Topics covered in this article:
- Color grading the HDR master
Color Grading
Color Grading in HDR and creating the HDR Master Grade is fairly straight forward in that the colorist is still focused on creating the best-looking imagery that tells the story they want to, in the best way possible. HDR provides a much larger artistic palette with extended dynamic range and wide color gamut thus offering far more creative possibilities than ever before.
Using the HDR Reference Monitor and waveforms/scopes, the colorist creates the images according to the creative requirements and intent of the project. In PQ, it is important to constrain the dynamic range of the image within the capabilities of the mastering monitor as reference monitors today are unable to display anything beyond a peak luminance of 4,000 nits while the PQ scale can potentially extend to 10,000 nits. In terms of color gamut, reference displays today are unable to accurately display Rec2020 and it is therefore recommended to work in P3D65 and deliver in Rec2020 if so requested by the studio or client.
Once the HDR grade is completed, the images may be rendered out and delivered as an HDR Master. If the intent is to deliver a Dolby Vision Master, additional steps to create Dolby Vision metadata will be required.
[Refer to the Product User Guide for additional information on the color grading features of your color grading system]