[Tig] Remote client supervised color sessions (was "Color")

[Steve Hullfish]

3D animation is going this way. I work with a lot of 3D clients and  
I've worked on 3D stuff in the past and I would have said that you  
can't do character animation without having direct access to the  
animator, but lots of companies are doing it in the states. They do  
the modeling or upfront creative in the states then all of the  
animation itself is sent to India or Thailand or China.

For some people, letting a colorist do their thing without input may  
be fine. Or maybe they use one of the "on-set look" programs and do  
communication that way. The colorist does their thing un-suped and  
delivers a session just like an editor would deliver a rough cut.  
Then comments are made and another pass is delivered. It's not that  
much different from doing negative timing. Submit your comments, wait  
for the answer print. Revise.

I agree that it doesn't have to be a third world country. It could be  
some great colorist that sells his expensive home in LA and moves to  
Wyoming or Austin or wherever. Now he doesn't have the overhead or  
the huge mortgage. His rate can be much lower. Pulling in work from  
all over the country he/she could stay very busy at a reasonable rate.

Imagine if you could have two calibrated monitors and the same files  
in both places, then they'd only need to send the metadata for the  
color grades. You could work uncompressed and very quickly. Since  
Color is so inexpensive, there's no reason that the producer couldn't  
have it just so the colorist could deliver metadata only back and  
forth. The trick would be in the monitor set-up, and of course, I  
completely concur that knowing the "vibe" of the room and being able  
to better "test the pulse" of the client is important and would be  
lacking.

I am in Chicago and I produce and edit (and color correct) stuff for  
my clients all over the country. I have no client within 600 miles of  
me. My clients are in Nashville, Dallas, Austin, NY and LA. I already  
do everything over the internet and through shipping drives and tapes  
via FedEx. This is NOT color work, but clients are getting more and  
more used to sitting at their offices and not going to an edit suite  
any more. I saw this before I started my own business. I used to cut  
spots. The producers always used to sit in with me. Then gradually  
they just started working from the office and asking me to send them  
QT files. Now my whole "m.o." is "long distance creative." Believe me  
it's possible.

Also, there are companies that are doing the "service station" thing.  
I'm sure there are L.A. companies that do this, but you can send Bono  
Labs in Baltimore a reel of 35mm or 16mm and they will transfer it at  
full HD to QTs on a Firewire drive. They will transfer it "flat" or  
they'll deliver it with a full unsupervised color correction.

On May 2, 2007, at 8:21 PM, Bob Kertesz wrote:

> Thanks to Yuri Neyman (Gamma & Density) for support in 2007.
> Guide to TIG Posting is at
> http://tig.colorist.org/wiki3/index.php/Guide_to_TIG_Etiquette
>  ====
>
>
>
>> What seems unlikely to me is clients putting up with that so that  
>> they can
>> work with a less experienced/talented/resourceful service in a 3rd- 
>> world
>> country across the ocean. In that scenario you're losing on both  
>> counts...
>
> It doesn't have to be third world. It just has to be a person in  
> their living
> room with the right "good enough" hardware, a decent reel, and the  
> lowest flat
> or hourly bid.
>
> Everything now is about the below the line money. Everything.
>
> The vast middle ground of production and editing has already been  
> decimated by
> DVCAM and HDV for shooters, and FCP, Premier and Vegas for editors.
> Inexpensive narrow featured tools and lightly experienced personnel  
> put
> tremendous price pressure on the next level above (and even the  
> level WAY
> above).
>
> The number of low cost tools that have come out or have been  
> announced in the
> last year indicate that color correction is next to get the "Oh,  
> that can be
> done a LOT cheaper with little to no loss in quality" makeover.
>
> To paraphrase (in order to apply to those on this list) something  
> I've been
> hearing more and more lately about industry services, "Do you  
> realize I can
> BUY a full up editing and color correction system for what it costs  
> to use you
> and your room for two 8 hour days?".
>
> To answer Bob Friesenhahn's question of "Should those in the  
> industry be
> worried?", I suggest that if what's happened to production and  
> editing in the
> last five years are any indication, they should be scared shitless.
>
> --Bob
>
> Bob Kertesz
> BlueScreen LLC
> Hollywood, California
>
> The Ultimate in ULTIMATTE® compositing.
> For details, visit http://www.bluescreen.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> No personal abuse; absolutely no advertising or marketing on the  
> main TIG mailinglist.  Emergency
> tig contact address is rob (at) calarts.edu
> Tig mailing list
> Tig at tig.colorist.org
> http://tig.colorist.org/mailman/listinfo/tig

Steve Hullfish
Verascope Pictures
(630) 717 9069 office
(312) 399-4237 cell
www.veralith.com