Opensource Colour Grading Suite?

[anton_foy]

Hello all!!

I have been a member for a while and still feel like a newbie ;)
So even how ridiculous my ideas are they are just ideas (for the moment).
To the point, I wonder if it would be possible to use certain plugins or maybe program an application based on a frame server like Vdub that can handle up to 12 or 16-bit for colour grading, the best would be if it has a GUI but scripts are all right too. The application would just be like a preview window where you could apply curves, sat/hue, the channels individually and all kinds of now existing avisynth filter/plugins but I know this will not work now because all of them are in 8-bit and mostly YV12 or YUY2. Though is there anyone who knows about a free colour grading program under development? I have yet not found any but it would cool, a bit like the Blender 3D opensource project but for grading. All of those grading programs costs a fortune so :rolleyes:
Any one has any interest or ideas please let me know.

Thanks!

[Mug Funky]

closest you're going to get is final cut color (ie, final touch pro in sheep's clothing).

you could also (if you shoot on the RED of course) use that "round trip" xml thing and do basic grading in Redcine. about as close to Scratch as you're likely to get without shelling out :)

besides, a cheap grading program is of limited use - the whole workflow is mfking expensive.

- 800k for a scanner
- 200k for a SAN to keep the scans on
- 200k for a HDCAM-SR machine (well, you could use hard disks and filmout too i suppose)
- ~10k for a decent computer to run the grading app on and plug into the SAN
- 75k for the software, depending on what it is of course.

you could cut a lot of that out and just get some fast raid storage and the program, but you're still up for a bucketload.

or you could just get a decent mac, get FCP suite and have Color for free with it. but it's not the most ergonomically pleasing program - real buggy and not streamlined in the least. but the price is good :)

... or you could just finish your short film at a post house. 1-off fee and they'll set you up with everything you need and an operator who (hopefully) is a wizard with it all.

i would love to see some free tools for this kind of stuff though.

and for what it's worth i've been using avisynth on digital intermediates lately... it de-grains better than anything else out there, and it's cut de-spotting time in half too. the 8-bit thing is a problem, but if it's confined to just the dust spots it's perfectly fine.

[edit] this is why you don't see freelance colourists... they're tied down by the equipment.

[CruNcher]

Actually everyone of us is waiting for
http://jahshaka.org/forum/opticalpleasure-design-t467.html to arrive the light of the day :)
allready nice (secondary) color grading (if you have imagination) can also be done with Vegas wich isn't that expensive (The Consumer Version)


if that here really becomes reallity
http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/5982/jakacolorcorrector2rings9gc.jpg

all these problems are history and Windows too :D
With direct Avisynth 3.0 integration and 10 bit support it would give every commercial system a run for it's money

But currently all this is still dreaming :)

But almost everything is out there just one need to combine all these Open Source Power into 1 Amazing Workflow and we set and ready to Rock :)

Especialy Core Engine wise we have stuff that is of Commercial Power (and even beyond it) only usability wise it's not that what alot (Artists) are wishing for (alot of interface work needs still to be done) :)

Jahshaka + Avisynth 3.0 + Blender are the Future of independent Movie-Editing, Compositing, Post-Production and Visual Effects Creation imho (just more need to work on this Dream)

[Mug Funky]

ooh, i looked at jahshaka years ago but never got into it.

maybe it's time to revisit it.

however, for real fun, you'd need at least

- dpx support (including log support)
- 3D LUT support (for monitor output at least, hopefully with the ability to stick one in a grading layer)
- 16 bits or more
- HSV selector (chroma key, vector select, etc)
- RGB curves (1D LUTs)
- spline soft shapes, with the ability to put one around any of the above effects.
- control surface support would be awesome (like a JLCooper thing with the 3 balls and lots of dials)

it's have to be at least as usable as apple's "color", hopefully better (that wouldn't be too hard :)).

it's a lot to ask of course, and i should probably be posting this on their forum...

[Zarxrax]

ooh, i looked at jahshaka years ago but never got into it.

maybe it's time to revisit it.

Nope, it's not time :p
I was following it for years, and never saw any real progress. They did release a "player" though.

[anton_foy]

Thanks! Jahshaka looks like the thing I've been looking for, too bad about the slow/no progress though.

Nice to hear from you again Mug :) I agree the need of .dpx-support but tiff's could work aswell? I really agree with CruNcher about direct Avisynth 3.0 integration and 10 bit support but I think 10-bit is not enough. 16-bit would be enough in my opinion and if plugins could be written for it we would hopefully see REDCODE (.R3D REDRAW files) being used with it :P

Mug: with a combination of the kinds of filters in Photoshop like curves, sat/hue etc. wouldn't it result in quite the same result as a 3D LUT? The ability to do your own preset this way and only adjusting different filters in the preset you could have a quite nice controll over the grading. Redcine is not an alternative IMHO. It would only be suitable for fast preview no real grading.

CruNcher: I think you can read my mind. At least we seek the same thing. Come on Avisynth 3.0 our messiah for the videopeople!!! It would solve everything, almost.

I will be gone working on the first full-length feature filmed on the RED-camera in Sweden this week ;) but I will be finished on friday so you will hear from me then. Bye