The team at marimoRECORDS, a movie and music total production company, were the first to work with the ColorEdge PROMINENCE CG1 HDR reference monitor, officially released on January 24, 2025. We spoke with them about their experience producing exclusive HDR content for EIZO, which demonstrates the monitor’s capabilities.

Left: Masaaki Enatsu, Representative Director, Musician/DJ/Producer
Right: Yoshihiro Enatsu, Managing Director, Digital Cinema Creator

About marimoRECORDS

Founded by a pair of artist brothers – one specializing in music and the other in video – marimoRECORDS is a production company that handles every stage of the creative process, from planning, filming, and editing to computer graphics (CG), music, multi-audio (MA), and post-production. By integrating cutting-edge technology and working with a small, elite team, they consistently deliver high-quality content to the world.

HDR Content Created for the Demonstration of CG1

EIZO commissioned marimoRECORDS to produce exclusive HDR content specifically designed to demonstrate on the CG1. For the best viewing experience, the video below should be watched on an HDR-compatible display device.

What was your creative vision behind this HDR content?

“HDR offers more than just a wider range of brightness compared to SDR – it also brings a richness to color. The title of this piece, Picturesque, was chosen to evoke a world as expressive as a painting. We wanted to portray a beautiful world of colors that exists between CG and reality.”

“When we reviewed the footage on the CG1, we were impressed by its outstanding ability to render gradations within the colors, the depth of RGB saturation, and the dimensionality that emerges when the colors blend. While high brightness is expected for an HDR monitor used in color grading, we felt the CG1’s true mission lies beyond that – to elevate the expressive potential of color itself. That belief guided us throughout production.”

How was the content filmed and edited? Were there any challenges? 

“The content was created by combining live-action footage with CG elements. For the live-action portion, we shot in RAW using two RED devices: a V-RAPTOR 8K VV high-end cinema camera and a GEMINI sensor.” ¹

“The biggest challenge during filming was getting the colors right. For this project, we captured the real movement of paint dropped into water, testing a wide variety of paints. It took more than three hours just to achieve the color intensity and combination we had envisioned. We repeatedly experimented in a small tank – adjusting concentrations, tweaking amounts, and observing how the colors blended – draining and refilling it again and again [laughs]. For the actual shoot, we switched to a larger tank, continuing the same process, all in pursuit of creating mesmerizing visuals.”

“The next challenge was the CG process. We created the CG using Houdini, spending about two weeks running physics simulations. Initially, we worked on the CG using an SDR monitor, but once we viewed it on the CG1 in HDR, the monitor’s wide brightness range revealed visual imperfections that we had to go back and rework. That was the moment we realized why we needed the CG1. When working in HDR, an SDR monitor offers no real point of reference – HDR and SDR are completely different.”

What are your impressions of the CG1?

“For this project, color grading was handled by a partner company. Their colorist told us, ‘The CG1 is incredibly easy to work with!’ When we asked why, they said the colors were simply accurate, making it easy to see even subtle differences between before and after adjustments. They also liked how relatively lightweight* it was when setting up.”

*Even as a reference monitor, the CG1 weighs approximately 17.5 kilograms, which is 9 kilograms lighter than its predecessor, the CG3146.

Color grading process conducted under the supervision of Yoshihiro Enatsu

What equipment is needed for producing HDR content?

“While we have had opportunities to convert our previous work to HDR, this project marked our first time building an HDR experience from the ground up – including the initial concept. Through that process, we experienced just how much broader and different HDR’s expressive range is compared to SDR. Until now, we had mainly focused on brightness, but this project made us realize that HDR also brings out a unique beauty in color expression and gradation. We would be thrilled if viewers could also experience the beauty of colors in our work within an HDR environment. We also composed original music!”

“It goes without saying that a dependable HDR monitor is essential for HDR editing. If the monitor lacks accuracy, it is impossible to produce a correct output. This was especially evident with this project, which used the HDR PQ gamma curve. Even during the compositing stage, we used the CG1 as a reference to guide our work, which mainly involved removing debris and other elements from the water. Of course, grading is important, but through this experience we realized that monitor precision during compositing is just as critical. Whether it is finalizing CG or cleaning up live-action footage, we came to understand that without a monitor capable of accurately displaying HDR, the work simply cannot be done properly.”

In-house compositing configuration (left: CG1, right: EIZO 4K monitor)

“In practice, we used Adobe After Effects software² to remove debris that could be seen on the HDR monitor. We also created a pseudo LUT to convert from PQ to SDR, allowing the debris to remain visible. This allowed us to map them and carefully work through the cleanup process step by step.”

You have been using EIZO monitors for many years. Could you tell us why?

“The reason we have continued to use EIZO is simply because there is really no alternative. It is not just us; whenever we go on-site to production studios, anyone who wants to see things accurately and reliably is always using EIZO. That sense of trust is invaluable. We make sure to use EIZO wherever precise viewing is required. Just like filming equipment, a monitor is a crucial device that supports the quality of production. That is why we hope that EIZO monitors become even more widely adopted throughout the video production industry.”

Special Thanks

marimoRECORDS
Website

Deployed Product

ColorEdge PROMINENCE CG1

¹ RED, V-RAPTOR, and GEMINI are trademarks of RED Digital Cinema, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
² Adobe and After Effects are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries.