FCPX & DPX, color grading IMAX film?

Last year I did a quick FCPX colour grade of an IMAX film, mainly for a preliminary screening. A few weeks later when we'd done the full-on post production house grade we compared the two versions, my laptop FCPX version and the post production house version – and they were more or less identical.

The IMAX producers asked me to colour grade their next film, but 'seriously' this time. I know FCPX works in RGB colour space, and a post house will work in a 'cinema?' colour space. I'm wondering if there is a work flow that would allow me to produce a colour grade in FCPX – working with original codecs from the various cameras (all digital on this film), converting to ProRes 444, then exporting as a DPX with Compressor – that I can then take to Technicolor to do a final run-through check?

I'm having trouble finding any recent data about FCPX & working with DPX.

I could also do the colour grade with DaVinci, but I actually love the simplicity of FCPX, and am colour grading on-the-fly as I edit all the time... so no learning curve or refresher course required.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated,

Ben

Have you looked at Color Finale to add to FCPX? Not sure it will give you exactly what you need but there is a trial version you can download. And if you master it before Feb 22 come to lacpug and demo it. I'm looking for someone. :-)

[try.colorgradingcentral.com]

Michael Horton
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I think the question of which app you use is less important than how you're monitoring it. I'm assuming they want it in a P3 space, which means you would have to have a monitor capable of displaying that gamut.

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Will check out Color Finale Michael. And yes Jon, I'm not so concerned about the app itself – though I use FCPX so much now, and can colour grade screamingly fast, I'd rather not add a learning curve to this particular job. And you're right, the issue is the color space, and the continuity of the grade across platforms. Thus the suggestion of working so I can deliver the grade in DPX format, which I can then take to a high-end post production house like Technicolor to check at the very end.

I have to confess that if I stick with Apple monitors (even my little retina screen) and seriously resist jacking up the saturation, then I've found I usually get something that plays well, and consistently, out in other formats/screens.

And, if I'm remembering right, the one grade I did do with my laptop, when compared to the large screen in the grading studio ... they were virtually the same. Surprise, surprise.

Thank you guys, Ben