Today I attended the WEVA 2012 trade show in Universal City, CA. Technicolor gave a really interesting presentation on some new color management tools they will be releasing near the end of August 2012. I have no affiliation with Technicolor; I just thought this was pretty neat. Brochure copy attached (Note: I took pictures of the brochure for upload, so the coloring is off. The info is legible though)

From my understanding to get the most out of this primary color correction system you'll need to shoot with a camera that utilizes a CineStyle color profile (Canon EOS or GoProHD) or some type of log format (Red, Alexa, F3... the expensive cameras).

There's also a basic CineStyle curve that can be post-applied to non-log, more contrasty footage (such as that of the GH2), to assist in color grading--but of course this will be less effective... I asked TC if it even made any sense to use this system on non-log footage since exposure and limited dynamic range would already be baked in. They said there would be some benefit for grading since this footage would be converted to a log colorspace (Correct term? I might be remembering wrong, but TC definitely said there would be benefit). Not sure if I fully agree/understand but I wasn't going to argue with TC (The presenter's name was Brian Gaffney. He works on all of the big Hollywood productions for TC.).

Paraphrasing from the attached brochure:

1. Use CineStyle Color Assist [stand alone software] advanced color correction or apply fromm Cinestyle Looks library [about 20 "looks"]
2. Preview in real-time without rendering (non-destructive) using MetaColor embeded in Quick time... [Technicolor has found a way to assign up to 9 separate color grades as non-destructive metadata attached to Quicktime movies files. Utilizing a stand alone player developed by TC or a TC FCP/PP plugin, you can quickly and easily review multiple grades.]
3. Edit and publish using FCP or PP
4. Share online via 3rd party applications.

Application Capabilities

Color Curve Editor, Color Keying, Primary Color Correction in Lift/Gamma/Gain mode, CDL Color Correction with Offset/Slope/Power including Saturation, CineStyle Looks Library with preset color grades, Real-time preview using MetaColor player included, Embedded audio sound playback, Plug-in support for FCP, Plug-in support for PP 5.5+

Lastly, this color management system should be available for about $100.

I think this package looks pretty awesome but since secondary color corrections are not built in I think there's just a little left to be desired. Anyway, still very cool and reasonably priced imho. What do you guys think???

-w :)