In this episode of The Offset Podcast, we’re discussing strategies for managing client review sessions - both in person and remote. The review session sounds straightforward on paper, but it can be a complicated balancing act of moving things along, addressing changes, and keeping everyone happy.

Some of the specifics we discuss in this episode include:

• Managing both in-person and remote review sessions
• The importance of ‘knowing’ the show - content, characters, etc
• Modulating small talk and reading the room
• Leveraging markers & notes for remaining tasks to accomplish & notes to self
• Anticipating problems, tangents, and pushback
• Setup your grading pipeline to make changes and comparisons easy for the client
• The power of making choices and changes visual
• Documenting and tracking changes for consistency and completion
• Making sure the technology works - audio, networking, lighting, passwords etc
• Having a backup strategy - rendering out intermediate masters, duplicate projects/timelines
• Having clearly defined goals for the review session & a post-review plan

You can submit show ideas and find show notes by visiting www.offsetpodcast.com. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube - just search for The Offset Podcast

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we're discussing many of the things no one told us before we decided to become professional colorists.

While being a professional colorist can be exciting and rewarding, the job also comes with a plethora of challenges and things you might not realize. Some specifics we discuss in this episode include:

• Is being a colorist everything it’s made out to be?
• How being a colorist can challenge your physical and mental health
• How not every project is share-worthy and it's easy to feel like you're not making art
• Challenges of long hours and being away from family and friends
• Being an independent colorist is hard, but the benefits can be numerous
• There is more out there to color besides movies, television, and commercials - i.e. the great middle
• How postproduction knowledge as a colorist can be leveraged for lots of other things
• How you have to learn to check your ego at the door
• Long-term success usually means consistency and repeatability vs one awesome grade
• Learning how to be a team player with other parts of the pipeline
• Putting your knowledge to work through education, speaking, etc can be just as rewarding as grading
• Advancement in postproduction isn’t really connected to titles - - but more so responsibility and overall trust from stakeholders

Thanks for listening/watching and if you liked this show be sure to check out other episodes and tell your colleagues and friends about the podcast!

We hope you had a great holiday season! The Offset Podcast is back for Season 2. We publish an episode every two weeks, and for Season 2 (2025), we’re excited to discuss a wide range of exciting topics.

In this episode, we explore a subject that should be important to everyone who cares about image quality and accuracy—calibration. While this episode is not encyclopedic, it should give you a high-level overview of modern calibration.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• The importance of calibration & why calibration = the truth
• Using color bars to set a monitor baseline isn’t calibration
• How standards guide calibration
• Calibration and monitor perfection is unattainable - the goal is to eliminate visual deviations from reference as much as possible.
• Understanding the parts of a closed-loop calibration system
• Colorimeters
• Spectroradiometers
• Creating display-specific offset matrices for a colorimeter with a spectroradiometer
• Pattern generators
• Pattern/Patch size and understanding the basics of loading behavior
• Calibration software
• Direct device control within calibration software
• Meter placement
• Challenges of calibrating projectors vs. direct-view monitors
• Understanding what calibration can’t do & recalibration considerations
• Is auto calibration any good?
• Hiring a professional calibrator

Thanks for checking out the show! If you liked this episode please like, subscribe, and share the show with friends and colleagues.

Programming Note: The Offset Podcast is taking a break for the holidays. We'll return in mid-January 2025 with new episodes and back to our regular release schedule. A very sincere thanks to our listeners for an amazing 2024 and for helping us launch the show!

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Continuing with our two-part series on DIY approaches, in this installment of The Offset Podcast we'll discuss using a DIY approach to software. No, we're not talking about making your own turn-key color or editing software (but let us know if you do!), but rather things like scripting, basic coding for tool building, automation, and more.

Specific topics covered in this episode include:

• Why DIY software approaches & can you really do these things yourself?
• The importance of always starting with an idea
• Basic scripting to improve workflows
• Integrating scripts through the Resolve API
• Leveraging Resolve developer documentation for help
• Learning by looking at other/open-source scripts
• DCTLs - creating custom color tools for DaVinci Resolve
• How color science and DCTLs relate
• Using low code/no code workflow automation platforms to connect the dots with different APIs
• Automating while also allowing for human decision-making
• Make your own UI/Interface for custom tools with Budibase
• Keeping interfaces simple to get more user compliance
• SaaS (Software As A Service) in the cloud vs local integrations
• The danger of using too many services
• Using developer marketplaces

Thanks for checking out the episode. Please subscribe and like the show anywhere you find it!

You've likely heard the phrase 'work smarter, not harder'. Well, for the professional colorist who has to grade tons of shots day in and day out, working smarter is at the core of what we call grade management.

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we explore a plethora of tools & techniques for grade management. While many of these things are Resolve-specific, grade management approaches can apply to your grading tool of choice.

Highlights include:

• What does grade management mean?
• The power of fixed node tree (fixed structure)
• The process of building your own fixed tree
• Leveraging Node Stack Layers
• Using compound nodes
• Using groups, Lightbox & Smart Filters to work faster
• Shared nodes
• Understanding sort modes
• Using multiple playheads
• Remote and Local grades
• Using Versions
• Split screens for complex comparisons
• Stills and wipes
• Timeline (Layer) organization and track disabling
• Burn in options and rendering specific tracks
• Single Clip vs Individual Clip render options

Remember to subscribe and like wherever you find The Offset Podcast. We appreciate you checking out this episode!

No, we're not returning to the days of 1", U-Matic, or even D1 & Digibeta (although those were pretty awesome days!).

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we're revisiting some postproduction knowledge that many of us take for granted but that is surprisingly new or at least unclear to many people.

In this episode, we'll discuss:

• Preserving institutional knowledge of post - old vocab and techniques are still relevant
• Understanding fractional frame rates
• Drop vs non-drop timecode
• Understanding interlacing
• Interlacing to progressive, progressive to interlaced
• Transparency & alpha channels
• Composite modes and transparency in color-managed pipelines
• Recap on 3 and 4-point editing
• Inclusive & exclusive playheads
• Being obsessive about file names
• Using Leader in file outputs - slates, bars/tone etc

If you like this episode, please subscribe and like the show wherever you find it. Also, thanks to our sponsor Flanders Scientific, and our awesome editor Stella.

If you have an idea for a new episode please visit offsetpodcast.com and use the submission button to share your thoughts

It's hard to believe but this is our 20th episode! We sincerely thank all our listeners and viewers for checking out the show. We're super excited for the next 20+ shows!

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We're big fans of customization, including things on our desk and other hardware we need around the facility. With huge online marketplaces, it's easier than ever to find those oddball parts and items to personalize your setup. But what if you can't find what you're looking for or you've found something that fits your need 80% but not completely?

In this installment of The Offset Podcast, we start a two-part series on DIY (do it yourself) approaches for postproduction. We're starting out by exploring one of our favorite DIY approaches - the power of 3D printing to make custom items for your suite, facility or anywhere else you might need a customized part.

Over the past 10 years, 3D printing has morphed from an engineering hobby for the most serious DIYers to something that's approachable for even the most tech-phobic of us.

In this show, we'll explore the basics of 3D printing to make your own hardware including:

• The power of customization & fulfilling exact needs
• What kind of things can you print for postproduction?
• Understanding the basics of additive and subtractive manufacturing
• The 50,000 ft view of the 3D printing - modeling, slicing, and 'programming'
• How a good set of calipers can help you design anything with real-world measurements
• 3D printing communities
• Farming out fabrication to a vendor

In a future episode, we'll explore DIY software approaches including custom scripting and workflow-enhancing tools.

Thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific and to our awesome editor Stella - we couldn't do the show without you!

If you liked this episode, check out our other episodes and like and subscribe wherever you find the show.

Color management pipelines play an integral part in modern postproduction, but these pipelines still cause a lot of confusion for many people.

In this episode of The Offset Podcast, we discuss essential concepts & vocab about color management pipelines to prepare you to dive deeper into these concepts.

Specific topics discussed include:

- Why understanding color management so important in modern workflows
- Understanding the concepts of scene and display referred
- How LUTs can be considered part of a managed pipeline - but with some limitations
- The parts of a color-managed pipeline
- Choosing an intermediate/working space
- Project-wide, node-base, and layer-based approaches to color management
- The power of color space-aware tools
- Printer lights & contrast in a managed pipeline
- Output metadata tagging
- Using OFX and DCTLs in a managed pipeline
- The danger of too much fiddling with transforms

You can also find this episode on all major podcast platforms.

Big thanks as always to our sponsor Flanders Scientific, and our editor Stella!