Chances are, if you're a colorist, you may have noticed an onslaught in software products that aim to eliminate the process of color balancing. It makes sense. The process is a tedious and time-consuming one, but more importantly, it's not exactly the most creative part of the job. With its line of color correction tools, X-Rite is clearly focused on getting colorists to their creative process sooner by combining two essential color management tools in one handy kit.
Thei1 Filmmaker Kit incorporates the ideal workflow tools needed by hobbyist and professional filmmakers for both capturing and editing footage, bringing ideal color balance to the filmmaking production workflow. Perhaps more importantly to us, it allows filmmakers the convenience of a single purchase at a lower price.
First off, you get the i1Display Pro, a calibration device and software that offers the perfect combination of unrivaled color precision, speed and control for the highest level of on-screen color accuracy, including mobile devices and projectors. Next, you get the ColorChecker Passport Video, a convenient, pocket-sized target kit to quickly get you to a worry-free, color balanced and consistently neutral place with ideal camera exposure.
Put them together and you get professional control for all aspects of on-screen color accuracy, whether in the studio or in the field. Whether it's matching multiple cameras, obtaining perfect exposure, or achieving ideal color balance, all add up to the simple benefit of reducing your editing time so you can get to your creative look faster. Here's a deeper look into what you can expect.
The i1Display Pro
The i1Display Pro is the industry-recognized professional display calibration system with unrivaled color accuracy on all modern display technologies including LED, Plasma, RG Phosphor, OLED & Wide Gamut.
- Blazing fast measurement speed in an intuitive all-in-one design, adopted by leading display manufacturers as the preferred color management device
- Broadcast video standards support – NTSC, PAL SECAM, and Rec. 709, Rec. 2020 and DCI-P3
- Multiple Display and Workgroup Matching – re-use profile settings on multiple displays connected to the same computer or to multiple computers within a workgroup
- Fully supported by Atomos field monitors
ColorChecker Passport Video
The i1 Filmmaker Kit
ColorChecker Passport Video is the next evolution of the original 24-patch Macbeth ColorChecker, now celebrating 40 years as an industry standard.
- Combines 4 video production targets in one durable, protective case that includes white balance target, grayscale target, video color target, and focus target
- Get a better camera-to-camera match, achieve perfect exposure and easily shoot and edit for mixed lighting, reduce editing time and get to your creative look faster
- Designed to easily take advantage of color tools like vectorscopes and waveform monitors in programs like Adobe® Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, as well as on field monitors and recorders like Atomos or SmallHD
- Supported by DaVinci Resolve, Color Finale (FCPX Plugin) and 3D LUT Creator (for Premiere Pro and more) with in-software automation tools to speed up color balancing
If you're looking for even more control, you can start the balancing right from production with the ColorChecker Video. The large chart will help you get to a worry-free, color balanced, and consistently neutral place before you even set foot in the editing bay.
ColorChecker Video
Check out all the features below.
VIDEO COLOR TARGET
Speed up your color grading workflow by achieving ideal exposure and color balance, whether shooting with one camera or multiples. This color chart includes a series of chromatic color chips, skin tone chips, gray chips and illumination check chips. The layout is designed for ideal performance when used with vectorscopes and waveforms, whether on camera or in software.
Chromatic Colors: two rows of six chromatic color chips, both saturated and desaturated, specifically designed to align with the color axis on a vectorscope. These colors provide two levels of color information to more quickly achieve an ideal color balance.
Skin Tones: ranging from light to dark with subtle undertones to better reproduce accurate flesh tones. This row of chips is positioned on the outer edge of the target for easy alignment.
Large Gray Levels: four larger steps for even gray balance, including white, 40IRE gray, deep gray and high gloss black. These levels are ideal for determining proper exposure whether you use a waveform, zebras, or false colors. Use these levels to align the exposure and contrast of cameras you are matching and ensure that mid-tones are rendered accurately. These chips are positioned in the center of the test target for maximum exposure, even on a wide set.
Linear Grayscale: six color chips for achieving even gray balance. This row addresses highlight and shadow regions.
Illumination Check Chips: black and white chips at two corners to better assist in determining even illumination across the target
WHITE BALANCE TARGET
Starting with an accurate white balance ensures the colors you capture are true and provides a point of reference for post-shoot editing. The White Balance target found on the reverse side is a spectrally flat target that provides a neutral reference point across mixed lighting conditions that you encounter during a video shoot. Since the target reflects light equally across the visible spectrum, creating an in-camera custom white balance can properly compensate for varying lighting.
With this chart, you’ll be able to:
- Eliminate color casts
- Improve the color preview on your camera’s display so your histograms are more reliable
- Make post production color correction and editing faster and easier.
The i1 Filmmaker Kit can be yours for $369.00 or if you want to start with just the large chip chart, then the ColorChecker Video is $128.99.
