Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/551510
50 CINEMONTAGE / SUMMER 2015 the visual effects shots, they drop in where I had just a backplate, and keep the same color correction." Both Johnson and Westerman emphasize that the reason ACES is not a cure-all is that there is simply no replacement for the human role in the process, nor for typical limitations in production that can cause variances in imagery. "There can be variances in dailies between A, B, and C cameras from time to time," says Westerman. "A lot depends on the camera crew and those processing the media, applying looks, and entering crucial metadata. If a setup is missed or a look isn't applied properly, then a scene will be off. Plus, second unit and B-roll frequently does not have any look applied on set, so we often have to match to that in the Avid. The science is great, but it's ultimately dependent on the team that is preparing the media." "The other wild card is the cameras themselves," adds Johnson. "If one of three cameras is different for some reason — perhaps it's using a vintage lens with a different color tint or is off angle — they may not all be color- balanced the same. But that problem pre-dates ACES, and ACES won't solve it for you. The dailies colorist would have to adjust the CDL for that camera to correct it." A PARADIGM SHIFT? Are there any areas in which ACES changes the paradigm for editors and colorists, or otherwise concerns them? For some, one topic of discussion has been the aforementioned ACES Display Transform, a component of the full ACES package formerly known by the more technical engineering monikers Reference Rendering Transform (RRT) and Output Display Transform (ODT). Display Transforms are components designed to be a common standard for converting scene- referred ACES imagery (similar to a film negative) along an aesthetically pleasing S-shaped tone curve within an ACES Project Committee-chosen color gamut and dynamic range that, frankly, "is a great starting point for colorists," as Maltz puts it, when displayed on any ACES-calibrated output device. It is, in other words, a way "to get a balanced and pleasing out-of- the-box picture that would otherwise require hours of colorist time for basic technical grading and camera-matching," Maltz adds. Some industry types, including colorists, however, were concerned that the tone curve and related components were "too aggressive in the early days for making a great picture out of the box, and this made it harder for colorists to do their job, which is to make creative adjustments to colors," he continues. There was, he says, some early confusion about whether colorists "had to use the default ACES look" when rendering out imagery for initial viewing, even though "the default look was always intended to be a flexible starting point, not the finished product." In other words, as ACES went on to become "official," would facilities and projects that decided not to use that tone curve, preferring instead to apply one of their own choosing, still be considered ACES-compliant in the long run? The editor's relationship with the colorist regarding the digital intermediate process did not change creatively, but became more efficient.