Other: So who's using ACES for post workflow?

I use ACES, occasionally. It tends to make my images too saturated, so, when I want that look, I use it. But, I've found I can do much better by rolling my own. Especially, with +1 or +2 exposures in slog3.
 
I dabbled in the occult but initially when I was struggling with color science and leaning more on LUTs, I shy' away from ACES.

I'd like to get back into it once I get some down time.
 
That is an outstanding tutorial. There are huge advantages to aces, the unlimited grading space, numerical precision and the ability to retarget outputs with odt's. I think it is slightly easier to use in Resolve but Vegas works well too. If you are unfamiliar with the concepts expressed in the tutorial, then yes you might have some issues.
 
I'm grading in ACES but with no IDT. In Vegas I simply leave my S-Log 2 footage in the default colour space and grade away as normal using whatever plugins I want. It's when you do it the correct way like in the video above, that really limits what can be done in ACES as all the tools and plugins won't work. I'm sure people will comment saying, 'your not doing it right!' I know I'm not but it works better for me doing it my own way. The reason I prefer using ACES is because the footage looks more organic to my eyes, but it's all a matter of taste. Sometimes I might change the default colour space to ACES as it handles the blacks or shadows better. All I can say is play with ACES and see what works for you. I have not tried ACES in Resolve because my knowledge of that software is limited, and I don't have the time to learn it.

Has anyone here seen the film Chappie?


Chappie was graded in ACES and it has some weird yellow skin tones. The film is great fun though.
 
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Very informative. Let's ask him to do the same thing in Resolve.

I have dabbled in ACES and like how it opens up middle grey.
 
I almost just put a project through an end-to-end ACES grading workflow. As I wanted to use the ACES SRGB ODT to see how nicely that would bring things out for a web deliverable. I was VERY happy with the end result colour-wise, however I ran into major problems with image corruptions on export (an issue I haven't encountered with the Rec709 ACES ODT).

it also didn't help that I had to blend hacked F5 4k XAVC footage with 'proper' 4k XAVC, and the gamma from the hacked footage caused ACES grief (and had to handled separately in a YRGB timeline and layered on top of the ACES grade).

I'm really digging what ACES does to the colours from Sony footage, brings them into a much more attractive space than normal (better than LC709A in YRGB to my taste). For skintones in particular it just gives greater life an tonality (both using the formal IDTs/ODTs) and wrangling in the colour shifts when you don't use the IDTs/ODTs).

For anyone wanting to say use Filmconvert on ACES material. Just use a preset like Alexa Rec709 or a Sony Hypergamma as your base preset and you'll find you end up pretty close to where you want to be.
 
Do I misunderstand ACES or does it go like this..?

-Grade on a super expensive monitor with huge colour gamut and DR.
-Output the result with an appropriate transform to make best use of the delivery medium - being a device with smaller gamut/DR
-result. One grade output (many times) for anything from cinema or mobile distribution.

One can only therefore use ACES properly with a really proper grading set up?

S
 
That's true but I assume lot of "improper" grades will be done on 709 or sRGB monitors that target DCI P3 or Rec.2020 spaces and still come out looking nice.
 
Late to the party, as usual ;)

I have just started to dig into ACES to complement my work with the F65. Below are some quick shots.

https://vimeo.com/147975091
Password: f65

I haven't had much time to run the camera nor the ACES workflow through its paces yet, but I had some extra time and decided to grab some shots to test it out. It was just shot with some crappy fluorescents overhead, but I was interested to see how it performed under those conditions. I was curious about the color chart, skintones and motion...whence the funny dancing!

-F65, slog2, s-gamut, 800EI, 180° shutter, 4k RAWSQ, 24p
-Zeiss CP.2s, wide open. 25mm, 35mm, 85mm.
-DaVinci Resolve ACES, Slog2 IDT, Rec709 ODT, 5200k, exported as ProRes422HQ
-No additional color work done.

I mi was very happy with how easy it was to get these images to a pretty decent point, considering the lighting situation. I thought the skintones were much better than I was expecting without any additional work. I think the Reds went a little magenta, although my shirt is already magentaish. I did notice some higher noise levels in the blue and green channels. Not sure if this has to due with white balance under these conditions...since reds and yellows were pretty clean. Not sure if this really comes through on Vimeo.

I was monitoring via SDI out to Odyssey 7Q, so I just recorded it for the heck of it. Will run that footage through ACES as well, to see how it turns out.

Here re are some pics of the frankenrig. Not really a usable rig for much other than tripod work, but as crazy as it may sound, I'm actually looking to build a shoulder mount rig soon.

image.jpgimage.jpg
 
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Very magenta indeed. Thus is slog2/sgamut trait. I'm not huge ACES expert but thought ACES would give you a nicer starting point.

Did sgamut3 with Slog3 ever come to F65?
 
Check this out.
https://community.sony.com/sony/att...ry_for_S-Gamut3Cine_S-Gamut3_S-Log3_V1_00.pdf

it states this:
F65
S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 and S-Gamut3/S-Log3 will be implemented in spring 2014.

It it also states this:
Q6. Which color space and log are used for RAW recording?
A6. RAW is sensor native data and RAW does not apply any color space nor log curve. RAW isalways recorded by 16bit Scene linear. S-Log3 is designed to utilize 8/10/12bit code value toreserve wide dynamic range effectively for 444 or 422 recording.

If I understand this correctly, color space and curves in RAW travel only as metadata. Only in video formats will it matter...such as SR or XAVC. I will try to use the Slog3 IDT in ACES to see if it maps the Reds differently. Also the blues become a lovely, but less true rendition, so I'm curious to see!
 
I have the RAW module for the F55, that is correct when you record RAW the gamma (slog2, slog3) and Gamut (s.gamut, s.gamut.cine) is chosen later on.

For some reason I thought you recorded to external recorder in slog2/sgamut. My bad.
 
No worries. I didn't post that to correct you or anything. You brought up something I hadn't thought about. And in looking into it I stumbled into that info. I did also record my monitor feed in the odyssey (just because I could and was curious), and I will be looking to upload slog3 as a monitor lut on the f65. But yeah, I'm looking forward to playing with slog3 and s-gamut3 more.
 
Its all good discussion, no worries.

If you ever come across another F65 deal, let me know. I would love it as a B-cam to my F55 :happy:
 
https://vimeo.com/147975091
Password: f65
I just tried the slog3 IDT on ACES for the F65 and it really put things in a better place. While my shirt is a bit magenta in real life, if you look at the red chip on the color chart, it is an acceptable red, to me. The blue still goes a bit indigoish, but the skintones are in a good place for me. Of course, this is under overhead fluorescent lights, which contain very little of the color spectrum. Will do some outdoor tests soon.
 
abreu-canedo said:
https://vimeo.com/147975091
Password: f65
I just tried the slog3 IDT on ACES for the F65 and it really put things in a better place. While my shirt is a bit magenta in real life, if you look at the red chip on the color chart, it is an acceptable red, to me. The blue still goes a bit indigoish, but the skintones are in a good place for me. Of course, this is under overhead fluorescent lights, which contain very little of the color spectrum. Will do some outdoor tests soon.
Click to expand...

Why would you not use the "Sony Raw" IDT in ACES? You've tried that? Sensor raw is linear raw not log, the raw control settings are in the project settings under camera raw. I assume you know that, just curious about your choices.

Tom
 
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