correct/professional way to use luts on both Rec.709 and LOG

Hi, I recently bought a new computer and now I'm able to start learning Davinci Resolve!
I have some questions about the correct and proper way to grade with luts. I shot Raw with Magic Lantern firmware btw!

1. I have found this tutorial from IWLTBAP Luts : Is this the proper way to grade with luts on Rec.709? So if I have understood this right the proper way to grade with luts is following:???
color correct ( WB, exposure with scopes etc.)
then apply the LUT for Rec.709 and make some final adjustments, skintones etc

2. In the camera raw tab it's possible to change color space to bmd-film or you can convert the footage to Cinelog if you have bought that. Now I wonder what the proper way to use LUTs on LOG footage is?

3. What is correct when grading raw, keeping the colorspace Rec.709 or LOG like Cinelog??

// Olle

no one that wanna share some experience?

You will probably have better luck in the Resolve subforum

probably have better luck in the Resolve subforum

...aaaaand maybe who knows....? I'm still trying to figure out what I will tee bap means.

Beware of LUTs. When they are a "look" ( aka "power grade"), they depend on your footage being where the table will yield the desired result, exposure- and balance-wise. Otherwise, GIGO, which means you probably will have to do some correction prior to adding the LOOK. The table probably shouldn't even be referred to as a "LUT" in that case.

Going back to your original post, I'm not sure whether you want to operate in a "log" mode, using pivot and offset, or whether your question is about placing the picture values in a display-referred mode. If your delivery and workflow is 709, then that is all you are ever going to want to invoke as color management.

When LUTs are a transform, the same criteria actually does still apply, but it depends on whether you want to stay in linear vs. Log space, and to judge whether or not you are monitoring appropriately. You do have a calibrated display that is capable of many display colorspaces, right? Then you set that up in Resolve's Color Management settings. You can apply LUT transforms at a number of stages as the source media makes its way through the application. The only real rule of thumb, which is the same for all aspects of colorgrade, is to "do no harm." There are many transforms that will "blow up" your image if it is not where the table expected the source values to be. That's the key to understanding this approach to modifying your source values. A number goes in, it is placed somewhere else, and gets passed on. There are input LUTs that try to linearize log footage, there are style LUTs that do something to the picture that someone else cooked up (and who should get the credit for that, professionally speaking? Not you?) and there are output transforms -- which used to be the only LUTs that were in professional use, designed to transform digital values into dye points for Digital Intermediate workflow, which you hardly ever hear much about anymore....

if you want to start a personal search thread. Not the worst I've seen.

jPo, CSI

probably have better luck in the Resolve subforum

...aaaaand maybe who knows....? I'm still trying to figure out what I will tee bap means.

Beware of LUTs. When they are a "look" ( aka "power grade"), they depend on your footage being where the table will yield the desired result, exposure- and balance-wise. Otherwise, GIGO, which means you probably will have to do some correction prior to adding the LOOK. The table probably shouldn't even be referred to as a "LUT" in that case.

Going back to your original post, I'm not sure whether you want to operate in a "log" mode, using pivot and offset, or whether your question is about placing the picture values in a display-referred mode. If your delivery and workflow is 709, then that is all you are ever going to want to invoke as color management.

When LUTs are a transform, the same criteria actually does still apply, but it depends on whether you want to stay in linear vs. Log space, and to judge whether or not you are monitoring appropriately. You do have a calibrated display that is capable of many display colorspaces, right? Then you set that up in Resolve's Color Management settings. You can apply LUT transforms at a number of stages as the source media makes its way through the application. The only real rule of thumb, which is the same for all aspects of colorgrade, is to "do no harm." There are many transforms that will "blow up" your image if it is not where the table expected the source values to be. That's the key to understanding this approach to modifying your source values. A number goes in, it is placed somewhere else, and gets passed on. There are input LUTs that try to linearize log footage, there are style LUTs that do something to the picture that someone else cooked up (and who should get the credit for that, professionally speaking? Not you?) and there are output transforms -- which used to be the only LUTs that were in professional use, designed to transform digital values into dye points for Digital Intermediate workflow, which you hardly ever hear much about anymore....

if you want to start a personal search thread. Not the worst I've seen.

jPo, CSI

thx for your advice! I´m not 100% sure what you mean since I´m a beginner and I´m not used to the english language! I will try to post the thread in the "Resolve subforum" as well!

Hi, I recently bought a new computer and now I'm able to start learning Davinci Resolve!
I have some questions about the correct and proper way to grade with luts. I shot Raw with Magic Lantern firmware btw!

1. I have found this tutorial from IWLTBAP Luts :
So if I have understood this right the proper way to grade with luts is following:???
color correct ( WB, exposure with scopes etc.)
then apply the LUT for Rec.709 and make some final adjustments, skintones etc

2. In the camera raw tab it's possible to change color space to bmd-film or you can convert the footage to Cinelog if you have bought that. Now I wonder what the proper way to use LUTs on LOG footage is?

3. What is correct when grading raw, keeping the colorspace Rec.709 or LOG like Cinelog??

// Olle

[url]http://www.liftgammagain.com/forum/index.php?threads/one-of-the-jean-clément-soret-look.7550/#post-72548[/url]

this is an idea of how I approach color.

Wow thank you for that Walter, that's a great post- great to see the process a Hollywood big hitter puts into colour.

Thanks again!

Note that much of the time, anything you can do with a LUT you can do manually with the controls available to you within Resolve. I will use a LUT if the client has created one for a specific project, but in general when I'm presented with them, I match them as a PowerGrade, prove there's no difference to the client, then move on.

The big problem (as has been discussed before) is that LUTs can be very destructive in terms of how they clip, crush, and affect the signal. Having a PowerGrade will give you the advantage of being able to customize every setting the way that particular project was shot.

There is no magic "one size fits all" LUT that works for every situation. You could load 100 LUTs into your system and go through every one of them, trying to find one that looks good with given material, but it'd be faster just to turn the knobs and color-correct what you have.