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Titre
Date
Durée
Charles Poynton Interview.
31 Jan 2026
01:53:39
In this episode I chat to Charles Poynton. Many of you may know him as one of the foremost educators in our industry and he has had a formidable career.
He is an independent contractor specializing in the physics, mathematics, engineering, and programming of digital colour imaging systems, including digital video, VFX/CGI, Digital Intermediate and digital cinema systems. He is involved in engineering wide colour gamut and high dynamic range systems. He does technology forecasting, systems modelling, algorithm development, video signal processing architecture, colour characterization and calibration and image quality assessment work.
It was about 25 years ago that he decided that HD should have 1080 image rows, and square pixels. He has been involved in developing many of the industry standards that we use today.
He wrote one of the most commonly used books for our industry titled: Digital Video and HD, Algorithms and Interfaces.
In December 2024 he hosted a Metamerism Experts Day, which was attended by a wide range of industry experts to discuss the various ways that metamerism is successful and how it fails more regularly with technological advancements.
We discuss the many complex topics presented at this event, and also his illustrious career. Hope you enjoy it.
This is the second of a two-part discussion I had with Richard Muller. He is a DIT based in Germany now, but like me started out in South Africa. He has a wealth of experience from working on shows like: Chappie, Avengers, Dark, Tribes of Europa, 1899, and more recently The Phoenician Scheme, where he was a virtual production supervisor. We continue to discuss the testing and calibration of various film stocks for use on virtual studios. Also metadata and maintaining consistency and the challenges to doing good work when the D.I.T. role is not acknowledged. He has lots of great advice for people wanting to become D.I.T.s.
This is the first of a two-part discussion I had with Richard Muller. He is a DIT based in Germany now, but like me started out in South Africa. He has a wealth of experience from working on shows like: Chappie, Avengers, Dark, Tribes of Europa , 1899, and more recently The Phoenician Scheme, where he was a virtual production supervisor.
We discuss the role of the Digital Imaging Technician and what in involves and also some testing he is doing with film and video acquisition combined with virtual studios. We discuss the quirks of various markets regarding the DIT.
In this episode I interview Menno Dreischor, a chemical engineer based in Amsterdam.
His company TIPb offers engineering solutions for a wide range of industries. Menno’s interest in film led him to develop an algorithm to help with restoring the faded color on old film scans. It analyses the pixel distribution of a supplied source and target image and generates a matching LUT. It is currently in a beta testing phase and has many potential applications from restoration, shot matching and creative look design. He also has a second algorithm that tries to predict the aspects of an image that will induce visual cognition effects such as simultaneous contrast, assimilation and others effects. In the interview we discuss both projects and their potential applications.
Menno’s Color matching examples:
https://www.youtube.com/@colormatchinghub
We discuss:
(00:00) - Intro.
(00:53) - Menno introduction.
(02:51) - Interview starts.
(04:08) - Background in chemistry.
(05:29) - Connection to film.
(06:09) - Unofficial Star Wars restoration.
(08:46) - Matlab.
(10:25) - Drug analyzer.
(13:49) - Color Matching Project.
(15:30) - The matching process.
(16:45) - Histogram matching.
(21:12) - Theoretical basis.
(27:38) - Link to look design parameters.
(31:15) - Does it use machine learning?
(32:52) - Parameterization.
(40:54) - Entropy.
(48:26) - Open-source vs closed source.
(56:29) - Integration into current workflows.
(01:07:01) - Will this tool help or hinder creativity?
(01:13:34) - Over emphasis on matching.
(01:15:14) - Need for test footage.
(01:19:51) - Matching examples.
(01:31:39) - Visual cognition introduction.
(01:32:25) - The significance of cognition.
(01:33:47) - Does it affect the matching project?
(01:37:10) - How was it implemented?
(01:38:50) - Kernel based approach.
(01:40:50) - Assimilation's relation to resolution.
(01:42:21) - Visual cognition as a summary.
(01:47:14) - Matching is always done in context.
(01:48:46) - Uses of the cognition algorithm.
(01:53:41) - Discussion about compression and noise.
In this episode I relate a written interview I had with Dr. Akiyoshi Kitaoka, a Professor of Psychology based in Japan. He does research on visual perception and makes visual illusions. His work embodies a fascinating combination of creative and technical aspects. I’d recommend viewing this episode on YouTube rather than as an audio podcast as there are many visual demonstrations.
Color Mentor is on YouTube or your favorite podcast provider.
In this second part of the interview with Kevin Shaw I talk to him about the Colorist Society, and around the drive for our industry to organize itself in general. We talk about local and global issues, trade unions, recognition and awards, development and training and much more. I’m keen to hear your experiences with industry organization attempts in the past, let me know in the comments.
Here is the IMDB petition if you would like to add your comment:
In this episode I chat to Kevin Shaw. He is a well know colorist and educator in our industry. He has also been a key figure in setting up and promoting the Colorist Society, which is the topic of our following episode. In this episode however we discuss telecines. Kevin started grading 10 years before I did, at a time when color grading was either telecine or film lab based. We discuss various stages that the industry has gone through since then, all the way up to the present.
This episode is the second part of my conversation with Troy Sobotka who is a Vancouver based lighting, rendering and all-round image creation person. You may know him as the designer of the Agx render transform. We dive further into the mechanisms of visual cognition and picture formation. He shares a vast knowledge and collection of reference material on this topic. See download link below for additional material.
In past years he has written an online blog called the Hitchhikers Guide to Digital Color. I would highly recommend people to read it.
We discuss:
(00:00) - Intro.
(01:11) - Episode summary.
(01:43) - Visual examples of phenomena.
(01:59) - Light and shade.
(03:57) - Gilchrest’s gamut compression.
(05:51) - Simultaneous contrast.
(06:21) - Shimmer / luster.
(07:26) - Induced contrast.
(08:06) - Glare halo.
(08:31) - Hermann grid.
(08:57) - Watercolor effect.
(10:31) - “Chevreul Effect”.
(10:57) - Crispening.
(11:46) - Neon Color Spreading.
(12:18) - Chromatic induction.
(12:46) - Gamut Compression/Expansion.
(13:18) - Chromostereopsis.
(14:11) - Face vase, Rabbit duck, Necker Cube.
(15:39) - Kanizsa triangle.
(15:57) - Dr. Tse cognition examples.
(17:54) - Not the pixel you thought you saw.
(18:45) - Pictorial exposure.
(20:37) - Gain and offset dimensions.
(21:47) - Image examples.
(24:47) - Decomposition framework.
(26:54) - Newtonian physics metaphor.
(29:20) - Interview starts, stimuli are not color.
(34:43) - It’s all constructed. Dr. Hoffman interface.
(36:56) - What is pictorial exposure?
(42:12) - Correlated signals “luminance” and “chrominance”.
(47:28) - Colorimetry’s limitations.
(56:38) - The domain of Metrics.
(01:05:22) - The domain of Stimuli.
(01:07:21) - The domain of Cognition.
(01:08:32) - Three broad Mechanisms of cognition.
(01:09:28) - Current predicament of image makers.
(01:18:31) - Increment and decrement signals.
(01:23:48) - Gain regulation.
(01:27:46) - SDR vs HDR.
(01:32:19) - Field propagation.
(01:34:47) - Can output transforms be dynamic?
(01:37:36) - Three Cognitive processes.
(01:38:53) - Form decomposition.
(01:44:47) - Why is the canvas flat?
(01:46:47) - Form computation.
(01:48:26) - Form assignment.
(01:52:59) - Towards practical examples.
(01:57:12) - Gain and offset dimensions.
(02:05:03) - Cognition limits.
(02:07:43) - Leading the eye.
(02:08:54) - Brand colors, vanta red.
(02:10:41) - Example of gain and offset.
(02:13:05) - Why not just desat to white?
(02:15:25) - Some history of picture formation.
(02:16:31) - Versioning.
(02:22:17) - Look creation and display transforms.
(02:27:48) - Ergonomics.
(02:35:35) - Bigger, better, faster.
(02:42:00) - Outro.
(02:41:33) - End.
Download link for additional images and pre interview discussions:
In this episode, I chat to Troy Sobotka who is a Vancouver based lighting, rendering and all-round image creation person. You may know him as the designer of the Agx render transform. We discuss the topic of Visual Cognition as it relates to how we make pictures. He shares a vast knowledge and collection of reference material on this topic.
In past years he has written an online blog called the Hitchhikers Guide to Digital Color. I would highly recommend people to read it.
We discuss:
Download link for additional images and pre interview discussions:
On this episode I must apologize in advance for having way too much fun. My guest is Jason Iversen he is a Visual Effects Technical Supervisor who has worked at Digital Domain, Rythm and Hues and now is at Weta in New Zealand. We have known each other since high school and worked together many years ago in South Africa. He was the co-founder of the Odforce.net chat forum. And he has worked on more block buster films than I’ve had blocked noses. We talk about visual effects, color pipelines and rendering techniques through the ages and discuss where things are heading with the merging of Weta with Unity games.
Today’s guest will probably be familiar to many of you. Steve Shaw and his company Light Illusion are well known in the world of calibration and color grading. I chatted to him about his work with Quantel and other companies in the past. Also, film emulation over the years and the current products and services that Light Illusion offers.
We discuss:
(00:00) - Intro
(01:13) - Interview starts
(01:36) - Starting at Quantel
(06:08) - Quantel as pioneers
(12:38) - Quantel IQ and Pablo
(16:03) - DI and film emulation
(20:46) - Film Lab Profiling Service
(24:53) - Light Illusion's film profiles
(27:21) - Origins of Lightspace
(34:35) - Film emulation vs film looks
(39:20) - Film meets HDR and HDR limitations
(41:35) - Image vs reality. Marketing bollocks!
(42:06) - Resolution
(45:59) - Why we calibrate
(48:04) - Compounding error
(59:32) - Calibration interval
(50:14) - Client education and support
(53:39) - Calibration process
(58:47) - Manufacturer auto-calibration
(01:00:37) - Display linearity
(01:01:50) - Probe calibration and probe matching
(01:04:54) - Checking linearity
(00:01) - 06:03 Heat stability
(01:09:30) - Video and full levels
(01:11:58) - System delay
(01:15:43) - Signal path and system setup
(01:19:55) - Custom patch sets
(01:23:56) - Linear and log data compression
(01:26:11) - Visualizations in Colorspace
(01:28:31) - Zero-1 range and negative values
(01:30:44) - Six Primary color systems
(01:32:57) - Colorspace for color science
(01:35:06) - Image sequence probe and virtual studios
(01:36:21) - Broad spectrum white LED’s for virtual studios
This episode I’ll be speaking to Kaur Hendrikson a colorist based in Tallinn Estonia. Any of you who use DCTL’s will be familiar with his name.
In the last few years, he has setup up a successful DCTL store and is constantly developing new tools for freelancer and large facilities alike. He does DCTL and Python scripting training for Black Magic and platforms like Mixing Light. We spoke about this and a lot more.
We discuss:
(00:00) - Intro
(01:18) - Interview starts
(02:04) - Starting out
(06:01) - Estonia
(08:36) - Hockey Stick
(13:13) - The DCTL store
(15:49) - Vision mixing automation
(21:41) - Coding to solve problems
(22:58) - Black Magic teaching
(25:22) - Resolve Certification
(26:42) - Teaching
(28:51) - Python Scripting
(30:53) - Product Design
(34:28) - Future of DCTL library
(37:52) - Current limitations of DCTL
(42:19) - Panel Mods
(45:42) - Color management
(51:16) - Issues with color management
(52:45) - Maths in DCTLS
(54:32) - Color models
(56:03) - Functions and smoothness
(59:13) - DCTL bad practices
(01:03:25) - Problem solving
(01:04:44) - Highlight Modes
(01:11:29) - Recent grades
(01:13:06) - The future
(01:14:26) - Node tree
(01:15:40) - What young colorists need
(01:19:02) - Project Archives
(01:20:41) - Open-Source vs for profit
(01:26:32) - Interacting on forums
(01:28:32) - Forum theatre
(01:32:49) - Finding work
(01:36:33) - Current interests
(01:42:47) - End sign off
(01:43:08) - END LOGO
Check out www.patreon.com/ColorMentor/ for colorist training.
In this episode, I'll be talking to Thatcher Freeman. He's a California-based colorist and software engineer. For his day job, he's an actual AI specialist. He's made great contributions to the color grading and software coding communities. He's also a filmmaker, so I wanted to talk to him to find out what makes him tick.
We discuss:
(00:00) - Intro
(01:10) - Interview starts
(01:57) - Thatcher's background in film making.
(05:01) - The difficulties on finding resources on color theory.
(06:41) - Current industry trends.
(09:14) - A colorist's value.
(10:21) - The combination of art and technology.
(13:14) - Freelance pressures.
(29:14) - Subtle vs Pushed graded.
(33:00) - Things that break the signal.
(54:29) - Personal taste in films and watching as a professional.