Career as a Colorist.

[Vfx Gal]

Hello,
I was considering a career as a Colorist.Currently I'm doin my Post Grad Internship as a Compositor/ 3d Artist here in Toronto.Canada. But now I feel that I would be more suited to be a colorist.I am considering doin another internship to train as a colorist @ Deluxe / Technicolour.
I do have a good skill set in Traditional Art & Photography.I have used softwares such as Combustion , After Effects & Nuke for CC .I have done some freelance wildlife photography for National Geographic .
I am interested in working on Films rather than Broadcast. So any advice from all you pro's out there who know a colorist or who are working as a colorist would be really appreciated.I would also like to know what would be the best way to go about becoming a colorist.Also if you can suggest any books/ blogs for the same.What are future prospects of a career as a Colorist?

Thanks a lot for your help in advance.

[Oxide]

Hey vfx Gal.

I've been working both as a compositor and a colorist for a few years now and I have a few pointers for you.

Firstly I'd recommend a book called "Color Correction for Digital Video" by Steve Hullfish & Jaime Fowler. I know it's called for digital video, and not for film, but it gives good basic instructions using desktop tools that really goes a long way.

Secondly, I know fxphd.com at some point had a color correction course. The classes and professors at fxphd are top notch so I highly recommend them.

Learn how to use a vectorscope and a waveform monitor. Those are the tools the colorist relies on (besides your eyes of course). Using those together with your eyes gives you the precise control that you need.

Practice practice practice!! Get some friends to shoot some footage for you (doesn't even matter what they shoot), edit it together.... then make it look like it was all shot at the same time with the same camera. This is called scene matching and is a big part of what we do.

Once you get the hang of that, go forward and play with developing looks. I know it's the most fun part of it all, but getting the hang of scene matching is essential. Also in the process you will develop your style.... that is, how you achieve your scene matching.


Hope this helps..... if not don't hesitate to ask me.

[ShakeandBake]

So you are not going to take the Side Effects Internship?

Being a colorist sounds a bit more appealing than a Houdini artist at least to me anyway.

I have that book and it is a good resource.

Good luck to you!

[Vfx Gal]

hi Oxide,
Thanks a ton for providing such helpful tips & information about being a colorist. I'll definitely follow your advice & get the book that you have mentioned.Does it also cover scene matching as well?
Thanks once again for your help.I'll definitely email you if I have any questions as I start reading the book & start practicing to be a colorist.

[Vfx Gal]

hi ShakeandBake ,
Thanks for your best wishes...I'm not taking the Houdini Internship coz I got an Internship as a compositor which I'm currently doin.and after working in 3d in the real world I think I would be better suited to being a colorist .Sounds more appealling to me as a long term profession.Coz I want to work for feature films & not for Broadcast.

[abishek]

Hi Vfx gal,

The internship at Technicolor will help if you are seriously looking at being a colorist. As Oxide mentioned learning to read the vectorscope and a waveform monitor is really important. The books will help, but hands on experience on a DI system is as good as it can get. If possible try and get into a post house as an assistant grader and spend as much time as possible with the senior colorist, cos there are a hell lot of things you'll learn hands on.
A lot of really good colorists I know, started off as tape operators\film loaders and moved ground up. Careerwise - its great if you have the eye and style for color, cos remember - you need to polish the film to give it 'the look'....
Spend time taking snaps (in manual mode not auto hehe) and color-correcting ask friends or even better, you shoot footage and try color matching them. Learn or ground yourself properly with the insides of a camera and how film works. The road might seem long but trust me its fun. Also remember, CC on the compositing software is a different story compared to systems like Baselight, Lustre etc.

All the best. It'll definitely be a great thing to do.

[redwavestudios]

all tutorials from FXPHD.COM (CC and other lessons too) are worth every penny.

[gnoat73]

whats the basic salary of a colourist??

[JulianS]

It also look like there a new version coming out

Art-Technique-Digital-Color-Correction (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Technique-Digital-Color-Correction/dp/0240809904/ref=pd_sim_b_img_2)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51k9xW%2Bv4dL._AA240_.jpg

I am also trying to learn this medium, but since i am only doing it for fun....

can you guys recommend a good book or place where I can learn how to manipulate color to create styles. Even better what is the best software to do this, please don't say Da Vinci or flame, At the moment I am using NUKE because is very easy to break colors, but my only problem with NUKE is that the color correction tools are base on Gamma, and saturation.and must of the stuff i read it talks about rgb, hsl and hsv.

[abishek]

Anyone tried Apple Color?

[Loga]

At the moment I am using NUKE because is very easy to break colors, but my only problem with NUKE is that the color correction tools are base on Gamma, and saturation.and must of the stuff i read it talks about rgb, hsl and hsv.

You can do any kind of colour correction in any professional compositing software (Shake,Nuke,......).

[Gentle Fury]

I've done a LOT of color work in shake....im trying to switch that over to nuke too, but the missing color replace node is killing that for me. HSVTool just doesnt cut it for down and dirty secondary corrections.

[POSTVFXpub]

It also look like there a new version coming out

Art-Technique-Digital-Color-Correction (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Technique-Digital-Color-Correction/dp/0240809904/ref=pd_sim_b_img_2)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51k9xW%2Bv4dL._AA240_.jpg

I am also trying to learn this medium, but since i am only doing it for fun....

can you guys recommend a good book or place where I can learn how to manipulate color to create styles. Even better what is the best software to do this, please don't say Da Vinci or flame, At the moment I am using NUKE because is very easy to break colors, but my only problem with NUKE is that the color correction tools are base on Gamma, and saturation.and must of the stuff i read it talks about rgb, hsl and hsv.

Hi gang. Glad you enjoyed Color Correction for DV by Hullfish and Fowler.

Just to clarify, the book above, while a great companion/follow-up to the CC for DV book, is a different book altogether.

A second edition of CC for DV is due to publish later this year however.

[ten10shiva]

can anyone tell me which is the perfect book for film colorist...
plz am in the need of it

[Matt P]

can anyone tell me which is the perfect book for film colorist...
plz am in the need of it


Firstly I'd recommend a book called "Color Correction for Digital Video" by Steve Hullfish & Jaime Fowler. I know it's called for digital video, and not for film, but it gives good basic instructions using desktop tools that really goes a long way.

-Matt

[ten10shiva]

Thaks for your responce matt.
ill go fo it..:)

[cr0ss]

great thread, anyone got some pointers or some links to any colorist reels out there?

[SeaBreezy]

I'm glad something like this exist, finding information on how to become a colorist and where to look is pretty scarce. Thanks all.

[ralphgmr]

I'm glad something like this exist, finding information on how to become a colorist and where to look is pretty scarce. Thanks all.

Hi Sea,

just updated the info about the group. I switched the group to a fan page in Facebook since there is better interactivity and feedback. follows the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Color-Grading-Digital-Intermediate/177393420980?ref=mf

Cheers

[ravenhpltc24]

Hello everyone, thanks so much for the information you've included in this thread. I've recently become interested in pursuing work as a colorist, as opposed to (or maybe in addition to?) a film editor. Can anyone recommend a program that could serve as an intro to the field? I was looking into Adobe After Effects, I've heard good things about it, but has anyone had more success with something else? Thanks!

- Raven

[spectrefish]

Anyone tried Apple Color?

I worked at Target in the media production dept as their colorist for a while and their pipeline was 99% FCP and 1% DI. I used Apple Color as my main tool.

Color is a very efficient grading software and works very well.

[Steinz]

my mate has just started this company

http://dirtylooks.co.uk/

website still needs some work