Iridas, a German provider of digital intermediate solutions for the film, broadcast and digital content creation industries, has announced SpeedGrade, a new approach to color correction that allows real time primary and secondary correction of 2K frame sequences at any point in post production — or even on the set.
The technology allows everyone involved in a motion picture project to get an accurate impression of the finished film, long before the completed work is rendered.
Instead of altering source material during color grading as conventional color correction systems do, SpeedGrade attaches XML-based color correction parameters to sequence playlists. In effect, it records information about the correction rather than the correction itself.
This non-destructive process preserves original color depth and reduces storage requirements making it easy to export color information to asset management, compositing, and editing applications. Once the color correction work is finished, SpeedGrade allows users to render the frames to disk for final output.
SpeedGrade opens up the color correction pipeline in several ways. For example, a production working with frame-based acquisition of image data can use SpeedGrade to previsualize footage on the set to give the director of photography and the director more accurate playback.
In post, SpeedGrade allows colorists for the first time to contribute at any point in the process. Since the XML-based color correction information can be shared with artists using FrameCycler Professional and DDS playback applications, artists can now see how the completed footage will appear while working on their frames in full color resolution. It is also easy to run “what if” scenarios in the screening room before the frames are finalized to compare different versions of a sequence—all while post production is still in progress.
For more information, visit: www.iridas.com.