This time, we are staying on the subject of editing, and what we’d love to know is: If you could easily do so, what editing platform would you move to?

Here is an anecdote. When Johnnie from our team was born, he got an Adobe Premiere 4.0 license tied to his hospital bed (we’re joking). Long story short, many of us are hooked on working with editing software that we were “born into”. This is the software that we know inside out and can edit with blindly or even with both hands cuffed…

But, is there an editing software you would like to move to? And if so, which one would it be? And not less importantly, up until now, why haven’t you? From our experience, it is always easy to go back and edit on software you are familiar working with. Also, learning a new editing platform is a “time-consuming thing”, and “free time” is a limited resource for many.

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This poll will hopefully let us know what editing platform you consider working with in the future, and (if you are kind enough to share with us in the comment section below) what’s preventing you from doing so. We will learn even more and can try thinking of a solution that can help with migrating from one editing platform to another in an easier way.

Let’s pause the camera-related questions for now (Don’t worry, we will be back with additional polls soon). It’s time to shift our focus to the other side of the equation: editing…

Here at CineD, we handle the editing of all our reviews and other video content internally. However, as our publishing frequency increases, we get to occasionally collaborate with our colleagues’ editors, which is always a fascinating experience. Now many of us, including those with whom we are working closely, have their own preferred editing software. Some love the speed of editing, others love the stability of the editing software, many don’t like to pay a monthly subscription fee (next week’s poll topic), and the rest don’t really care – just give them the freedom to be creative and they will perform on whatever platform they have to edit on.

But what about you? We are truly very curious to know what your current editing software is. For the options below, we chose the current leading editing platforms. And yes, we are aware of other market alternatives, for example, Wondershare Filmora, Pinnacle Studio, Movavi, Corel, Apple iMovie, and CyberLink Power Director. If you are using any of these, please feel free to mention it in the comment sections below.

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Last but not least, if you feel like letting us know WHY you use the editing software you just voted for, that would be great! We are truly excited to learn more about our audience’s preferences.

Making a film is a collaborative process that can involve ten or even hundreds of people who need to communicate in order to achieve their common goal – to make a high-quality visual on time and under budget. A colorist is one of those crew members in post-production who is responsible for getting the most out of the image to support the story by enhancing the creative vision of the director and cinematographer.

Ideally, each and every person involved in film production should be thinking ahead while working. Their aim should be to deliver optimal results and enhance workflow efficiency, ultimately saving time and money. In this article, we will cover the best industry standard practices for transferring the final cut of the project from the editor to the colorist.

Responsibilities 

Depending on the size of the production, different people in different positions are responsible for preparing the picture-locked timeline for color grading from editorial, as well as receiving and conforming the timeline on the colorist’s side. In large-scale productions, there can be an assistant video editor or online editor, for example, who is, in fact, a super organized, knowledgeable geek. They are able to foresee any possible issues in the conforming and finishing stages. In small-size projects, editors and colorists themselves may be responsible for exchanging the materials and metadata. 

The way the project is prepared for color grading may depend on whether finishing and mastering will be done at the color grading facility or if there will be a round trip back to editorial. The post-production supervisor or head of the pipeline may be responsible for developing and supporting the pipeline and workflow. 

Ideally, the total project pipeline should be tested during pre-production, from image acquisition and archiving, data management and syncing, generating offline proxies and editing, to color management for VFX and color grading, finishing, and mastering.  

Variables and options 

There are a number of professional NLEs, compositing, 3D modeling, color grading, and finishing apps commonly used in the industry, for example, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro for editing, and FilmLight Baselight and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading. This time, we will mostly review the collaboration between the editor and colorist working in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve Studio, respectively. 

The two most commonly used ways for delivering the project to a colorist are: 

1. Total timeline render in ProRes/DNxHR + EDL
   
2. Trimmed Original Camera Files (OCFs) + CG/VFX EXR files + XML + Reference video.
   

The first option is very limited and is preferred for fast turnaround projects that were originally captured in somewhat compressed formats, which did not involve extensive visual effects workflow.
The second option is more versatile and can be used for grading RAW media. 

The list

I encourage you to save the following list and use it as a reference whenever you need it. Feel free to update it according to your workflow. 

In detail 

Let’s shed some light on the requirements listed above, find out why they are so important, and how following these recommendations can optimize and simplify post-production making it more seamless. 

A. DATA REQUIRED: 

1. Picture locked reference video file with soundtrack and Burned-in Program Timecode, Source File Name & File Path, Source Timecode, 1920x1080p25, ProRes Proxy, mov (File name example: sdc_s01e01_cheeky_pancakes_1920x1080p25_proresproxy_20230715_locke d.mov)

Picture-locked status means no further edits (and ideally, there shouldn’t be any) will be made from that point onward. The director can be the person to lock the picture. Prior to rendering, the burn-in metadata is added to show the correct program (record) timecode of the final cut, individual source (clip) file names, file paths, and timecodes to help in case of manual conforming. The resolution of 1920×1080 is more than enough to judge the framing and other attributes of each frame in the final cut. Being an intra-frame codec, ProRes is perfect for real-time playback and Proxy flavor does not take up much disk space. We should also pay attention to naming conventions throughout the project. 

2. XML / DRT / DRP of a ready-to-conform timeline of the locked edit 

XML is one of the most widespread formats for exchanging timeline metadata. It holds each clip’s timecode and other clips’ timeline attributes. It’s even better if the editor can send the DaVinci Resolve Timeline (.drt) or DaVinci Resolve Project (.drp) file to speed up the conforming process. Note that DaVinci Resolve is free to download. 

3. Original Camera Files and all video and raster still assets in original duration or trimmed + 25 frames handles 

To save a good chunk of storage and time required for cloud uploading/downloading, it is advisable to data manage the timeline and include handles for transitions, restoration, or minor, final editing tweaks. Upload not only the OCFs but also all the visual assets utilized in the timeline, including stock footage, stills, logos, etc.

4. Notes on the Color Space / Gamut and Tone Curve / Gamma / Transfer Function of all the assets excluding RAW files 

Setting up color management properly greatly speeds up color grading and provides mathematically correct color rendition. This is why we need to know the color-related specs of the original camera files. However, this does not apply to RAW media as it is managed automatically on de-bayering. 

5. Visual color references in the form of stills or video clips 

Color grading is both a technical and a creative process. The director, cinematographer, and production designer contribute their input to the project while on the set. To support their creative intent, visual references as well as live client sessions help a lot. 

6. Round trip technical requirements for file rendering after color grading 

When sending graded files back to the editor or finishing artist, certain specific requirements might be required.

B. TIMELINE REQUIREMENTS:

1. The duration of the timeline matches the duration of the reference video clip (see A.1.) 

Timeline, timecode, and duration should match the reference clip to help visual check.

In Figure 5, the reference video duration (left viewer) and timeline duration (right viewer) do not match because there are odd clips at the end of the timeline. 

2. Timeline Start TC is 01:00:00:00 

One extra hour at the beginning of the timeline may be necessary for the technical needs of the broadcast, e.g. to add color bars before the actual program. 

3. All clips in the timeline are linked to the original files (not proxies) 

This is a desirable but optional step that can potentially help in avoiding any possible conforming issues while re-linking OCFs. 

4. Number of video tracks is the minimum possible (ideally 1 track) 

Compare timelines in Figure 5 (on import) and Figure 4 (after conforming was completed). Ideally, it should look like the final version right from the start (upon import), so the colorist won’t have to spend hours relinking and synchronizing clips with missing elements or corrupted timecodes.

5. Each camera model OCFs, CG shots, and Titles are placed on individual video tracks 

When working with multicam edits or in situations involving extensive CG/VFX workflow, it’s advisable to organize assets with different color characteristics on individual video tracks. 

6. CG shots are delivered in ACES AP0 Linear on an object basis or fore, middle, and background basis with alpha channel or have matte files attached 

Depending on the CG workflow, certain shots might necessitate targeted color grading adjustments on specific parts of the image. Therefore, mattes or alternative options should be supplied for these shots. 

7. Single empty soundtrack and no empty video tracks 

Any odd empty tracks add extra complexity. The absence of audio clips and unnecessary empty video/audio tracks can potentially simplify the conforming process. A stereo audio clip can be added from the reference video clip later if needed. 

8. All effects are turned off (the list of effects to be reproduced is provided with start and end TC) 

XML can carry over some basic effects but the chance that it will be reproduced incorrectly is pretty high. In order to save time, it’s advisable to turn off all the effects, e.g. retiming, stabilization, blur, etc. When finished, they can be added from scratch or copied from the editor’s timeline, depending on the workflow. 

9. High frame rate clips moved to a separate video track without retiming applied 

As a part of the previous suggestion, when retiming is off, the clip duration can be affected. These clips have to be moved to the track above in their original duration. Retiming may be applied later. 

10. For Adobe Premiere Pro Position/Scale is done in the Effect Controls panel only, Scale to Frame Size for all clips is turned off before editing begins 

This is essential if the project needs to make a round trip back to the editor. Scale to Frame Size rasterizes the image once applied, hence interpolation may occur if the Scale is set at higher than 100%. 

11. No Nested Clips 

Nested clips might possess unpredictable attributes that XML can’t transfer correctly. Therefore, a better approach would involve decomposing these clips or rendering them in place and then relinking new intermediate files (refer to B.14).

12. No irrelevant markers 

Any irrelevant markers can be confusing unless they were made specifically for colorists and should carry important notes on grading. 

13. LUTs are turned off 

Color references may also be baked into the reference video clip (see A.1.) but all the Lumetri corrections and LUTs must be turned off in the timeline provided to the colorist as they will eventually interfere with overall color grading, especially if a round trip is involved. 

14. All Intermediate assets are provided in a correct Color Space / Gamma 

The rule of thumb is that the output color space / tonal curve is the same as the input. For example, if you have to render in place, the output color space / tonal curve should remain the same. When dealing with CG, the color space can be expanded to ACES AP0 Linear, and corresponding notes should be provided to the colorist. 

15. XML Export Report without errors 

Adobe Premiere Pro creates a report each time you export XML. All the errors in this report, if any, should be corrected in editorial. 

16. Check XML before handoff 

An optional step is to create an empty project and import the XML that was just generated to check for any possible errors before uploading. 

17. Each new version is marked with suffix _v02, _v03, _v04, etc. 18. File name example: 

sdc_s01e01_cheeky_pancakes_20230715_locked_tocolor_v01.xml 

File/Folder/Bin names should remain coherent, even if the project is accessed five years later by a new editor. Refer to common file naming conventions by Netflix. 

Conclusion 

Colorists, editors, assistants, DITs, dailies techs, post supers, producers, directors, and cinematographers – they must work closely together and typically have good relationships because their teamwork is important.

In this article, we discussed the most effective way for editors and colorists to collaborate, aiming to simplify the entire post-production process and conserve energy, time, and resources.

Each project is different, so it’s important to keep improving your workflow. Do not hesitate to ask for advice and ensure your post-production runs like clockwork.

You can reach out to Mike, or find out more about his work, here: http://facebook.com/michaelstarkovsky, http://instagram.com/mikestarkov, http://twitter.com/mikestarkov, https://linkedin.com/in/mikestarkov.

Is your workflow similar to what was described here? Do you have additional tips to share with us? Comments are welcomed in the section below.

Let’s face it: Premiere Pro is rarely the software of choice when it comes to color management and grading. More often than not, users choose other options available on the market or get specialized plugins like the zero-cost Colourlab Freelab, which we described here.

Yet, Adobe knows the drill and is constantly working to improve in this area. Since they included the support of ARRIRAW in their editing software last autumn, a few other iterations followed. Among them were, for example, GPU acceleration and performance boost for the workflow, which allowed ARRIRAW to be played back in real-time without transcoding or proxies (and to export it up to 15x faster). Now, the company also promises new features that will make every sequence in your ARRI footage look great.

Color management for ARRIRAW in Adobe Premiere Pro 23.6

The new color management features for your workflow with ARRIRAW, added in the 23.6 update, are optional. To access them, go to “Interpret Footage” – “Color”. Now, in the “Color Settings”, you can either use the automatically detected Log C media color space, change it, or apply an input LUT. No matter which color space you might select for your sequence, Premiere Pro will convert your footage to match it.

In addition to this, you can go to the Effect Controls panel, select “Source”, and adjust the RAW controls for exposure, white balance, and tint directly in the settings.

What is ARRIRAW and how is it different from other formats?

ARRIRAW is ARRI’s format for uncompressed, unencrypted, and unprocessed sensor data. As the company claims, you can consider it as a digital version of the camera negative. It is also the only format that fully retains the camera’s natural color response and exposure latitude, which is, of course, an amazing starting point for color grading.

If you want to better understand this codec and the specifics of ARRIRAW and how it works, have a look at our thorough guide here. Even if you don’t film with ARRI cameras, it will give you an in-depth understanding of camera sensors and photosites, bit depth, data compression, and color.

Other color management improvements in Premiere Pro

In case you missed it, over the past year, Adobe also introduced other improvements to color in their editing software. For example, the Premiere Pro 23.3 featured a newly-added Automatic Tone Mapping, which allows mixing and matching footage from different cameras in the same SDR timeline, plus editing and color grading those clips without extra steps. The tool supports HDR video, like iPhone HLG, as well as log codecs, including Sony S-Log, Canon C-Log, and Panasonic V-Log.

Since the 23.3 version, Auto Tone Mapping is on by default. So, turn off this feature in the sequence settings if you want to work with LUTs.

Premiere Pro is available for update

Adobe Premiere Pro 23.6 is now available for download from the Creative Cloud desktop app.

Do you often work with ARRIRAW in Adobe Premiere Pro? Did you notice a difference in your workflow since the GPU de-Bayering? How do you feel about the improved color management for raw footage in the latest software update? Please, let us know in the comments below.

Feature image source: Adobe.

From organizing your footage to editing, color correction, titles, transition, audio mixing, exporting, and more, there is everything you need in one place. This course includes over 25 hours of course content and allows you to easily understand Premiere Pro as you work at your own pace.

Go to Learn Everything in Premiere Pro now and start watching the first 3 lessons for free.

What’s included?

• Section #1: Get Started
• Section #2: Organise Footage
• Section #3: Edit A Project
• Section #4: Apply Transitions
• Section #5: Audio Edit & Mix
• Section #6: Colour Grade
• Section #7: Add Titles
• Section #8: Export & Deliver 
• Section #9: Tips & Tricks
• Section #10: Understand Stock Media
• Section #11: Collaborate with a Pro
• Section #12: Make it a Career 
• Section #13: Create Your Brand

Be guided through each section of Premiere Pro as Digby makes sure you understand the ins and outs of everything you need to know. You’re in the safest of hands with Digby, as a Senior Editor, he has worked with some of the biggest brands and clients from around the globe and now you get to learn from one of the best.

About Digby Hogan

Digby is an established Senior Editor and Director from Brisbane, Australia. He has been in the Film & TV industry since his late teens and has worked on projects for clients like Google, Paypal, Youtube, eBay, and Adobe, just to name a few.

In 2014, he co-founded his own post-production facility based around a collective of young creatives. He teaches professionally about editing and moviemaking on several online training outlets and in 2021, founded his own company specializing in online training. Aside from editing, directing, and instructing, he is obsessed with all things aviation which he likes to share his adventures on his social media channels.

Benefits of being part of the MZed family

Join MZed Pro now and get instant access to MZed’s extensive library of over 300 hours of professional filmmaking advice, with many world-renowned filmmakers, directors, and cinematographers as educators.

An MZed Pro Membership Includes:

• 600+ expertly-taught lessons
• 43 courses, from craft-based to technical, across almost every filmmaking discipline
• 300+ hours of the world’s best education for filmmakers
• $9500+ Combined course value
• Industry Certification for many courses upon completion
• iOS app to watch courses and lessons anywhere with offline viewing
• Monthly Giveaways (MZed Pro members are automatically entered to win)
• Up to 50% Discounts to partners such as FilmConvert, Vimeo, and Musicbed
• Free LUT package worth $49
• Free “Anamorphic on a Budget” ebook worth $24.95

Join MZed Pro now and become the best storyteller and editor you can be with Digby Hogan’s “Learn EVERYTHING” course!

What do you think about this new MZed Pro course? What would you like to learn about Adobe Premiere Pro? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Adobe still seems to be keeping up its impressive momentum of monthly release announcements, the latest of which has optimized Audition for Apple M1 Macs, further improved captions in Premiere Pro, and more. Let’s take a closer look:

What’s New in Adobe Audition 14.2

The big news is that Audition now runs natively on Apple M1 systems, providing improved performance for recording and mixing high-quality audio content, such as podcasts, broadcast, sound design, audio restoration, and more. (Adobe released the first beta of Premiere Pro for M1 Macs back in December 2020).

Notable gains include faster mixdowns, audio effects rendering, and near-real time updates in the Spectral Display Editor.

There are, however, a couple of limitations to running Adobe Audition on M1 Macs. Audition on M1 does not currently support EUCON control surfaces or CEP extension panels. CD burning is also not available and not all video codecs are currently supported.

Other Adobe Audition 14.2 features include:

• The new Strip Silence tool. This looks like a huge time saver, allowing anyone to remove all silences from recorded clips, without losing synchronization in multitrack audio. It’s perfect for cleaning up voice recordings, interviews, and preparing multi-track edits, such as podcasts or audio documentary content.

• The new Loudness Meter. This provides industry-standard ITU-based loudness monitoring for broadcast, podcast, and streaming media content, supporting common regional loudness requirements and compatibility with Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Netflix and YouTube. This will replace the previous Loudness Radar.

What’s New in Adobe Premiere Pro 15.2

Aside from the new Loudness Meter, which is also now available in Premiere Pro, other new features include:

• Text Gradients which have been added into the Essential Graphics Panel. These gradients can then be saved and reused as Styles for text.

• Premire Pro 15 introduced a great new captions workflow. V15.2 brings even further improvements including Label Colors options, which have been added for captions as for other items on the timeline.

• Caption trimming has also been optimized as captions are now linked to their associated clips. This means you can much more easily fine-tune edits while keeping captions completely in sync on the timeline. Selecting, moving, trimming, and blade edits will be applied to video, audio, and captions simultaneously. Linking can be turned off with the Linked Selection tool in the timeline.

• Performance improvements like smoother playback and scrubbing as well as faster seeking have been integrated for Canon F HEVC.

• And finally, Premiere Pro now supports DirectX12 display technology, allowing for native High Dynamic Range (HDR) playback for Premiere Pro with HDR10-capable monitors and a DirectX-compatible GPU.

Learn more about all the new Audition features here, and the new Premiere Pro features here, and let us know what you think below.

At first glance the TourBox console is a very strange device. It fits roughly in my hand, has an unusually organic shape, a USB-C port on the back and lots of buttons, dials and wheels scattered all over its surface. So what is it exactly?

What is a Control Panel?

What is sitting on my desk here for the last month or so is called a control panel or control surface. Think of a dedicated, specialized keyboard for speeding up your workflow for all kinds of different tasks. Each and every button, dial, knob and wheel can be programmed and customized using the TourBox Console software. Even combinations of multiple inputs are possible.

Basically, TourBox is a second keyboard next to your normal one. It acts just like it but has different input controls for specialized tasks such as a wheel for scrubbing a timeline or a knob for adjusting the size of a brush.

There are plenty of very different control panels out there: Blackmagic Design offers a giant $30.000 surface (and two variants less expensive) for exclusive use with their DaVinci Resolve NLE/FX/Audio/Color suite. Elgato has different variants of their popular Stream Deck on display. And Loupedeck offers several dedicated consoles for Adobe Lightroom as well as the superb Loupedeck CT, reviewed here.

The thing with all these different products is this: Most of them are very specialized products, tailored around one specific application. This is great if you set up a color correction workstation where nothing else than DaVinci Resolve is installed. The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel along with the Editors Keyboard will serve you well, no questions asked. But these two devices are no good for anything else. A choice needs to be made here.

Moving to more generic surfaces, Elgato’s StreamDeck line of programmable devices, loaded with LCD keys, can handle virtually any application you throw at them. Same goes for the Loupedeck CT. You can create profiles for different apps, auto-switch between them, program each and every detail of the control surface

TourBox Control Panel

TourBox is a bit different. It is simpler and I mean this in a very positive way. Somehow it manages to strip away complexity, helps you develop muscle memory, and since it is a somewhat tiny device, it won’t clutter your desk as much as other surfaces.

Once unpacked, I immediately noticed the weight of the unit, it is not as light as I had anticipated. It’s not super heavy either, but it certainly won’t slip around on your desk once you touch it.

The one thing most noticeable about the TourBox is its unusual shape. It measures roughly 11cm x 10cm (4.33″ x 3.94″) and all of its edges are very rounded and smooth. The surface is covered with a rubberized material which, although nice to the touch, could wear out over time.

Buttons, Dials, Knobs

The unit is meant to be used with your left hand. I developed the habit of having it angled by 45° clockwise although I think most other reviewers and users use it angled 45° counter-clockwise. With my setup, this is how my fingers work the TourBox: Thumb on C1, C2, Tall Button, Short Button, directional pad, Tour Button and even the Dial. Index finger and thumb on the Knob, index finger on the Top Button. Middle finger on the Scroll Wheel (which can be clicked too) and ring finger on the Side Button.

With this “setup” my thumb moves quite a bit of course but for me it works better that way than placing the pinky on the Side Button. The position of that Side Button is bit weird I think and would suggest moving it next to the USB-C port instead but maybe that’s just me.

To pre-empt the conclusion a bit: I think the unique layout of the very different knobs, dials and buttons, each one individually shaped and placed, is the most significant advantage of the TourBox over most other (multi-purpose) control surfaces. You don’t have to remember a single thing, you can feel which button is where. After a few days it’s just muscle memory, really. Although the device looks a bit strange at first sight, well here is the point of it all, and I think it works just great!

Let’s talk a little bit about hardware here. The device itself feels great, it has a good weight and seems to be well made. However, the buttons are a bit too clicky for my taste and the knob and dial could use a good lubrication. They feel a bit too much like plastic and they grind a little. It’s not super bad, but the knob for example doesn’t feel nearly as solid and smooth as the large dial on the Loupedeck CT. The clicking sound of the buttons is somewhat hollow and sounds similar to that of a computer mouse. I would have preferred a somewhat fuller sound. But in the end it’s just the sound, the function itself is flawless.

The Software

TourBox comes with its own dedicated software, called TourBox Console. Installing it on a Mac (macOS Catalina 10.15.7) is a bit weird, since you first need to install a driver and then, in the second step, install the software itself. Also, on at least a Mac, you need to add the software to the accessibility list so that it can “control your computer” (which is a scary necessity for control surfaces to work). In the end everything worked as expected and TourBox Console is ready to go.

The app’s window is divided in three sections, Preset List, Preset Settings and a graphical overview of the unit for reference.

Everything looks clean and most of the functions work really intuitively. One super helpful aspect of the app is that you can click or drag a button on the device to highlight it in the software. This way you are instantly ready to assign any shortcut to a specific button, dial or knob without having to scroll through the entire list each time. Neat!

The unit comes with pre-loaded mappings for Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Premiere (one for Edit and one for Color workflows). But you can create up to 30 custom presets on your own or you can browse the quite extensive library of community presets over at tourboxtech.com. You’ll find presets for Affinity Photo, Final Cut Pro, Capture ONE, DaVinci Resolve and even for Chrome!

Everything is customizable. You can map keystrokes, key combinations such as CMD-ALT-x or a left click on the mouse or SHIFT-MouseScroll Reverse, anything you like.

Furthermore, combinations of different keys are possible, too. Tall Button + C1 could refer to a different shortcut that just the Tall Button. The TourBox Console offers a few neat tricks to make this possible: You can tell a button to only send the command after releasing that button. That way the software can distinguish between a press on a single button and a combination of two buttons.

Let me give you an example: In Premiere the Tall Button could set the timeline zoom to 100%. The Tall Button in combination with C1 zooms in, and together with C2 it zooms out. You can even set it to be continuous if you keep pressing the button(s). The Tall Button is set to only send the “zoom to 100%” command when realeased so it won’t set the zoom to 100% the second you press it although you wanted to zoom in using the Tall Button together with C1. All this really works flawlessly und very smoothly. Well done!

Working the software is really a joy since it’s so easy to understand. Programming the unit can be a bit tedious of course but you only have to do it once. It can be set to auto-switch too the application you’re running and it offers an opaque overlay of the Dpad so you can see which tools or shortcuts are mapped to it. I personally barely used that HUD overlay but if you need it, it’s there.

Working with TourBox

Working with this TourBox console really sped up my workflow. Such a tiny device makes quite an impact on my daily routines. Working a timeline in DaVinci Resolve, editing photos in Affinity Photo for CineD. Everything works very smoothly and most things I can do without touching the mouse and search for controls on the screen. Editing a photo, cropping it, retouching it a bit becomes very fast and easy using the TourBox and a mouse. Working with NLEs, especially with the newly introduced Adobe Premiere preset lets me work with just the TourBox and my keyboard, I barely have to reach for the mouse.

The best thing, and I have said it before, is the size of the unit and the fact that each button is uniquely shaped and placed. Muscle memory all the way. The Loupedeck CT may be more powerful and much more versatile in a way but the ease of use of the TourBox is yet to be beaten.

Pros: Great size and weight, perfect for traveling. Intuitive layout, almost perfectly placed controls. Ergonomic shape and nice to the touch. TourBox increased my workflow significantly without a steep learning curve at all. Just work with it for a little bit and you’ll find yourself right at home. The software is great, very intuitive and easy to use. Set it up once and forget it. No manual needed

Cons: Buttons are a bit clicky and the dial and knob feel a bit cheap. The soft-touch coating might wear out over time. It’s USB-C only, no Bluetooth. This might be a nice upgrade for future iterations. The placement of the Side Button seems a bit odd to me.

Conclusion

This control surface is one to keep. It is easy to use and yet powerful in its functions. You really don’t even need to look at it in order to use it. Since it takes up very little space on your desk, it disappears somewhat, but still helps you speed up your workflow. It is really this simplicity that makes TourBox very appealing to me. The ability to create presets for almost any application you can imagine is super helpful and the built-in presets work great, I never had any issues with them.

Of course the pre-programmed presets have deeper functionality than the custom presets because TourBox could use Adobes API to access advanced tools like “HighlightTint.Y” for example, but I think that over time they will add more presets wherever they get access to the corresponding APIs.

All in all I was a bit sceptical when I started working with the TourBox panel but the oddity is its biggest strength, really. It’s super versatile, tiny enough to take with me everywhere and powerful enough to get the job done.

The Tourbox control surface sells for $169 but TourBox tech was nice enough to provide us with a coupon code with which you, our valued readers, can purchase a TourBox 2020 panel for $10 off. Just use the coupon code TB20201117NL on checkout over at their store.

Link: tourboxtech.com

Full disclosure: TourBox Tech sent me a TourBox at no cost. However, they did not ask for a particular opinion or anything other than my own thoughts about it, nor did they pay any money for this review.

What do you think? Might the TourBox something you would consider to try? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Collaboration between Avid and Adobe

Switching between Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere was possible, but not without barriers. To make it easier sharing projects between two systems, Avid and Adobe are partnering to bring a new collaborative, silo-free environment for media production.

At the moment, there is some integration between Avid Media Composer and Avid Adobe Premiere. With the current version of MediaCentral and Adobe Creative Cloud, it is possible to switch between both systems. You can find information on the Avid and Adobe Websites.

Official Launch of a new Version of Avid MediaCentral

On Thursday, 24th September, Avid will launch a new version of MediaCentral, with more possibilities to share sequences, projects, and folders without ever leaving Premiere Pro. The new MediaCentral panel for Adobe Premiere Pro lets the user browse, search, access, and edit content and metadata across local and remote databases. The launching event will take place virtually via Zoom, you can reserve your place on the Avid Website.

We will follow the launch event and bring you all the information here at CineD.

You can register for the virtual launch event on the Avid Website.

The events is taking place virtually on Thursday, 24th September 2020:
11:00 AM – LosAngeles – (PDT)
2:00 PM – New York – (EDT)
7:00 PM – London – (BST)
8:00 PM – Paris, Berlin – (CST)

What do you think about the integration between Avid and Adobe? Do you have experience working with both systems or switching between both systems? Let us know your experience and what you wish for a more silo-free workflow by leaving comments below.

LOG grading in Final Cut Pro X. Image credit: cinema5D

The purpose of using LOG gamma is to record as much of the Dynamic Range a camera sensor produces into the file that gets recorded to card. This file is a normal 8- or 10-bit file that is recorded in the camera’s codec and must not be confused with RAW data (which is a completely different beast).

If you look at the image below you can see that the Dynamic Range of the scene is smaller than the Dynamic Range the codec could record. Thus leaving “headroom” below what was black in the scene (blue line) in front of the camera ad what was white (red line). In a way, the camera redistributes (squeezes) brightness values together towards the middle of the histogram.

Typical Histogram of Video recorded in LOG

If you put footage that has had it’s brightness values distributed on a LOG curve (like in the image above) into a timeline that expects blacks to be at 0% (green line) and white at 100% (orange line), then it’s perfectly clear that the “scenes blacks” are way above (and thus grey) the “timelines black” level and the “scenes whites” are way below “timeline white” (and thus light grey).

So basically all you need to do is to bring down the blacks and bring up the whites so that what the camera “saw” as black and white is where the timeline “expects” black and white to be. The midtones theoretically fall into place automatically, if the image is technically exposed correctly (18% grey exposed at 40 IRE).

We as Cinematographers

If we do not want to expose technically correct most of the time, we deliberately under- or overexpose the skin tones depending on the mood and look of the scene. That’s why the midtones have to be put manually where we want them to be.

Depending on how you lower the blacks and raise the whites you might need to add saturation to the image for it to look correctly. That’s it!

In order to properly convert or “normalize” footage so that it looks correctly, camera manufacturers provide LUTs (Lookup Tables) that can be applied to the clips inside an NLE and make them look contrasty and colorful again.

You can think of those LUTs as “frozen” color correction, so by design, those LUTs simply take an input value and “stupidly” convert it into an output value. If your footage is technically exposed correctly and you put on any old X-LOG to REC.709 LUT, your footage will look as if shot with a 709 gamma, but the LUT will not compensate if the material is accidentally or purposefully under- or overexposed.

8-Bit LOG files are generally soft and not as aggressive as their 10-bit counterparts. That means they need less shifting around brightness values and look almost normal to start with (Canon C-Log or DJI D-Cinelike for example), nevertheless they need the same adjustments that more aggressive flavours of LOG — just a bit less. That’s due to the fact that 8-Bit codecs “fall apart” very easily when you push them a bit too far. Thankfully 8-Bit codecs are finally on their way to the “happy hunting grounds” or wherever dead codecs go.

The Big Benefit of Manual LOG Grading

The benefit is that you keep complete control and can compensate for deliberate or accidental over- or under exposure to balance your image for editing or before you start your creative grade.

It’s a relatively easy process and you need to know only the basic color correction tools in your NLE and be familiar with a waveform scope.

You can correctly de-LOG footage by looking at your scopes without the need for a video I/O device and a display calibrated to your timeline color space. However, I really recommend getting the hardware for serious color correction work.

Additional Video Editing Quick Tips:

DaVinci Resolve Chroma Key on Color Page

DaVinci Resolve Basics of Using LUTs

DaVinci Resolve White Balancing

If you have thoughts, comments, or tips of your own, please put them in the comments. If you have an idea for a future Quick Tip Video, by all means, let us know!