiful film. Well done, Adam!

Thomas, I spoke to BM about Revival about 3 years ago and they said they will not be retooling it for general release; just using some of the code for integration into the DR suite. As to the dustbusting feature, as Remco notes, it only works on files in .DPX format, and I have found it to have a very real limitation on the size of the repair that can be made without introducing artifacts. You have a limited number of options to choose from which frame to steal pixels for the repair (prior to or after the target frame) and the frames you correct are permanently altered once you save your project. Undo is only available between saves and undo tends to undo ALL repairs prior to the last save, so you have to be careful when and where you do save the project. I tend to make up to 3 repair before I save a project. I once made the mistake of making about 20 repairs and then hit undo (which is NOT the typical undo for DR, but a separate undo in the drop down menu) and was a very unhappy camper! Also, be aware that if you are working with optimized media or proxies, the dustbusing repair is NOT shown on the active frame buffer, as you will be looking at a proxy that does not reflect changes in the original file! So, you will find yourself trying to repeatedly remove the same spec of dirt until you turn off the proxies, and then magically, it will disappear and show you the artifacts of multiple dust removal attempts! You could, of course, re-generate proxies on a shot by shot basis as you go through the project to reflect the repairs in the active color grading buffer, but you'll need to keep careful notes as to which shots have been re-generated. Hope this helps (and makes sense, only had one cup of coffee so far...) Frank

Nicholas, Lots of qualifiers here; are you speaking of rendering independent of copying (i.e., copying one set of files while a project renders in the background) or are you speaking of the rendering speed difference between reading/writing to the same disc Vs reading from one disc while rendering to another? Are both discs internal? What are the interfaces on each disc? Too many questions to make a good guess here...

Nicolas, I have been able to recover data from totally dead drives by simply replacing the driver board on the HDD. Now, since I bought the drive that failed as one in a lot of 20, I had a lot of exact spares from which to attempt swapping the interface board. If you don't have an exact match, try this place: http://www.hddzone.com/ "Most HDD PCBs' failures are caused by Motor Controller Chip burnt, then the TVS diodes burnt and Main Controller IC burnt." This is MUCH cheaper than a commercial service, and, they probably try this first ANYWAY! Frank

In traditional color grading, you don't mess with a fixed gamma that has been determined for the project; you adapt the images to that gamma. Added to this is the logarithmic response of the print stock (which has it's own unique palette) the light valve values, trims of the printer and even the influence of local water supplies used in compounding the developer. This causes some interesting problems for the timer, who has to establish a uniform methodology of bending the subject matter to the will of the director and DP. The difference between digital color grading and film timing is both aesthetic and locked in the physical properties of the respective mediums.

In my book, the subject matter drives the look, so in my opinion, it's hard to "achieve a look" when you've got nothing to see! Short of that, you could acquire a few image sequences and then study a few painters to try to emulate their styles and pallets. Might I suggest John Singer Sargent, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera and Andrew Wyeth as a random starting point. It always seems to go back to painting, somehow...

Err, ah... that should have read, "across the spectrum"...

As Bruno states, Kodak stocks tend toward the "warm" spectrum in color and Fuji is much more "neutral to cool". It can be very subtle, but a simplistic method would be to just reduce the reds across the RGB spectrum for Fuji and boost them a bit for Kodak. Frank

Abby, So sorry for the delay in responding. I have gone both forward into Digital Color Correction and backward into literally timing like a silent lab technician at once! My Hazeltine Analyzer broke down and, due to a lack of available technicians to repair said beast, I have had to resort to timing by-eye over a light box, so my days have been rather full. That and certifying a new Resolve System we just purchased... Talk about your dichotomies... I am finishing a print on "Finishing School" (1934) with Frances Dee, Billie Burke and Ginger Rogers, as well as certifying a show print on "Hotel Imperial" (1927) with Pola Negri, James Hall and George Siegmann. Unfortunately, both titles have severe issues with generational loss, decomposition and damage; You do the best you can... Positive elements (to make dupe negs) are not as hard to "eyeball-time" as negative (to make show prints), but I am somehow managing. Needless to say, this development has slowed my throughput down considerably. Hope your technical woes are less severe! Frank

Bruno, It is cine film, packaged as still film for now, but according to their website, the film will be available in cinefilm lengths from 8mm to 70mm (IMAX). Don't forget that the original Leica 35mm camera was a "sub-standard" gauge stills camera that used short ends from 35mm movie rolls!

Perhaps this is of marginal interest here, but I found it to be exciting news! http://www.filmferrania.it/p30

I would say it is "contrast"; Make it more "flat" or give it more "snap". "Ethereal" has been used to describe low-contrast images with almost no solid black levels. "Crunchy" has been used for very high contrast images with little to no shadow detail.

I just upgraded my workstation with 4 x 1TB Samsung SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration for my main working storage and it is amazingly smooth and fast when scrolling down the timeline! The biggest problem we tend to have is running out of PCI-E slots for all the cards you need (based on your setup). Get as many PCI-E slots as you can or you'll have to invest in a Cubix PCI-E expander, as we did...

Ok, how about the next verse... Yanked forth from my protective, acrylic case by spindly threading arms and wrapped around a cylindrical whirling dervish, I am forced by the friction of a pinch roller and a spindle across the spinning, tiny gaps of video heads. If a slippery, worn belt mistimes the threading ring, or a clog of oxide jams the video head, my shiny surface wrinkles and my image is full of static and noise.

Bruno, Videotape preservation is in full-swing at the Library of Congress. We digitize all formats from 2" (Quad) to 8mm Technicolor. The more standardized formats are migrated via a robotics system called "Samma". You can find more information here; https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-07-149/ https://www.smpte.org/sites/default/files/section-files/BBTB 101 Fundamentals of Archiving pt1 - James Snyder.pdf

Ah, for once, my memory is correct: THE FILM PRAYER I am celluloid, not steel; O god of the machine, have mercy. I front four great dangers whenever I travel the whirring wheels of the mechanism. Over the sprocket wheels, held tight by the idlers, I am forced by the motor's might. If a careless hand misthreads me, I have no alternative but to go to my death. If the springs at the aperture gate are too strong, all my splices pull apart. If the pull on the take-up reel is too violent, I am torn to shreds. If dirt collects in the aperture, my film of beauty is streaked and marred, and I must face my beholders — a thing ashamed and bespoiled. Please, if I break, fasten me with clips; never with pins. Don't rewind me—my owner wants that privilege, so that he may examine me, heal my wounds and send me rejuvenated upon a fresh mission. I travel many miles in iron cans. I am tossed on heavy trucks, sideways and upside down. Please see that my own paper band is wrapped snugly around me on the reel and fastened with a string, so that my first few coils do not slip loose in my shipping case, to be bruised and wounded beyond the power to heal. Put me in my own shipping case. Don't make me a law-breaker. The law requires a standard can, two address labels, and a yellow caution label. Scrape off all old labels so I will not go astray. Speed me on my way. Others are waiting to see me. The "next day" is the last day I should be held. Have a heart for the other fellow who is waiting, and for my owner who will get the blame. Don't humiliate me by sending me back without paying my passage and insuring me against loss or damage. I am a delicate ribbon of celluloid — misuse me and I will disappoint thousands; cherish me and I delight and instruct the world. Written by A. P. Hollis, DeVry Film Editor, in 1920 for the Visual Instruction Service of the State College, Fargo, N.D.

Somewhere in my paper archive, I have noted the original author of this prayer. Seems the man worked at DeVry in the 1920's. I'll try to find it.

In addition to learning DaVinci Resolve, I am also getting a baptism of fire in learning the operation of a 4K Spirit Datacine with the Bones Post Production Software. Being that I tend to work with some pretty dreadful film elements, I am researching noise reduction in digital scans. The 4K Spirit here has the Scream Grain Reduction option licensed, and I am picking the brains of Patrick Kennedy, who is our in-house datacine operator, but I was hoping to find other resources I could use to understand the basic concepts NR in the Thompson hardware. I would imagine literature on this subject is fairly rare, but would be happy to hear of any references you might have. The concepts I need to wrap my brain around are: Contour Correction (Contour, Balance H3/V3, Coring), Peaking Frequency (Horiz/Vertical), Aperture (gain/peak) and the adjustments on Scream Grain Reduction (Primary, Secondary, Luminance and Chroma). Thanks in advance! Frank

I'd slightly over saturate just the red channel to give it that warm, fuzzy feel and apply an overall vertical and horizontal blur of a few pixels to start with. You might even try splitting out the RGB channels and changing the apparent convergence of the matrix, but I'd be careful with that one and use a light touch. There are a number of packages out there that will give you tape creases, sync lock failures, head failure and noise. I doubt if you'd want to go as crazy as the following video, and it is black and white, but it's fun to watch Colorist Raymond Gangstad and Director Stian Andersen go ape with this sort of effect...

I have noticed that when I grade a monochrome image from a classic B&W film, I need to put a touch of color into the image to make it feel more realistic. Pure mono is unrealistic in that film has an emulsion that is based on animal proteins (gelatin) which is tanned during film development. Depending on what type of developer used in which era, and the amount of age (patina) in the emulsion, the "cast" can be from warmish tan to faint cyan. You need to add some small amount of base color to the grade for it to be realistic to me.