Technicolor has announced that it will further support content creators in the transition to next generation video technology by expanding its color grading service offering to include high dynamic range grading for movies, TV shows and commercials. Additionally, the company is licensing an Intelligent Tone Management plug-in that will enable broadcasters to create HDR content in their own facilities, empowering an additional segment of the entertainment ecosystem with next generation video capabilities.
These tools and services are part of Technicolor’s ongoing commitment to enabling HDR across all aspects of content creation and distribution. The demand for studios and broadcasters to provide HDR content is increasingly important as new HDR-enabled devices come to market. HDR is a standard feature of UltraHD Blu-ray, part of the Ultra HD specifications to be determined by the UHD Alliance and under consideration for the next generation broadcasting standard ATSC 3.0.
“Moving the industry forward in production and display technology has been part of Technicolor’s mandate since the invention of color in film,” said Vince Pizzica, Technicolor senior executive vice president corporate development & technology. “We understand the massive changes new technologies drive across the ecosystem and are committed to leading these industry developments by empowering every segment, from production and creative services, to delivery, through device technologies and set-top boxes. As the only company in the world that spans the entire workflow of video content, only Technicolor can truly offer an end-to-end solution for High Dynamic Range video.”
Projects will be graded to the HDR specifications set forth by the UHD Alliance, a global coalition of leading film studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, content distributors and technology companies that have aligned to define the next generation premium UHD experiences including high dynamic range, wide color gamut, high frame rates and advanced audio. Technicolor is a founder and board member of the UHD Alliance.
The new Technicolor Intelligent Tone Management plug-in will give broadcasters and content owners new options for efficiently producing HDR content by analyzing video content in real-time and providing colorists with direct control of luminance in the shadows, mid-tones and highlights for an unparalleled level of control for grading both HDR and Standard Dynamic Range legacy content. The plug-in will be licensed by Technicolor across multiple popular color grading platforms including Autodesk’s Lustre and Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve. An OpenFX version of the plugin will also be available, enabling use across all platforms that support the interoperable plugin format.
“Autodesk’s Lustre has a long history with Technicolor, so we’re thrilled to see the company’s new Intelligent Tone Management plug-in launch on our system,” said Marc Stevens, Autodesk’s vice president of film & television solutions. “The plug-in does a fantastic job of helping colorists control whole sections of an image simultaneously, creating a rapid HDR grade that colorists can then trim or fine tune using Lustre’s advanced tools.”
“We’re excited that Technicolor is offering its many years of color science and grading experience to our DaVinci Resolve customers via its Intelligent Tone Management plugin,” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. “Demand for HDR content is growing and we’re seeing the community embrace it’s power so this is a perfect time for the launch of a Resolve plug-in to fully explore the new medium.”
Technicolor www.technicolor.com