It’s the start of 2024, which means it’s time for our traditional look back at the year just gone and the stories that made the largest impact. And what a year it’s been. Camera to Cloud continued to lead from the front, with C2C being integrated into RED camera hardware in January and our Camera to Cloud Certified program being launched back in February, closely followed by our announcement that Adobe and Frame.io were among the first adopters of the TPN+ security platform.
But it was our NAB 2023 announcements that caught the most attention, in particular our expansion into digital photography with Capture One and Fujifilm. This continues to gain more momentum as photographers discover the benefits of cloud-based workflows—just as TV and movie makers have. And to cap off the year was the release of our option to bring your own storage, which was great news for our Enterprise-tier customers. And that’s as good a segue as any for the first of our top 23 stories for 2023…
#23 Archiving your video project: what do you do when you’re done?
The issue of storage is something that every video producer will face at some point—from the independent who’s reached capacity on their hard drives, to agencies who might not be clear on whose responsibility it is to archive the work they’ve undertaken for their clients. So it’s not surprising to see Charles Haine’s story on this topic among our most-read articles in 2023. If you’re looking for clarity and advice, this is a great place to start.
#22 How professional colorists look at image contrast
Contrast is, as Cullen Kelly puts it, “a big subject and there are a lot of different tools that we can use to manipulate it.” So your approach to it needs to be nuanced and match your intent, so who better to show the way that a Hollywood colorist with over twenty years experience in the field?
#21 Cellphone vs. cinema. How did we get here, and does it matter?
Since cellphone manufacturers started adding video cameras to their devices, claims of equivalency with dedicated video cameras have been inevitable and commonplace—and show no signs of stopping. (Apple, we’re looking at you.) Cinematographer Phil Rhodes takes a look at the current tech and asks the question, are we there yet?
#20 How to fix the dreaded “video look” using DaVinci Resolve
With the majority of us using digital devices to capturing moving images, the “video look” is arguably a more commonplace problem than ever. Cullen Kelly opens up DaVinci Resolve to offer up some advice on how to make your digital media look more like film.
#19 An assistant editor’s guide to syncing projects in Premiere Pro
Over the years, Chris Tennant has seen a lot of Premiere Pro-based shows that have been set up incorrectly by previous assistant editors. It’s something that leads to frustrated editors who then have to deal with excessive audio tracks, and difficult turnovers complicated by inaccurate timecode. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
#18 How to win an Oscar for Best Editing. Maybe.
If you’re interested in what goes into creating an Oscar-winning movie, then you’ll definitely want to check out our epic Oscars workflow guide as it’s packed with post production insights (more of that later in this list). But if you want to know what it takes to pick up a Best Editing Oscar, then this article has the answers. Kind of.
#17 ACES 1.3—Fixing those color management issues
ACES is an modern color pipeline standard that addresses a large number of issues with color workflows for projects at every level. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have quirks of its own. Cullen Kelly looks at version 1.3 and demonstrates the improvements it makes to your grading process.
#16 Insider Tips: Use Add Edits for faster cuts in Premiere Pro
2023 saw the introduction of our first short-form article series, Insider Tips, which offers bite-sized advice for major applications. So it was great to see them prove popular with the Frame.io Insider readers. Chris Salters puts his best foot forward with this time saving tip for Premiere Pro users.
#15 RED in-camera integrations: The next step in cloud-first productions
Our announcements typically pick up a fair amount of interest, but having this one so high in our list shows that you were as excited about our new integrations with RED cameras as we were. While the beta landed during 2022, January saw our Camera to Cloud integration with RED V-RAPTOR and V-RAPTOR XL cameras officially launched (with KOMODO soon to follow).
#14 Make the most of your MOGRTs (Motion Graphics Templates)
If you’re already using Motion Graphics Templates (MOGRTs) then you’ll know how they can accelerate your Premiere Pro graphics workflow. But there may be times when things don’t always work the way you expect. Jarle Leirpoll takes a look at what to do if you hit a MOGRT problem, and some of the steps you can take to avoid running into MOGRT issues in the first place.
#13 A24’s not-so-secret recipe for success
One company has repeatedly demonstrated how to succeed in this unforgiving industry—A24. Over the last decade, this distributor-turned-studio has built up an impressive roster of successful independent films. And shows no sign of slowing down. Danny Avershal reveals A24’s not-so-secret recipe for success.
#12 Get to grips with Resolve’s most important nodes: Serial, Parallel, and Outside
Nodes are the building block of everything we do when grading in Resolve, so understanding how they work is essential. Fortunately, Cullen Kelly is here to give you a personal tour of the core nodes in DaVinci Resolve—as well as providing tips on how to use them.
#11 The complete guide to Premiere Pro proxies and proxy workflows
Proxy video workflows in Adobe Premiere Pro allow you to edit high-resolution footage more efficiently and smoothly, but if you’re on a high-end workstation you might feel that there’s little benefit to be had from this streamlined workflow. But, as Jarle Leirpoll explains, everyone can benefit from these lightweight assets and this article will show you how.
#10 The video editor’s guide to the NVIDIA Control Panel
With GPUs often used in conjunction with your computer’s CPU to increase performance for a wide range of applications—including video encoding 3D modeling, and AI-based processes like Auto Reframe—it’s no surprise that they’ve become a valuable asset for creative professionals. Manufacturer NVIDIA has by far the largest market share of the creative professional market, so here’s a dive into the control panel that comes with these graphics cards.
#09 The Rough Cut: “Barbie” editors are in the pink
We all know by now that Greta Gerwig’s imaginative and thoughtful interpretation of the Mattel toy’s story was a colossal success. So it’s hardly a surprise to find Barbie taking one of our top ten slots for 2023. Matt Feury talks to editors Nick Houy ACE, Matt Garner, and Maya Rivera to see if it was as much fun to work on as it was to watch.
#08 Made in Frame: How “Missing” builds a modern cinematic language
In this episode of Made in Frame, Lisa McNamara gets an inside look at the crazy complex timelines and techniques employed in Missing, the spiritual sequel to Searching. We were lucky enough to speak to both directors and their two editors about their experience on this film and how they employed Creative Cloud and Frame.io to create it.
#07 Can you really emulate the look of film with a LUT?
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of “film look” LUTs available on the internet. But what if you found out that this is functionally impossible? While it’s true to say that you can recreate a lot of the features of a film look in digital post production, the tools you need for this are far more sophisticated than a simple lookup table, as Charles Haine explains.
#06 The simple technique for “cinematic” color saturation in DaVinci Resolve
It might surprise you to hear this, but there’s a knob right within Resolve’s Primaries tab that Cullen Kelly rarely uses, and that’s Saturation. As he explains, there are other techniques for manipulating the overall colorfulness of an image when grading. If you’d like to know why he doesn’t dial Saturation—and what he does instead—you’ll find the answers here.
#05 The Rough Cut: The editors behind Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”
While Barbie may have won the battle of opening weekend box office takings, it was Oppenheimer that attracted more eyeballs on Frame.io Insider. In our most popular episode of The Rough Cut, Matt Feury talks to he editing team of Jennifer Lame ACE, Mike Fay, Nick Ellsberg, and Tom Foligno about how they applied their collective storytelling talents to this Christopher Nolan epic.
#04 What working on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” taught me about the importance of eyelines
“It got to the point where as soon as the word ‘eyeline’ was mentioned the director, Amy Sherman-Palladino, would close her own eyes and start to snore—loudly.” Jay Kidd takes us behind the scenes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to ask the question “just how important are eyelines in movie and TV?”
#03 Insider Tips: How to loop a composition in After Effects
Finding a 200-wd quick tip on looping compositions in After Effects standing tall among longform content about blockbuster feature films will probably come as a surprise to most people. Unless of course you’re an After Effects user. In which case you’ll know how obscure this technique—and how often you’ll find yourself using it.
#02 Our epic workflow breakdown of every 2023 Oscars Best Picture nominee
If you’ve read our round ups for previous years, you’ll know that there’s one thing you can typically count on, and that’s seeing Lisa McNamara’s epic breakdown of that year’s Oscar Best Picture nominees sitting in the top slot. So we were not expecting to see it slip to #02 for 2023, particularly as it’s the largest and most in-depth roundup that we’ve ever run.
#01 Is Generative AI for Video ready for prime time production?
So what’s the story that knocked the Oscars roundup off its perch? It is, of course, a post from future tech expert Noah Kadner that dares to ask the question “is generative AI ready to be used in a commercial environment?” His answer? After several tests in a real-world environment, probably not. But like most things these days, it’s not black and white.
It wouldn’t be possible without…
As always, we’re grateful to everyone who has a hand in bringing the Frame.io Insider to life. Not least of whom are the writers. Without their expertise and generosity, we wouldn’t have the attention of the millions of readers who visit to these pages in search of industry experience and actionable insights.
So our thanks go out to Jonny Elwyn, Reuben Evans, Charles Haine, Noah Kadner, Danny Avershal, Cullen Kelly, Jarle Leirpoll, Chris Salters, Dean Rutz, Karolin Chen, Chris Tennant, Matt Feury, and Phil Rhodes. Plus Frame.io’s own Emery Wells, Michael Cioni, JJ Powell, Swanand Rao, Ray Ouladi, Jason Druss, Lisa McNamara, and Jay Kidd. And of course we thank you, our readers, for giving us your valuable time and attention.
Now let’s get on with 2024!
