Is SCRATCH the best option for a colorist in Australia?

[jake blackstone]

I've never been able to find so much as a screenshot for Filmmaster. Even on their website all you get is a word heavy pdf so I guess they MUST be the top dog - they dont even need to try ;-)

I guess you didn't look hard enough
http://digitalvision.tv/support/tutorials.aspx

 

[Marc Wielage]

Peter - Just to clarify when I wrote about the price difference and the way Resolve is being marketed - I was giving Resolve a big pat on the back. I think its brilliant offering a free version to get bums on seats then offer a powerhouse of features for a very affordable $995 more with additional upgraded options as required. I think the only main thing that Resolve lacks is noise reduction, as I understand that is something offered in a seperate package? (I coul be wrong)

They were demonstrating a new grain-reduction mode in Resolve 8.0 at NAB, and it looked pretty effective to me. Me personally, I think grain reduction is very dangerous unless you have a) a very large monitor, b) a good eye to see the artifacts when they happen, and c) the experience to know when to use it and when to let it go. Typically, grain management is a question of making the grain in the entire film not jump around cut to cut or sequence to sequence. Some boxes and processes are better than others, but all major DI projects go through this nowadays. Frequently, they have to add grain back into heavy VFX scenes to make them cut with the real-world footage around them.

Mr. Most has said this before but it bares repeating: keep in mind that the colorist does most of the work, not the software. This stuff takes a ton of experience to use. This is no different than comparing the $295 version of Pro Tools vs. an enormous Pro Tools system on a mixing stage. It sorta/kinda gives you the same capabilities, but the creative work boils down to the skill of the guy turning the knobs.

I'm using Resolve for a new project right now, and am enjoying it so far. As far as I'm concerned, it's just another tool to get you from point A to point B. The control surface makes a big difference -- they did a great job with that.

Just wondering what the dominant high end realtime DI platform for post and coloring is in Australia? ie what do most of the post houses (especially those dealing with RED) use for coloring?

Out of the maybe 50 major post houses in LA, you'll find a dozen different systems. No one app has sweeped everything. DaVinci 2K hardware systems are still around, but the tide is turning. Lustre, Baselight, Resolve, Pablo, Nucoda, Scratch, Speedgrade... they each have pros and cons. Cost no object, Pablo is very impressive; real-world, I think Resolve makes more sense for day-to-day projects. It's very subjective. Ask again in a year, there may be different answers.

 

[Paul Cook]

I definitely needed to look harder for those tutorials and for the hakintosh thread - thanks a lot for that link. Guess I've got till June to sort it all out as thats when FCP X and Resolve 8 are both being released (still not sure what to make of FCPX?)

Marc thats a very true point about what it takes to actually BE a colorist. End of the day though those who might fancy themselves a shot (like me) need to start somewhere and a FREE resolve lite package looks to be ideal.

June wIll be an interesting month thats for sure!