DV By J.R. Bookwalter

Complex and confounding to some, using Apple Color cries out for expert training, and Class on Demand tackles the task.

Class on Demand has been one of the preeminent producers of creative & media training videos since the company was launched in 1996 — “before there was on-demand anything,” quips CEO Paul Holtz — with a set of VHS tapes aimed at teaching folks how to use the Pinnacle Alladin DVE in the dark days before non-linear editing. The company has come a long way from those modest roots, taking the training industry by storm with their entertaining and exhaustively feature-packed DVDs (and most recently, through their new streaming, truly on-demand portal).

Class on Demand’s latest releases are easily among their most challenging: Nine hours of training spanning two discs, aimed at unraveling the mysteries of Apple Color — by far the most complicated (and often overlooked) component of Final Cut Studio. DV got a chance to sit down with Class on Demand founder Paul Holtz as well as training instructors Steve Hullfish and Bob Sliga to find out more about the new double threat of Basic Training ($69.99) and Advanced Training for Apple Color ($99.99), also available together as the “Complete Training” bundle for $149.99.

“Apple Color is one of those programs that people are just afraid to even crack open,” muses Holtz. “It’s almost thought of as something that was just thrown in because it's part of the suite. We wanted people to feel comfortable with using it — whether they’re just editing a Flip video or a wedding video, all the way up to more complicated projects. We show users all the basics, but also how to create their own look and feel like the professionals do on television and in the movies. Even if the guy down the street is using the exact same camera and the exact same hardware and software you’re using, by mastering Apple Color you can have this incredible look and feel to your product that maybe they don't.”

CoD’s Apple Color discs also mark the first time the company has used two hosts for their training — and they’re quite the double-barreled blast at that. Steve Hullfish has written (or co-written) four books on color correction and editing in addition to a host of credits that include a Daytime Emmy for editing on The Oprah Winfrey Show. His colleague and co-host is Bob Sliga, an Emmy Award-winning professional colorist with more than 30 years of experience in the business, who also teaches his craft at Columbia College and DePaul University. read more...