HETV ACES course for A VFX Pipeline

The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) is the industry standard for managing colour throughout the life cycle of a motion picture or television production.

This fully-funded training programme will support 36 experienced cinematographers, DITs, post-production professionals and supervisors across the UK who are looking to work with ACES guidelines and specifications within VFX projects and workflows.

All participants will get:

• One-day live online ACES colour management training from an industry experienced certified instructor
• Indefinite unlimited access to the course recording for you to revisit anytime at your own pace.
• Training material for you to keep
• Training in The Academy Color Encoding System workflows using DaVinci Resolve.

This funding will also assist with childcare costs if needed to ensure each awardee receives the best training possible.

This programme is funded by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund made up of contributions from high-end TV productions made in the UK. This programme is being delivered by Soho Editors.

Who it's for

The aim of this training programme is to support experienced VFX artists, cinematographers, DITs, post-production professionals and supervisors in the UK who have a basic knowledge of post-production techniques.

Eligible candidates need to be working currently as a cinematographer or post-production professional in a VFX, colourist or online editing position within the UK industry at an early, experienced or expert career stage.

And, you must also:

• Have at least one broadcast TV credit
• Be currently residing within the UK
• Have the right to work within the UK
• Have an established connection to the UK industry
• Be 18+ years of age

You can find more information on career stages as defined by ScreenSkills here.

You can find more information on Diversity and Inclusion for all ScreenSkills funding here.

We always welcome applications from under-represented groups, including, but not limited to: those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds; people with a disability; people from the LGBTQ+ community and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

We offer inclusive training. If you have any needs which we can accommodate during the recruitment process and beyond, please let us know and we will be happy to work with you to meet them. You can contact Soho Editors on either +44 (0)20 7734 1286 or via email at training@sohoeditors.com.

This is a nationwide scheme so we welcome applications from across the UK. 

What it covers

In this one-day live online course, you will learn the ACES workflows within a VFX environment. This includes understanding the specifications required from colour management through to general tasks within VFX pipelines.

• Understanding ACES. What it is and when to use it.
• The benefits of using ACES and scene referred colour management.
• Understanding ACES AP0 and AP1 colour spaces.
• Using ACES in the DI pipeline and how it aids CGI/VFX integration.
• Understanding the four key colour transforms: IDT, LMT, LUT, and ODT.
• Using Input Device transform's (IDT’s) to bring different cameras into ACES.
• Using non-ACES colour-space cameras/formats. (e.g. Drones and archive)
• Using RAW media in an ACES project in DaVinci Resolve.
• Setting Output Device Transform's (ODT’s) for different SDR or HDR displays and deliverables.
• Setting up an ACES project in Davinci Resolve, and explaining how to deliver to other ACES compliant software.
• Setting up an ACES project in Nuke, Cinema 4D and After Effects.
• Exporting EXR VFX plates to go to other ACES compliant software.
• Importing EXR VFX comps back into Resolve to grade.
• Managing different VFX comp versions.
• Importing Colour Decision List's (CDL’s) from a DIT on set, and exporting CDL’s to other departments.
• Exporting Dailies to editorial, or graded programs for review.
• Importing Metadata from set, or editorial, and exporting it from Resolve.
• Generating a 'Show look’ as a .drx and LUT and exporting them for other departments.
• Using ‘Group' and ‘Timeline' level grading to apply LUT's and deploy the Show Look.
• Archiving an ACES project and delivering a Display Master for broadcast.

How to apply

The one-day face-to-face course will be run for three separate groups on the following dates:

• 7 February 2024 - 10:00 - 17:00
• 24 February 2024 - 10:00 - 17:00
• 8 March 2024 - 10:00 - 17:00

Choose your preferred date and apply using the 'apply now' button above.

Contact information

Email: training@sohoeditors.com