A Q&A with Billy Gabor, senior colorist, Company 3, New York

Q: Grading a commercial, do you do telecine or a DI?
A: A lot of the technologies that have gone into developing DIs for feature film work have collided with commercial work. We’ve been transitioning over the last year to doing commercials in a DI workflow, whereby we scan the film to our SGI Infinite SAN and do color-corrections off the SAN.

Q: What are the advantages of a DI rather than a film-to-tape telecine session?
A: We avoid roll changes, so the DI allows the client to view things more quickly. Everything has been scanned ahead of time. And, with random access to the material, we can preview the commercial in the edit order. We don’t have to show it in the order shot.

We’ve now added an ARRI scanner in addition to our 5 Spirits. The ARRI scanner, which we use for DIs, is a remarkably consistent and stable scanner. From a workflow standpoint, the repeatability and predictability and ease to get the full range scan is an advantage.

Q: Is the fact that some commercials get theatrical release an incentive to doing a DI?
A: That does happen and it’s an added bonus, but it’s a workflow that is not just an advantage when they’re doing something for cinema. Even if it’s for SD, you save time, you can make color decisions relative to the scene that comes before and after it, and you can quickly move between shots because of the random access.

That said, if we output to SD and the client wants a cinema version or HD version tomorrow, it’s easy to do because the master is based off a 2K scan.

Q: What do you say to people who think DI is overkill for a commercial?
A: My answer is that it’s not overkill because DI has become the name for a process that ultimately means nonlinear color correction ‘ and a nonlinear workflow is a benefit to all areas of post. Editing, telecine, [and] finishing will all start to blend and take place simultaneously.