Victor Perez brings together the research and expertise of world-leading color scientists to create a comprehensive guide for visual effects (VFX) artists in color management. This book explores the latest standards of high dynamic range (HDR) and Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflows, in an easily digestible and widely applicable resource. Its purpose is to make artists confident and familiar with Color Management and its science, to improve the quality of visual effects worldwide.
Without assuming any previous knowledge, this self-contained book builds the reader’s understanding from the ground up, exploring all the elements of the color workflow at a scientific level. It covers how to set up a consistent pipeline in relation to other departments, inside and outside visual effects, from camera to screen, so everybody is aligned to the same standards, preserving color qualities and consistency while maintaining the artistic intent end to end. It also delves into all the integral concepts for color management, ranging from color theory to digital image fundamentals, and much more.
This book is an invaluable resource for VFX students and professionals who want to be well informed about the latest HDR and ACES pipelines, as well as those at every level of production wishing to gain a deeper understanding of managing color in visual effects projects.
Author(s): Victor Perez
Edition: 1
Publisher: Focal Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 249
Cover
Title Page
Half Title
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Section I: Optics and Perception of Color
1 Elements of Optics
Light
Perception of Color
Capturing Light
Sensitometry
Capturing Color
The Technicolor[sup(®)] Tripack
Kodak[sup(®)] Kodachrome
Color Temperature
Grain Size & Film Speed
Film vs Digital Cinema
CCD
CMOS
CCD vs CMOS
Sensor Filter Array
Bayer Pattern
Luminance vs Chroma
Chroma Sub-Sampling
Chroma Subsampling Artefacts in Visual Effects (VFX)
2 Elements of Digital Color Manipulation
Color Data
Floating Point
Half Float
Normalization
Linear
Color Manipulation
Display Referred Color Operations
Linear vs Logarithmic
Exponents, Roots, and Logarithms
Log to Lin and Lin to Log Math
Cineon
VFX Commonly Used File Formats
Cineon Log File (.cin)
Bit-Depth and Brightness Progression Correspondence for Normalization
Reversibility in a Non-destructive Color Workflow
DPX: Digital Picture Exchange Format (.dpx)
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format (.tif/.tiff)
OpenEXR: Open Source Extended Dynamic Range Image File Format (.exr)
Image Compression: Lossless vs Lossy
Other Commonly Used File Formats
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg/.jpeg)
PNG: Portable Network Graphics (.png)
Video Compression: Inter-Frame Coding
Significant Codecs for VFX Post-Production
QuickTime (.mov)
MXF: Material Exchange Format (.mxf)
Other Relevant Image File Formats
PSD: Photoshop Document (.psd)
HDR: High Dynamic Range Raster Image (.hdr)
PIC: Pictor Raster Image
SGI: Silicon Graphics Image (.sgi)
TARGA: Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (.tga, .icb, .vda, .vst)
XPM: X PixMap (.xpm)
YUV: Luminance (Y) - Chrominance (UV) Encoded Video/Image File (.yuv)
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
Display White Balance
Monitor Types
Input Process & Viewer Process
The Input Process in Nuke[sup(TM)]
Section II: Color Management
3 The Importance of Color Management
4 Understanding Color Spaces
Color Models
The Visible Spectrum
The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) xy Chromaticity Diagram
Color Gamut
White Point
Primaries
The Transfer Function
Look Up Table
Precision and Interpolation
Display Referred Workflows
Scene Referred Workflows
Display Referred vs Scene Referred Workflows
The Key Elements of the RGB Color Space
Section III: High Dynamic Range (HRD)
5 Scene and Display Color Spaces
Scene and Display Color Spaces
Types of Transfer Functions
6 Color Volume
Color Samples
Color Density
Color Bit Depth
Bits and Colors
Linear vs Logarithmic
Nuke Workspace Color Bit Depth
Nuke Native Color Working Space
RGB Density
Display Color Volume
7 HRD
Standards Concerning HRD
Video Formats
HDR10 Media Profile
Hybrid Log-Gamma
Dolby[sup(®)] Vision
HDR10+
Electro-optical Transfer Function (EOTF) for HDR
Perceptual Quantizer (PQ)
Hybrid Log-Gamma EOTF
BT.1886
HDR TV vs HDR Cinema
Primaries
Wrapper
Transfer Function
White Point
Peak Brightness
Minimum Black
Contrast Ratio
Levels
Bit Depth
Metadata
The PQ EOTF
Tone Mapping
HDR Signal Value
Section IV: Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) Workflows
8 ACES
A Future-Proof Color Management System
Resolution
Frame Rate
Color Gamut
Bit Depth
Dynamic Range
ACES Standards: The ST.2065 Family
OpenColorIO
VFX Focused ACES Colorspaces
ACES Compliant EXR
Key Specs of ACES Compliant OpenEXR
9 ACES Color Transformations
Input Device Transform (IDT)
Reference Rendering Transform (RRT)
Output Device Transform (ODT)
American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Color Decision List (CDL)
Slope
Offset
Power
Saturation
ASC CDL File Formats
Look Modification Transform (LMT)
10 ACES Scene Referred VFX Workflow Example
Nuke End-to-End ACES Color Managed Workflow
DaVinci Resolve[sup(™)] ACES Color Managed Workflow
Index
