The VHS Decode Edition — Sunday Morning Color Grading Newsletter

This week, I’m super-pleased to see Mixing Light’s Joey D’Anna has launched his own software company delivering solutions to colorists, editors, and finishers.

And if you’ve spent ANY time with us in our Mailbags, Office Hours, or in any of his Insights, you know that Joey is a gearhead – not just for computers and post equipment but cars and all things orbital mechanics.

The name of his company, Retrograde, is perfectly on point!

Joey launched with three main products, several utility scripts, and a batch of free tools. But the one that grabbed my attention, and is his headline product, is Luminary. It’s so brilliant, I asked Joey to create an Insight for us. He did.

The Luminary Insight was released this week. As a token of my support and a ‘Thank You’ to Joey for all his support of Mixing Light over the years, I’ve just made Insight free. It’s in front of the paywall and freely shareable: ‘Luminary’ for Dolby Vision Metadata Management

Please do click the social media share buttons on Joey’s Insight.

I think his website deserves visibility. Congratulations Joey! I’m looking forward to what you develop next.

Also, Joey has shared two discount codes for active Mixing Light members! You’ll find them on our Deals & Steals page.

Now, let’s get to it – it’s a jam-packed Newsletter this week.

One more thing… The Deals & Steals page has been redesigned to match the new Dark theme being introduced throughout the website. If you’re curious what that looks like, click through to the Deals page for a preview of our site-wide redesign.

Happy Grading!

Sincerely,

Pat Inhofer
Chief Photon Wrangler, Publisher
MixingLight.com

PS – If you find an item you think should be in this newsletter, email me a quick note.

PPS – As a Newsletter subscriber, comment on this article at Mixing Light (login required).

“Jason, Matt and Mike discuss how the film translates the texture of The Mandalorian from streaming to theatrical scale, easter eggs and call backs, the effectiveness of the character and creature work, the return of the Razor Crest, and whether the film’s visual effects support the emotional core of the story.

They also look at the broader question of where Star Wars filmmaking sits in 2026: between practical puppetry and digital augmentation, episodic storytelling and cinema, nostalgia and new-world building.”

From the Netflix Production Technology Resources channel. “This video dives into how ACES and the ACES Metadata File can help you protect your creative look from Day 1 to the final grade.”

This is pithy, high-level introductory overview.