Dear Colorist:

Question:

I will be on-lining my next project in the Avid Symphony. I keep hearing about its color corrector. Should I finish my color correction there?

Answer:

Working in a facility that provides both systems, I am asked this question quite often. My answer is a definite, “maybe”. Sorry, but there are a lot of variables in every project that determine the best decision. Before we discuss the criteria for making that choice, we should look at the differences between the two systems.

The traditional path of tape-to-tape color correction is a tried and proven method. In a perfect world, the operator receives an Edit Decision List and can immediately proceed with color correcting on a shot-by-shot basis. If no EDL is available, the program can be run through in real time and a list can be created. A skilled operator can make many adjustments simultaneously. Comparisons with earlier versions of the same shot can be made by use of a split between the two sources. The ability to store previous shots along with their color correction parameters is common to most tape-to-tape bays.

The Symphony is a non-linear editing/compositing system. The Symphony opens up an Avid off-lined project and preserves all the edit and effects information. The operator can apply color corrections shot-by-shot, or to an entire clip name, or to an entire tape. However, only one adjustment can be made at a time. Two extra windows are provided for comparison to other shots in the program. Using the “natural match” feature, a shot can be adjusted to match another shot by way of an eyedropper selection.

I asked Deborah Templeton, Post Production Supervisor of Disney’s reality series “Bug Juice,” why she chose to color correct in the Symphony. She said the camera operators decided to shoot the whole series without white balancing, and only used the presets on the cameras. This left each scene uniformly uncorrected. She felt that the Symphony’s non-linear application of corrections would speed up the process. Once a shot was fixed in any given scene, the Symphony would automatically apply the correction to every shot from that same camera.

This is probably the greatest difference between the two systems. If the project requires each shot to be corrected individually, the speed of applying corrections in a system like da vinci far surpasses the Symphony. On the other hand, if a large enough percentage of the corrections can be applied across the project, the Symphony gains the advantage. One Thing we’ve learned is that for an operator to be able to apply correction in a non-linear fashion, he or she must be very familiar with the material. We achieve that by having our operators digitize all of their own footage. If we see that a tape is slightly off color as we digitize, we know we can apply a correction to the whole tape and be done with it. I have heard of some post houses that bring in a colorist to correct on a Symphony after the material has been digitized. This ties his hands by putting him on a slower interface, while not allowing him to use the nonlinear function.

The Symphony does have the advantage of being a compositing system. In the Symphony, every layer can be corrected individually. This is especially helpful if the show has layers of images or graphics. This is not possible in a tape-to-tape room as everything is already composited. One show that I finish, “Ripleys Believe It Or Not,” is a classic example of this. The average episode contains around 2000 effects. In the Symphony I am able to color correct each individual element regardless of how deeply layered it is.

Another area of concern is shot repair. The myriad of options available in the Symphony system allow an experienced operator to fix almost any problem you can come up with. I once fixed a tape that was missing the green channel. Using the channel blending feature in the Symphony, I was able to reconstruct the green channel from the remaining two channels. Spot color correction is also very useful in this area. In a tape to tape session, problem areas can be isolated using the power windows function. In most systems this is limited to a few shapes. The Symphony has unlimited layers of spot correction, with the ability to draw any shape with paint tools.

I would recommend any high-end film project to be color corrected in a da vinci bay. A colorist would expect his bay to have neutral backgrounds, high quality monitoring, and multiple scopes in order to turn out a quality product. Most Symphony bays are not designed to be high-end color correction stations and lack several of these features.

So which way should you go? Unless you have a project that lends itself to taking advantage of Symphonies non-linear and shot repair features as discussed above, tape-to-tape correction is the way to go.

One final note. Deborah Templeton summed it up best when she said the operator is the most important issue. If an editor has a good eye, he or she can turn out a great product on the Symphony. Does that mean a Symphony editor will do as good a job as a traditional colorist? That question has to be answered on a case by case basis and could be the subject of an entire article by itself.

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