Color finishing sur DaVinci Resolve 11 de 1910, Paris sous les eaux, un docu-fiction de 52' d'Eric Beauducel et Olivier Poujaud. Caméras Red Scarlet et Canon Eos 5D. Ekla Production pour France 3. Un bel article du Monde présente le film et son challenge.

WARREN EAGLES is a globetrotting Colorist. Having started his career in London in the mid-eighties, he's been living in Australia for 15 years, running his own grading facility in Brisbane. He's also renowned for his DaVinci Resolve training courses, providing online tutorials for FXPHD since 2007 and classrooms sessions with the International Colorist Academy, which in the past 5 years led him to Japan, China, Singapore, USA, UK and Australia giving over 100 classes for more than 800 students. 
We met and started this informal conversation in London, at an ICA course I attended, (as he just released his famous video defining the role of a colorist), resumed it in Amsterdam where he organized the 1st IBC Colorist Mixer, to finally complete it remotely between Paris and Tokyo where he was grading a commercial.
Among the various topics addressed, we find out how Warren became a colorist, co-founded the ICA and started to teach colorgrading. More specifically aimed at future and young colorists, he describes the qualities and skills needed and gives first-hand advice on the different softwares available to start training. Thence continuing on the technical side, Warren gives his opinion on the latest all-in-one solutions that combine editing and grading tools, providing helpful tips. Ultimately, he develops on the evolution of the profession and its processes to open up on the need to leverage our professional networks.
I'm very grateful to Warren for the moments he kindly spent with me sharing his experience and knowledge. There's no doubt his pragmatic guidance will benefit many aspiring and young colorists.

- How did you come to color grading? 
I started in photography, in Rathbone Place London, from there I went to film cutting rooms and also worked as a film projectionist. My ambition was to become a director so I moved to Visions Post House as runner. I made tea and coffee, then started editing till somebody said to me "do you want to do color grading?". I started working with two colorists; I was their assistant which meant I cleaned the film, laced it up on the Telecine machine then recorded the images to tape. When everything was ready and my work done I asked if I could stay in the room and watched what they did, I did that at least a year or 18 months. Then I started on small jobs with no clients. And 25 years later, I am still grading!...

- How did you start to teach and create the ICA?
I first started to teach when I did something for DaVinci in 1997. I went to Athens where they had bought a new machine and I taught color grading. I quite liked this and I started to do some more teaching as it fitted very well with my grading commitments.The ICA started in 2009¹. Kevin Shaw who is the co-founder at ICA, and myself got together and said why don't we combine our resources to create an International Colorist Academy? He was in London, I was in Australia, since then other colorists have joined the ICA from the US, France, London and Germany to widen our skillset².

- Why is it so important for you to do both color grading and teaching?
It's essential because I don't want to become what I call a "white coat trainer" who just teaches and hasn't done a job for 10 years! I really like grading, doing big jobs like commercials with 10 people in the room, or spending 2 weeks on a movie. As long as I can do both it's good because it keeps me up to date on all the new formats and software updates.

- Tell us the difference between the different courses you provide
In a classroom, you work with other people which means you're collaborating and that's what you do when you're a colorist (you work with DPs, directors, producers, VFX supervisors). In a group you ask questions, others might ask questions you might not have thought of. In a typical ICA class you have different demographics, you can interact, start building a network which is important as we live in a pretty tough world, we need to rely sometimes on the connections that we make (for the machines, the jobs, functionalities…). That's the advantage of the ICA live classes compared to books or online and DVD courses: the interaction! The online tutorials I make with FXPHD (the Resolve 11 Beginners & Advanced versions was released a few weeks ago) are good too; people tell me "I always have Warren in my pocket and I pull him out when I forget something!"  I really enjoy doing those but the live classes are obviously premium.

- Which skills are necessary to become a colorist?
A mixture of 4 things³: you have to know what you like yourself as an individual. Have an opinion, you need to look at images, in magazines, photographs or something on TV and know what you like and don’t like. Be creative and imaginative, maybe take some ordinary images and look at what you could do to make it more interesting for a film, a commercial, or music video. Be technical, there are lots of camera formats to work with, different codecs, you've got to understand them. Know the software you're using very well, you've really got to understand it and be able to use it fast so when someone asks you to do something you're not afraid to do it. Be a bit of an entertainer, especially if you get a few people in your room: you've got to be able to work, converse, tell stories, all the time you're doing your job you're still entertain your people, because when they're coming to you they want to have a good time, during the 6-7 hours of the booking. It's a whole range of experience, you can be the world’s best grader but if you don't chat or cannot converse next time they might go somewhere else! 

- What are your advice for starting with?
Start to collect images you like (magazines, clippings, jpegs, trailers, films,) to build your own library of material from directors, DP's you follow, photographers even) and then try to match it in your color grading software. Try and get a complete project to play with, better than using the same 3-4 clips. Work on it as if it was an actual job, take the movie of a friend or get a movie already graded and match the rushes with what they did but always try to do something that's as close to reality as you can.

- Which software would you recommend for practicing?
If you're a beginner and the budget is an issue I'd say start with the color corrector you already have in Premiere, Final Cut Pro or Avid. Most NLE have a simple color corrector tool. Look at Photoshop if you have it, the tools may be slightly different but look at them. Investigate the software you already have. Then if you want to get in something more serious and specialize then Resolve has a Lite version which is free. With the Adobe Suite, you have Speedgrade without any extra cost. Baselight has a plugin at a reasonable price, it is worth exploring. When you have learned a little bit of all those software then maybe decide which one suits you the most for your workflow.

- What do you think about the grading functionalities in the Adobe Suite: transfers between Photoshop, Speedgrade, Premiere and even After Effects?
You do the grading in Photoshop, grab the still of it, bring it and it matches with the sources. That's ok but the problem with that is "how did it match?". It's a bit like using a look LUT: it looks great on one shot and then you go to the next shot, or a close-up, where you apply the same thing and it doesn't look quite so good! Then you need to understand how you got there and what to adjust to make it match. The only way you're going to do that is by analysing how they made the LUT then learn how to make it with your own tools. People who just drag in presets all the time are like taxi drivers who always use a GPS: you get there but you'll never remember how, so next time you'll have to use a GPS again! it's the same thing with grading. It'll get you there and you'll get paid but next time you'll have to do the same, you're not actually learning anything, the only way to learn it is to do it yourself. The more experienced you can become is how you match things and how fast you're at it. 

- What do you think about the use of Speedgrade with Premiere?
I think the best feature is that you don't have to render out of Speedgrade. When you've cut your documentary in Premiere, sent the timeline to Speedgrade, grade it, then sent back to Premiere, it updates the timeline and all your grades are there. That's a big advantage because sometimes you don't want to be rendering again. If you edit in Resolve the same applies, no conforming headaches.

- At this point, do you think it's a tool for colorists or rather for editors/colorists?
It's probably still the person who does both. We have this new position called "Editor/Colorist". When I started, colorists were colorists, editors did editing and VFX were made by specialists, that's all we did. But now everything is more open, and if you're an editor and someone asks if you want to grade the show and pay you 2 days money for it, you’ll go for it. So I don't mind those guys doing half editing half grade but at least they'll keep us on our toes! And hopefully if they're not interested in it they'll be giving it to someone else who is.

- So, now Resolve 11 is officially a whole "real-time media management, video editing, color grading and finishing system" don't you think it's about the same than the Adobe combination?
I would say Premiere is a more mature editing product for editing and Resolve is a better option for grading. I don’t think many people are using Resolve to cut feature films, likewise not many are using Speedgrade to color them. The remote grading option in Resolve for both editing and grading is something I am personally going to be looking at more in 2015. I get lots of grading requests from all around the globe, grading remotely with my machine in OZ could open up more opportunities. My favourite v11.1 feature is the ‘Trim Clips’ option (called 'Consolidate Clips' in v11.1.1). This allows the user to conform from a clients drive then copy just the media used plus handles onto their fast storage. I am using it all the time.

- What  is your idea on the future of color grading?
We're in a time now with more shows (on the internet, reality TV…) being graded than ever before, and by the widest spectrum of operators ever. Hopefully, in the future they'll be color graded with better equipment, better calibrated monitors, and slowly the people will become more experimented and the shows will look better too. I don't think the equipment will get cheaper, it can't be any cheaper than free!!!

- Then now you can choose what you want to work with and who you want to work with…
Pretty much the gear all does the same thing, we're not tied to the best telecine or who's got more shapes or windows on a machine, it's more like "I want to work with that person cause he/she cares and makes good images", which is good for individuals!

- How important is it for you to organize The Colorist Mixer?
You used to spend $300,000 on a Color Corrector and the manufacture threw a party and they bought the beer. Now the Color Correctors are free and you buy your own beer! How times have changed. The Colorist Mixer is about getting people together and inviting all manufacturers to chip in a little for drinks and maybe a raffle item. This 1st European meeting gathered over 120 people! I enjoy getting together with other graders, swapping ideas. The guys from Mixing Light felt the same so the Mixer was born!

- To conclude, could you tell us about your latest most challenging job?
William Kelly’s War, a 120 minute movie on World War 1, shot with RED One, Epic, Scarlet, Canon 5D… over 5 years. I had 10 days to conform, add VFX and grade it on DaVinci in Brisbane. The director wasn't with me all the time so we communicated with stills before he arrived for the last 3 days. With the looks already set we then went about matching and sculpting the film. I really enjoy grading period films, there is an added challenge making everything fit the period of the film.
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Since we started to talk about this…
¹ Warren evoked more about The FXPHD Resolve History on the ICA website
² Colorist Tom Parish podcasted an interview of Warren on The Evolution of Teaching Color Grading at ICA
³ Warren developed this topic in The 5 Top Tips for Colorists, an interview he gave to Matt Aindow for RedShark

Je suis particulièrement heureuse d'avoir étalonné Villa Karayib, la nouvelle shortcom (70 x 3'30) co-réalisée par Philippe Giangreco et Gwendal Pointeau. Sur le ton de la comédie, la série présente la "Caribbean way of life" de 4 ravissantes colocs avec leur truculente propriétaire. Après plusieurs tests sur les 2 Canon Eos C300, avec Teddy Albert, le DP, nous avons opté pour un tournage en C-Log qui nous garantissait une plus grande dynamique, notamment pour les extérieurs, qui avaient lieu en Guadeloupe. Pour l'étalonnage dans Resolve, l'application d'une LUT de conversion C-Log/Rec.709 (en série ou home-made) a été nécessaire pour une grande partie des séquences, entre la correction colorimétrique et le look définitif (cf. photogrammes). Le but de ce dernier étant de donner une ambiance tropicale alors que la météo hivernale ne l'était pas forcément !
La diffusion quotidienne de la série a commencé le 15 septembre sur le réseau de Canal+ Outremer avec les zones Caraïbes, Océan indien et Pacifique sud puis prochainement l'Afrique ; pour les autres, les épisodes sont aussi disponible en streaming sd. L'actu de la série se retrouve sur Tumblr qui rassemble un maximum d'infos, mais aussi Youtube pour les making of ainsi que Twitter et Instagram. C'est une production Canal+ Overseas, Skyprod, De Père en Fils et Art & Vision Productions, avec Catherine Dénécy, Viviane Émigré, Joséphine Jobert, Emma Lohoues et Flavie Péan.

I've been especially happy to grade Villa Karayib, the latest shortcom (70 x 3'30") co-directed by Philippe Giangreco and Gwendal Pointeau. The series depicts the "Caribbean way of life" of 4 delightful young women who are roommates, in a villa with swimmingpool, whose owner is a colourful middle-aged woman. After a few tests on the 2 Canon Eos C300, on location in Guadeloupe, with DP Teddy Albert, we opted for shooting in C-Log, which would allow a wider dynamic range (in particular for the outdoors highlights). For grading in Resolve, a conversion C-Log/Rec.709 LUT (original or home-baked) was necessary for many sequences, between the basic color correction and the definitive look (cf. frames below). For the latter, the aim being a warm tropical ambience, while the winter weather wasn't specially!
The daily broadcasts have started on September 15th on Canal+ Overseas network with the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific zones, and soon will start with Africa as well; for the rest of the world, a preview is available in sd streaming. News can be found on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram plus youtube for the making of. This is a Canal+ Overseas, Skyprod, De Père en Fils and Art & Vision production, with Catherine Dénécy, Viviane Émigré, Joséphine Jobert, Emma Lohoues et Flavie Péan.

C-Log & grade

Bilan de ma visite au NAB Show 2014 de Las Vegas, parmi les 98 015 visiteurs venus de 160 pays à la rencontre des quelques 1746 exposants : comme promis sur Facebook pendant le salon, voici un compendium des nouveautés et innovations qui ont attiré mon attention cette année. Quelques qualificatifs à la clef…
This is my own best of NAB SHOW 2014 I explored among the 98 015 visitors from 160 countries come to meet 1746 exhibitors: as promised on Facebook, this is a compendium of the hot picks and innovations that focused my attention this year. A few adjectives on top…

Gigantesque : parmi une myriade de nouveautés, dont le Cintel Film Scanner qui numérise du 35mm et du 16mm en temps réel, encore une révolution chez Blackmagic design avec l'écran 10" qui repense l'ergonomie des 2 nouvelles caméras modulables (avec enregistrement sur doubles cartes CFast), alors que nous attendons encore la livraison de la Production Camera 4K de l'an dernier ! Une caméra de plateau au design surprenant, la Studio Camera HD est censée être déjà disponible et sa grande sœur en UHD le serait en Juin prochain ; et l'URSA avec ses déclinaisons du 4K super 35 au boîtier enregistreur-moniteur annoncées pour Juillet. On parie ?! 
Gigantic: among myriads of new products, including the Cintel Film Scanner which scans real-time 35mm and 16mm, once again Blackmagic design makes its revolution with a 10" screen that rethinks the ergonomy of 2 new modular cameras (recording on dual CFast cards), whereas we're still waiting for the delivery of last year Production Camera 4K! The Studio Camera HD, a broadcast camera for live productions, with an unusual design supposed to be already available, and its Ultra HD version announced for June; and URSA 4K digital film camera with its upgrades from recorder-monitor to Super 35 PL, scheduled for July; shall we bet?!

Robuste : à la surprise générale AJA révèle CION sa caméra 4K à global shutter, réglable aussi via LAN par internet et ergonomique avec son épaulière intégrée.
Impressionnante : la nouvelle VariCam de Panasonic et ses 2 versions modulaires Super35 4K jusqu'à 120 ips en interne & HS 2/3, enregistrant en simultané différents codecs & formats (ProRes inclus) avec bientôt un boîtier Codex pour enregistrer du 4K Raw ; dispo à l'automne.
Compacte : l'Action CAM de Codex (décidément tout le monde fait des caméras !!!) en solo ou en stéréo, synchronisable avec l'ARRI Alexa; en monocable/cam jusqu'à 180m, un pack de 2 caméras & 1 recorder ne pesant que 1,5 kg !
Versatile : c'est donc le maître-mot cette année en matière de caméras (même Sony s'y met avec les F5 & F55), puisqu'au delà des montures mêmes, les codecs et les formats acceptés se multiplient et s'enregistrent en parallèle (des proxies à la 4K voire avec des LUT's), les caméras ont des géométries variables jusqu'à devenir dockables pour en accueillir d'autres (y compris des dslr chez BMD), l'ergonomie remet l'épaulière à la mode façon ENG et la connectique semble se stabiliser… l'adaptabilité économique irait-elle jusqu'au développement durable ?!
Robust: to everyone's surprise AJA unveils CION its 4K global shutter camera, with a solid and ergonomic design including a shoulder-mount, and network-based controllable via LAN which allows infinite remote configurations.
Impressive: the new Panasonic VariCam with its 2 modular models Super35 4K up to 120 fps intern & HS 2/3, recording simultaneously differents codecs and formats (ProRes included) with coming soon a Codex 4K Raw recorder; available in the Fall.
Compact: Codex Action Cam (camera business is definitely expanding!!!) for solo or stereo use, synchronizable with ARRI Alexa; 1 single cable/cam up to 180m, and a pack of 2 cameras + 1 recorder weighing only 1,5kg!
Versatility: the key-word for cameras this year (even Sony with F5 & F55) as beyond lenses mounts, supported codecs and formats increase with simultaneous recordings (commonly from proxies to 4K, with LUT's even), cameras get variable-geometry to ultimately becoming dockable sets to connect other cameras (even DSLR for BMD), the ergonomy merges to ENG shaped cameras and finally cable connections seem to stabilize… would economic adaptability become sustainable ?!

Efficace : la version Ring du M5 de Freefly et leur nouveau module M15 (2ème génération de MōVI) adapté à Cinestar le drône, à Tero le buggy ou encore dernièrement sur une motocross via un bras articulé de Steadicam, et géré à distance par le Controller à joystick pour les fonctions PTR & FIZ.
Esthétiques : les 2 nouveaux G-RAID Studio Thunderbolt 2 pour 2 & 4 baies de G-Technology en version camouflage mode New MacPro, ici présentés par Mathieu Marano au Front Créatif de Montréal.
Encyclopédique : le légendaire Larry Jordan présentant le Digital Production BuZZ qui couvre en live et podcast tout le salon.
Efficient: Freefly Ring version for its M5 and the M15 new model (MōVI 2nd generation) adapted to the drone Cinestar, the buggy Tero and just released for a Steadicam armed  motocross, remotely managed by the controller with joysticks for the PTR & FIZ functions.
Aesthetic: the freshly released Thunderbolt 2 G-Raid Studio in two & four-bay versions designed to shape discretely with the New MacPro, here introduced on G-Technology's booth by Mathieu Marano from the FCMTL.
Encyclopaedic: the legendary Larry Jordan hosting the Digital Production BuZZ that covers the whole exhibition.

Bluffants : le Shogun d'Atomos, nouveau recorder 4K (2 ssd en RAID) avec écran tactile IPS 7" calibrable, et le Ninja Star, pocket recorder de 100g, avec une carte CFast 2.0, ici présentés par Heater Williams Atomos Vice president Sales North America et Michel Suissa, Post-production Solutions Expert du Studio-B&H.
Profonds : les noirs du moniteur de référence Sony BVM-X300TI 4K Trimaster OLED 30" (grand frère du 25" HD déjà sorti), encore prototype dispo prévue fin d'année. 
Précis : les détails des 2 moniteurs de référence EIZO LCD ColorEdge 31" DCI 4K & 24" UHD & aussi protos, dispo prévue fin 2nd semestre.
Spectaculaire : le DP7-Pro de SmallHD, écran 7" de monitoring et d'étalonnage de terrain temps-réel avec création de LUT's 3D, déclinable en IPS LCD, High Bright & OLED.
Stunning: Atomos Shogun 4K monitor/recorder (dual SSD) with its 7" IPS touchscreen display and the Ninja Star, a 100g blind pocket recorder, using CFast 2.0 cards, here presented by Atomos Vice President Sales North America Heater Williams and Michel Suissa, Post-production Solutions Expert from Studio-B&H.
Deep: the blacks of Sony's 4K 30" OLED next master monitor, the BVM-X300TI Trimaster (big brother of the 25" already released), still prototype, announced for the end of the year.
Razor Sharp: the details on EIZO's ColorEdge 31" DCI 4K & 24" UHD, also reference protos, scheduled for the 2nd semester.
Spectacular: the DP7-Pro, a 7" field monitor which allows real-time grading and 3D LUT's process; SmallHD offers 3 models: IPS LCD & High Bright as weel as OLED.

Incontournables : les démos de SCRATCH 8 (qui encode maintenant le ProRes en PC)  par Daniel Esperanssa accompagné du ToughPad 4K 20" de Panasonic pour le SCRATCH Play (pro media player gratuit d'Assimilate), et celles du SCRATCH Lab par Laura Castelli auprès des DIT sur le stand de Codex.
Hallucinant : Smoke 2015 présenté par Ken LaRue, côté compositing, tracking, FX et 3D, au Supermeet sur des rushes de "The Place Where You Live" d'Alexis Van Hurkman.
Percutante : la calibration de moniteurs de référence avec CalMAN pour DaVinci Resolve par Tom Parish sur le stand de SpectraCal où l'on calibrait gratuitement votre laptop.
Magistrales : les démos de DaVinci Resolve 11 par Alexis Van Hurkman : ici pour Dado Valentic, un best-of des 70 nouvelles fonctions de montage sur un total de 140 ! puis au Supermeet en compagnie de Paul Sacone sur la collaboration distante montage/étalonnage 1 timeline/2 postes et un florilège de fonctionnalités très attendues en étalonnage : vibrance, color-checker & clips groupés… dispo prévue fin Juin.
Inescapable: Daniel Esperanssa's demos of SCRATCH 8 (which now encodes ProRes on PC's) accompanied by a 4K 20" Panasonic ToughPad running SCRATCH Play (Assimilate free pro media player), plus the rich sessions Laura Castelli made of SCRATCH Lab on Codex Booth.
Astonishing: Smoke 2015, for its compositing, FX & 3D tracking functions reviewed by Ken LaRue at Supermeet, using rushes from Alexis Van Hurkman's "The Place Where You Live" feature movie.
Spotless: the calibration of reference monitors Tom Parish operated with CalMAN for DaVinci Resolve on SpectraCal Booth where laptops were also calibrated for free.
Masterful: Alexis Van Hurkman's DaVinci Resolve 11 demos; here experimenting with Dado Valentic and there with Paul Sacone during the Supermeet session, introducing a few key-features among the 140 as remote collaboration editing/grading 1 timeline/2 stations, vibrance, color-checker balance, grouped clips grading… available late June.

Enfin, au délà des machines et des logiciels, le NAB c'est aussi une formidable opportunité pour rencontrer et retrouver les acteurs de son milieu professionnel et développer son réseau ; évidemment sur le salon mais aussi à l'occasion d'événements spéciaux tels que le célèbre barbecue SCRATCH ou encore le Colorist Mixer…
Finally, beyond machines and softwares, the NAB is also a tremendous opportunity to increase your network; obviously in the exhibition but also during special events such as the famous SCRATCH barbecue or the Colorist Mixer, for example…
Here with / ici avec Warren Eagles & Dado Valentic from the / de l'International Colorist Academy.

Voilà ! J'espère que ce best of vous aura plu et peut-être vous aura donné envie de nous rejoindre l'année prochaine à Vegas…
Voilà ! I hope you enjoyed my best of. And maybe will you join us next year in Vegas… 

Pour des projets encore plus créatifs et riches en couleurs en 2014 ! A bientôt dans mon Studio DaVinci Resolve à Montreuil ou en post-productions en France et à l'International.

Wishing you, wishing us… the most creative and colorful projects for 2014. See you soon in my parisian DaVinci Resolve Studio or worldwide in post-production facilities!

"Quand les hommes ne peuvent plus gérer leur destin, quelquefois c'est la rigueur du mauvais temps qui s'en charge": tel est le pitch du prochain court-métrage de Martial Odone, Un Avenir avant l'Orage, synthétisé dans le trailer qu'il nous propose. Pour ce projet ambitieux, Lionel Perrin, DP, a choisi de tourner en RED Scarlet. La partie timelapse enregistrée à 4 im/sec a ensuite été accélérée au montage. J'ai d'abord procédé à un pré-étalonnage dans les métadonnées via  REDCINE-X (étape nécessaire pour les timelapses) puis à un étalonnage plus précis et progressif (12h sont ainsi résumées en 2mn) avec DaVinci Resolve, dans lequel nous avons choisi de rajouter du grain organique 35mm afin d'obtenir un rendu plus cinématogtraphique. Kristy Jones a dirigé la co-production Créative Régie et G.M.G. Productions de ce court-métrage en devenir qui est accessible sur le site de financement participatif  touscoprod, où tous ceux qui souhaitent connaître la suite sont invités à le soutenir.

"When men can no longer control their own destinies, sometimes bad weather conditions take this on": it is Martial Odone's teaser for his own WIP short film A Future before the Storm, synthetized in this trailer. For this ambitious project, Lionel Perrin, DP, has chosen to shoot with a RED Scarlet. In the NLE, the timelapse part, recorded at 4 ips, has been accelerated. To start grading, in REDCINE-X, I've proceeded to a pre-color correction using the metadata (necessary step for the timelapse) and then, in DaVinci Resolve, I've made a more precise and dynamic grading (2 minutes condense here 12 hours), onto which we chose to add some 35 mm organic grain to achieve a more cinematic look. Kristy Jones leaded this Créative Régie and G.M.G. co-production which is accessible via touscoprod, the french crowdfunding platform, where everyone who's interested in the end of the story is invited to support this project.