Technicolor CinemaStyle: Best Practices

W

wjm

Well-known member
Okay, so it's actually called CineStyle. Not a good start...

This post is a placeholder for now, and I'll be editing it on an ongoing basis. If I've gotten things horribly wrong, please PM me so I can make the appropriate changes. This currently focuses on users of FCP, Vegas, and Premiere. Other program info is welcome.

I would like for this to become a how-to for using the Technicolor CineStyle color profile. In particular, how to end up with the most pristine, well-exposed, noise-free, easy-to-edit 24P footage possible, which can be pushed pretty far in post if necessary. I'll be raiding the other thread to sift through what you guys have come up with. I use FCP, but I would like to hear from Vegas and Premiere users to make this as useful as possible.

The process I want to perfect is the capture, ingest, and final output of clean footage, de-noised, de-banded, and ready for edit. Rendering some of the 'clean-up' filter effects may be time-consuming up-front, but they are applied just once. Tweaking of individual scenes may be necessary, and your mileage may vary.

----------

1. Image Capture. Before ANYTHING happens, you want the cleanest image possible.
ISO: Use the following ISOs whenever possible for the least amount of noise (160*, 320, 640, 1250, 2500, 5000) All other ISOs are noisy digital trickery. *Use THIS one.
EXPOSURE: Expose to the LEFT. While this goes against all you know about these cams, do NOT let your highlights clip if at all possible when using this profile. Use Neutral Density filters liberally. As long as you don't see clipping on either side, you'll be okay. UNDER-expose.

2. Ingest. You will want to retain the most color and resolution info from the original files, so first ingest is crucial (if you're not editing proxy footage). Basic ProRes is workable, too, so HQ may be unnecessary for your project.

FCP: MPEG StreamClip or Canon EOS Plugin Conform to Apple ProRes or Apple ProRes HQ.
Premiere: MPEG Streamclip or other of choice.
Vegas: MPEG Streamclip or other of choice.

3. Filters: Since you're now playing in a larger colorspace, it might be a good idea to rid the image of any noise to reduce artifacts caused during color correction. The order in which you apply the filters DOES matter in most cases.

REMOVE NOISE:
FCP: NeatVideo ($99.00)
Provided you have a large flat section of your frame with minimal variation, this plugin will save almost any footage. Try to think ahead and get at least a small section of your image frame that the plugin can use to determine the noise structure, and you'll be golden. A quick shot of a gray card, or sky background, just for a few frames (clapper board?), can really make a difference.
VEGAS: See above
PREMIERE: See above

REDUCE MOIRE:
FCP: Marvel HDSLR Moire Filter (Donation-ware)
Although in-focus aliasing remains, color moire is effectively eliminated, making it MOSTLY a non-issue.
VEGAS: See above
PREMIERE: See above

REDUCE BANDING. This adds a dither to the footage to reduce visible banding (skies, blurry backgrounds, etc.). It's kind of 'making up' data, but in a larger color space, so it's not useless.

FCP: Reduce Banding filter
VEGAS: ?
PREMIERE: ?

5.Export to ProRes and Re-Ingest This step is optional, and is something I am testing now. If this is a relatively small project, you can now place all unedited clips (with filters applied) on a timeline, render, and then export to ProRes (or equivalent) and re-import your full clip as one, clean bit of pseudo-raw footage to edit, apply luts, CC, grade, etc. This averts having too many filters on your footage and will reduce render times. YMMV.


6. Apply LUT This is where it gets interesting, and your footage comes to life.
Apple Color: File –> Import –> Display LUT and choose the .mga file.
FCP: Use Red Giant's LutBuddy - It functions as a filter.
Vegas: ???
Premiere: ???

7. Color Correction:
After applying the LUT, the footage will start to look 'normal' (i.e. less washed out) and you can now start to CC and grade footage using your tools of choice.

Let me know how this works out for you, and if you have changes/suggestions. I am always looking for a better and faster process.
 
Last edited:
Is there a way to import the LUT into Color? I don't really like working with the FCP 3-way corrector.
 
Added info for importing the lut into Color - step 6. Not sure yet about procedures for AE and Premiere. Researching...
 
ROCKMORE said:
Same question for Premere and AE / CS4
Click to expand...

You can download the free LUT buddy from Red Giant, it has a version fro AE and you can use this to import the cinestyle LUT.

Also, synthetic Aperture color finesse for AE can take in the LUT. Not sure about the premier version tho.
 
Here's a quick coloring I did if you want to check it out. I used a photoshop technique of adding a black and white type layer(magic bullet days of night preset) to give an interesting effect.

In ae cs5 you can bring back the highlights using the levels and then draw in the bars on either side to recover.

I added s curves for various colors and adjusted levels to give more of a film look. The last thing I did was add the days of night preset for the final touch. Let me know what you think...

http://www.vimeo.com/23475817
 
Does the color corrector go under the LUT or over it in terms of layering in FCP?
And why do you need the LUT? Isn't it the same as just using standard picture style out of the camera?
 
You probably want to apply the lut first (TOP), then do your CC. Flip them in order and see how it affects your image.
 
teddybear said:
You can download the free LUT buddy from Red Giant, it has a version fro AE and you can use this to import the cinestyle LUT.

Also, synthetic Aperture color finesse for AE can take in the LUT. Not sure about the premier version tho.
Click to expand...

These downloads are all for Mac OSX. Is there a download for Widows?
 
ROCKMORE said:
These downloads are all for Mac OSX. Is there a download for Widows?
Click to expand...

I had the same problem, just go back and try again, there is a drop down menu for windows behind the mac os x dl

also, has anyone figured out how to get the LUT to work in Premiere?

thanks!
 
Quick note for using LUT Buddy in FCP - the supplied LUT crashes every time I try to render (FCP 7.0.3). However, you can convert and export the LUT within the plugin and fix the problem. In the options dialogue open up the LUT, convert it to a 3D 32-bit Float at 128 samples and export it (the file extension will be .cube). Import your new LUT and problems should go away!

I haven't tried grading in Color yet nor have I exported using Compressor, but once I do I'll post any other problems/fixes I run into.
 
So I've loaded the Cinestyle into the 60d and maybe as soon as tomorrow I can start shooting some tests. I going to try to do things specifically different in step #2 (ingest) and try to work native in Premiere CS5. I'm not sure if I will be able to apply the LUT in Premiere, I downloaded Colorista and LUT buddy but I just haven't had the time to play with it.
 
I've got a curve for adobe premiere and AE that is just the same as the LUT, as applied with LUT buddy

I'll upload it to my site this evening, and post the link here (seemingly, I can't attacha a file to a post here unless it's an image)

apart from that, I think you should apply your color corrections so that they have effect on the image before the LUT does; then get your "look" by adding more color effects above the LUT (for blue/green shadows and porange mids and highlights, for example)

at least that's what I understand from this recent twit by Stu Maschwitz:
"Best to grade under the s-curve though, not over it."
http://twitter.com/#!/5TU
and from what I remember from the Stu tutorial on creating the blockbuster look with colorista
 
Hendosan, I had the same problem, and assumed it was FCP 6 that was the issue.

Yes, convert as you described and it works fine. I'll update the first post.

Somebody at Apple, Canon or Technicolor needs to address this issue.
 
wjm said:
5. Export and Re-Import your timeline. This step is optional, but after completing the previous steps, maybe it's time to export it as a ProRes file and bring it all back in, cleaned up and ready to edit, apply luts, CC, grade, etc. This averts having too many filters on your footage and will reduce render times. YMMV.
Click to expand...

You never want to render you timeline if you can work with the originals. You're degrading the image. And then to add effects and filters on this second generation render? It's not adding up. Check out Stu Maschwitz book, The DV Rebel Handbook. It will teach you to online digitally losslessly.
 
I agree with you - the original files will ultimately end up having more actual/true data, but less WORKABLE/PUSHABLE data unless you have 4-5 filters stacked in the correct order. I render often during editing, since I mainly use a laptop, and I would really rather edit proxies, but I don't know a good workflow for this yet.

My goal is to 'smooth' the gradient transitions of the existing footage in the larger color space through the use of filters (NeatVideo, Reduce Banding, etc.), and once this is done, go to work on the cleaned up footage without having to render the time-consuming filters each time. In my brief testing, the results are good, and the footage doesn't seem to visually suffer at all - in fact, it seems to be much improved.

I am still performing my own tests, so take all this with a hefty grain of Sodium Chloride. Thanks for everyone's input!
 
NormanBates said:
apart from that, I think you should apply your color corrections so that they have effect on the image before the LUT does; then get your "look" by adding more color effects above the LUT (for blue/green shadows and porange mids and highlights, for example)

at least that's what I understand from this recent twit by Stu Maschwitz:
"Best to grade under the s-curve though, not over it."
http://twitter.com/#!/5TU
and from what I remember from the Stu tutorial on creating the blockbuster look with colorista
Click to expand...

You sure? I read that as apply the LUT first then do CC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top