With the colour grading suite now the hub for finishing on movies, premium television and commercials, FilmLight is focusing on putting all the right colour tools into the hands of the creatives who need them, and on simplifying the pipeline for collaborative workflows.
The question is this: how best to fit this potentially time-consuming work stage into the production and post-production cycle. And the answer? Communicating a consistent look across on-set dailies, editing, VFX and finishing, for one thing. And providing a powerful, painless framework for taking raw files from wide gamut cameras and tailoring that to the colour range available in television, HDR, digital cinema, laser projection and so on – all on the same project.
At NAB2019 (8–11 April, Las Vegas Convention Center, booth SL4105) FilmLight will showcase the latest additions to the Baselight toolkit, using several system configurations to reflect the different requirements in production and post globally.
Given the rich variety of delivery formats and viewing conditions available now, it is vital that the colourist has confidence that the master grade will be effective on all deliverables. T-CAM v2 is FilmLight’s new improved colour appearance model, which allows the user to render an image for all formats and device types with absolute certainty.
It combines well with the Truelight Scene Looks and ARRI Look Library, now implemented within the Baselight software. “T-CAM colour handling with the updated Looks toolset produces a cleaner response compared to creative, camera-specific LUTs or film emulations,” said Andrea Chlebak, Senior Colourist at Deluxe’s Encore in Hollywood. “I know I can push the images for theatrical release in the creative grade and not worry about how that look will translate across the many deliverables.”
A new approach to colour grading has also been added with Texture Blend tools. They allow the colourist to apply any colour grading operation dependent on image detail. This shift in paradigm gives the colourist fine control over the interaction of colour and texture.
Other workflow improvements aimed at speeding the process for time-pressed colourists include: enhanced cache management; a new client view that displays a live web-based representation of a scene showing current frame and metadata; and multi-directory conform for a faster and more straightforward conform process.
The latest version of Baselight software also includes per-pixel alpha channels, eliminating the need for additional layer mattes when compositing VFX elements. Tight integration with leading VFX applications including NUKE and Flame means that new versions of sequences can be automatically detected, with the colourist able to switch quickly between versions within Baselight.
“These are a handful of the big improvements we have introduced to smooth critical workflows and collaborative pipelines,” said Daniele Siragusano, Image Engineer at FilmLight. “Professionals in colour from around the world, who depend upon Baselight day in, day out, told us they wanted to concentrate on making beautiful pictures to best serve the story. They asked us to make the mechanics of workflows and versioning as seamless as possible – we have listened to all their suggestions and used that to improve our software.”
As well as demonstrations of Baselight version 5.2, and soon-to-come 5.3, NAB attendees will also see in-context colour grading for the full range of Baselight Editions, including Flame, NUKE, and Avid. Along with Prelight on-set pre-visualisation and Daylight dailies processing, they are all part of a single, render-free, non-destructive colour pipeline from set to multi-delivery.
Also on display: the Blackboard Classic, debuting at NAB, is the newest control surface which follows the design cues of the original and very popular Blackboard 1, while adding large high-resolution displays, a bigger tablet and simplified connectivity.
Visitors are also invited to register for the FilmLight NAB2019 Colour Day, where they will be able to experience top colourists demonstrating colour workflow and Baselight features on recent, high-profile productions. The NAB2019 Colour Day will be held on Monday 8 April at the Renaissance Hotel, adjacent to NAB. It is free but places are limited and pre-registration is required. Visit https://filmlightnab2019colorday.eventbrite.com for more information.
FilmLight can be found on booth SL4105 at NAB2019.
