Codex – more color tools

[Scott Witthaus]

Very interesting and a control surface to boot! Thanks for sharing.

Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Visual Storyteller
https://vimeo.com/channels/1322525
Managing Partner, Low Country Creative LLC
Professor, VCU Brandcenter

[Oliver Peters]

[Scott Witthaus] “and a control surface to boot!”

It’s interesting that this panel deviates from the norm – no track balls. However, that’s similar to the Koji (Dale Grahn) plug-in controls, which are based on film timing methods and terminology.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Andrew Kimery]

Looks interesting, but I wonder how big the market is for a $299 grading plugin when Color Finale ($149) seems to be the go-to grading plugin for X, and Apple just re-vamped the built-in tools. Also, $1500 seems pretty pricey for only working with the that one plugin.

[Michael Gissing]

Resolve Studio and it’s smaller proprietary panel are the same price. Even cheaper if you are happy with Resolve Free. It sounds a lot like the layer based hierarchy that Color with FCP Studio offered.

I’m not sure that a control panel sans trackballs is going to impress for that price. I would have thought that the controller would have been cheaper without trackballs.

[Andrew Kimery]

[Michael Gissing] “Resolve Studio and it’s smaller proprietary panel are the same price. “

The Micro Panel ($999) and Resolve Studio ($299) is much cheaper than FCP X ($299), the Codex plugin ($299) and Codex panel ($1500).

Resolve is also a well established and widely used which I think makes buying proprietary hardware for it an easier pill to swallow. I don’t imagine many colorists are going to take projects edited in PPro or Avid and bring them into FCP X so they can grade using the Codex plugin and panel. For projects that originate in X you can already use panels with Color Finale and X’s revamp first-party tools.

I think Codex really needs to blow the doors off what’s currently available, and hope there is a lot of untapped demand for mind blowing, high end color tools in X, if they want people to fork over $1800.

[Michael Gissing]

I wasn’t including the price of X on the assumption that it was comparing using this for current X users to buying Resolve’s offerings. Even though Resolve is cheaper and more capable, I’m sure there are those that want to stay within their NLE of choice as I want to do within Resolve.

I’d want to know a lot more about masks, tracking those masks and how the layers interact before passing any further judgment on the grade tools.

[Bill Davis]

Considering the names involved behind this – it looks like some major players are betting that the penetration of FCP X into ever larger facility workflows will continue.

Plus, the thing itself looks like it’s something a highly skilled colorist could easily toss (with a dependable OLED or FSI flat panel monitor) into a carryon bag and go knock out high end grades as, when, and where needed.

It’s a crazy new world out there.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Oliver Peters]

[Bill Davis] “Considering the names involved behind this – it looks like some major players are betting that the penetration of FCP X into ever larger facility workflows will continue. “

Actually, I’m not sure that’s the intent. Codex offers location tools and this fits into the wheelhouse of DITs and on-set editor-colorists. FCPX is ideal in that world and so that might be Codex’s target user. Not to mention, the price tag is fine for a DIT, where there’s less price sensitivity than in the greater FCPX world. After all, a DIT cart alone is a lot more money than this software.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Bill Davis]

[Oliver Peters] “Not to mention, the price tag is fine for a DIT, where there’s less price sensitivity than in the greater FCPX world. After all, a DIT cart alone is a lot more money than this software.
“

That makes sense, Oliver.

Thanks for the clarification.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Andrew Kimery]

[Oliver Peters] “FCPX is ideal in that world and so that might be Codex’s target user.”

Resolve is pretty established in this on-set/DIT role is it not? What advantages do you see w/using X instead?