HDR For Indie Films & Docs

Understanding The HDR Landscape & Why It’s Accessible

With Robbie Carman
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Robbie Carman
Colorist & Educator
@robbie.carman
@dc.color

v Owner & Lead Colorist DC Color

v Co-Founder MixingLight.com
v Lynda.com/Linked-In Learning Author
v Book Author & Technical Editor
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What This Session Is All About

v Why HDR makes sense for indie films & docs

v 3 common concerns about adopting HDR

v Understanding Key Terms: ETOFs, PQ, Wide gamut, Tone Mapping

v Your questions!
 Why HDR Makes Sense For Docs & Indie Films
Leveraging High Dynamic Range Workflows

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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Why HDR?
v I invested heavily in HDR starting in 2016. Why?

v Widespread industry momentum – TV, content, software companies

v Visceral experience without physical hassles i.e. 3D glasses

v Scalable – technology continues to get better

v A new creative experience – injected energy into my grading

v Valuable - HDR allows me to better serve clients with workflows they

once could only get at the largest facilities

v I firmly believe that HDR can help projects of any size

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HDR Is Here…NOW!
v OTT platforms like Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, HULU, Amazon and others
support HDR (PQ) and Dolby Vision

v Online video hosting platforms like YouTube support HDR

v More exciting tech than broadcast – UHD, 10BIt, HVEC

v Exciting opportunities for filmmakers of all sorts to create HDR content

v Many (most) new TVs sold have support for HDR10 and or Dolby Vision
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Many Pros For A Small Boutique

v Competitive Advantages

v Especially in smaller markets, HDR capabilities can give you a competitive advantage

v HDR can also give clients a competitive advantage in selling their project

v Creative Advantages

v While HDR is a different visual ’language’, its impact can be visceral

v It’s not hyperbole – HDR more closely mimics how we see the world

v Business Advantages

v HDR services generally demand higher hourly or project rates

v HDR services NOT just about HDR grading. Mastering, delivery and QC services can mean big $$$
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The Technology Is Accessible

v Access to HDR technology is not nearly the barrier it once was:

v NLE & Grading tools widely support HDR workflows

v Consumer HDR monitoring widely available and affordable

v Consumer HDR monitoring can be used in post (with some limitations)

v Professional HDR monitoring while still very expensive is becoming more widespread

v Camera systems are already capturing high dynamic range images

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The Workflows Are Accessible

v Sophisticated color management (ACES, RCM, etc.) easily
accessible in every mainstream grading application

v Dolby Vision analysis (L1) is even included in some

applications like DaVinci Resolve Studio

v A Dolby Vision trim license, Dolby Encoding Engine & end

user certification is fairly affordable

v Most grading apps have a high level of deliverables

support – IMF, XML, QC tools, etc.
 Common Concern #1
HDR Monitoring Is As Expensive As A Car Right?

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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HDR Video Is All About The Display

v Television & home mastering is done between 0-100 NITs (SDR)

v HDR television and home mastering is currently done between 0-4000 NITs

v That vastly expanded dynamic range allows for life like scene brightness –
HDR can be 13 stops or more

v HDR displays are also being paired with wide color gamuts like P3 and BT.2020

v HDR reference displays continue to be very expensive

v Consumer HDR displays have a lot of limitations & compromises

Image Courtesy Of Canon

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And A Lot Of Them!

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HDR Displays Today

❖ Full array local dimming (zoned) backlight LCD displays (FALD)

❖ Light modulating cell layer displays (LMCL)

❖ RGB & WRGB OLED displays

❖ Peak luminance:

❖ 4000 nits (Dolby Pulsar)

❖ 3000 nits (FSI XM310K)

❖ 2000 nits (Canon DP-V3120,TV Logic LUM-310R)

❖ 1000 nits (Sony X300, FSI XM311k, Sony BVM-HX310 )

❖ 300 - 2000 nits (Consumer)

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Choosing A Display
v Consumer HDR TV Or Professional HDR Monitor?

v Consumer HDR TVs

v HDMI Only Connectivity

v Loads of ‘auto’ and processing; Tone Mapping

v Aggressive limiting and small peak luminance area

v Potential volumetric issues

v Affordable

v Professional HDR Displays

v SDI Connectivity

v Support multiple HDR standards

v Support of pro features – 3D LUT calibration, etc.

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But I Want To Use A Consumer Display!

v I get it! Professional HDR reference monitors are expensive – as much as a nice car!

v No reason you can’t start your HDR journey on a consumer display

v You just need to be aware of limitations

v Volumetric limitations – particularly with WRGB OLEDs

*Losing gamut when getting brighter

v Inability to totally turn off or correct built-in tone mapping

v Tone mapping variability manufacture to manufacture

v Potential difficulty in HDR calibration

Image Courtesy Of Sony
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No One Wants To Spend A Lot Of Money!

Professional HDR Displays Allow For Greater
Repeatability & Proper Translation
Of HDR Content
 Common Concern #2
Is Project Footage High-Quality Enough For HDR?

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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Quality Of Footage
v Indie films and docs are often ‘blessed’ with footage from
everywhere! Varied acquired footage, stock, archival

v Highest quality source should always be the goal

v Remember not every shot has to be stretched to the max

v 8-bit (4:2:2 & 4:2:0) can be used with care

v Pushing low quality sources can cause banding and posterization

v Many cameras are capable of capturing stunning dynamic range

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Projects Are Already Shooting HDR!

v Many modern cameras are already capable of recording enough
data/dynamic range

v 10bit+

v 13+ stops of dynamic range

v Raw data

v Wide gamut

v Log encoding

v Even more consumer focused cameras can work well

Image Courtesy Of RED

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Tips For Shooting

v Look for opportunities to capture specular highlights

v Glints of metallic objects

v Water

v Windows/Lighting

v Leverage increased color volume opportunities

v Set design, wardrobe

v Work dynamic range in where possible

v Don’t be afraid of shadows, strong highlights Image Courtesy Of Arri

v Use on-set HDR preview monitoring & HDR scopes

v A good DIT can dramatically help in HDR productions

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What About Stock & Archival?

v A lot of stock these days can be found as high-quality ProRes/DNx or
even in a Raw container

v No problems keeping archival true to what it is

v Even low-quality stock & archival has some wiggle room:

v A little extra pop – peak white 150-200nits

v A little extra color

v 8-bit and low chroma subsampling can cause banding

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What About Graphics & Text?

v Many docs are graphics and text heavy

v No single rule for peak levels for graphics & text –

largely background shot dependent

v ITU does suggest 203 nits for diffuse white/text

v For many motion graphic artists working in color managed pipelines

might be new. You can always receive text/graphics as Rec 709
 Common Concern #3
My Clients Just Don’t Care (Yet) About HDR

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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Yet…
v While many projects don’t have immediate outlets for HDR content, that
will continue to change as more outlets require HDR deliverables

v As mentioned, having an HDR deliverable can help a client’s project be

more sellable down the road

v Many potential clients really don’t know what HDR is!

v Educate clients on the technical and creative

v Expose clients to as much HDR as possible – find good references for

projects that closely align to theirs

v Make it easy for them to see their own content in HDR – Frame.io,
DEE, mobile devices
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Helping Clients Understand & See HDR

v HDR is one of those things that really needs to be seen to ‘felt’

v Build HDR demos that match the client

v Feature narrative/doc

v Shorts

v Commercials

v Music Videos

v Private in person demos (where possible) – time to play around

v Spec work (be careful of over-committing)

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Working HDR Into Project Proposals

v Be prepared with a standard ‘elevator pitch’ of what HDR brings to a project

v Add ‘optional’ HDR services as line items where ever possible

v Think about incentivizing HDR with discounts or other things

v Leverage a portfolio of HDR projects as a sales tool

 HDR Workflows
Many Ways To Work

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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The Flexibility Of Color Management

v While it’s possible to grade and deliver HDR projects in a non-color
managed workflow (LUTs), you’re much better off in managed pipeline

v Managed pipelines offer many advantages:

v True mathematical transforms Footage > Working Space > Output

v Consistency in initial image development

v Ability to quickly take a project from SDR > HDR or deliver to different
output gamma/gamuts
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The SDR First Workflow

v Even if an HDR deliverable is a requirement there is a very valid argument
for an SDR first grading workflow:

v Likely the most eyeballs will be on an SDR version

v Comfort level of DPs, Directors, Colorists in creating SDR images

v Some don’t like the look of derived SDR

v Some don’t like the potential lack of control in creating derived SDR

v Color managed SDR projects can easily be ‘trimmed up’ to HDR

v Even in a derived/HDR first workflow a bespoke SDR version can be useful

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HDR First & Derived Versions Workflow

v While possible to arrive at derived ‘downstream’ versions via various transforms or LUTs,
Dolby Vision is the most widely used HDR first workflow

v In a Dolby Vision workflow:

v HDR Grading is done at a chosen mastering level 1000, 3000, 4000 nits common

v P3D65, P3D65 limited in a BT. 2020 container, or BT. 2020 most common gamuts

v After HDR grade is finished, footage is analyzed creating Dolby Vision L1 metadata

v After initial analysis colorist can optionally ‘trim’ downstream derived HDR versions and
SDR to match the creative intent of the master HDR version. This creates L2 metadata (DV
version 2.9) or Level 8 metadata (DV version 4.0 and later)
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https://professional.dolby.com/content-creation/tutorial-series/
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SDR Library Content To HDR

v More and more content providers are looking to remonetize existing
content libraries into HDR (re-master)

v This can be done several ways:

v Hardware like AJA’s FS-HDR

v In color correction app with shot-by-shot corrections or project wide

v Ideal method would be to go back to camera originals – not very likely

v Somewhat limited by original grading decisions (e.g. clipping)

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HDR Grading
v HDR color grading can free one (mostly) from limitations of less
dynamic range, and smaller gamuts

v Key points for HDR grading:

v The language of HDR is developing – no right or wrong

v Focus on image segmentation

v Keep downstream/derived versions in the back of your mind

(HDR first)
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HDR Mastering
v In addition to HDR grading, HDR mastering steps can be required

v Dolby Vision, HDR 10+ can use dynamic metadata i.e. shot by shot

v HDR 10 can also use stream wide metadata – MaxFALL, MaxCLL

v Metadata can be delivered in a package format i.e. IMF or as a

separate metadata file – usually an XML
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HDR Delivery
v HDR delivery is evolving but usually includes:

v PQ/HLG Master *at mastering nit level

v IMF packages

v Mezzanine file(s)

v Tone mapped or bespoke graded SDR

v Any required metadata

v QC Reporting

v OTT services usually handle final encoding

v HDR final encoding increasingly becoming easier

The (Very) Short Primer On HDR Video
Getting Up To Speed With Technical Terms

© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

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Lots Of Confusion Around HDR

v Alphabet soup of terms

v Multiple standards

v Varying performance of monitoring (professional vs. consumer)

v Cost of entry can be prohibitive

v Misleading or false information floating around

What Does HDR Video Mean To You? 38

Responses From Live Event Survey

35

30

25

20

15 31

10
22

14
5 11
5 6
0

Stylized Images Super Bright Video More Saturated 4k Higher Bit Depth High Frame Rate
Responses From Live Event Survey
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Many Components To Image Quality

v Dynamic range

v Color volume

v Bit depth

v Resolution (Spatial Resolution)

v Frame rate (Temporal Resolution)

v These aspects can be combined in various ways

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Image Courtesy Of Technicolor Siggraph 2017

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“Windy Climate” by F8user via vaillantmartien.wordpress.com

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Image Courtesy Of Promote-Control.com

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HDR Imaging Is Different Than HDR Video

v HDR Imaging (HDRi)

v Generally multiple exposures ‘merged’

v Image is still shown on an SDR display

v Aesthetically pleasing, but can have problems

v Similar video approaches – e.g. RED HDRx

v HDR Video

v High dynamic range in a single exposure

v Requires HDR display

v Not all displays created equal

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HDR Is About Dynamic Range

v It’s easy to think of HDR as simply brighter or higher luminance video

v While peak white is key component, it is contrast & dynamic range that makes HDR video so appealing

v While many displays can get very bright, if the overall dynamic range doesn’t increase, the display is not HDR
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HDR Is All About Wide Color Gamuts

v Wide Color Gamut (WCG) – When compared to Rec. 709, wide color
gamuts encompass more colors. It’s easy to visualize the boundaries of a
gamut on a 2D CIE 1931 plot

v P3D65 & BT 2020 are the most used target wide gamuts for HDR Displays
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HDR Is About More Color Volume

v Color Volume – the chosen gamut combined with luminance. Best
visualized in volumetric 3D graphs

v More color volume means that more colors are reproducible across a
broader range of luminance values

Image courtesy of Dolby

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Image courtesy of Dolby

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HDR Research
v In early 1990s real-time HDR acquisition by merging images championed by
Georges Comuéjols and Hymatom

v Brightside Technologies played a key role in HDR display tech (DR37-P) &
HDR research

v Dolby acquired Brightside in 2007 & continued research

v This research & on-going display advancements, led to many aspects of

A Brightside DR37P HDR Display. Image courtesy of Brightside/Dolby
current standards and HDR displays
 LUMINANCE LEVELS

cd/m 2
or
Nits Human
Real World
Vision Future TV Current TV Cinema
1.6 Billion

100 Million

1 Million

10,000

100

1
?
TV Standard Cinema Standard
.01
100 Nits 48 Nits

.0001

.000001
Visual
Absolute ‘Adaptation’
Black
Image courtesy of Dolby
 LUMINANCE LEVELS

cd/m 2 Current TV
or
Nits Human
Real World Highlights 20,000 Nits
Vision Dolby Cinema
1.6 Billion Research
100 Million Display

1 Million

10,000

100

TV Standard
.01
100 Nits

.0001

.000001
Visual
Absolute ‘Adaptation’ Blacks .004 Nits
Black
Image courtesy of Dolby
 LUMINANCE DYNAMIC RANGE PREFERENCE 51

84% Users Preferred

.01 10,000
Nits Nits

Sony BVM X300 - 1,000 cd/m

Dolby Pulsar Prototype - 4,000 cd/m

Image courtesy of Dolby

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It’s All About Information

v HDR pipelines are all about capturing & presenting the most

information possible

v The closer we get or even beyond the human eye the better

v Dynamic Range

v Color

v Gradation

v Resolution

v Lots of math behind all the acronyms

v Focus on the idea of ‘Better Pixels’

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I THINK OF HDR AS A LARGER PIPE

FOR IMAGE DATA
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Must Know Terms

v NIT = Candela Per Meter Squared (cd/m2)

v EOTF = Electro-Optical Transfer Function

v PQ Curve = Perceptual Quantizer Curve. Display referred EOTF based on

research by Dolby & others

v ST. 2084 = SMPTE Standardization of PQ Curve. Used in Dolby Vision,

HDR 10 & HDR 10+ standards

v HLG = Hybrid Log Gamma. Alternative EOTF to PQ

v BT.2100 (Rec 2100) = ITU recommendation covering most aspects of

HDR pipelines – EOTFs, resolutions, bit depth, etc.
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Must Know Terms

v Luminance = Measurable intensity of light

v Brightness = Subjective interpretation of intensity of light

v APL = Average Picture Level

v ABL = Automatic Brightness Limiting

v MaxCLL – Maximum Content Light Level

v MaxFALL – Maximum Frame Average Light Level

v Active Picture = Can mean area of screen with actual image pixels or in
HDR often used to determine how much screen area can achieve peak
luminance of a monitor
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Tone Mapping
v Tone mapping dynamically maps the luminance and color volume of one
display/standard to the luminance and color volume of another
display/standard

v Tone mapping plays a big role in HDR because of HDR displays with
varying capabilities

v Tone mapping can happen in color grading systems or in real-time on

displays
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60
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Without Tone Mapping

(simulated)
The Creative Side Of HDR
Getting To Know HDR From The Colorists Perspective
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5 Things To Focus On
v A robust color management pipeline

v Understanding of monitoring pipelines – tone mapping, capabilities, etc.

v Image segmentation – complete control over various parts of the tonal range

v Dynamic range not just high APL or super bright (shadows are fun!)

v HDR as story telling tool, not the story

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5 Mistakes Everyone Makes

v Get confused in your color management pipeline

v Turn it to 11! Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

v Very high APL that makes derived versions much harder to trim, triggers ABL issues

v Apply too much focus to specular highlights and the brightest portions of shots- there are less code values up there!

v Try to use DV trim controls as grading controls

HDR For Indie Films & Docs
Understanding The HDR Landscape & Why It’s Accessible
With Robbie Carman