Apple Color

Michal Grabowski · February 13, 2008

in the new final cut studio they've added the grading tool, color, i've been playing around with it for last couple of days and it's seems to have huge possibilites. I'm wondering where is the catch, cause it offers more than lustre from what i've seen, it works in 2k and is rediculously cheap.

It really sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Adrian Sierkowski · February 13, 2008

The only problem I've run into with it so far is it quitting on occasion, and I"m not a fan of the interface. Also, I haven't seen it yet, hooked to a proper monitor, but It's definitely a lot better than the old 3-way!

Rendering still sucks though. . . But it's a nice little program.

Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC · February 13, 2008

The only problem I've run into with it so far is it quitting on occasion, and I"m not a fan of the interface. Also, I haven't seen it yet, hooked to a proper monitor, but It's definitely a lot better than the old 3-way!
Rendering still sucks though. . . But it's a nice little program.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Lots of potential tho.

Doug Okamoto · February 14, 2008

It really sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

That's because Apple bought it from Silicon Color about a year and a half ago. Silicon Color developed SD, HD, and 2K stand alone versions that Apple integrated into Final Cut Studio 2. I believe the original price of the SD version was $1K and the 2K version was about $20K. So the people that bought this before Silicon Color sold it to Apple were the one's that paid for this product. That's why it's too good to be true!

Doug Okamoto · February 14, 2008

The only problem I've run into with it so far is it quitting on occasion, and I"m not a fan of the interface. Also, I haven't seen it yet, hooked to a proper monitor, but It's definitely a lot better than the old 3-way!
Rendering still sucks though. . . But it's a nice little program.

Color is a very tempermental product, it is very particular especially about the graphics cards used. The interface is very different, it's made mainly for the colorist perspective which makes it very different from the NLE or even a compositing perspectives!

We render on a 4GB dual port fiberchannel RAID and still have to wait!

Adrian Sierkowski · February 14, 2008

You know, it is a god-send, in a way, but never forget, nothing replaces a good colorist! I found one who I just followed from one post house to another.

Jamie Metzger · February 15, 2008

Color is much like the ipod: remember how there were 5 different "generations" before it even got a color display and actually starting doing big things?

I feel this is going to be the same thing with color. Right now it is very limited as far as video tracks, still images, transitions...etc. You basically have to conform your edit to exclude these "problems", make a copy of the sequence, go into color, send back to FCP, and then redo your transitions...etc.

I'm hoping that Apple opens up their ears to the professional community and takes all the suggestions in; and does not release another version till they have a professional product that can seamlessly integrate with the studio, without crashing.

March 13, 2008

Right now it is very limited as far as video tracks, still images, transitions...etc. You basically have to conform your edit to exclude these "problems", make a copy of the sequence, go into color, send back to FCP, and then redo your transitions...etc. I'm hoping that Apple opens up their ears to the professional community and takes all the suggestions in; and does not release another version till they have a professional product that can seamlessly integrate with the studio, without crashing.

I think Jamie's comments show he is looking at Color from a different perspective than who the product was originally designed for. That is perfectly legit, since Apple chose to buy the product and make it free with Final Cut Studio, which obviously is bringing it to a more mass-market than it was in the days before Apple (when it was Silicon Color's "Final Touch").

However, when I started with Final Touch 1.x, it was for purely digital intermediate use, not desktop color correction. And, when you look at not just Color but the other leading tools out there (Lustre, Baselight, etc.), they are just recently starting to support multiple tracks, etc. It may seem so basic to the NLE crowd, but in DI, the tools really started out focusing purely on the meat and potatoes of grading shots, and in the big assembly-line style post workflows of feature films, it was taken for granted that any comps and optical effects like this were done by a VFX department. So obviously there is catching up to do so that the tool is repurposed for the new, broader market of editors, etc. However, don't knock Color as being unprofessional for not having these tools, since you'd find many of the same features missing in other DI systems costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. While Color may not have all the user-friendly features, as a Colorist, it is a great tool for me to get the look I want, and I can actually do all sorts of things in it that I can't in a DaVinci or Lustre. That is pretty amazing, even when it cost us $25,000 per system (before Apple bought it).

I've graded over 30 features with Color (or "Final Touch" before it was renamed), most shot on film with a 2K finish. While I don't mind getting support for transitions (actually, there is support for transitions in the newest patch) and still frames (I think I've seen some progress there too now!), I care more about improved DPX conform tools and 4K support and multilayer compositing with alpha channels. With Apple now in the driver's seat, I'm afraid they aren't as interested in what users like me have to say, but I'm watching closely...

--

Tyler Hawes, DI Colorist

Liquid DI, Santa Monica

www.liquidcompanies.com

tyler -at- liquidcompanies.com