Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/187650
CoLor CaLIbratIon Light Illusion has a new version of LightSpace with support for Dolby's PRM-4200. Known for being outspoken in the industry, Shaw admits that Light Illusion "doesn't follow established practices. If we think something will improve workflow or the end results, or make customers' lives easier, we go for it. We also dislike inaccurate information touted as being factual and do our best to provide as much industry knowledge as possible — via the Website and associated forum." Shaw is proud of Light Illusion's many partners. "We have just released a new version of LightSpace with support/integration for the Dolby PRM-4200 display (integration performed by Dolby) and integration for Fujifilm's IS-mini (integration performed by Light Illusion at Fujifilm's request)," he says. "Blackmagic Design has released a new beta version of Resolve V.10 with integrated LightSpace support (integration performed by Blackmagic)." Most recently Light Illusion has been working with UK display manufacturer Frontniche and its new line of OLED monitors. Integration is also offered with Flanders Scientific, Penta and Eizo monitors, with more manufacturers soon to join the list. For displays without in-built user LUT capability, LightSpace CMS also integrates with a range of standalone LUT boxes from eeColor and Lumage to Pluto, T-Cube and Davio. FUJIFILM Fujifilm North America (www.fujifilm. com) offers several solutions for color calibration. The IS-100 on-set color grading system (marketed under the name CCBOXX in North America) has monitor profiling built in. The IS-Mini, a digital color adjustment device for on-set camera preview and monitor calibration at post production facilities, was introduced at NAB 2013 and began shipping in June. It mimics some of the same functions of its highend sibling. The "most outstanding" feature of the new IS-Mini is its ability to "deliver fully professional results with a very user-friendly interface," says Michael Bulbenko, Fujifilm's marketing and sales development manager. "It requires little set up and automates the process of creating monitor profiles with a few clicks on a laptop. It takes the onus off the traditional method of lots of manual adjustments.You just put the monitor in the default mode and it creates a profile to send a color-corrected output based on the monitor's capabilities." Compatible with Windows and Mac laptops, IS-Mini is "completely agnostic," working with HD-SDI or HDMI monitors of any brand. It works in conjunction with a thirdparty probe (Fujifilm suggests X-Rite, Photo Research and Klein brands), which sits in front of the monitor screen and measures the color IS-Mini sends to the monitor. Light Iron's daily verification process LOS ANGELES — Light Iron (www.lightiron.com), CTO Chris Peariso typically calibrates in-house, but will sometimes take advantage of outside vendors when it comes to monitor calibration. This hybrid approach allows for the best calibration accuracy for Light Iron's feature film, commercial and television clients. "We have purchased probes and spectroradiometers from various vendors, such as Photo Research, X-Rite and Konica Minolta, so we can do calibration ourselves," he says. "We use SpectraCal software to help calibrate the consumer displays in our QA room, which we nicknamed the Best Buy room because it has one of every type of display mounted on the wall. It emulates what consumers see and gives us an idea of what things will look like in an out-of-the-box environment." Dolby comes in "fairly regularly" to check calibration on Light Iron's Dolby PRM-4200s, and "if there's a new monitor, Dolby does the initial set up," says Peariso. "But we also calibrate the Dolby monitors ourselves. We fully calibrate them at the beginning of every show, and every day we shoot the monitors and Christie Digital cinema projectors to make sure we are hitting the target numbers for whichever color space we are grading in. If the brightness is down or if they show drift, we'll make the adjustments to get them back on track." He underscores the importance of daily verification; if drift is minor, it may not be detectable with the eye, and users won't notice it until something "really jumps out at you." Currently, Light Iron (which also has a studio in NYC) calibrates to Rec 709 or P3 depending on the needs of the project "but as UHD is adopted more, we'll set up to Rec 2020," he notes. "Consumer displays get better every day, and have never been closer to what the pros use. On many displays we can go into advanced modes for a high degree of calibration." Light Iron also has an on-set dailies component to its business, and that venue requires color calibration as well. "The set is a hard place to calibrate," says Peariso. "You have all kinds of lighting conditions to account for." So Light Iron dispatches a tech for the first week of a new show to establish the dailies workflow and make sure the monitors are properly calibrated. 30 Post • September 2013 www.postmagazine.com Fujifilm's IS-Mini can be used for on-set camera preview. Users choose the number of colors they want sampled from 160 to over 4,000. "It takes all the guesswork out of the process," Bulbenko notes. "As a hardware/ software solution, it's not based on the eye. You can match different monitor types and manufacturers across the spectrum, too. It's even a very good solution for plasma monitors — and they're known for being difficult to calibrate." Sales are rolling in for the new IS-mini, he reports, from rental houses, DPs, post houses and a major cable network. "Probably the most common reaction has been, 'It's about time! We've needed something like this for a while,' " Bulbenko says. He notes that color calibration is only part of the IS-Mini's and IS-100's capabilities.