Color and Mastering for Digital Cinema

6Digital Mastering

Before we consider the color encoding for digital cinema distribution, it is useful to take a step back and look at the creative process as it applies to feature film post production. This process has evolved from the traditional film process described in Chapter 2 and has embraced digital technologies over the last fifteen or so years.

The first step in the filmmaking process to embrace digital technology was editing. Traditionally this process was performed manually by cutting and splicing film prints on an upright Moviola or flatbed KEM editing system. These systems were essentially miniature projectors with film transports that could be rolled forward or reverse or paused on a single frame. But this process was very labor ...