Interfacing with a Digital Colorist: 7 Things You Need to Know!
So, you need color correction/color grading for your project, but you’ve never worked with a colorist?
Wouldn’t you like to learn how to interface with and work with a colorist in order to properly tackle that vital part of the post-production video?
If your answer is yes, then that’s great!
Before we start, remember this one tip: We’re all human. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes!
Take a look at these 7 recommendations to make sure that you step into the color grading suite fully prepared:
1 - Picture lock
Make sure that by the time you walk into the color room, everyone is happy and the project has reached the picture lock stage.
“Picture lock” means that the video that you are giving to the colourist will not undergo any further modifications.
Working on a project that could change halfway through only means one thing: extra costs.
Imagine that you wanted to add or change 4 or 5 clips a few days after your project has been colored.
The colorist will charge you for the time required to work on the project again and colour the 4 or 5 additional clips.
In addition to this, it’s very likely that these modifications will involve other departments as well, like vfx, audio, etc.
2 - File preparation and organization
Follow your colorist’s instructions for sending the materials and create a well-organized and intuitive file structure.
It seems like a statement of the obvious, but it happens - sometimes you’ll receive very disorganised files.
3 - Know your software
Sometimes, due to workflow demands, you will need to export files like XML, AAF, or implement an export using specific wrappers or codecs.
These are really very basic processes and yet you often come across professionals who are incapable of carrying them out without the help of their colorist.
4 - Choose your references carefully
In 99% of cases, the colorist will ask you for some images/videos to use as a reference to get an idea of the look that you are going for.
Make sure that you choose appropriate references which are in line with the project that you have filmed.
The best approach is to choose the references before filming, so that you can film with your prepared reference stills in mind.
One time, I was working on a videoclip shot entirely at night, and the reference images they sent me were taken from a video shot on an extremely sunny day!
5 - Look lock
If you don’t have the faintest clue of what look to give your project, the colorist will give you some different looks to choose from.
Take all the time you need to carefully select which look you are going to give your project.
Once you’ve made your choice, make sure that you don’t change your mind halfway through.
Changing your mind will just mean wasting time and money.
6 - Communication
Sometimes, communication is a problem and you know what? It’s nobody’s fault!
What you think is a very sunny day, I might see as a fairly dull day.
Something that you think isn’t saturated enough, might look over-saturated to me.
Sometimes, on the other hand, you might just find it difficult to express an abstract concept in technical language.
Make sure that you communicate through images as much as possible.
If you find it difficult to express a concept, show the colorist any references that you have.
When you communicate through images, it’s practically impossible to misunderstand each other.
7 - Expectations
Make sure that your expectations are based on the quality of the shots that you have supplied and the budget that you have available.
If you’ve shot a Hollywood film, then you can expect a Hollywood film.
If all you’ve done is film a paper boat on a puddle, don’t expect the next Titanic.
Conclusion
I hope that this article has helped you to understand how to interface as smoothly as possible with a digital colorist, and tackle that all-important part of the post-production video more calmly!
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