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NOOB question about V-Log L post workflow
All of the tutorials and articles I’ve seen about working with V-Log L (GH4, DVX200) involve applying a LUT to the edited timeline.
I cannot imagine editing the washed-out V-Log L footage, much less deciding which takes are “keepers” when a subsequently applied LUT might reveal an exposure problem in a take. (I use FCPX)
Also, I should think that the additional rendering needed by applying a LUT to an edited project would bog down all but the most powerful computers.
It seems to me you would want to apply a LUT while ingesting footage and then export to some sort of corrected intermediate (in my case, an appropriate version of ProRes), which you would then edit. But I haven’t found anyone recommending this approach (nor can FCPX do this).
What am I missing here?
Bonus question:
Resolve 12.5 and FCPX with Color Finale both offer the ability to “auto correct” footage containing the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Video Chart in one of the shots. THAT is really attractive to a moron like me. Does this technology preclude the need for a LUT — at least to get to a baseline for editing? (there are plenty of articles and forum posts where people recommend avoiding LUTs entirely — except when grading to create a consistent “look”, so I assume their use with V-Log L is open to question) -
5 Replies
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Using a LUT with Color Finale does not slow down the computer. The performance is great.
Also, FCPX has Log Processing options, and with FCP 10.3, VLog is now available as an option, like this:
The problem is, it might not be the exact right transform, so the exposure and color may look off. That’s why it’s best to use the exact LUT you need using something like Color Finale.
I use LUTs almost exclusively with 4k footage, and the performance is fantastic when using Color Finale.
Jeremy
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Like Jeremy, I use LUTs all the time with no noticeable slow down. A LUT is just a colour correction and won’t slow things down any more than using the colour board to correct a clip would.
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Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer & Cinematographer
Hobart, Tasmania | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
Thank you, Jeff and Jeremy, for replying. So I won’t worry about a CPU hit.
But what about my primary question regarding workflow? Do you guys ingest, evaluate (look at various takes, mark favorites, etc.), and basically edit prior to applying the LUT to the timeline?
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[Tim Wilde] “But what about my primary question regarding workflow? Do you guys ingest, evaluate (look at various takes, mark favorites, etc.), and basically edit prior to applying the LUT to the timeline?
“Depends on the job, but yes, i usually start editing, and apply LUTs before client review (I have a favorite preset saved and apply it to all clips, or sometimes I apply a LUT to an adjustment layer early on in the assembly process). Shooting Log is pretty forgiving in terms of exposure, that’s one of the advantages.
If you use the Log Processing setting in FCPX, that is a global setting. You can turn it on or off in the inspector, and it will turn on or off for every instance of that clip
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I’d usually apply a LUT globally using FCPXs log processing in the browser while I’m getting the initial edit done so that I have something other than the log image to look at. Most colourists will tell you that exposure and colour corrections to a clip should happen pre-LUT, so at some point I’ll get serious about the colour and I’ll turn off the built in processing and use Colour Finale (although there are plenty of other ways to do It if you don’t have CF) so that I can stack corrections pre and post LUT.
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Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer & Cinematographer
Hobart, Tasmania | Twitter: @jeffkirkland
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