Best products from r/colorists

We found 41 comments on r/colorists discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 31 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

19. Lutron Caseta Wireless Smart Lighting Lamp Dimmer (2 count) Starter Kit with pedestals for Pico remotes, P-BDG-PKG2P, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and the Google Assistant

    Features:
  • PEACE OF MIND: set lights to automatically adjust with changing seasons so your family always comes back to a well-lit home; you can also enable the smart away feature to randomly turn your lights on and off to look like you’re home even if you’re away
  • MOST CONNECTED: Caseta connects with more leading smart home devices – including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, the Google Assistant, Ring, Serena shades and Sonos – than any other smart lighting control brand
  • CONTROL YOUR WAY: Caseta puts the smarts in the switch so you can control a variety of ways – via the free Lutron app, your voice or from the wall; create schedules to change lights at set times or activate scenes with the touch of a button
  • RELIABLY SMART: the smart bridge doesn’t use Wi-Fi, so you get super-fast, ultra-reliable smart lighting that works right, without slowing your Wi-Fi down with more devices
  • SET IT AND FORGET IT: Always keep your smart light functionality; even when the Wi-Fi goes down, there’s no need to reset your schedules and scenes or reconnect everything when it comes back online
  • GET MORE, SPEND LESS: One Caseta smart switch can control many bulbs at once; make many bulbs smart, even your existing bulbs; get smart control of multiple styles of dimmable LED, incandescent and halogen bulbs
  • SMART CONTROL OF PLUG-IN LAMPS: Simply plugs into a standard outlet and can be used with up to 2 floor or table lamps
  • EASY 3-WAY SETUP: Create a 3-way by mounting Pico to almost any wall surface - no cutting holes or pulling wire, with a wall mount bracket (PICO-WBX-ADAPT sold separately). Replace existing 3-way switches by mounting the bracket and Pico over the backbox
  • TECHNICAL DETAILS: Works with up to 100-Watt of dimmable LED light bulbs/CFL light bulbs or 300-Watt incandescent/halogen bulbs; not rated for low voltage applications (i.e. track or landscape lighting)
  • Includes (2) Caseta smart lamp dimmers, (1) smart bridge, (2) Pico remotes, and (2) pedestals for Pico remotes
Lutron Caseta Wireless Smart Lighting Lamp Dimmer (2 count) Starter Kit with pedestals for Pico remotes, P-BDG-PKG2P, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and the Google Assistant
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Top comments mentioning products on r/colorists:

u/Osiris19 · 4 pointsr/colorists

Don't spend money to build a room just yet, lets take this from the beginning. Having all the right tools in the world isn't going to help you from ground zero.

The software I use to do 85% of my professional work up to 4K/UHD is Blackmagic Resolve, and it is available for 0$. Totally free. Make sure you have a computer that can run it.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
(Download link on page)

Read the resolve manual included in the installer package. Written by Alexis Van Hurkman http://www.alexisvanhurkman.com/wordpress/

It basically can teach you the fundamentals of color, through explaining features of the program.

His Ripple Training is also very comprehensive and something to look at. http://www.rippletraining.com/products/davinci-resolve/davinci-resolve-12-5-core-training-bundle/

That being said, you should also read the following books:

Begin with this:
Color Correction Handbook also by Van Hurkman
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321929667/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QEGXRDSHFHYDDGD6QTX8

If you really want to go deep:
Color and Mastering for Digital Cinema
https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Digital-Cinema-Industry-Handbook/dp/0240808746

All that being said, a basic foundation in color can also be gained through stills manipulation in lightroom or photoshop first. This is how I learned, and I feel like it really gave me a head start.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm
Read EVERY ONE OF THESE TUTORIALS. This site is an amazing resource for all levels of mastery, I find myself going back to it again and again to refresh and then reach deeper into the void.

(Disclaimer: I am NOT Alexis Van Hurkman, he's just a good dude, and kinda unavoidable when it comes to learning Resolve, since he literally was contracted to write the manual. Also hes good.)

Anyway. Once you've chewed through all that, youll either find its not for you, or youll be back for more, and youll have a much more targeted idea of what your first gear purchase should be to help you get the most milage.

You can do a lot of great work without any gear. Learn how to use the scopes, then a monitor can come later.

Hope this helps.

u/soundman1024 · 1 pointr/colorists

This is going to be very difficult to achieve with a T2i. Much of the detail is in the shadows, which the T2i doesn't capture very well.

Start with some ND on the windows. I'd start with knocking them back 2 stops, but you'll likely need more. After that add some fill light from something soft at camera right. Maybe 3x china balls in a line to keep the cost down. I'd love a 4-bank here, but the paper lanterns are a very affordable way to get some soft light. Since you're shooting agains the sun be sure to put daylight balanced lights in them. 2700-3200k warm lights are going to give you color balance woes.

The goal with the lighting is to try to bring the dynamic range into something a T2i can record. The difference from dark to light here is the problem. Cameras that shoot raw or log formats are more equipped for this shot.

---

As for color, the people in this sub will have better advice. I'm not really a color person, but I'll take a crack and hopefully someone can tell you what I'm wrong about.

For starters desaturate the shit out of what you shot. This starts with art direction, continues into set design, and finally ends in post. You can only be as successful as what the camera is allowed to record.

Next you need to lift the pedestal. The blacks should be pretty milky. This is something the T2i will struggle to do elegantly as its encoder doesn't give you a lot of shadow detail. Pull up the bottom point of a curves layer up 15ish percent. After that add a point a little bit up the line and lift that even more. Work the curves after that to get toning that you like. It doesn't have to be final, but try to get it much of the way there. What you really need will vary based on your shot.

Next I believe (could be my laptop screen leading me astray) the shadows have a slight purple tint. Add that with a 3-way. Use the same 3-way to push your midtones towards green. Also push your highlights towards the same green. You might push the highlights slightly more towards yellow or orange than you did the mids. The midtones are pushing further on the color wheels, so make sure that point is further from the center of the wheel than the highlights point is. Note that you'll probably need to adjust the pivot point for the shadows-to-midtones transition and work the curves from above to get that changeover happening where you like it.

Add a soft dark correction to the room using some sort of soft mask to target that area more specifically. If the camera moves a lot your mask is going to need to change to compensate.

After that get some grain going on. Add a final curves to get the toning you want to finish with.

---

Now hopefully I've said something wrong along the way. Nothing brings out good advice like giving bad advice. :-)

u/leoyoung1 · 3 pointsr/colorists

Yes, It's a lovely 8 bit monitor. ruxxS said he(?) wants to learn colour grading. You simply can not grade with an 8 bit monitor.

I did recommend a monitor that is actually not that far off his budget - compared to what colour grading monitors usually cost. Yes it's almost double what he wants to pay but it will support him in his goal of learning.

I remember when I set out to learn the flute. I borrowed one from the school and shot ahead of everyone else. So, I was asked to teach the other wannabe flutists. They could barely make a note on their instruments. So I tried to play their instruments and I could barely make a sound either. That's when I learned that giving a student a 'student grade' instrument is a very bad idea. If ruxxS wants to learn, I want him to at least not be sabotaged by an inadequate instrument.

ruxxS, while you are at it, you may want to see if you can find a copy of this book. It is basically THE textbook for colourists. Good luck.

u/tonkinedit · 6 pointsr/colorists

I used this in the past and it was great, no issues. 10bit rec 709 and sRGB. Only thing is I had to tell resolve to output monitoring at HD 60i in the project settings, (through BMD mini monitor) then go and back and tell it to play back at 23.98 as the monitor only seems to like 60hz. http://www.benq.us/product/monitor/pd2700q/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K1INYWG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Still had to calibrate it with displayCal and and Color Munki then have Resolve use that monitoring LUT.

u/threewingedangel · 1 pointr/colorists

$170 will not get you a colour accurate monitor the cheapest you can get would be around $450. For [$320] (https://www.amazon.com/Asus-ProArt-PA248Q-24-1-Monitor/dp/B00877ZOYK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1479170951&sr=8-4&keywords=adobe+rgb+monitor) you can get an adobe rgp acurate monitor (for print). Or if you are going really cheap but want something that you can kind of trust then your best bet will be a dell ultrasharp, but that will still be a bit over $200.

u/Step1Mark · 2 pointsr/colorists

I wouldn't say so, if you're able to write to an SSD (via a CFast to ESATA adapter) when filming, you should be able to read from the SSD without a problem over USB3. SSDs should be able to keep up with Cinema DNG at most resolutions / frame-rate combinations (within reason). But you want to make sure you get an SSD that can handle 530MB/s. If you are shooting with the 4.6K in Cinema DNG. For example the Samsung 860 QVO SSD 2TB (write speeds of up to 520MB/s) doesn't keep up with our write speed needs but the SanDisk Ultra 3D NAND 2TB (write speeds of up to 530MB/s) does. The slower one would likely be fine for the 4K models.

Link to the setup we use with the Ursa Mini 4.6K v1:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012B6HIA0/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1S5IWG/

Since CFast is based on the Serial ATA (SATA) interface, it is a pretty straight forward set up to use external SSDs on the cameras. I have also used it on the Pocket 4K and Pocket 6K.

u/MacherTV · -1 pointsr/colorists

Knowing your Budget actually is very important before we can recommend any monitors :)

I bought myself this monitor lately and I am very satisfied:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B013CVBIF4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2KXMDbATF9MFD

If I would have had more budget, I'd have bought this one: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M0Q6YLY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zMXMDb0WHWKBV

u/mwhoelsc · 2 pointsr/colorists

I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, but why did you volunteer/get hired to color correct an entire feature film if you had zero experience, and extremely little knowledge about the subject matter, and more importantly, who agreed to let someone with zero experience color correct their film?

Anyways, the answer to your questions fill an entire book.

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Correction-Handbook-Professional-Techniques/dp/0321713117

I recommend buying this and reading the whole thing, cover to cover.

u/Anton_Seaman · 1 pointr/colorists

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EJ9J14I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That looks neat. What are the cons? It would be awesome to have something double as a directors monitor.

u/abandoned_hotel · 1 pointr/colorists

Another question for you: how do you feel about BenQ displays? Reading posts around and about there seems to be an emerging consensus that they’re the best bet in terms of offering something approaching pro quality at a sub-$1K price point. Or at least that’s what my not-utterly-exhaustive meander through these forms suggests.

This one looks promising, for instance:

https://www.amazon.com/BenQ-PD2700U-Monitor-Accurate-Reproduction/dp/B07H9XP92N/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Thoughts? I’m assuming I’d still have to use a calibration tool with some regularity...

u/3agl · 2 pointsr/colorists

I talked to the digital media teacher and she says that it may have been the white balance, but we don't really know.

link to cameras Pretty sure this is the model)

u/greenysmac · 6 pointsr/colorists

Everything is a question of Luma or Chroma. That's it. All else derives from that.

> I know practice is important (I have all my flat footage I can practice on), but are there any recommend tutorials, courses, etc?

Nope. Flat is irrlevant.

You'll want to start with with the Color Correction Handbook

And then you'll probably go to Lynda.com - and depending, if you need more, Mixinglight.com. Your local library probably has a lynda account.

Lynda is the 900lb gorilla in the video training space. ML is three colorists who have created the "next" level after you're a novice.

u/pimpedoutjedi · 2 pointsr/colorists

so I just ordered this as an on set monitor, but I've been pleasantly surprised. 10 bit, 4K. it has drawbacks but that 28" though... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EJ9J14I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/ninjaburger · 3 pointsr/colorists

Alexis Van Hurkman:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Correction-Handbook-Professional-Techniques/dp/0321929667

And yeah, great book to walk you through the fundamentals of the craft, and a little of the science.

u/brosephashe · 3 pointsr/colorists

I would absorb everything you can as far as tutorials go. Try to also watch some on the scopes because those are very important. I know there are some on mixinglight and Lynda.

This is also a great resource.

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Correction-Handbook-Professional-Techniques/dp/0321713117/ref=nodl_

u/jaminmc · 2 pointsr/colorists

i1Display Pro is one of the best, and almost all calibration software will work on it.

u/purplesnowcone · 1 pointr/colorists

I just picked up one of these guys for half that and love it. NEC PA272W-BK-SV

However, I am on a budget. For $3500 you should check out a Flanders Scientific monitor

u/emerca20 · 1 pointr/colorists

For starters, I think this book has helped me a lot:
Color Correction Handbook: Professional Techniques for Video and Cinema (2nd Edition) (Digital Video & Audio Editing Courses) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321929667/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RYrXCbSPFBN3C

... And I found this book super helpful as well, it's less about grading and look development and more about the technical bits: (full disclaimer, I haven't finished it, it was at my school's library so I was reading it in bursts)

Real World Color Management (2nd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321267222/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_u0rXCbKEE8JQE

u/sudonem · 4 pointsr/colorists

That isn’t a bad option.

I do recommend budget a little more to also get yourself an X-Rite i1Display Pro.

You’ll need it to keep the display calibrated (no the factory calibration isn’t good enough, and yes this is a thing you need to do routinely). Otherwise all the cash spent on a nice display will mostly be a waste.

u/sethgoldin · 3 pointsr/colorists

Sure thing. You can also go back over the timeline and adjust the grade for a different deliverable in a different color space. This is called a “trim pass.”

Consider reading the Color Correction Handbook. It will answer a lot of your questions.

Color Correction Handbook: Professional Techniques for Video and Cinema (2nd Edition) (Digital Video & Audio Editing Courses) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321929667/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_29tYBbHNJV4VG

u/Namisaur · 2 pointsr/colorists

1: The Color Correction Handbook by Alexis van Hurkman.

You can find the ebook of this on your school's library site if you have access to your old college login.

2: Tao of Color. Subscription website


3. Jonny's website. His blog style site posts a lot of resources regarding color