The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
Volume: 130, No. 7, pp. 31–41
Abstract: Color order systems were developed to aid in the quantification of color. Classic color systems such as Munsell and Ostwald relied upon a 3D model of color to visually conceptualize the color order, in the shape of a cylindrical atlas and a double cone, respectively. These systems can aid in designating absolute values and identifying manufacturing standards by numerical specifications. This study proposes a visual color navigation system, which provides new vocabulary so that shifts in color, lightness, and chrominance values can be identified, related to original creative intent, and shared between creatives and engineers alike in motion picture applications using simple non-numerical language. The system revolves around a hue disk with four cardinal directions, indicating two axes of warmth to coolness (North–South and East–West). This color compass can be used as a navigational tool within any color-encoding scheme or color space in use for a project. For example, the system can be used to discuss the g and j axes in Optical Society of America uniform color scales (OSA-UCS), the a^\star and b^\star axes in CIELAB, or the tritan and protan axes in ICtCp. The system also equates lightness to altitude values, so a user can describe “higher” or “lower” values as one might describe the altitude of terrain. Lastly, chrominance will be described as expanded or contracted, with respect to the original value. The study includes illustrations of the system at work in different color spaces, in addition to using practical examples from the author’s experience with over 100 episodes of high-dynamic-range (HDR) content.
Publication Date: 2021-08-01
DOI: 10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806
ISSN: Print: 1545-0279 | Electronic: 2160-2492
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806
Author(s): Rory Gordon
bio
Rory Gordon is a senior colorist at Arsenal in Santa Monica, CA. She has a life-long passion for the science and art of image capture; this passion has taken her from makeshift basement darkrooms in her home state of Oklahoma, to the Munsell color laboratory at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, where she earned a BFA degree in film production, to Hollywood, where she has worked steadily for the past nine years. She has worked on 20 shows as a colorist, executing many different styles and always working in support of the choices made by the show’s creative team—from cinematographers, to directors, to producers. She has finished about 100 episodes of high-dynamic-range (HDR) content, including both HDR-10 and Dolbyvision. She lives in Los Angeles with her partner James Gibson and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys making hand-painted wood clocks, messily cooking, and doing lazy yoga.
Keyword(s): Color Management, Color Order System, HDR, Standard Dynamic Range
Copyright: © 2021 SMPTE

Bibliographic Reference(s)

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Rory Gordon; The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 130, Issue: 7, August 2021); SMPTE, 2021. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806

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Rory Gordon; The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 130, Issue: 7, August 2021); SMPTE, 2021. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806

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<span class="citation">Rory Gordon; <cite>The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 130, Issue: 7, August 2021); SMPTE, 2021. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806</a></span>

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Rory Gordon; The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 130, Issue: 7, August 2021); SMPTE, 2021
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806

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Rory Gordon; <cite id="bib-10-5594-jmi-2021-3087806">The Color Compass: A Color Navigation System in a Dynamic Deliverable World</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 130, Issue: 7, August 2021); SMPTE, 2021
<span class="doi">10.5594/JMI.2021.3087806</span>
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