Color Grading

COLOR GRADING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

Color Grading once used to be thought of as the simple process of correcting errors from shooting. Now, more than ever, color grading is an essential part of the creative process.

For both picture quality and the director and cinematographer’s vision to be maintained it is essential for the Director of Photography to be involved with grading whenever possible.

There is great value in a collaboration with a talented colorist and their contribution to the look of a project can be immense. However, the costs and limitations of conventional, hardware based grading suites, can often become a barrier to the creative process.

LIGHTNING POET FILM offers a simple, low cost system that allows for the freedom to explore ideas and work with our images in a free-flowing creative process.

Desktop Color Grading is an area that is currently developing at a rapid rate. While it has yet to “break-through” in the way that HD now has, desktop grading is showing all the signs HD was showing right before it suddenly became the technology of the moment. Traditional color grading was primarily hardware based and was extremely expensive to set-up, operate and maintain. Also, as a hardware-based technology it was strictly limited by the capacity of the hardware involved. In contrast, desktop grading is mainly software-based and benefits from the freedom and cost effectiveness that provides. Like desktop publishing, computer audio & non-linear video editing before it, digital desktop color grading will revolutionize the craft with better quality, more flexibility and vastly lower costs. As with HD, Lightning Poet is now years ahead of the competition with depth and breadth of practical experience in Desktop Grading. This is clearly displayed in The Grading Sweet product (www.thegradingsweet.com). Developed entirely in-house at Lighting Poet Films, The Grading Sweet provides a powerful grading toolset, ported to the world’s dominant digital editing system.