[Duke Sweden]

You probably already know this, but if you don’t, you’ll appreciate it. I’m assuming you work with big boy footage (as opposed to me with my h.264 compressed baby footage) Even still, I get great results. Did you know, that you can open a clip in Photoshop, tweak it in Camera RAW to perfection, save that one frame as a .TGA file, then open the clip and the .TGA file in Speedgrade and apply the Photoshop adjustments to the entire clip using the “match camera” procedure?

You can then export the look to Premiere Pro without having to render at any point.

If you already knew this I’ll slink away quietly, but if you didn’t give it a shot. You’ll be amazed.

[Duke Sweden]

Thanks Andrew! Yes, I know about keeping the camera steady, framing, proper exposure and all. I was talking strictly about post production techniques. I usually start with the “S” curve and then tweak colors. I seem to be pretty good at getting proper white balance in camera.

I think I’m probably getting the “film look” but by my eye I’m never satisfied. Also, sometimes people (like a few over at video copilot, not Andrew Kramer) will look at my sample footage and tell me my blacks are crushed and there’s too much contrast, then I’ll go elsewhere and read that the “film look” consists of crushed blacks and a contrasty look, so that confuses me as well.

I should link to a few samples of what I’ve done but you might have to recalibrate your eyes afterward 😉

Thanks again to everybody.

[Duke Sweden]

ok, I have one other question. I’m assuming that since you guys work with professional equipment/cameras you probably don’t know, simply because you don’t deal with it, but I’ll ask anyway.

LUT’s aside, when dealing with REC 709 compressed H.264 footage from a DSLR, after color correction (which I have no problem with) what would you tweak to get a film look? I shoot in 24fps, 1080p, shutter speed 50 etc. My stuff either goes to youtube or I’ll put it on a thumb drive to watch on my tv. It doesn’t get transferred to film or anything like that.

With that info, if you can answer me that would be great. I’m not a total noob so you can be general, like “tweak your mids to 80 on the vectorscope” for example. You don’t have to completely hold my hand.

Thanks either way!

Oh, and for the record, I’m not looking for a color grading shortcut with LUT’s. I always color correct by hand, and then, because I thought I was supposed to, used LUT’s to get different “moods”. When I added blue by hand, to get a “horror film” look, for example, it came out looking bad. AHA! That’s where I got the idea of using LUT’s! I asked that question at video copilot and the pro’s there told me to use LUT’s!

[Duke Sweden]

I can’t believe the information I’m getting here that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Thanks so much, guys. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!

[Duke Sweden]

Thank you, Andrew. That’s precisely the information I was looking for. None of the LUT suppliers tell you that, and their demo videos show a flat clip like what I’m working with, they drop on a LUT and bam! Instant finished product, but when I drop the same LUT on my footage it’s all whacked out.

On an ImpulZ demo they explain that their LUT’s ending in “FC” are for flat footage. In the video, they drop one of the FC LUT’s on flat footage and it enhances the contrast, color, etc. That’s the same LUT I used that makes my footage even flatter.

Anyway, you gave me info I was looking for, i.e. certain LUT’s are for certain types of footage. Taking Tero’s advice I’ve been doing color correction and grading myself, and then adding a film emulator LUT to get it looking more like film and less like the dreaded “Soap Opera Effect”.

Thanks again!

[Duke Sweden]

Looks like I stumped the pro. I win!!! 😉

[Duke Sweden]

Usually it’s the software companies that have to keep up with the OS. Have you gone to Adobe’s Premiere Pro forum? Maybe someone there came up with a solution, or there might be a post from an Adobe employee stating that they know of the problem and will fix it in an update.

[Duke Sweden]

You think so? They’re giving it away for free. As far as I’m concerned they can keep it.

[Duke Sweden]

ok, two points. First:
It’s not Windows 10 that caused Premiere Pro to only give you MME, it’s CC 2015 that removed ASIO from the dropdown list.

Second, I have posted before about false sync audio/video errors in Premiere Pro CC 2015 and have been met with nothing but “hey, if everything is ok why sweat the false error?”. Well, now here comes a perfect reason why. Who’s to say they’re not related?

ok, I feel so much superior now. Oh, and for the third time, stay away from Windows 10!!!

[Duke Sweden]

Thanks for your reply David, but when I said I use picture profiles, I meant flat profiles like Flaat 11, Cineflat, Tassinflat, etc. Sometimes on a dreary day I don’t need such an extreme “flattener” like Cineflat, so I go with Flaat 11. On bright sunny days with harsh shadows I’ll go flatter with Cineflat. That’s what I meant by using picture profiles, not the built in ones like Standard, Neutral, etc.

Having cleared that up, let me rephrase my original question. I can color correct so that my footage looks exactly as it did in real life. No problem getting white balance, saturation, etc. It’s afterward when I go for the so-called “film look” (as opposed to cinematic). When I add a “film emulator” LUT, my flat image either gets flatter, or extremely garish. In all the video samples the manufacturer’s present, they drop on a LUT and voila! Instant great look with a minimum of tweaking. That’s my bottom line question. Does one ALWAYS have to do some fidgeting with controls after applying a LUT? Remember, I’m as amateur as it gets, and I know most of you guys work in TV, film, commercials, etc. So I appreciate your taking the time to even answer me.