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4k77 - shot by shot color grading (a WIP) — Page 5

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clutchins said:

Dre, will your version warrant an HDR release for 4K77?

An HDR version was attempted for 4K77 but none of the test renders came out correctly at all, so it was abandoned, at least for the time being. I’m pretty sure the 4K version is 10-bit color, but that isn’t the same as HDR.

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I think unless you have the right calibrated monitors ect you shouldn’t even attempt HDR.

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Williarob said:
I’m guessing that the slight pink push that appears on Reel 1 (but is not part of Dre’s LUT) is the result of the PC -> TV levels or sRGB -> rec 709 colorspace conversion, as I didn’t deliberately alter his colors at all.

It might be the latter – I’ll try to investigate that. I don’t think it’s the former. As usual, I checked the levels. Blacks seem to be where they should be, and the whites come close to the edge of the TV range but never go beyond it (or look clipped).

Levels

Is the pink push only on Reel 1, Williarob?

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Reels 1 & 2 I think, which were the only two I had LUTs for. The lights do look a little pink in the image above, but that is how it is on the print. Reel 5 was white balanced using the optical track. White balancing to those lights throws off the colors in other areas of the reel - I tried it, and other shots in that reel with those same lights (without the red lightsaber in them) are not pink. This seems to be a side effect of their rotoscoping process.

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Williarob said:

Reels 1 & 2 I think, which were the only two I had LUTs for. The lights do look a little pink in the image above, but that is how it is on the print. Reel 5 was white balanced using the optical track. White balancing to those lights throws off the colors in other areas of the reel - I tried it, and other shots in that reel with those same lights (without the red lightsaber in them) are not pink. This seems to be a side effect of their rotoscoping process.

The pinkish lights in this scene also shows up in the photos of the Senator print:

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^ Cool! That’s a nice little detail. The color on the 4k77 looks pretty close.

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Here’s an update of the color grading:

I’m also working on some new shots. Here are two examples:

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DrDre said:

Here’s an update of the color grading:

I’m also working on some new shots. Here are two examples:

Good work, Dre! A few questions:

  1. I compared your June 1st Tantive IV Technicolor (green-cast) screen shots to your newest above and cannot identify any discernible differences. Just curious what you tweaked, if anything, there.

  2. When I compared your June 1st Technicolor green-cast and balanced screen shots of Vader’s interrogation of Cpt. Antilles to your new screen shots above, there is a marked improvement in shots that were under or over exposed particularly in the skin tones, his jacket and the background.

  3. Have you decided to abandon the “balanced grade” and “marry” it with the green-casted Technicolor version to create a happy medium, or are you still keeping both separate?

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Nate D said:

DrDre said:

Here’s an update of the color grading:

I’m also working on some new shots. Here are two examples:

Good work, Dre! A few questions:

  1. I compared your June 1st Tantive IV Technicolor (green-cast) screen shots to your newest above and cannot identify any discernible differences. Just curious what you tweaked, if anything, there.

Well, at first I didn´t alter the first set, but now (as in a few sec ago), I altered two shots which were slightly more green in the mid tones, than the others. Try to figure out which? 😉

  1. When I compared your new screen shots above of Vader’s interrogation of Cpt. Antilles to your June 1st Technicolor green-cast and balanced screen shots, there is a marked improvement in shots that were under or over exposed particularly in the skin tones, his jacket and the background.

  2. Have you decided to abandon the “balanced grade” and “marry” it with the green-casted Technicolor version to create a happy medium, or are you still keeping both separate?

Yeah, the Vader interrogation shots were too green compared to the rest. They are more balanced now, but still tend towards green, as a sort of happy medium.

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Haha, can’t figure out which, lol.

I see, thanks, Dre! I’m loving your work overall; much improved there with the interrogation!

It looks like you are color grading the current reel 1 that has been DNR-ed, is that correct? Or are you DNR-ing the non-DNR version of 4K77 yourself and applying your color grading? Just curious. 😃

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Nate D said:

Haha, can’t figure out which, lol.

I see, thanks, Dre! I’m loving your work overall; much improved there with the interrogation!

It looks like you are color grading the current reel 1 that has been DNR-ed, is that correct? Or are you DNR-ing the non-DNR version of 4K77 yourself and applying your color grading? Just curious. 😃

No, this is the non-DNR version. The adjusted frames are the first and second of the fifth row. 😉

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One final update before moving on to other shots:

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those look amazing!

did you also update the balanced version?

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DrDre said:

One final update before moving on to other shots:

Dre, I’m also curious about the balanced version… 😉

One humble suggestion on your final updated screen shots if I may:

It seems, particularly in shots 1 and 2 on line 4, that the stormtroopers look a bit too yellow as apposed to your June 8th Cpt. Antilles interrogation grade where they look less yellow and more naturally colored. Just a thought. 😃

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Nate D said:

DrDre said:

One final update before moving on to other shots:

Dre, I’m also curious about the balanced version… 😉

One humble suggestion on your final updated screen shots if I may:

It seems, particularly in shots 1 and 2 on line 4, that the stormtroopers look a bit too yellow as apposed to your June 8th Cpt. Antilles interrogation grade where they look less yellow and more naturally colored. Just a thought. 😃

I’ve made some adjustments, adding back some of the green for the Vader/Antilles shots, because I think, it looks more authentic. I’ll try to to work on the balanced version over the next few days:

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Thank you, Dre!! The balanced version is looking superb! Really like where you have the contrast and exposure in the Antilles interrogation–spot on. I can see when comparing your June 1st balance grade to this update that some of the “hot light” areas on Antilles’ face/hands and a few dark shots have been improved: excellent work!

One small suggestion if I may: the screenshot comparison link below compares your June 1st balance grade with today’s. I confess that I prefer the color of the June 1st a bit more. You can see particularly on line 4 shots 1 and 2 of the Antilles interrogation that the Stormtroopers seem to be a touch too green, yellow and red as apposed to the June 1st. Thoughts?

June 1st balance vs. June 11th balance: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/115175

Apart from that, this is looking SO good–excellent work as usual, Dre!

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Nate D said:

One small suggestion if I may: the screenshot comparison link below compares your June 1st balance grade with today’s. I confess that I prefer the color of the June 1st a bit more. You can see particularly on line 4 shots 1 and 2 of the Antilles interrogation that the Stormtroopers seem to be a touch too green, yellow and red as apposed to the June 1st. Thoughts?

June 1st balance vs. June 11th balance: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/115175

To me, the second grade is an improvemment. This scene was obviously not as contrasty as the first grade shows. But I think it could deserve to be a little warmer overall, IMO.

Can’t wait for the following shots however !

EDIT. There, an attempt : http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/F9FJNNNU

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I’m going to do one final pass for the technicolor and balanced versions, and then move on. 😃

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I actually like the June 11th subdued contrast and corrected exposure/under-exposures in the Antilles interrogation as apposed to the June 1st. You can see more shadow and black detail in Vader’s costume in the June 11th grade as apposed to June 1st.

I would not vote to add warmer tones to the balanced version because it causes the Stormtroopers to appear even more yellow where they should be whiter as in the June 1st grade. But in the end, I understand this is Dre’s call, and I will be happy with whatever he determines. 😃

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that looks marvelous! i think the cooler, greener, non-balanced grade is now my favorite.

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THANK YOU, Dre! These look fabulous! Really like the subtle exposure improvement in the Tantive IV scenes and tweaks in the Antilles interrogation. They can’t get any better than this–masterful job! 😃

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It’s funny. I had not realized how yellow the current color gradinghad become, even the so called balanced color grading, which in reality isn’t balanced at all. You look at these frames over and over, and your eyes start to adjust to it, until you look at another source, and you suddenly take notice. Thinking about this a bit, I think it’s actually not very smart to do it this way. It’s actually much better to start from a truly balanced base color grading, and then adjust that to a certain look (technicolor green cast, 70s lightbulb or otherwise) once the base color grading is complete.

So, here’s the base color grading for the two sets of frames:

By adding a 70s lightbulb effect, the frames can be made to look warmer and adhere closely to the look and feel of an ideal projected print:

By then adding a green cast, the frames can be made to adhere closely to the look and feel of a projected technicolor print.