AbelCine and Diversified bring the cinema look to streaming with AJA color management

The grading capabilities of ColorBox and OG-ColorBox AJA displayed by the cinematographic video expert AbelCine and production solutions provider Diversified They give streaming productions a cinematic look.

AbelCine established in 2017 a “Live cinematic” event production approach, which applied its decades of experience in film production to live events. This approach combines cinematographic tools, cameras and lenses in a live or direct workflow, which have been deployed in shows such as the SuperBowl halftime and large tours such as The Weekend.

Last year, Diversified recognized the potential of “live cinema” for the religious market, which has begun to give more and more priority to high-end content, and chose to partner with AbelCine to reinvent ecclesiastical production. Together, the two are responsible for many of the best live broadcasts and recorded content produced by religious organizations today.

Color, key to the transformation to cinema

Instead of trying to film production tools will operate within a process of transmisión en vivo, Diversified y AbelCine se propusieron lograr lo contrario, incorporando los procesos de producción en vivo al flujo de trabajo cinematográfico. Una de las formas en que esto se lleva a cabo es en el color treatment. Históricamente, los profesionales de la televisión utilizaban un panel de control remoto, una matriz múltiple, un osciloscopio y un gráfico para colorear la salida de una cámara de cine como se haría con una cámara de televisión. Sin embargo, en la producción cinematográfica, los ajustes de color suelen ser uno de los últimos pasos del proceso creativo, por lo que AbelCine concibió un sólido flujo de trabajo basado en tablas de consulta (LUT) para la producción en directo con AJA ColorBox as a central element.

In the words of Tim Corder, vice president of Faith and Performance at Diversified: "This process has huge implications for our HOW end users, as most of the video engineers we encounter today grew up using non-linear editing systems to manipulate color. Essentially, we are empowering clients to adopt a familiar language and apply it to their live productions. The difference in content quality is huge. Live content and content recorded in the field or in the studio appear to come from the same organization and the same creative team."

The inspiration behind the process

The LUT-based live production workflow arose from an idea they had AbelCine y Diversified while advising a churchOkla esiahoma who was having problems with his color process. The pastor had a vision and expectation that the contents of the church would look as good as a concert from a major streaming platform. Even with high-end lighting and production tools, LED screens, media servers, and a 4,500-seat stadium, he felt the quality was insufficient.

Corder quickly realized that they could take advantage ColorBoxes u OG-ColorBoxes to apply LUTs to the M/E (mix/effects) output of the HOW video switcher, in addition to your traditional, camera-by-camera workflow. At first, the client was reluctant to work with LUT, as he thought it would require more technical knowledge, but he soon discovered that it streamlined the camera's “shading” process, which was previously a major weak point. There were far fewer variables to adjust and the end result was much better.

Jeff Lee, director of education and product expertise at AbelCine, recalls: "The first Sunday the workflow went live, we received text messages asking what we were doing differently. They wanted to understand why there was so much more dynamic range and detail; adding the LUT-based workflow built on top of ColorBox was the only significant change. We turned off color processing from the cameras, which were outputting Rec2020 HLG HDR signals. Instead, we output camera log signals and introduced a LUT and color processing with ColorBox to manage all the details of the image. Previously, the quality of the content varied greatly from week to week, but now there is artistic coherence and the refinement of a single brand image.

The workflow was deployed in just three days. AbelCine and Diversified requested the client lookbooks and targets in advance, and then reviewed the inspirational material and feeds coming out of their cameras, both native and log. They compared it to their ultimate goal and worked with the client to set your first LUT. Next, they installed the ColorBox, they did a couple of rounds of training and started using them. Now they make weekly adjustments, basados en la elección de la canción o el tono del sermón, utilizando una combinación del software Livegrade Pro, que manipula el CDL en tiempo real, y el amplificador de procesamiento integrado en el ColorBox. Lo aprendido en este proyecto ha servido de base para todos los flujos de trabajo de HOW desde entonces.

Modificando el color en directo con ColorBox

Además de permitir a Diversified y AbelCine garantizar que los equipos de HOW puedan producir un aspecto unificado y de alta calidad, ColorBox y OG-ColorBox satisfacen las necesidades de gradación en vivo de los clientes. Sus clientes pueden manipular fácilmente una LUT in real time to make creative decisions, just as many use audio plug-ins to manipulate their audio mix. For example, a church they work with on the West Coast recently introduced an introspective song during their Easter service with black and white imagery, and then gradually incorporated color by manipulating the LUT in ColorBox as the song progressed.

Technology has also opened new opportunities for AbelCine and Diversified to offer a final product with high dynamic range (HDR) which is accessible to almost all clients and budgets if they wish to explore it. In the words of Corder: "ColorBox's ability to take a log video signal and apply a LUT to it with almost zero latency is special, as is its built-in UHD to HD downconverter. YouTube is the primary audience for most of our customers and offers an easy way to stream high dynamic range UHD cinematic video to audiences. It's a much more affordable way to process the HDR signal, create a companion SDR version, and convert the UHD signal to HD for destinations within the system that require that signal than previous HDR options. "We can create an advanced, cutting-edge broadcast at the forefront of the industry with the inclusion of just one rack of between six and ten cards or devices bolted to the rest of the video system."