DI is a motion picture finishing process which engrosses digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics. It often augments the photochemical timing process and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before delivery. It is the process in which film is scanned and color is manipulated early in the process to facilitate editing. 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.).

Today every aspect of film production is becoming more and more influenced by digital technology. The newest ground swell to hit film making is that the Digital Intermediate process. In simplest terms the Digital Intermediate process or DI is that the conversion of film to digital bits then back to film again. While which may sound simple actually this is often a bleeding edge process which will evolve over a few years and has great potential to revolutionize the post production process. This process will influence everything from on set production to the delivery of content to consumers and everything in between. to ascertain its full potential the Digital Intermediate process would require combining the skill sets of Film, Video and knowledge Technology professionals.