Blackmagic
Design today announced that CHEAT has continued its expansion with DaVinci
Resolve Studio, adding a new HDR ready grading suite as well as a research and
development lab.
This adds to CHEAT’s three preexisting grading suites, which include Linux
machines with dual Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 processors supported by four Nvidia
GTX 1080Ti GPUs and the DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel.
The first project to be realized through the new workflow is The End of the
F***ing World season 2. Returning following the critically acclaimed first
season, which has been nominated for BAFTA and Primetime Emmy Awards, the grade
on series two was led by CHEAT’s owner and colorist Toby Tomkins.
“Season two was a challenge because it introduced a new director, new DPs and a
new production designer. It was also our first Dolby Vision grade as a
facility,” says Toby. “There was a lot of pressure to ensure we delivered to
the same high standards expected of us from our work on season one.”
While still in preproduction, CHEAT began by setting up an R&D lab to help
adapt all of its proprietary film emulation look up tables, originally used in
series one, for the HDR delivery on the latest season. The result was a core
node tree made up of 18 components, designed to provide a cinematic base look
for every shot. Grading with 4.5K rushes Toby then refined the base look to
create a neutral palette and analog film aesthetic that stayed true to the
first series.
“The software CMU in DaVinci Resolve was a lifesaver, as it meant I could
simultaneously monitor dual output to see the HDR on one screen and the SDR on
another, at no additional cost,” Toby explains. “If something didn’t look
right, I could quickly adjust Resolve’s trim controls to ensure the SDR grade
wasn’t compromised. We would have previously had to use a hardware CMU, which
would have been a lot more expensive and harder to use.”
Toby also manually created his own render transform from the project camera source
to CHEAT’s scene referred space using DaVinci Resolve, allowing the team even
greater control over the final look. “The transform was flexible enough for all
the lighting situations we had, and ensured there was more latitude in the HDR
range if we needed to use it, while maintaining the same amount of shape in the
SDR range,” he concludes.
“From
now on, any client that wants a filmic print look, but with the flexibility and
extended opportunities of HDR, can come to us for a distinctive aesthetic catered
to their needs. That’s crucial with our ever increasing client demand to
deliver in Dolby Vision.”
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