Working with a Colorist, Preparing a Sequence for Color

I guess this post should really be titled, "Working with Me as Colorist," as I can only speak for my own preferences. I am briefly going to touch upon prepping a Final Cut Pro sequence for grading in Color 1.5.

Color has come a long way from version 1.0 as far as stability and its ability to work with various types of clips.  However, there are certain best practices that I like for people to follow before they provide the Final Cut sequence to me for grading.  I have created written guidelines which can be downloaded here.  Some of these best practices are absolutely necessary, others are optional but if not done will limit options for working with a clip in Color,  affecting things like to ability to do things like key framing.  It may seem like a hassle, however, remember that Color is a powerful professional tool and it is absolutely worth the effort.  Your editor, if they have sent any projects to be graded in Color, will probably be aware of most of these.  I just want to make it as straightforward as possible and save everyone time.

If anyone has any questions or corrections regarding these guidelines, please feel free to drop me a line.   The main point of this is that it's better for you to have your editor prepare the sequence for me than it is to pay me to do it.  I will do it, but personally I'd rather spend all of the money you pay me to make your project look awesome.