F3: A Story of S-Log Post Processing & LUTs (or how to get closer to the Alexa)

You can use the Alexa LUT if, in your NLE, you have the ability to adjust black and white level BEFORE it gets fed to the Alexa LUT. It's pretty important, because you can't get any information back after the LUT throws it away, it's gotta be right before it goes in. I think that's what you're doing.

I'm ok with passing you that LUT, just as long as you understand that it's probably going to be tweaked for the better in the very near future. Email me?
 
Hi Lenny

I've been using Colorista II with slog footage in FCP7. I've used Color before to delog and grade (without LUTs) but because of stills and graphics in my edits would prefer to stay in FCP and Colorista has worked well on the job I've just finished. Simple to use and the render time isn't too bad. I tried the Red Giant LUT Buddy but wasn't happy with the range of luts. Good luck.
 
Nate Weaver said:
You can use the Alexa LUT if, in your NLE, you have the ability to adjust black and white level BEFORE it gets fed to the Alexa LUT. It's pretty important, because you can't get any information back after the LUT throws it away, it's gotta be right before it goes in. I think that's what you're doing.

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Nate, I believe that this not the case in Resolve and Baselight, FWIW.
 
LUT's are just shortcuts to get you close to a decent base to start from. However, actually working from a strong system like Resolve, they are not only not necessary but often get in the way as so many people have found here. The truth is I prefer to color correct from an S_LOG shot without applying a LUT because it often leads to a somewhat standard generic look otherwise. I do recognize that in the interest of speed it can be very practical though, one just has to be careful not to crush the image information unless that is a very precise look which one is going for.


By the way, the way Resolve manages color is far less destructive than PP, so I would be careful with those presets that are being used for the latter.

Lastly, a real grading monitor and grey walls are far more important for color management than most people would believe, easily as important as LUT's when it comes to serious grading.
 
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I think the benefit of a good LUT lies in having something quick and simple to de-log SLOG footage. Once you done that and your contrast range is back to normal - then you've got a proper base to start making creative colouring decisions.

...it'd just be nice to have a LUT that actually worked for the F3's SLOG.
 
BobbyMurcerFan said:
Nate, I believe that this not the case in Resolve and Baselight, FWIW.
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It depends where you apply the LUT in the Resolve chain. It gives you many choices.

I've also done more experimenting since I wrote this and yes, everybody is right when they say you can do the same things in Resolve that a LUT does in regards to rolling off highlights, etc, but to do it consistently with the same degree of control takes a fair amount of time with Resolve's tools.

Also, I found that Resolve's "Soft Clip" section in the "Curves" panel is not quite as controlled or nice as what you'd find in a good LUT.
 
In my limited experience with S Log I don't believe there is need to use LUT to grade. I could see using a LUT to show a customer a preview of the clips, but not grade them.
Every shoot has it's own lighting challenges and the curves must change according to the tones and how the whole image was exposed.
 
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