Color Grading Suite: 5 Essential Elements
Efficiency, accuracy and comfort.
Those are the words that come to mind when I think of a professional color grading suite.
In this article I'm going to talk about 5 elements that I consider essential for a color correction/color grading suite.
1. Grading monitor
If I had to choose only one item from this list, I would choose the grading monitor without thinking twice.
Having the assurance that what you are seeing on your monitor is super accurate is priceless.
I remember the exact moment I made the big leap from a decent monitor to a professional one: It changes your life.
Here are some of the monitors that I feel are worth recommending:
Eizo CG2420 (entry level)
• Wide-Gamut LED IPS display with built in color calibration sensor for professional photography, design, print and post production.
• 24.1", 1920x1200 (16:10), 400 cd/m2 Brightness, 1500:1 Contrast Ratio, 99% Adobe RGB Coverage, 10 ms Response Time, DVI-D, DisplayPort, HDMI
• Five-year warranty and built to last and remain color accurate.
Eizo CG279X
• 27" In-Plane Switching (IPS) Panel
• 2560 x 1440 Native Resolution (16:9), 350 cd/m2, 1300:1 Typical Contrast Ratio, 10-Bit (1.07 Billion Colors)
99% Adobe RGB, 98% DCI-P3
Eizo CG319x
• 31.1" In-Plane Switching (IPS) HDR Panel
• Built-In Calibration Sensor & Software
• 4096 x 2160 Native Resolution
• 350 cd/m² Brightness, 1500:1 Static Contrast Ratio, 10-Bit Support for 1.07 Billion Colors
• 99% Adobe RGB & 98% DCI-P3 Color Spaces
2. Control surface
A color grading control surface makes you incredibly fast and productive.
When you work on a project, even if you don't realize it, you perform the exact same action hundreds of times.
The good news is that nobody is stopping you from doing all these operations using mouse and keyboard.
The bad news is that if you don't use a control surface, you'll be a lot slower and less effective.
Why?
Imagine having to perform the same action first on the mouse and then on the control surface.
Mouse: you need click 3 times + 2 side moves > 4 seconds
Surface: you need to make 1 click only. > 1 second
If you saved 3 seconds for a single action, imagine how much time you will save by performing several actions hundreds of times in each session.
Here are some of the control surfaces that I would recommend:
Tangent Ripple (entry level)
• 3 trackerballs with dials for masters.
• High resolution optical pick-ups for the balls and dials.
• Independent reset buttons for the balls and dials.
• Programmable A and B buttons.
• USB powered with integral cable.
Blackmagic Micro Panel
• A high quality, portable low profile panel that features three high resolution trackballs and 12 precision machined control knobs for accessing all essential primary color correction tools
• The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is fully powered via USB so you can simply plug and play to get up and running. Power over USB means you can use it with a laptop and it will operate from the laptop’s battery, making it ideal for on set grading
Blackmagic Mini Panel
• 3 high resolution weighted trackballs
• 12 control knobs dedicated to the powerful primary color correction tools
• 18 dedicated navigation and transport keys
• Upper deck with two 5-inch screens, 8 soft knobs and 8 soft buttons, dedicated keys for switching tools, working with nodes, grabbing stills, navigating the timeline and more.
3. Streamdeck
The streamdeck is nothing more than an external programmable keypad.
You need to know that control surfaces, however complete they may be, suffer from a lack of certain functions that you could use frequently and that would save you time.
You can then use the stream deck as an extension of the control surface, assigning to each key all the functions you need.
You can buy my custom Stream Deck XL profile HERE
Elgato Stream Deck
• 15 LCD keys: Tap to switch scenes, launch media, adjust audio and more
• Fully customizable: Personalize keys with custom icons or choose from hundreds
• Direct integration: Control game capture, OBS, XSplit, TipeeeStream, Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and more
• Easy setup: simply drag and drop actions onto keys in the app
• Unlimited control: Nest folders within folders to store as many actions as you want
4. Backlight
Colorists are vampires, that's common knowledge.
When you find yourself working several hours in the dark, with only monitor lights shining on your face, your eyes are easily stressed.
How come?
The difference in luminance between your monitor and the darkness in the grading room creates a sharp contrast that your eyes can hardly manage, especially in very long color grading sessions.
The backlight is a led strip that is applied on the back of the grading monitor and, reflecting on the wall, allows you to reduce the strong contrast that was created.
Be careful!
The accuracy of the backlight is very important.
If you want to work professionally, you cannot use any led strip.
Some LED strips may have colour dominants that would alter your perception of colours, making you make bad decisions.
This is the backlight I use and I feel like I can advise you:
MediaLight Eclipse
• High-accuracy 6500K CCT (Correlated Colour Temperature) Colour Rendering Index (CRI) of 93
• 5V USB Powered (can be powered by any TV, display or computer with a USB 3.0 port)
• Included PWM dimmer (non-remote control version)
• Peel and stick authentic 3M mounting adhesive
• 5 Year Limited Warranty
5. Water bottle
Hydration is everything!
Dehydration will tire you out easily, be less reactive, think unthinking and make questionable decisions.
If you want to survive grading sessions and keep a responsive mind, water is one of your best friends.
Download The Ultimate Guide to Building a Professional Color Grading Suite!
Building a professional grading suite may seem like child's play.
Apparently, everyone knows what to do.
If you think you already know everything about building a professional grading suite... congratulations! This product is not for you.
If, on the other hand, you want to build your own grading suite and find out all the elements you will really need to work better, attract clients and differentiate yourself from the crowd, this guide will become your Bible.
Investing a fistful of money to get pointed in the right direction is better than losing a truckload trying to find it on your own over months/years of searching.
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