The Offset Podcast

Programming Note: The Offset Podcast is taking a break for the holidays.  We'll return in mid-January 2025 with new episodes and back to our regular release schedule. A very sincere thanks to our listeners for an amazing 2024 and for helping us launch the show!

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Continuing with our two-part series on DIY approaches, in this installment of The Offset Podcast we'll discuss using a DIY approach to software. No, we're not talking about making your own turn-key color or editing software (but let us know if you do!), but rather things like scripting, basic coding for tool building, automation, and more.  

Specific topics covered in this episode include:  

• Why DIY software approaches & can you really do these things yourself?
• The importance of always starting with an idea
• Basic scripting to improve workflows
• Integrating scripts through the Resolve API
• Leveraging Resolve developer documentation for help
• Learning by looking at other/open-source scripts
• DCTLs - creating custom color tools for DaVinci Resolve
• How color science and DCTLs relate 
• Using low code/no code workflow automation platforms to connect the dots with different APIs
• Automating while also allowing for human decision-making
• Make your own UI/Interface for custom tools with Budibase 
• Keeping interfaces simple to get more user compliance 
• SaaS (Software As A Service) in the cloud vs local integrations
• The danger of using too many services 
• Using developer marketplaces 

Thanks for checking out the episode.  Please subscribe and like the show anywhere you find it!   

You've likely heard the phrase 'work smarter, not harder'. Well, for the professional colorist who has to grade tons of shots day in and day out, working smarter is at the core of what we call grade management. 

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we explore a plethora of tools & techniques for grade management. While many of these things are Resolve-specific, grade management approaches can apply to your grading tool of choice. 

Highlights include: 

• What does grade management mean?
• The power of fixed node tree (fixed structure)
• The process of building your own fixed tree
• Leveraging Node Stack Layers
• Using compound nodes 
• Using groups, Lightbox & Smart Filters to work faster
• Shared nodes
• Understanding sort modes
• Using multiple playheads 
• Remote and Local grades
• Using Versions
• Split screens for complex comparisons  
• Stills and wipes
• Timeline (Layer) organization and track disabling 
• Burn in options and rendering specific tracks
• Single Clip vs Individual Clip render options

Remember to subscribe and like wherever you find The Offset Podcast. We appreciate you checking out this episode!

No, we're not returning to the days of 1", U-Matic, or even D1 & Digibeta (although those were pretty awesome days!). 

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we're revisiting some postproduction knowledge that many of us take for granted but that is surprisingly new or at least unclear to many people. 

In this episode, we'll discuss:

• Preserving institutional knowledge of post - old vocab and techniques are still relevant 
• Understanding fractional frame rates
• Drop vs non-drop timecode
• Understanding interlacing 
• Interlacing to progressive, progressive to interlaced
• Transparency & alpha channels
• Composite modes and transparency in color-managed pipelines
• Recap on 3 and 4-point editing 
• Inclusive & exclusive playheads
• Being obsessive about file names
• Using Leader in file outputs - slates, bars/tone etc

If you like this episode, please subscribe and like the show wherever you find it. Also, thanks to our sponsor Flanders Scientific, and our awesome editor Stella. 

If you have an idea for a new episode please visit offsetpodcast.com and use the submission button to share your thoughts

It's hard to believe but this is our 20th episode! We sincerely thank all our listeners and viewers for checking out the show. We're super excited for the next 20+ shows!

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We're big fans of customization, including things on our desk and other hardware we need around the facility.  With huge online marketplaces, it's easier than ever to find those oddball parts and items to personalize your setup. But what if you can't find what you're looking for or you've found something that fits your need 80% but not completely?

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we start a two-part series on DIY (do it yourself) approaches for postproduction. We're starting out by exploring one of our favorite DIY approaches -  the power of 3D printing to make custom items for your suite, facility or anywhere else you might need a customized part. 

Over the past 10 years, 3D printing has morphed from an engineering hobby for the most serious DIYers to something that's approachable for even the most tech-phobic of us.    

In this show, we'll explore the basics of 3D printing to make your own hardware including:

• The power of customization & fulfilling exact needs
• What kind of things can you print for postproduction?
• Understanding the basics of additive and subtractive manufacturing
• The 50,000 ft view of the 3D printing - modeling, slicing, and 'programming'   
• How a good set of calipers can help you design anything with real-world measurements
• 3D printing communities
• Farming out fabrication to a vendor

In a future episode, we'll explore DIY software approaches including custom scripting and workflow-enhancing tools.

Thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific and to our awesome editor Stella - we couldn't do the show without you!

If you liked this episode, check out our other episodes and like and subscribe wherever you find the show.

Color management pipelines play an integral part in modern postproduction, but these pipelines still cause a lot of confusion for many people. 

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, we discuss essential concepts & vocab about color management pipelines to prepare you to dive deeper into these concepts. 

Specific topics discussed include:

- Why understanding color management so important in modern workflows
- Understanding the concepts of scene and display referred 
- How LUTs can be considered part of a managed pipeline - but with some limitations
- The parts of a color-managed pipeline
- Choosing an intermediate/working space
- Project-wide, node-base, and layer-based approaches to color management 
- The power of color space-aware tools
- Printer lights & contrast in a managed pipeline
- Output metadata tagging
- Using OFX and DCTLs in a managed pipeline
- The danger of too much fiddling with transforms

You can also find this episode on all major podcast platforms. 

Big thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific, and our editor Stella!

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we discuss those horrible feelings of being way overworked and becoming burned out. The truth is - video and film postproduction can take a toll on your physical & mental health and leave you feeling unmotivated, tired, and even potentially thinking about quitting the industry.  

Postproduction (like lots of other industries) can be hard work, full of stress, and long hours - but with a little work, you can battle burnout pretty effectively.  

In this episode, we share our opinions on fighting burnout and cover topics including:

• Why burnout is pervasive in video/film postproduction
• Hard work vs true burnout
• The frequent disconnect between managers & operators
• A plethora of time management strategies including day optimization, focus techniques, and creating approachable blocks of time
• Avoiding the procrastination snowball & multi-tasking
• Learning the concept of 'that's a tomorrow problem'
• Managing notifications and the stress caused by them
• Expanding your horizons by working in new genres and/or using new tools
• Finding a side hustle and new creative interests
• Learning how to build a focus & energy reserve 
• Understanding & managing stressful personalities 

If you enjoyed this episode please be sure to like and subscribe and tell your friends and colleagues to check out the podcast. 

Thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific!

We get asked for advice by new colorists and those looking to do more color (editors,DPs, etc) all the time.

It’s easy to get into the technical weeds very quickly. In our opinion, a super technical deep dive into modern coloring is not the place to start - it can be overwhelming and turn off a lot of people who are looking for a creative outlet. 

So instead of debating the merits of specific workflows and tools, in this episode, we jump into a handful of high-level tips geared to help the new colorist or those working in other disciplines get their feet under them in the world of color. 

Some of the things we’ll explore in this episode include:

• The power of a less is more approach and following your instincts on overdoing grades
• Learning how to respect the photography of a project and not reinvent it
• Work in passes, focusing on big moves first and working to not get caught up in tiny details right away
• When it comes time to massaging details learning how to focus on the ones that really matter
• Understanding and learning how to fight visual adaptation
• A good-looking scope doesn’t always equal a great-looking shot
• Learning to understand visual intent and why neutral is not always the goal
• Why reference monitoring is and always will be important & why calibration/environment is more important than a specific display technology. 
• Not overcomplicating color management & believing everything the internet has to say on color pipelines
• The importance of allowing time for experimenting & learning not to feel pressured to use new tools just because they’re there
• Shaping your best characteristics - confidence & communication 

Thanks for watching/listening! If you liked this episode please be sure to like the show and follow us wherever you found the show. 

Big thanks to our friend and fantastic colorist Josh Petok for the show concept. Follow Josh on Instagram @joshpetok

Thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific for the support and to our editor Stella.

If you're like most people in postproduction (and many other industries), you've probably felt at one point or another that budgets are getting smaller, clients are more demanding & expecting more for the same price, and it's often a battle to get the rates you deserve. 

The 'Race To The Bottom' is a real thing and in this episode, we'll explore ways to combat it including:

- Defining the race to the bottom
- Valuing artists, not tools
- Different ways to set rates
- The challenges of starting low/benefits of starting high with pricing
- Diversifying pricing
- The slippery slope of discounting
- Accuracy in bidding
- Understanding not everyone is competition & saying no is sometimes a good thing
- Never working for 'free' & always getting something tangible out of a job

Thanks for checking out the show. If you like The Offset Podcast please like and subscribe wherever you find it.

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Nate McFarlin - Senior Content Engineer at Dolby.  If you missed part 1 of this conversation, be sure to check out Episode 14 to learn more about Nate's background and how he arrived at Dolby.  

In Part 2 we cover a lot of ground with Nate including:

- Professional & consumer display considerations for HDR & Dolby Vision
- Clearing up common misconceptions about display certification (i.e. Dolby doesn't certify displays)
- Display performance criteria from Dolby
- The pitfalls of using consumer displays for HDR mastering
- The move to individual Dolby Vision certifications vs facility certifications
- HDR first and SDR to HDR workflows
- The evolution of Dolby Vision analysis
- Dolby Vision education resources & knowledgebase
- And much more!

Big thanks to Nate for joining us for these great conversations!

We've been Dolby Vision evangelists -speaking, presenting, and developing training on it almost since the very start including a 10-part series for the Dolby Institute a few years ago.  So every time an opportunity presents itself to chat with our friends at Dolby we jump at the chance.  Recently we caught up with Nate McFarlin who is a Senior Content Engineer at Dolby for an engaging two-part conversation.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Joey & Robbie's passion for Dolby Vision
- Nate's engineering background and his time at RIT in the Motion Picture Science program (MPS)
- Some of the origins and spread of HDR and Dolby Vision
- Understanding Dolby Vision as translation technology (tone mapping)
- The explosion of HDR and Dolby Vision content
- And much more!

In part 2, we'll dive into some more of the technical parts of the Dolby Vision ecosystem as we continue our chat with Nate. 

Trade shows have always played a big role in the production and postproduction industries.  

Pre Internet, outside of going to visit a company or reseller directly, a trade show was the only way to get valuable information about products, workflows, and in general, where the industry was headed. In the 1980s through the early 2000s shows like the National Association Of Broadcasters (NAB) or the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) were hosts to hundreds of thousands.  

Equally as important as visiting the show floor were the plethora of networking events, parties, and hangouts - some of which are still whispered about in convention center hallways for how epic they were!

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, we discuss what shows like NAB mean to us as colorists, educators, and technology-driving guys and why even post-pandemic where the crowds and investments from exhibitors are smaller, trade shows still play a vital role - even if that role is just networking and seeing colleagues you only know virtually or see at trade shows!   

While we're a bit heavy on NAB in this episode -  as it's the show we know the best and the one we've gone to the most. The things we discuss in this episode apply to other big trade shows like IBC, BIRTV, Interbee, CabSat, Broadcast India, and others

In this show some of the things we'll discuss including:

Getting time in with software developers of your favorite tools to suggest features, workflows, and bugs.
Face time with peers and colleagues that you might not see or speak to regularly
Rubbing elbows with industry heroes
Leveraging educational sub-conferences and presentations
Survival tips & techniques
Building a contact database and following up post-trade show
Cost saving tips

Enjoy the episode!

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we're diving into some common color grading myths that we've heard over the years. This is by no means a comprehensive collection of myths, but rather a few select ones that we hear often.  

We'll start by taking a look at the 'skin tone line' on a vectorscope and why its use is not as cut and dry as you think it might be. We'll then jump into why 'more' grading is usually not the best approach to your grades and the related issue of why teal & orange looks engineered in post can sometimes be a tell to 'over grading'.  We'll explore why lots of LUTs are nothing more than snake oil and why the one-size-fits-all-all LUT doesn't exist. 

We'll also discuss why separate P3 grades for film festivals can be an over complication for most projects, why you don't have to normalize a log image first before keying, and where you place noise reduction depends on the shot & your needs.  

Remember, if you like The Offset Podcast please like and subscribe wherever you watch or listen!

As a postproduction professional, one of your primary jobs is to ensure the data integrity of the projects you are working on - essentially don't lose stuff! 

Over the years we've heard hundreds of horrifying stories of data loss and unfortunately, most of them were avoidable. 

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, we dive into backup and archiving strategies. We'll start out exploring the differences between a backup and an archive, why it's important to NEVER work off a client-supplied drive(s), understanding online, nearline, and offline data lifecycle states, redundancy at each state, and understanding the gear needed you'll need. 

We'll also dive into an overview of LTO and why it is the best option for long-term archiving.  We'll discuss LTO generations, connectivity, using LTFS as a file system, tape redundancy, and why a stack of drives is NOT a suitable replacement for LTO.   

Finally, we'll discuss some business/billing implications of archiving. 

If you like the show please give us a like and subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes!

It's our 10th Episode!  

Thanks to everyone who has supported the show especially our sponsor Flanders Scientific!  If you enjoy this show, or any of our episodes, please subscribe and like!

In this installment of The Offset Podcast we're talking about something that's important to all of us - mental health. The pressures, deadlines, and sometimes difficult interpersonal things in post can be crippling - leading to bouts with anxiety, depression and general unhappiness.  

We'll explore why talking about mental health is so important to talk about, battling imposter syndrome and uncomfortable situations, how projects shouldn't equate to self worth, how social media contributes to 'keeping up with the Jones', perfectionism/OCD, managing general business anxiety, the dangers of self medicating to manage anxiety, how bad habits contribute to stress, why exercise is so important, finding health hobbies, and much more.

Continuing our discussion on suite design, in this installment of The Offset Podcast Joey & Robbie get into more detail about gear you might want to consider having in a color/postproduction suite including: input devices, control surfaces, Streamdecks, foot pedals, aux monitors, 3D printing your own stuff, the amazing usefulness of VHB tape and a whole lot more!  Looking for a deep dive on reference & client monitors?  We'll cover that deep topic in a future episode.  

Designing a suite thats both comfortable (for you and clients) as well as functional for color work is more complicated than you might think!  

Having built dozens of suites from scratch over the years, in part one of two episodes on the subject, Robbie & Joey share their lessons learned about room design including executing proper planning,  if you should consider having a machine room, considerations for cable runs & connecting equipment in a suite from a machine room, common room layouts, and lots more.  

One of the biggest questions in any color grading pipeline is how a project will be moved from editorial to a grading system (assuming it's not edited in the same application!)  

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, Robbie & Joey discuss the pros & cons of three different workflows for moving projects to color: conform, bake (also called flat file), or a hybrid of the two. 

No two projects are the same, and learning to figure out the best workflow to move a project from editorial to color is an essential skill to have. 

After 20+ years of using CRT, LCD/LED, Plasma, RGB OLED, W-RGB OLED, LMCL, and probably a few other display technologies we're forgetting about - Is QD OLED (Quantum Dot OLED) the display technology we've all been waiting for? 

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, Robbie & Joey sit down with our good friend, display technology guru, and CEO of Flanders Scientific, Bram Desmet to discuss if quantum physics actually has anything to do with this display technology, the massive improvements that QD OLED provides over other display tech and some key features of QD OLED that you'll want to consider before your next reference monitor purchase.

Film print emulation (FPE for short) is an often discussed, but often confusing topic of discussion for DPs, colorists, and others working in postproduction. 

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, Robbie & Joey discuss what film print emulation can mean these days and how there are things to like about pursuing a filmic look, things to avoid, and how different people mean different things when discussing FPE. 

****** A gigantic thanks to our good friends & new sponsor Flanders Scientific! Visit www.flandersscientific.com to learn more about all their professional monitoring solutions ******  

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely heard the countless ongoing discussions about 'Artificial intelligence' and machine learning.  In this episode of The Offset Prodcast, Robbie & Joey share their thoughts on how AI/ML is currently affecting the postproduction industry and the possible future of AI/ML in post - both good and bad.