COLOUR GRADING
Post-House quality colour grading, without the post-house price.
Commercial broadcast quality colour grading can be prohibitively expensive with the cost of grading a project in a post-house colour suite coming in anywhere from £100-500 per hour!
At Scarlet View Media we believe commercial broadcast quality SDR and HDR grading should not be out of reach for small and medium sized production companies. We colour on pro-studio hardware and software (the same software used in those pricey post-houses in fact), but we operate from a home studio meaning no overheads on a facility and we pass those savings on to you.
We recently worked with Dave to support us as a colourist on a video production project. He perfectly understood the brief and what we were looking to achieve, and was very collaborative in making sure that we got to a place that both us and our client was happy with. Will definitely be working with Dave again.
Kieran Edwards - Dead Pixel
It was an absolute pleasure collaborating with David from the initial conversation right through to delivery. He is always contactable and really cares about not only the high-end final look of the grade but also the clients enjoyment of the process. David is an outstanding colourist and a great communicator. We all loved the grade as it really did give justice to the beautiful rushes. All in all David is a great guy and an expert in his trade and I look forward to working with him again soon.
Geoff Brooks - Groundbreak Productions
We brought in David to colour a large/complex video project with a lot of moving parts and deliverables. David pitched a flexible and clever solution for managing the workflow as we worked side by side on delivering the project. Aside from the technical approach, we were very impressed with David’s skills and competency in delivering the colour grade 100% on spec and in line with the clients expectations. Exceptionally communicative, collaborative, and creative. We’ve had a great time working with David and look forward to doing so on our next project.
Deryn Carr - Grit Pictures
David is an extremely professional colourist, who finds no trouble in going in the extra mile for the work we’ve sent him. The work and final product shows for itself – beautifully graded, high quality, and the result of intricate detail. No job is too big and the quick turnaround, when needed, has been massively appreciated.
Jimmy Allen - Quarantine Productions
I’ve used David and Scarlet View Media on two of my features – Palindrome & Blonde. Purple – his work and work ethic is immaculate. He consistently makes sure the client is happy and that he also produces the best work he can whilst keeping communication fluid and present. Will be using him again
Marcus Flemmings Director - Blonde.Purple
David has been fantastic from start to finish with the colour grade on our production. Technically on point and very aware instinctively of what we needed. Creatively it was a joy to collaborate with him and everything David brought to the table was sublime and really helped to enhance the finished series. Cannot recommend David highly enough
Will Nash Director - Obscenities
David at Scarlet View Media is the go to man for time critical colour grades. After the first job we knew we would work with him again to deliver our high spec projects to important clients. His communication is great and always has some suggestions to help take the concept to the next level. Highly recommended.
Shan Qaisar Owner - IQ Studios
David’s work is first rate – working with my film PALINDROME, he had to provide 3 distinctive colour schemes which had to elevate the story. He did so and then some. Great communication, efficiency and technical knowledge.
Marcus Flemmings Director/Producer - Palindrome
I had the pleasure of working with David on a TVC. His instinctual creative choices especially when editing remotely, coupled with his easy going attitude made him a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a skilled Editor and Colourist.
Stephen Ribeiro Company Director
David at Scarlet View Media was an absolute pleasure to work with; he was super helpful, knowledgeable and friendly from day one, all the way through to completion of the project. His input and professionalism were integral in delivering a piece of work we can all be proud of. We’d love to work with David/SVM again, and would highly recommend them to others looking for colour grading services.
Marc Grundy - Coolbox
I worked with David at Scarlet View Media on a 5-minute commercial. He is extremely accommodating with what is possible and made sure that the deadline was hit. His communication was professional, instant and informative when it came down to what was needed from his side of the project. When having tight deadlines for a project I find this to be a valuable quality from a contracted freelancer. Should I need a digital colourist for any future project, David/Scarlet View Media will be my first call.
Martin Bilsborough - Film Distillery
I have recently had the pleasure of working with David when he graded a short film for my production company. Throughout the process I was impressed with Davids communication skills and professionalism. The Quality of work he produced was excellent. I would have no hesitation in recommending him
Mark Quinn Executive Producer - Cotton Wool
David is an incredible colourist and collaborator. He brought so much to the project, he captured my vision exactly on screen and considered everything from the QC to my personal aims with every shot. David went above and beyond at every turn for both the production company and myself. He is always personable, professional and easily contactable. As a colourist, he always aims for that cinematic film look, he’s guaranteed to give anyones’ film a completely unique and fitting look. I can’t recommend David highly enough and look forward to working with him again.
Nick Connor Director - Cotton Wool
Working with David Diley for Scarlet View Media was an absolute pleasure. He was the colorist for our TV movie Maternal Secrets. As a producer, it gave me great comfort to have fluid communication with him. He always updated me with the process and gave accurate ETAs for turnaround times. David took on the challenge of dealing with two creative visions from both production and the director to bring together a product we are really happy with. There were challenges with this film (just like every production) and in this, one of the difficult looks for the film was the flashback scenes. We did go round and round with different ideas and ended up right at the beginning. David worked with us to make sure we were satisfied and was completely understanding when working through the changes. Finally, when it came to deliverables David saw this project right through to handover with the distributor. He took on an extra voice with even more feedback in his stride and worked with me to see this movie right through to completion (which helped significantly with my stress levels). Thank you David!
Brooke Williams Producer - Triventure Films
I was fortunate enough to collaborate with David when he coloured my short film. The whole experience was an absolute joy thanks to David’s exceptional knowledge, diligence, enthusiasm and communication. He ensured that every aspect of his work was in-line with the look that we were after but was also able, with his expert-eye, to substantially improve on this vision in ways we could never have imagined beforehand. David worked incredibly quickly without sacrificing any quality whatsoever and kept us involved creatively throughout. The result is a grade that we are delighted with and a much better film! I will certainly be using David at Scarlet View Media’s services again and again and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him. In David you will find the perfect creative partner and any production would be lucky to have him.
Will Jeffs - Funnel Web Films
Real-time collaboration, wherever you are in the world.
You want input in the grading process but you can’t get to us here in our studio or you’re not set up in a way which would allow us to work from your base. That is no longer a problem thanks to DaVinci Remote Monitoring.
We can give you real-time access to view what we’re doing as we do it whilst talking to us to give your input and feedback. As long as you have an IOS device (iPhone or iPad) you can view the grade remotely and best of all it’s completely free!
The magic of HDR
HDR, or high-dynamic range, is a relatively new technology which can elevate the image you see on your TV or smart device to an entirely new level. It’s found on nearly all the best TVs, including midrange and high-end TVs as well as many budget models and smart devices. On a good-quality TV displaying real HDR TV shows, movies and games, you’ll see brighter highlights, better contrast and deeper, more realistic colours. The image overall is just more lifelike.
The majority of our work is in the current standard, SDR, however if you or your client requires HDR masters, our colour suite is enabled to grade, monitor and deliver HDR and the visually stunning results that come with it.
Our tools of the trade
Our in-house colourist, David Diley, uses up-to-date Da Vinci Resolve Studio software with a variety of plugins for film emulation, noise reduction and other key elements of building your bespoke project looks.
Our grading and edit suite is an Intel i9, 64GB PC able to read and write from/to both Windows and Mac formatted hard-drives, fitted with a Nvidia RTX 4070Ti GPU and a BlackMagic Decklink Mini-Monitor 4K to ensure true colour reproduction.
That true colour reproduction is monitored on dual calibrated 10bit monitors, a 4K, 32” ASUS Proart HDR and SDR Mastering monitor, and a 4K Benq Rec709 monitor meaning we can accurately master your project for whatever delivery platform you have in mind.
What we do with your project
The complexity of what you want for the final look of your project will dictate how much we need to do to achieve a particular aesthetic, however, there are certain elements of building a final look which are essential in every project.
1. Colour Correction
This is the process of balancing every shot in your film, so the whites, blacks and colours are matched and the highlights and shadows are consistent. This is the first stage of every grade we do; no project leaves our studio without proper colour correction being done first.
2. Primary Grade
This is where colour palettes are applied, colour is boosted or desaturated, contrast adjusted, areas of focus and shadows, midtones and highlights are manipulated, and the look really starts to take shape.
3. Bespoke Look Build
We can use LUTs if you want us to, but we very rarely do. We like to build everything manually, meaning we create a look unique to your project and in-line with the message and feel of the whole piece. Every shot has the same precise attention to detail and flexibility working underneath a LUT may not allow.
4. Mastering & Delivery
This is where we create your final graded masters as an optimised, quality controlled master file. Whether in SDR, HDR or a HDR10+ format for use on either compatible platform, we can create a graded master to go back to your editor, or create the final masters for delivery.