NAB 2019: Grass Valley Helps Camera Shading With New Creative Grading Solution

Grass Valley, a Belden Brand (Booth SL106) will unveil Grass Valley Creative Grading (GVCG) at the NAB Show 2019. The new solution delivers a fast, intuitive interface that removes complexity when adjusting images, freeing up shaders to express their creativity and focus on delivering captivating images.

Comprised of a new control panel and a companion touchscreen application, GVCG bundles multiple technical operations into intuitive packages. Camera shaders can now easily and quickly manage adjustments, such as transitions from indoor to outdoor lighting. Shaders can seamlessly manipulate images thanks to the ultra-fast connection between panel and control and the dynamic adaptation to any format (HDR, WCG, 4K UHD, etc.) in real-time. Using GVCG, camera shaders can even use a WiFi-enabled tablet in the front of house to establish visual matching between physical and digital set elements.

“While live production requirements have changed radically in recent years, camera control panels have remained mostly the same. Functions exist in silos, giving camera shaders very little oversight of the impact any parameter change will have on the final picture, and this makes them hesitant to make too many adjustments,” says Mark Hilton, vice president of live production at Grass Valley. “As a result, very few of the camera’s many functions are actually used. Grass Valley Creative Grading breaks the mold – no other camera manufacturer offers this type of deep, universal control that brings storytelling to the forefront. It is simple to learn and use. Camera shaders can now unleash their full creative potential as never before.”

Before GVCG, defining a look and adapting it to current conditions involved modifying hundreds of parameter combinations. GVCG presents these controls as bundles of related parameters so shaders can easily toggle between streams from the same panel to experiment, compare and define a look. Once created, a look can be instantly shared across multiple cameras.

Unlike existing control panels, GVCG eliminates the need to memorize individual steps when tweaking image parameters. Thanks to GVCG, shaders can quickly take multiple snapshots of how setting changes impact an image, compare them and select the preferred result. Grass Valley Creative Grading’s simple interface requires minimal training and can be learned on the job, opening up more creative camera functions across a range of applications.