Start / Color Mentor

Color Mentor

Paul hanrahan interviews film industry professionals about the art and science behind color grading and image making in general.

7 avsnitt • Längd: 125 min • Månadsvis

Filmintervjuer • Konst • TV och film • Visuell konst

Om podden

Paul hanrahan interviews film industry professionals about the art and science behind color grading and image making in general.

The podcast Color Mentor is created by Paul Hanrahan. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).

Avsnitt

Interview with Kevin Shaw - Part 1

30 oktober 2024 | 163 min

In this episode I chat to Kevin Shaw. He is a well know colorist and educator in our industry.
He has also been a key figure in setting up and promoting the Colorist Society, which is the topic of our following episode. In this episode however we discuss telecines. Kevin started grading 10 years before I did, at a time when color grading was either telecine or film lab based. We discuss various stages that the industry has gone through since then, all the way up to the present.

We discuss:

(00:00) - Intro.
(00:48) - Introduction to Kevin and telecines.
(02:39) - Interview starts.
(04:37) - Telecine engineers.
(06:30) - Music videos.
(07:34) - Study.
(11:11) - Telecine Limited.
(12:15) - Analog Davinci.
(13:13) - One new feature per year.
(13:43) - Davinci product demos.
(14:08) - No freelancers.
(14:53) - What is a telecine?
(17:24) - Blue Moon.
(17:45) - Tape playouts.
(18:44) - Facility life.
(21:00) - Abekus and frame store.
(23:12) - Long hours.
(24:21) - Tools.
(27:55) - Picture encoding.
(29:12) - God monitor.
(33:21) - Titles and finishing.
(35:01) - Low contrast prints.
(36:45) - Telecine as loss leader.
(42:55) - Show it on the wall.
(44:02) - Quality vs convenience tradeoff.
(48:21) - Taller gamut volumes.
(52:12) - Film restoration.
(57:07) - Software color correction systems.
(01:01:02) - Film lab profiles.
(01:05:01) - S curve and other tools.
(01:06:08) - Introduction of log spaces.
(01:10:38) - ACES archives.
(01:17:01) - Rocket science.
(01:20:45) - Art need limitations.
(01:23:10) - Bezier envy.
(01:23:38) - Tastes and trends.
(01:32:06) - User manuals.
(01:34:19) - Telecine calibration.
(01:40:16) - Scopes and visualization.
(01:45:21) - Technical vs creative transforms.
(01:49:43) - Skin and tone curves.
(01:51:24) - Hue vs Lum.
(01:53:41) - Unorthodox telecine techniques.
(02:00:45) - Psychology and resetting.
(02:05:17) - Grading suite dynamics.
(02:15:05) - Evolution of new tools.
(02:16:39) - Linking pre and post.
(02:20:06) - HDR monitors on set.
(02:21:07) - Recent work.
(02:26:00) - QD OLED and HDR.
(02:29:34) - Future of HDR.
(02:35:03) - HDR in cinema.
(02:39:04) - Hole punches and punch tape.
(02:42:45) - Outro.
(02:43:12) - End.

Check out www.patreon.com/ColorMentor/ for colorist training. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Interview with Troy Sobotka - Part 2

14 oktober 2024 | 162 min

This episode is the second part of my conversation with Troy Sobotka who is a Vancouver based lighting, rendering and all-round image creation person. You may know him as the designer of the Agx render transform. We dive further into the mechanisms of visual cognition and picture formation. He shares a vast knowledge and collection of reference material on this topic. See download link below for additional material.

In past years he has written an online blog called the Hitchhikers Guide to Digital Color. I would highly recommend people to read it.

We discuss:

(00:00) - Intro.
(01:11) - Episode summary.
(01:43) - Visual examples of phenomena.
(01:59) - Light and shade.
(03:57) - Gilchrest’s gamut compression.
(05:51) - Simultaneous contrast.
(06:21) - Shimmer / luster.
(07:26) - Induced contrast.
(08:06) - Glare halo.
(08:31) - Hermann grid.
(08:57) - Watercolor effect.
(10:31) - “Chevreul Effect”.
(10:57) - Crispening.
(11:46) - Neon Color Spreading.
(12:18) - Chromatic induction.
(12:46) - Gamut Compression/Expansion.
(13:18) - Chromostereopsis.
(14:11) - Face vase, Rabbit duck, Necker Cube.
(15:39) - Kanizsa triangle.
(15:57) - Dr. Tse cognition examples.
(17:54) - Not the pixel you thought you saw.
(18:45) - Pictorial exposure.
(20:37) - Gain and offset dimensions.
(21:47) - Image examples.
(24:47) - Decomposition framework.
(26:54) - Newtonian physics metaphor.
(29:20) - Interview starts, stimuli are not color.
(34:43) - It’s all constructed. Dr. Hoffman interface.
(36:56) - What is pictorial exposure?
(42:12) - Correlated signals “luminance” and “chrominance”.
(47:28) - Colorimetry’s limitations.
(56:38) - The domain of Metrics.
(01:05:22) - The domain of Stimuli.
(01:07:21) - The domain of Cognition.
(01:08:32) - Three broad Mechanisms of cognition.
(01:09:28) - Current predicament of image makers.
(01:18:31) - Increment and decrement signals.
(01:23:48) - Gain regulation.
(01:27:46) - SDR vs HDR.
(01:32:19) - Field propagation.
(01:34:47) - Can output transforms be dynamic?
(01:37:36) - Three Cognitive processes.
(01:38:53) - Form decomposition.
(01:44:47) - Why is the canvas flat?
(01:46:47) - Form computation.
(01:48:26) - Form assignment.
(01:52:59) - Towards practical examples.
(01:57:12) - Gain and offset dimensions.
(02:05:03) - Cognition limits.
(02:07:43) - Leading the eye.
(02:08:54) - Brand colors, vanta red.
(02:10:41) - Example of gain and offset.
(02:13:05) - Why not just desat to white?
(02:15:25) - Some history of picture formation.
(02:16:31) - Versioning.
(02:22:17) - Look creation and display transforms.
(02:27:48) - Ergonomics.
(02:35:35) - Bigger, better, faster.
(02:42:00) - Outro.
(02:41:33) - End.

Download link for additional images and pre interview discussions:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2o8hwqfyx9lc42dobysjg/EP0006_TROY-SOBOKTA_PART_2.zip?rlkey=jpi8ol0tnivqyugv3p6varx02&dl=0

Check out www.patreon.com/ColorMentor/ for colorist training.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Interview with Troy Sobotka - Part 1

26 september 2024 | 117 min

Interview with Jason Iversen

13 september 2024 | 132 min

On this episode I must apologize in advance for having way too much fun.
My guest is Jason Iversen he is a Visual Effects Technical Supervisor who has worked at Digital Domain, Rythm and Hues and now is at Weta in New Zealand.
We have known each other since high school and worked together many years ago in South Africa.
He was the co-founder of the Odforce.net chat forum. And he has worked on more block buster films than I’ve had blocked noses.
We talk about visual effects, color pipelines and rendering techniques through the ages and discuss where things are heading with the merging of Weta with Unity games.

We discuss:

(00:00) - Intro
(01:32) - Interview starts
(01:39) - Let's talk about the
(03:06) - Lord of the Rings
(03:48) - New
(04:31) - Starting
(05:23) - Early virtual reality
(10:05) - Cybershark
(12:24) - Odforce.net origins
(17:23) - Digital Domain
(19:16) - DD company culture
(21:49) - Titanic water simulations
(25:19) - Specialization
(27:31) - Pipeline development
(30:12) - What color management?
(30:46) - Film outs
(32:01) - Look mom, no LUT!
(32:18) - sRGB / Linear mashup
(33:20) - Compositors bearing the brunt
(35:03) - Isn't it always just painting?
(36:59) - WYSI not WYG
(38:33) - Jackass landlord
(40:13) - Rythm and Hues
(40:51) - South African attractor
(42:05) - Effects and Lighting supervisor
(42:50) - Software development
(43:45) - Developing into a product
(46:13) - Color management arrives
(50:00) - SDR to HDR rendering
(50:18) - RGBE
(51:34) - Open EXR
(52:28) - OCIO
(54:00) - Life of Pi bankruptcy
(56:11) - Polishing the car
(57:22) - Pressure to go international
(57:41) - Production technology supervisor
(01:00:01) - Moving to Weta
(01:01:39) - Spectral rendering
(01:02:51) - Less fictitious
(01:05:21) - Spectral resolution
(01:06:31) - Simulate everything
(01:09:07) - Avatar 3
(01:10:25) - Planet of the Apes
(01:12:58) - Optical effects
(01:14:20) - Phosphorescence
(01:15:19) - Uplifting textures
(01:17:23) - Machine learning in Manuka
(01:18:58) - Image based lighting
(01:23:28) - Types of Renderers
(01:27:08) - Manuka's render method
(01:28:25) - Coherence
(01:29:39) - Wave striding
(01:31:30) - Spectral rendered emulates film?
(01:32:02) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9rEQAGpLw
(01:32:33) - Light sources in Manuka
(01:34:50) - Caustics
(01:37:41) - Shade before hit
(01:39:26) - Photogrammetry
(01:40:38) - 2D vs 3D and deep rendering
(01:43:51) - Merging of film and games
(01:44:42) - Gausian Splatting
(01:45:12) - gsplat.tech website
(01:47:50) - Splat drawn flying points
(01:50:03) - Immersion
(01:50:59) - Splat funeral
(01:51:55) - R&D lifecycle
(01:53:28) - Gemini Man
(01:55:46) - Pure research
(01:58:00) - Heat haze
(02:00:41) - Confluence of Games and Film
(02:03:09) - Unreal as renderer
(02:04:04) - Crossover content
(02:07:32) - Boring detail
(02:09:17) - Atlas and VR stages
(02:11:50) - Outro
(02:12:19) - End

Check out www.patreon.com/ColorMentor/ for colorist training. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Interview with Steve Shaw

28 augusti 2024 | 110 min

Interview with Kaur Hendrikson

14 augusti 2024 | 103 min

Interview with Thatcher Freeman

20 juli 2024 | 102 min

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