Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1006097
www.postmagazine.com 32 POST JULY 2018 www.postmagazine.com 32 POST JULY 2018 amazing eye for color, and having the two of them as hands-on contributors throughout the process was extremely valuable as we were always speaking the same language and technical shorthand. When comparing the two deliverables, the "wow" factor came into play even with color professionals. You can best see the impact of the HDR imagery in the in-game footage as well as in some of the drone shots, how- ever I really love the subtleties it allowed me to play with in some of the quieter moments. You're able to really manipulate skin tones, and help each person stand out, which in projects like this, can be really key in group locker room shots. WHAT ABOUT ADVERTISING? HDR has had more widespread adoption in the long-form and serialized content arenas, and with streaming. While technically able to, cable providers haven't pulled the trigger on delivering an HDR signal yet, which means there hasn't been as much pressure on broadcasters to air their shows in HDR, which in turn means there hasn't been a push for brands and agencies to produce content in this format. That's going to change quickly. TV manufacturers have been quietly (or not so quietly depending on the font size on the packaging) been shipping HDR-capable dis- plays to the market. Many consumers possess an HDR device and don't know it. Most new televisions available today are HDR capable. The other component is the inclusion of HDR by many over-the-top content devices: Apple TV, PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, Roku and Fire Stick. If you've purchased one of these devices in the past year or two, along with a new televi- sion, there's a very good chance that you're ready to go with HDR content. Live sporting events — most recently the PGA Masters and the Winter Olympics, were available in HDR, delivering HDR streams via their apps on these devices. The commercials were not finished in HDR though. I'm sure they still looked good, but these brands and agen- cies missed out on an opportunity to make their content shine with this new format. Similar to the transition from NTSC to HD, we are about to see a transition period. Some content will lag behind. Much of what we will see in the beginning will be simply up converted to fit the HDR color space. Those who get on board now will be able to take advantage of these limited opportunities and stand out from other advertisers with com- mercials that are richer, more colorful and more stunning than all of the content they're competing with. THE OPPORTUNITIES If you're an artist or producer at a post production studio, new technologies always represent a great opportunity for artists to guide our clients through new processes and possibilities. Seeing is believing and to get more content producers on board with HDR, you need to get them in front of an HDR monitor to understand what they're missing out on. It also helps to look beyond projects that you've worked on, and to be a curator of effective HDR content so that your partners can better grasp the range of colors and looks available to them. If you're at an agency or brand and are curious about what your content would look like in HDR, why not do a test? Many HDR- capable studios and colorists will be willing to take your existing footage and illustrate how it would look when delivered in HDR. You can take campaigns to dramatic, stylized levels, or introduce more subtlety. I've often discussed the power of color as a branding tool with my clients, and with HDR, there's more tools at your disposal to help consumers recognize your content within the first few frames, be- cause they know what a "____" ad looks like. I want to stress this isn't 3D. We, along with other studios participated in many an arti- cle like this about creating stereoscopic 3D content. HDR has made much more headway, both from a hardware and a content perspec- tive, in a much shorter time than 3D did. And it's not a format that requires the viewer to change up how they view content. We simply have the opportunity to create more striking, breathtaking imagery and to captivate viewers with the moving image. Technology is always changing in our industry, and sometimes new can mean "gimmick," but I believe that HDR is here to stay and will aid us in crafting better stories. I think for those who are new and old to working with color grading professionals, HDR represents an affirmation of the storytell- ing power of color. Lenny Mastrandrea is senior colorist at New York's Nice Shoes. He always encourages his collaborators to embrace the possibilities of color, pushing content to find a unique look that helps a story, and ultimately a brand stand out. He has found a new inspiration in the format of HDR, most recently teaming with Amazon to deliver their documentary series All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines. Lenny loves acting as a source of knowledge for his colleagues and partners, always ready to share his experience in color grading to help others grow their careers. He's pulled together some of his recent experiences in working with the HDR format along with advice for those just beginning to understand and explore it. 4K HDR AND LEADER OFFERS HDR TEST AND MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES LONDON, UK — Leader Electronics (www.leader.co.jp) recently demonstrated some of the advanced HDR measure- ment capabilities of its LV5490 4K multiscreen video and audio test instrument at the Media Production Show in London last month. The LV5490 4K/HDR waveform monitor supports pre- configured settings to ensure the reference levels are cor- rect for both HLG and Dolby PQ production. A 75 percent HLG or 58 percent PQ marker is also displayed automat- ically on the waveform monitor graticule. This represents the reference level, enabling the vision engineer to ensure that any object placed at the center of interest within a scene occupies the appropriate signal range and that suffi- cient headroom is reserved for specular highlights. "HDR offers television producers and digital cinema- tographers double the dynamic range of SDR provided they take full advantage of it right through the production chain," says Kevin Salvidge, European regional develop- ment manager. "The LV5490 provides full direct sup- port for HDR production in full conformance with ITU-R BT.2408-0 recommended practice. In cooperation with Jigsaw24, we showed how that translates into actual op- eration both during the initial shoot and onward through color grading and post production." Another recently added feature is system gamma Optical-Optical Transfer Function functionality for HLG and Sony 'SR-Live for HDR' workflow. Leader's LV5490 offers 4K, UHD, 3G, HD and SD test and measurement features in a half-rack-width by 4U por- table unit with a full high definition 9 inch front-panel mon- itor. It provides all the capabilities needed to implement the full potential of high dynamic range in both HD and UHD. Signal displays such as video waveform, chroma levels, color vectors, bar graphs, noise, video patterns, quad-3G phase, data tables, camera picture output, color chart, multichannel audio levels and surround-sound vectors can be viewed simultaneously in a user-custom- izable layout. If a specific element requires detailed at- tention, this can be selected quickly for viewing at higher resolution or full-screen. The Leader Cinelite HDR toolset also comes as a stan- dard feature of the LV5490, allowing easy assessment of relative exposure and overall luminance during production. A focus-assist option allows highly accurate on-set adjust- ment of camera focus to match the ability of 4K and UHD formats to handle very precise image detail. Supplementing its front-panel display, the LV5490 pro- vides 1920 x 1080 HD DVI and HD-SDI feeds for connection to external monitors. Simultaneous viewing of up to four 3 gigabit/s SDI inputs is possible, including overlays. The size and location of individual channels can be adjusted on the display using a USB pointer so the user is not limited to fixed-size quadrants. Operators can select the size and po- sition of the measuring area as well as the Y/G/B/R com- ponent channel. An alarm can be set to alert operators if the noise level exceeds a predefined threshold. An integral low-pass filter allows elements of the high frequency band to be removed at the time of noise measurement.