So my question is, what color grading software is best for yielding the best image - and WHY? Please be specific with how your favorite software yields a better image. All opinions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Just wanted to show you my latest work. A short film which I edited and graded.

If you want to read more about the editing and grading you can visit this blogpost in which I've explained everything a bit further: http://davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/2013/04/the-road-of-life.html

The Road of Life

The Road of Life - Grading Breakdown

Just wanted to let you know that I recently launched my new site which will a bit as my old blog (http://davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/) which maybe some of you have seen, but it will be way more active in terms of updates, competitions, posts and articles.

The same time as the launch I decided to start another grading contest which maybe some of you have been a part of in my previous ones. If you want to know more about the site and the grading contest, visit my blog and read the first post! http://lindbergdavid.com/

I've already got entries to the contest but there are two weeks left before it closes, so make sure to be a part of it!

All the best, /D

Looking for any thoughts on color grading, or general impressions; and for anyone who is familiar with fracking to help us spread the word about the film. I'm also curios about whether people think the GH2 is fit for documentary productions?

Triple Divide » A Synopsis

Triple Divide attempts to answer the question, “How are state regulations and industry handling impacts from fracking?”

Actor Mark Ruffalo co-narrates this 18-month cradle-to-grave investigation by Public Herald, an investigative news nonprofit co-founded by journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman. Triple Divide features never before seen interviews with industry giants and advocates, exclusive reports with impacted landowners, uncovered state documents, and expert testimonies.

The film reveals how water contamination is being covered up by the industry and the state, essentially rewriting the history of water quality in Pennsylvania by dismissing predrill tests. Meanwhile, state regulators are using compliance as a means of regulating without enforcing the law, abandoning the public in the wake of shale gas development.

Triple Divide’s title represents one of only four Triple Continental Divides in North America, a place that provides drinking water to millions of Americans and feeds rivers that reach three separate sides of the continent, signaling to the audience that everything, and everyone, is downstream from shale gas extraction.

http://www.synthetechinc.com/colorbandit.html

+++++++DOWNLOAD THE PLUG-IN)++++++++

www.synthetechinc.com/ColorBandit/ColorBandit.8bf I’ve tested the plug-in on CS4, CS5 and CS6 in 32 bit mode (I suspect earlier Photoshops will work as well. I’m pretty sure this will not work for 64 bit versions).

+++++++ INSTRUCTIONS ++++++++

You need to copy the ColorBandit.8bf file to your “Filters” folder in the plug-in directory. Assuming you installed Photoshop normally, this would be C:/Program Files (x86)/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS#/Plug-ins/Filters

To use Color Bandit, go to the "Filters" menu on the top bar, go down to "Synthetech" and select "Color Bandit". A dialog will pop up with two options, grab and apply. Grabbing will capture whatever image currently has focus and store it to a buffer. Apply will transfer the colors from whatever image was last "grabbed" to the current image which has focus. Color Bandit should work with selected regions of an image, please let me know if it does not.

NOTE # 1: CS6 does not have a “Filters” folder in the Plug-ins directory, so you’ll need to create one).

NOTE #2: Make sure you copy to “Program Files (x86)” and not “Program Files”. Also make sure that you open the 32 bit version of Photoshop, not the 64 bit version.

+++++++++ CONTEST +++++++++

If you guys produce any cool transfers I’d love to show them off to the world! If you’d like your images to be used to promote Color Bandit then just post them in this thread. If I like them and use them then I’ll both cite you as the original author, and I’ll send you a commercial license for Color Bandit as a gift (NOTE: you have to own the rights to these pictures). If you can think of an uncommon/unconventional use for Color Bandit then that will be favored as well.

+++++++++ QUESTIONS +++++++++

I have some general survey questions – just stuff to help me choose where to allocate my time in order to deliver the best plug-in to the most users. Feel free to answer as much or as little as you'd like :)

What version of Photoshop do you use?
Do you plan to switch to creative cloud in the next year?
What platform do you use? Win, Mac?
How important would 16 and 32 bit RGB image support be to you? (1=low ---- 10=high)

Businessy questions

Would you use this as a hobbyist or commercially? If commercially then what/where is your job?
Where do you usually go to find/buy new plug-ins?
What would this plug-in be worth to you as a hobbyist or commercially (in $)?
What Photography/Photoshop websites/magazines do you read to find out about stuff like this?

Thanks for your time and enjoy the beta!

And, It's breakdown;

http://mohitseb.com

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 :)

In an AVCHD timeline in Premiere Pro CS6, I imported two clips, one the original MTS and the other a converted ProRes of that clip. But the result was not fixed by only 15 and 235 input/output adjustment, it required something closer to 40 and 215. And that did not mean that the result was the same, there was still more blue in the highlights and shadows in the MTS vs. the ProRes. Further adjustment would be needed, but the ProRes conversion was more balanced.

This was just my first test, and I'm no expert in this, but it seems like conversion to ProRes still makes sense. What are other people's take on this?

Any tips on how to not do this again in the future would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Currently we are using Apocalypse Now 444, soft matrix.

I just started my second grading contest which you can read more about on this link: http://davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/2013/02/grading-contest-windy-winter.html

Comments welcomed.

Also do you think that one should start with a simple color grading tool like Magic bullet Colorista/Looks or Color Finesse or move directly to more advance stuff like DaVinci Resolve. Also i heard some criticizm of Adobe Speedgrade, what is your take on that?

Do you need well lit scenes for color grading or can you grade scenes that are lit using only the sun?

These are the first shots from a longer short we're trying to put in some festivals. Thought I'd just post some stand-alone edits of quick scenes to see how it's playing to people. Not really much to it yet, but I just wanted to post up some bits as we go along. Thanks for watching!

-Production Info-

Body: GH2

Patch: Intavenus 'Cinema Smooth'

Lensing: Sigma 30mm 1.4 (wide open, with Variable ND filter)

Grading: FCP 3-way corrector

Music in Protools 8

In this test, watch how far I can push the darkest midtones to bring all those stones and rocks underneath the surface back in a really nice way. Even though the grading gave it a crispy, contrasty look, you can look at the ice blocks that we didn't loose too much information in the highlights. We didn't loose too much in the shadows either, but a little bit more though we darkened the surface so much.

The grade was made in Adobe After Effects only using curves.

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.hj.lindberg

twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidHJLindberg

This is a test I made today. Taking two scenes shot by my Panasonic GH2, and graded them as cool as I could in Smoke 2012. Pretty happy with the result! This is also a competition where you can download the ungraded files and make your own grade. Read more here about the competition here: http://davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/2012/11/2-scenes-million-colors.html

Specs when shooting: 1080p, Apo. Boom (Smooth, -2-2-2-2) Zeiss 50mm 1.8

Warner Music just released my latest music video and I am very proud to mention that I was able to shoot on Red Scarlet but chosen GH2 instead. Some may say I'm stupid but I wanted to show them what a cinematic result that little beast can give us.

Shot with Panasonic GH2, Sedna AQ1 & Apocalypse BOOM (Smooth -2-2-2-2) and Zeiss 50mm 1.8 Shot, directed, edited and graded by me.

Completely edited in Smoke 2012 and graded in DaVinci Resolve 9.

Read this article to find out more about the video: davidhjlindberg.blogspot.se/2012/10/music-video-johan-reinhold-tears-from.html

Is out there something like that? Midi mapping is a very nice solution used in music production that could be used for grading as well.

However, I'm kinda lost when it comes to color grading. Here's what I shot the other day to kill time:

Not terrible. I always try to shoot it as close to how I want it to look in Premiere. But, this time around, I experimented with some color grading. I can get into the details if need be. But, really, I'm just looking for opinions. Does this look bad? What would you change? Etc.

Thanks in advance!