Editing Digital intermediate (section)

==Definition and overview==
A digital intermediate often replaces or augments the photochemical timing process and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before [[Distribution (film)|distribution]] in [[movie theater|theaters]]. It is distinguished from the [[telecine]] process in which film is scanned and color is manipulated early in the process to facilitate editing. However the lines between telecine and DI are continually blurred and are often executed on the same hardware by colorists of the same background. These two steps are typically part of the overall color management process in a motion picture at different points in time. A digital intermediate is also customarily done at higher [[image resolution|resolution]] and with greater color fidelity than telecine transfers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Although originally used to describe a process that started with [[motion picture film scanner|film scanning]] and ended with [[film recorder|film recording]], digital intermediate is also used to describe [[color correction]] and [[color grading]] and even final mastering when a digital camera is used as the image source and/or when the final movie is not output to film. This is due to recent advances in [[digital cinematography]] and [[digital cinema|digital projection]] technologies that strive to match [[film]] origination and [[movie projector|film projection]].

In traditional photochemical film finishing, an intermediate is produced by exposing film to the original camera negative. The intermediate is then used to mass-produce the films that get distributed to theaters. [[Color grading]] is done by varying the amount of red, green, and blue light used to expose the intermediate.

The digital intermediate process uses digital tools to color grade, which allows for much finer control of individual colors and areas of the image, and allows for the adjustment of image structure (grain, sharpness, etc.). The intermediate for film reproduction can then be produced by means of a [[film recorder]]. The physical intermediate film that is a result of the recording process is sometimes also called a digital intermediate, and is usually recorded to [[internegative]] (IN) stock, which is inherently finer-grain than [[original camera negative]] (OCN).{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

One of the key technical achievements that made the transition to DI possible was the use of [[3D LUT|3D look-up tables]], which could be used to mimic how the digital image would look once it was printed onto [[release print]] stock. This removed a large amount of guesswork from the film-making process, and allowed greater freedom in the colour grading process while reducing risk.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

The [[digital master]] is often used as a source for a [[Digital Cinema Initiatives#The DCI Specification|DCI-compliant]] distribution of the motion picture for [[digital cinema|digital projection]]. For archival purposes, the digital master created during the digital intermediate process can be recorded to very stable high dynamic range [[Separation masters|yellow-cyan-magenta (YCM) separations]] on black-and-white film with an expected 100-year or longer life. While still subject to the natural degradation of any analog chemical master, this archival format, long used in the industry prior to the invention of DI, was considered valuable for providing an archival medium that is independent of changes in digital data recording technologies and file formats that might otherwise render digitally archived material unreadable in the long term.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

A "film intermediate" is an analog variation of a digital intermediate, where a project shot on [[digital video]] is [[Film-out|printed]] onto [[film stock]] and transferred back to digital video to emulate film. The term was coined after it was used on the Oscar-winning 2012 short film "[[Curfew (2012 film)|Curfew]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Assimilate Helped Create Highly Acclaimed Film, "Before I Disappear"|url=https://www.productionhub.com/blog/post/how-assimilate-helped-create-highly-acclaimed-film-before-i-disappear|access-date=2021-12-04|website=ProductionHUB.com|language=en}}</ref> The process was also used on the films [[Dune (2021 film)|''Dune'']] (2021) and [[The Batman (film)|''The Batman'']] (2022).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roxborough|first=Scott|date=2021-09-10|title=How 'Dune' Cinematographer Greig Fraser Created the Look of Denis Villeneuve's Sci-Fi Epic|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dune-cinematographer-denis-villeneuve-movie-1235011592/|access-date=2021-12-04|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fletcher |first=James |date=2022-02-28 |title=Matt Reeves: In the Shadow of the Bat |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/matt-reeves-in-the-shadow-of-the-bat/ |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=FilmInk |language=en-AU}}</ref>