Topic: Tangent Wave review

Exactly! I like the form factor as well. But first I’ll see if I can get a Wave over here to test. I expected the MC Color to be available before christmas, but since they’re late I need to check for other solutions. I have a few big gigs coming my way, and it would be nice to – first of all – grade faster, and more intuitive – and to make the suite look more complete and professional for the client sessions.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

I’m looking forward to trying it out. I like the form factor because if you just grade now and then, like I do, you can just keep the panel in front of the keyboard.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

A well established retailer for the pro video and broadcast market in Norway has announced that they will sell Euphonix MC Color. The latest information is that it will be available for delivery in march, with a price of about NOK 13500 + VAT.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Thanks for the heads up, Ola!
(And thank you Derk, for answering Ola)

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Hi Ola,
We just received the first batch of units and are testing them now. If everything goes well, we will start shipping in about a week.
Thanks,
Derk

Topic: Tangent Wave review

I was told the same thing as you regarding the time frame for shipping.
I’m supposed to get a unit from Euphonics to write a review, when they start shipping, but I haven’t heard from them yet.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Any thoughts about this one vs. the Euphonix? I was promised an email from Euphonix before christmas, but I never got one. I asked about when it was going to ship, and the director of marketing over there said they were in production and would ship in the US during the last two weeks of December. As for worldwide, he didn’t know at that time. This was December 8 – I wrote to him again this morning. I’d very much like to have one of their Color panels. I think it both looks better and seems more handy for dailies on various locations due to its weight and size. However, I’m forced to ordering the Wave if the Euphonix won’t show up for a month or two, as I’ve got a handful of projects to be done by March/April – and I REALLY REALLY need to get my workflow up to a certain tempo.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Except for the Wave then yes that’s my gear. The video monitor is the cheapest HD-SDI CRT I could find: JVC DT-V1710CG. The resolution is around 800 TV-lines, it has auto switchable SD and HD input and I use it for monitoring for Avid, FCP, AE and Color. It has never let me down. If you pay the same amount for a broadcast LCD it will be less color accurate but the LCD will have better resolution.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

What he means is , he’s going to steal it! ;-)

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Nice and interesting review! :) I’ll probably be aiming for the Euphonix myself, as fast as it’s available. Not because of this review, but if I can get away with it, I’ll keep it.

Topic: Tangent Wave review

Intro

Last April I was offered a color grading job for a short film shot on Red.
The actual grading was going to be done in August and in the meantime Apple released Color 1.5 with support for the Tangent Wave. Since I had been in contact with Tangent Devices when they released the Wave panel last year, I got back to them to see if I could get a unit and write a review for coloruser.net.

The timing couldn’t be better. I received the panel the day before the grading of the short film was supposed to start and it felt really great to have proper hardware for the client supervised session.

Unboxing

The packaging is stylish in black with a seductive pack shot. Just like an Apple or Wacom product.

The three red trackerballs didn’t come pre-installed when the unit shipped, probably to protect the tracker ball “cavities”.
Since the unit was brand new I hesitated to put a screwdriver in the slot to flip up the trackerball lids as the manual suggested. But they opened easily and I put the trackballs in place and put the lids back on.

Software

I downloaded the Wave Plug-in and the “Wave Control Mapper” application from the Tangent Wave website.
The panel talks to Color via the plug-in and you customize the knobs and buttons with the application.

The application sports one of the most intuitive interfaces I have ever used and I had it running in the background all the time when I was using Color. When I found a default setting I didn’t like or when I needed a custom function I just switched from Color to Wave Control Mapper. I changed the setting (mostly just knob sensitivity), hit Save and then it was instantly available in Color.

Hardware

Overall look and feel

What really dissapointed me about the hardware was the low weight plastic shell. It has somewhat of a hollow sound to it and if I had to guess the price before I hooked it up, it would be a lot less than the suggested retail price. I hope a future version of the panel will address this because it makes the Wave feel (and sound) cheap.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the unit has a USB port and nothing else. That means one cable for both power and signal and no need for yet another power adapter with cables under the desk.

Displays
Since I had installed all the software I just needed to hook it up to my USB hub and when three beautiful OLED displays lit up I forgot all about the weight and the hollow sound.

The text is small but it has great contrast. Each of the three displays has five lines of text divided into three areas – one for each button below it.

Buttons
The nine buttons below the displays is where you navigate between the rooms in Color.
Recessed with the transport jog wheel are nine function buttons and five transport control buttons: Previous edit, next edit, play in reverse, stop and play forwards.
Thanks to the Wave Control Mapper you can have the buttons do pretty much anything. You can assign banks for different functions and switch between them with the bank up and down buttons. Next to the master dial are two buttons reset the values for the trackerball and the jog wheel and these can’t be changed.

Knobs / Rotary encoders
The rotation of the knobs feels smooth and precise and to reset the value you just push the knob. I felt that I needed to use too much force but maybe this is something that will soften when the panel have been used a while. Also pushing the knobs made the panel resonate and I was reminded again about the hollow plastic. Crap… “Look at the cool OLEDs to forget the hollow sound. Look at the cool OLEDs to forget…”

Jog Wheels
Lift, Gamma, Gain and Transport. The wheels were a bit wobbly and sometimes when rotated slowly the value went backwards on screen. The jog wheels had the worst feel of the panel controls. They weren’t bad, just less than what I expected.

Trackerballs
These worked great during my test. I had the sensitivity set pretty high because the balls were very responsive and easy to move. And to be honest, the trackerballs are really why you should get a color grading panel in the first place. To be able to simultaneously “push-pull” the color vectors for the shadows, midtones and highlights is invaluable.

Conclusion

Working with a control surface is the way to go, but that’s not news to anyone. With Tangent Wave and the upcoming MC Color from Euphonics the hardware that used to be aimed at large post facilities is now available for anyone who is serious about color grading.

The biggest drawback about the Wave is the build quality of the casing. A MacBook Pro is cheaper than the Wave but it feels more classy and it’s a lot sturdier. I’m not saying the Wave needs to be manufactured from a single block of aluminium, but it definitely deserves a better material than this cheap gray plastic.

Build quality aside. The combination of the Wave hardware and the Wave Control Mapper is where the system really shines. It’s a joy to use and it also makes it very easy to store different settings for different users.

The workflow in Color is sped up by an order of magnitude when using a control surface, so it’s not a question if you should buy one – it’s which one you should buy. I’m going to check out the Euphonix MC Color at IBC. Then I’ll decide which one is right for me.

That purchase will also happen way before I have a client sitting next to me again, because the speed you get after just a couple of hours in front of a control surface is totally worth the money you spend.

Grades

Build quality: 3
Ergonomics: 4
Software integration: 5
Value for money: 4

For more information about the Tangent Wave panel go to: www.tangentwave.co.uk

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

If you need hi-res (4K/2K) DPX, TIFF or R3D files from RED ONE camera you can go to RED RELAY.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

This is an actual 35mm image output that has been color graded and downsampled for viewing on a computer monitor.

RAW 2K DPX

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

This is an actual 35mm image output that has been color graded and downsampled for viewing on a computer monitor.

2K RAW DPX

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

yes, please post again if you can.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

yes, please post again if you can.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

I’m sorry, the link already dead couple weeks ago.
I’ll post the new one soon.

Thanks.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

I think this particular station was used as location in the norwegian movie “Tatt av kvinnen” (taken by the woman) based on a text by Erlend Loe, featuring Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Marian Saastad Ottesen and Peter Stormare. I’ll dig around to see if I find some stills from the scene.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

Works for me. Just tried it.

Topic: [SHARE] Picture for Exercise

Man I cannot get the picture to download :-(