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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

something about Grading for DI

C

Cüneyt Kaya

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got it from here

http://www.sadwelkar.com/DI-grading.htm

you know feel free to discuss, add, use it as information etc.

DI - Grading
This is where the film takes on a new "look"


Grading

Grading is the heard of the film DI process. It is for grading that people do DI in the first place. Scanning and conforming which precede grading are processes that set up the grading process.

Grading is done on a conformed timeline which is an accurate reconstruction of the edit done by the original editor but at film resolution. The film colourist (as the grading pro is called) takes this timeline of shots, under the supervision and direction of the film's cinematographer of DOP (Dir of Photography) goes over the whole film and 'colour corrects' it.


Why grading?

But why does one need to 'colour correct' a film? Well, for one thing there are minor differences in colour rendition between shots in a acene and between scenes. These need to be ironed out and balanced.

But even more important, is that it is possible, with grading in film DI, to give the film a look that adds to the impact of the story.

You can give any scene or shot a completely different feel than was originally shot. Or just enhance the feel that cinematographer designed through his lighting. If editing is the second time the film is directed, then grading is the second time a film is filmed.

Another reason for grading using the DI process is if a film has visual effects or animation. These visual effects scenes will be digitally created or composited anyway, so it makes sense to make the entire film digital so it balances out.

Yet another reason is format. If the film is shot using 16mm film, then it needs to be eventually blown up to 35mm to be shown in theatres as no commercial theatres have 16mm projectors. The DI process does this 'blow-up' digitally.

Or if the film is shot on Super35 and needs to be printed out as 35mm Cinemascope. The DI process does this digitally.
 
How does it work?

Films have been graded optically for many decades. So DI film grading is a process that enhances an existing process. Traditionally films have been graded on an 'analyzer' which is an optical devices where one adjusts colours by actually adding filters.

Analyzers offer adequate colour correction control in a film. But they do not permit precise controls of a single colour without altering other colours. They also do not permit control or correction of a part of the frame.

That's what's done by film grading systems like Autodesk Discreet Lustre, Quantel, iQ, Baselight, Nucoda Film master, DaVinci Resolve, etc.

All these systems have the the same basic components.
1. A computer running WinXP, Linux or some other OS.
2. A 'console' or special purpose panel that has many buttons and knobs. The colourist actually oerates this and the colours change.
3. A monitor to show the actual grading interface. And the film image.
4. A projector which shows a large image so the colourist and DOP get a more cinema-like feedback.
5. Calibration system which ensures that the picture on the screen is exactly or nearly what will show up after the image is recorded back to film and printed.
6. Large darkened room like a mini theatre so the cinema atmosphere is complete.

With the exception of systems like Quantel iQ and maybe Film master, the grading process is silent. Most grading systems are not capable of reliably playing back sound whilst grading. And even if they did most DOPs would switch sound off since the continuous back and forth of image with sound might get annoying.




Grading Systems
in alphabetical order

Assimilate from Scratch
Baselight from Truelight
Bones from Thomson
Clipster from DVS
Film Master from Nucoda see also Film Cutter and Data Conform
FinalTouch 2k from Silicon Color see also FinalTouch HD, FinalTouch SD
Fstop from Edifis
iQ from Quantel see also Pablo
Lustre from Autodesk Discreet
Resolve from DaVinci
SpeedGrade from Iridas
 
Well, often the final sound cutting and mix is going on simultaneously with the conforming of the negative, so it is traditional for the first answer print (in traditional photochemical color-timing) to be silent, as would be the first pass at the D.I. color-correction. But eventually the final mix is done and later color-corrections may be done with the sound running at the same time, but played low.

It's odd, but timing decisions can be affected by the sound. In particular, in dark scenes -- sound adds a three-dimensional quality to a scene that gives more information to the audience than picture alone. So sometimes in silence, a dark scene can seem too dark, because your eye/brain is straining for more information, to follow the scene. But once you add the sound, which "fills in" the space, suddenly the darkness of the scene is not as annoying. So often I've timed dark moonlit scenes where the producer will complain that it feels too dark, but as soon as they see the next pass with the sound, even if I didn't brighten it, they stop complaining. Well, sometimes.
 
Thats an amazingly astute piece of info David. It makes perfect sense, thanks for passing that on. I'll keep it in my pocket for fighting that battle. I love dark scenes.

_mike
 
Thanks David and K. Berlin. Storytelling really has a broad and extensive reach all the way from planning to acquistion to finishing. Light, color, continuity, medium, direction, performance, audio all play up to establishing a strong story base.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
It's odd, but timing decisions can be affected by the sound.
Click to expand...

While I agree with that (of course I would, I used to be a colorist!), there are very few DI systems that have good sound support. Have you been in a DI session with sync sound? And if so, where? Just curious...
 
My two D.I.'s were at Technicolor TDI and Warner MPI... I think we had sound running in later sessions for picture tweaks, but I seem to recall it involved switching back & forth from one type of file to another whenever we needed to make corrections. I think they put the sound mix on one master based on the last pass, but when we did more corrections, we opened up the working session, then closed it to keep watching the one with sound.

I might be misremembering -- certainly I recall Jan Yarborough telling me that he did a lot of remastering of D.I.'s from other facilities for the WB home video master, and he often wondered what the movies sounded like!
 
I use Scratch to color grade and found that though it has the capability to play sound as I color grade the clients usually ask that I turn it off. It can get really annoying especially when you are looping a clip and grading on the fly.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Well, often the final sound cutting and mix is going on simultaneously with the conforming of the negative, so it is traditional for the first answer print (in traditional photochemical color-timing) to be silent, as would be the first pass at the D.I. color-correction. But eventually the final mix is done and later color-corrections may be done with the sound running at the same time, but played low.

It's odd, but timing decisions can be affected by the sound. In particular, in dark scenes -- sound adds a three-dimensional quality to a scene that gives more information to the audience than picture alone. So sometimes in silence, a dark scene can seem too dark, because your eye/brain is straining for more information, to follow the scene. But once you add the sound, which "fills in" the space, suddenly the darkness of the scene is not as annoying. So often I've timed dark moonlit scenes where the producer will complain that it feels too dark, but as soon as they see the next pass with the sound, even if I didn't brighten it, they stop complaining. Well, sometimes.
Click to expand...

A part of well known film theories that moving images are a fusion of
Vision and Sound>>>
Michel Chion's Audio-Vision - Sound on Screen.
 
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