Denver Riddle reinvents DaVinci Resolve?? ;)

I'm reminded of when Apple added Color to the Final Cut Studio suit of apps, FOR FREE. THE SKY WAS FALLING!!!! Oh my word, the self-proclaimed pro colorists SCREAMED about how the quality of films was doomed, because studios would hire cheap amature hobbiests and they would all be out of business soon. I was also established as a pro colorist and was doing a lot of it professionally. I was also in the first T3 course for Apple cert'ed trainers for Color, and there was no APTS book out yet.

Well, here we are many years later, and films have gotten better, low budget indies have become a serious threat to Hollywood's traditional bottom line, and "we are all out of work!", said NO pro colorist EVER!!!!

I come from a music/composer background, and musicians aren't as nasty towards new technology (note I said "as nasty"). Pre-made LUTs can be a GREAT place to start a professional color grade, with the various implementations of RAW codecs. I do know pro colorists who use them that way. I know LOTS of editors who are amazing colorists, also.

Most all of the complaints in that thread are unfounded in reality, and sound like wanna be pro colorists who are insecure just having a good baby cry.

The market place will prove them wrong, as history has repeatedly shown. The more accessible high end tools are to the masses, the more previously undiscovered talent emerges, the more big mouth fakes are exposed, or better yet, ignored and forgotten.

If there were only one true way to be a pro, we'd all have the same job, with the same tools, driving the one only correct make & model of automobile.

ROCK ON MR. DENVER!!!!

ronny courtens wrote: ...We are seeing it again since the launch of FCP X. ...
- Ronny

I am seeing this unfold where I work. Everyone is hot to switch from 7 to Pr. Despite the fact that I've been using X to cut and finish stuff for close to 2 years, they still maintain that nobody uses it. Stupid decision, as X is perfect for what we do, and would probably give us an edge in some ways over our competitors. It's kind of insulting too, but that's the least of it. Oh well, the good news is that I can probably use X more since, unlike FCP 7, Pr and X can be open at the same time.

First teaser for Denver's new tool called Color Finale-

vimeo.com/118593319

Its difficult to tell from the way the interface is overlaid on the footage, but I'd hazard to guess that either the interface will be in the Inspector (but that might be a bit cramped) or in a standalone HUD.

EDITED TO ADD

The one key thing I'll be interested to see is how it integrates with X's color masking tools, or replicates them- "Qualifiers" as they're known in Resolve are crucial to really detailed work. The build in FCPX shape/color masks have made it a powerful step up from Legacy since day one.

With FXPlug3 a programmer can create custom interfaces. I don't believe that the interface is semi-transparent and floating over the image in FCPX.

Yes, we've already had confirmation that this won't be an overlay interface.

So, color wheels side by side, great! Curves, that's always a nice touch. "Real" color grading controls. Looking very promising.

The video is simply typical screen shots composited over the resulting film shots. I don't see anything indicating, in the teaser video, that they'd overlay the Viewer. Oh lord no! I think Denver is smarter than that...

Will be interesting to see when released.

In a reply on Facebook, Denver does say that masks/qualifiers will not be part of the initial release. This will certainly hobble it to some degree, but the access to LUTs and curves makes it a powerful start.

UI is a free floating window that user can position wherever they would like. Full demo and tutorial video will be available upon release.

- Denver Riddle

Disproportionate Pictures wrote: Yes, we've already had confirmation that this won't be an overlay interface.

That's great news!

Disproportionate Pictures wrote: The one key thing I'll be interested to see is how it integrates with X's color masking tools, or replicates them- "Qualifiers" as they're known in Resolve are crucial to really detailed work. The build in FCPX shape/color masks have made it a powerful step up from Legacy since day one.

That's a good point, Marcus. Color Finale brings curves to FCPX (a great feature indeed!) as well as a few more detailed controls, but I don't think it will be the ultimate CC tool for FCPX unless it integrates well with the built-in shape and color masks.

Also, I don't think Color Finale can fill the other two holes in FCPX's color toolset, which in my opinion are:

• The fact that the automatic corrections (Balance & Match Color) are not reflected in the color board at all. They would work great as a starting point if they could actually point you into a "visible" path.


• The fact that shape masks can't be tracked automatically. I don't mind paying for third party tools like SliceX, but it just complicates the workflow, justifying the trip to Resolve for the final grade.

As shared in a Facebook thread on the discussion of shapes/masks:

All possibilities in later releases. Doing FREE feature updates is part of our roadmap for early adopters. Of course some exclusions may apply if say we have to license 3rd party code (ie Mocha) but otherwise we plan to make them free as part of a great end user experience. We have the coding capability and background of "Big Iron" grading systems but the nimble swiftness to perform in app updates via the Sparkle platform, (in other words updates are easy and or even 'automatic').

We aim to make this a compliment to Final Cut Pro X!

Thanks very much for the reply Denver, I know I've been peppering this question here, there and everywhere since you posted the teaser video this morning.

No worries your feedback is invaluable to us

denverkr wrote: No worries your feedback is invaluable to us

Thanks, Denver, for dropping by and offering first hand info!

as a personal side note:
Hope you haven't found my threads title offensive! Just my ... flapping way to express a first impression! You have no need to 'reinvent' anything.
Plus, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to Color Correction/Grading, although you taught me so much in your tutorials at colorgradingcentral.com ...

THANKS a lot!!

Karsten Schlüter wrote: Thanks, Denver, for dropping by and offering first hand info!

as a personal side note:
Hope you haven't found my threads title offensive! Just my ... flapping way to express a first impression! You have no need to 'reinvent' anything.
Plus, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to Color Correction/Grading, although you taught me so much in your tutorials at colorgradingcentral.com ...

THANKS a lot!!

Of course not! It's good for a little humor to go around :woohoo:

We hope this tool makes the grading experience a little more intituitve, a little more fun. Can't wait to share it with you!

Glad the information has been helpful!

Disproportionate Pictures wrote: In a reply on Facebook, Denver does say that masks/qualifiers will not be part of the initial release. This will certainly hobble it to some degree, but the access to LUTs and curves makes it a powerful start.

Thats really unfortunate. In that sense, the existing color board will trump it. I hope Denver adds qualifiers very very soon. I'm curious then, what it will offer beyond wheels and curves. Looking forward to more info.

Shapes/masks aren't difficult, tracking them is a whole other ballgame. That is why we are working on implementing them. We either need to write the tracking algorithms ourselves or license through a 3rd party (this is not easy). There are other things that we also have has priorities such as grade management and color transfers. We are introducing a vector grading tool for secondaries which I think you will love. Vectors are more accurate and efficient than HSL targeting. Early adopters will be able to get new features as feature updates provided we don't have to license 3rd party code in which case they'd just pay the cost of licensing.

We will be offering a 7 day fully functioning trial so you can try it out

Sounds really exciting.

Would you consider licensing Mocha for tracking ?

Are you already giving an estimate date of shipping ?

This is certainly a possibility!

We are planning on an imminent release

Great. Very curious about it.

This is all great news Denver. Tracking masks is certainly something we in the FCPX community have been dreaming about, even if it was only a simple 2D tracker with shape masks. But if your aspirations are grander, so much the better!