This was EXTREMELY helpful. When you said “why does my video suck after adding just contrast and saturation” I was like “lol thats me”. Thanks again and hope to see more videos geared towards beginners :)
I would like to extend my gratitude to Gerald's mother. Thank you for bringing your son into this world and raising him to be the wonderful person that he is!
@Gerald: Since you're working in Resolve, it would be good to also mention its "Color Space Transform" function (which can be either globally applied in the project settings or applied as an effect to a node). It does all that a LUT or ACES DIT can do and more, i.e. translating most common log formats into the most common color spaces like Rec709, sRGB, Rec2020 etc. But even more importantly, it can apply Tone Mapping to automatically correct exposure and avoid clipping of under- or overexposed Log-material during the transformation. It also features gamut mapping to make colors that are outside the range of the target color space fit that color space without bleeding out. On top of that, since it acts as a mathematical function while a LUT just a color allocation table (that in most cases reduces color resolution), "Color Space Transform" is non-destructive. As a result, contrast boosts done after "Color Space Transform" are much less likely to result in clipping or color banding than contrast boosts done after a LUT.
Florian Cramer This is a very good point, and also worth mentioning that it is becoming the standard for delivering projects to companies like Netflix. Using Colour Space Transforms is a very good way of delivering multiple deliverables for example a HDR Rec 2020 PQ and an SDR Rec. 1886 2.4 gamma whilst using the same standard. The problem with the described workflow in this video is that you have to essentially regrade for any deliverable you do. Software like Resolve and the lesser known Baselight are perfect examples of professional tools which provide the ability to do exactly this. By using colour space transforms you allows for the ability to grade in an abstracted sense where all of your corrections are applied before the “tone curve” in a colourspace which is the same size if not larger than the original capture gamut. @Gerald it would be good to see a video on ACES/RED IPP2/ARRI ALF type workflows.
Hi Gerald, just so you're aware "middle grey" for Rec.709 is defined in the ITU-R BT.709 spec as 40.9% - this is why slog3 has you target 41% and their Rec.709 LUT keeps middle grey there as it is technically correct for Rec.709 (so not the "50%" you seem to target in this video). There are other things including the usage of the term "linear" in this context that may confuse newcomers, but overall good attempt to help that audience learn. - Hook (Blackmagic Design)
Yes, I'm confused about "linear" - linear in a perceptually uniform encoding, or linear light intensity? Edit: I have some understanding now - log encoding is a simple form of data compression, and it's basically the same type of dynamic range bit depth "companding" that's been used for computer displays & image encoding for decades. It appears that for video, log recording is a relatively simple dynamic range companding, that broadly encodes in a perceptually uniform manner, and omits the subsequent stages of image "enhancement" - the enhancement is left up to the user, and that's referred to as "grading". I assume that the reason we need different log encoding codecs is because, being an imperfect ("lossy") encoding, different codecs will be more appropriate for different material & intended viewing devices & conditions. For even more flexibility, that's why we have the option to record fully raw video.
This should be the "Intro" video to every color grading course. In less than a half hour, you clearly explain what's important to starting a grade and where to take it from there. Thanks so much.
It's very difficult to find people (RUclipsrs especially) who really know -from a technical standpoint- what they are talking about and are actually technically competent, considering most only give generic and basic information to try and sell tremendous LUTS. I think it's safe to say your videos are contributing to school a new generation of more competent videographers. Thank you. ❤️
Minor tweaks are not that noticeable (esp on 8-bit monitors) and then it becomes opinion - the colors look "good enough to me" or I think LUT #1 is better than LUT #3 maybe like flying a plane in fog or at night - you are flying off the instruments your maintaining altitude and avoiding objects not necessarily flying the most efficient route or providing the smoothest ride and definitely avoiding flying by site or feel. GU's dashboard just shows where things are supposed to be regardless of whether it "matters". Take cam A and cam B and match their colors... ok here's the results. Finally, on RUclips there's no shortage of color grading 'Fails' to make a "how not to grade" guide.
I learned about some things I didn’t know existed in this video. It’s a lot more helpful when you share more than just “change the saturation and contrast”. Most people don’t explain WHY certain things matter, so thank you.
That's very informative and i wouldn't listen to anyone but you for such technical topics, however i would have loved a "real life" demonstration just so we can see how all this applies on, let's say...outdoor lit skin etc. I understand that those color patch are essentially doing the job and every situation and shot are different but..i think a real life demonstration would have been a good help. Thanks for all your work man !
So much value on this videos man, you don't just throw what to do at us, you show us with graphs and exemples and that makes a HUGE difference. I learn what I'm doing and why. Hands on my favorite channel
I've been dabbling in and out of video work for a few years and am constantly coming back to your videos to learn more. This video is several years old, and I am still using it to gain knowledge on what I am looking at on resolve and how to get technically great results and then use my creative touch as a final grade. Thank you for the way you speak about such complicated topics!
Gerald I hope you know how much value you provide to thousands of people around the world. Keep doing what you're doing man the production value and succinct delivery are top notch 👍
This video is more than how to handle LOG. It’s an explanation for why using the Tone Curve is always more nuanced than using Contrast sliders. Entirely applicable to photography as well.
this must be the fifth time I watch this video in the past few months, since I found Gerald Undone here on RUclips, and I still could leran something new. You're freacking brilliant, man!
I'm guilty of having done the "just add contrast and saturation" to Log footage and now I know! Clearly where you expose your footage is key. So useful, especially as I have to match a lot of cameras in upcoming work.
I know Gerald's channel has been growing steadily, which I'm happy about, but I'm blown away that he doesn't already have a million+ subscribers. I can't imagine my educational journey in cinematography without Gerald's channel.
I like this follow-up video. In a past video comparing Sony picture profiles, you said in passing "If you want Alexa colors, you may have to mess with luminance." I actually took that advice and experimented with color depth for my SLOG-2 footage and increased the saturation considerably in camera and I found that my corrections in Resolve were more predictable and closer to real life - requiring less effort. That relationship between luminance of a color and our perceived impression of saturation and contrast is incredible. You proved that here, too. Love your help guiding some experimentation!
Extraordinary explanation as always. Thank you so much for your time and effort. Genuinely appreciate it. Can I ask you a basic dummy question, please? If the final product should appear like a linear image, why even bother shooting log?
@@geraldundone Thank you very much, thank fully I was using it for the correct purpose, However, I was grading it all wrong :-D but not anymore, your video is super helpful
Some log footage can do really cool dual-exposure magic too. Less situations where one part of the image will be super exposed, leaving the objects in the front to be drowned out by shadow. With log, the bright area is toned down while the objects in the front still maintain detail. This does SO MUCH even after grading and everything.
Super valuable information! I've been mislead by the "adjust contrast and saturation" tutorials in the past. Glad to know why I am using log luts - and what to do if I didn't have one
Whenever I'm feeling cocky and arrogant and thinking I'm a genius, I watch a GU video and it pumps me full of perspective. I understood about 30% of this, but I enjoyed it. This will be a good video to watch every six months or so... Each time it will (well SHOULD) make more sense.
THANK YOU for making videos like this. I'm an experienced stills photographer planning to film my first movie sometime next year, and I've avoided jumping into color grading and LUTs and picture profiles because it seemed so daunting. I use a lesser program to Resolve to edit what I do now, again, because while I know Resolve is better, the learning curve seems/feels so much steeper. For the last month, I've been watching your videos like crazy, shooting test footage, and dipping my toe in the water with all of these things. You have made it so much easier and so much more approachable. I would STILL be avoiding it if not for videos like this.
Thanks Gerald, this was really informative and I appreciate the thorough explanation. I will be paying way more attention to my curves from now on. I especially like when you talked about the range of tonalities across the face. I definitely have found that LUTs tend to crush the highlights together, and curves are a great way to bring that back.
Oh wow. Thanks buddy. I had serious issues grading my C200 raw footage. You paved the way. Pulled out my color chart, followed you directions and "boom!" my raw footage is now usable. Very useful. Thanks again. :-)
Gerald, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you. I thank you for showing why my colors didn't feel 100% correct when using HLG3, but I curse you for making me want to regrade all of my old videos to cure the problem. Agh! Wonderful video as always.
By default the contrast slider in Resolve adds the equivalent of an S-Curve. Im interested to see the results if you turn that off (general options in the project settings) and then add contrast and saturation with the S-Curve turned off.. Maybe less of that weird curve in the X? Worth giving it a shot maybe? Also, I need to get one of those cards.
This is a great point. It does produce a much nicer result. I was going to talk about this in the video, but I figured it might add a lot of confusion for people who don't use Resolve, because I believe other NLEs use a simple S-based contrast. It's still not as precise as finessing the curve yourself, but it's much better for expanding log than default S-Curve based contrast.
This was SOOO helpful. I am (or shall I now say "was") totally guilty of correcting C-Log footage with just contrast and saturation. INVALUABLE INFORMATION GERALD THANKS 🙏 !!
I simply cannot thank you enough for all your helpful videos, I already learned so much from your channel. You really hit the perfect ratio between going into detail and the "why" behind things without making them too hard to understand for a beginner like me. Thank you!
Thanks so much! I’d been struggling for years with the curves. All the tutorials say to make an S curve. Since I ETTR, it didn’t work. I tried your ‘inverted log curve’ today, works perfectly. And so quickly, too! 👍
Holy shit, this video literally changed my entire grading process. The "X" demonstration was incredibly eye opening. I was having a really difficult time trying to grade some low light log footage, kept getting too noisy or not looking quite right. The curves totally solved the issue. Thanks for this.
Not dealing with manually linearizing LOG and HLG and accurate colors is a great reason to just apply the Leeming LUT first and then tweak to taste. Great video and clear examples.
Just got an R5, and you have helped me understand how to grade footage and use curves CORRECTLY. I was over here thinking that my camera was broken because my footage was so grainy, but it turns out I just didn't understand how to use curves.
I haven't started the video yet but i know that this is something that i was waiting for someone to upload. Almost everyone kn youtube tends to grade log footage incorrectly! Which is just annoying. Thanks for the video
A tip for the curves window, you should click on the three dot options menu for the curves and enable Editable Splines! Every point on the curves will have a handle for moving splines and its so much easier to control your curve. I usually enable the editable splines and then only push and pull the handles for the end points on the curve
As a musician and sound design guy, its funny how all the sliders and panels remind me of musical EQs, multiband-compressors, etc. I think its a lot easier to understand what’s happening to a picture with a bit of that sound engineer knowledge. Fantastic work! And all available with a click 🤩 Thank you!!
As an aspiring colorist I appreciate the depth you went into and that you’re comparing to scopes, not relying on your eyes. Why not use a color space transform instead of curves adjustments for the initial contrast correction?
Extremely helpful video. At first, I just slapped on a LUT and that was it. But these extra steps makes footage look so much better. It's like night and day.
Well explained Gerald! Thank you! Your vector scope was at x2 for the colors to fit inside the boxes for proper saturation levels right? (around the hlg portion of the video.)
Seems I have made every mistake! Best tutorial yet, most of the RUclipsrs are doing the just add contrast... as of late I only was playing with curves. You really helped make it an exact science. Thanks!
I just posted my first-ever color graded short film piece using the Panasonic S1 with the V-Log kit and I had some difficulties achieving a balanced color style within that footage. Thank you for helping a beginner like myself understand these color values and equations I will be taking these into my next practice piece thank you, Gerald you are the best! :)
This was extremely helpful. Completely made digital color correction make sense. I never really understood what was happening by changing settings, but this clarifies the process.
so incredibly helpful!! You really gave me a better understanding of what's happening when I apply the technical LUT and how to fix it if I miss exposure! Thanks!
Excellent video and explanation Gerald! I learned a lot... and now I understand why so many people avoid LOG like the plague.. it's because they don't understand it. This vid is a "must watch" for anyone who grades LOG.
Halfway through the video and I have to say, this is an awesome explanation. As someone who has experience in photography, but is just getting into video, knowing those concepts are really helpful!
I think your video is very helpful for understanding the way contrast works and how you want a 2.4 gamma (which looks straight line in a rec.709 waveform) around your 18% grey. For those who want to stick to their telecine style color grading workflow, this is a great explanation. I only wish you had adjusted the exposure differently at 27:15. Your LUT expects a specific log format and by applying a custom curve, you change how the luminance values are distributed. The proper way to adjust exposure on a log image is to change the offset, since adding in log is the same as multiplying in linear (offset vs gain).
Good point. I'm not sure how to do that in Premiere though. I was trying to only use tools available in all NLEs. Do you know if Premiere has a similar function to offset?
@@geraldundone I took a quick look and all i could find is the red, green and blue offset using the ASC CDL effect. Unfortunately, that method is very unintuitive and hard to fine adjust. I'd suggest replicating the offset with the curves tool. Essentially, an offset is shifting the curve up or down but keeping it parallel. This worked great!
This was incredibly helpful. I’ve been crushing skin tones in SLog2 and trying to figure it out for so long. First actual technical explanation that I can use to do it right. I watched maybe 10 others who by this knowledge, were just breaking their footage from the start. Thanks!
Can you make a video how you would properly expose the a7siii and what log you would use in what situation or stay on slog3, as well as how you would grade for quick turn around, thanks great work.
One of the best internet tutorials I have seen regardless of topic! Relevant content, well explained and without repetition. I use the Leaming LUT , but one take from this was that even if you don't use that color checker, a general good way to correct over/under exposure seems to be using the curves (a single point in the middle and adjust to taste)
More like this one - at first I thought that this would be too basic - however, you expanded my knowledge of using test charts thoroughly. I use several test charts and have be not using them to their full potential. Thanks.
Gerald! This video is amazing. Thank you! One request as a followup to this, or for future videos. I was super excited when you said you were going to show a more "real world" application of this correction method if you don't have the chart, but then you went and continued to use the chart with the easy to follow "X". Yes, I can memorize your curve guide based on exposure but it would be (have been) much more helpful to see the process of correcting an actual clip of real-world footage without the "X" pattern and seeing how you apply these methods in that scenario. Anyway, thank you again for your fantastic work!
Hot damn! This was a great video! Thank you so much! I've always wondered why my skies never pan out the same manually graded as when I use the Leeming LUT or even the Varicam Nicest 709 on my S1H. I guess I never actually learnt how to manually grade for my ETTR'd log footage. Got lots of learning to do still!
So, the way I've been grading Slog3 with some success, is grabbing the top of the curves on each side and using the scopes to stretch out the white and black points to 100 and 0 in Rec709 respectively. Then I go and start adding in the actual curve points, which gives me the tonality but also allows me to preserve a lot of the data that Slog3 footage is using. Usually creating an exponential (reverse log) curve to counteract the actual log curve, which seems to "linearise" it fairly well. - Petros
Very helpful to see what actually happens with the colours when you use the standard controls on log. Would be nice if you could talk about the in-built function of Resolve where you can choose your Gamma and Color Gamut and what happens to the image when you grade it then.
Now this is the kind of breakdowns i like, with factual info and not just opinions. I think something to add would be that some Log LUTS seem to affect the hue/saturation of each color independently which would be a complete guessing game to recreate without a color checker. So, yeah, just use the manufacturer's lut or one from a trustworthy third party. Learned a ton of golden nuggets from this, thanks Gerald!
This is tremendous Gerald! Thanks so much for this more general guide. I’m glued to your content :) is there any chance you could do a grading guide as similar to the Sony one you did for the 3 log profiles on the Panasonic Side? (GH5) Especially mentioning legalising footage requirements on the Atmos ninja side and your recommendations for when to use each profile/lighting/iso with comments on the bit rates from your own angle. Would be extremely useful. :) Thanks so much for the great content.
This is by far one of the best theoretical explanation. Thank you so much, cant explain my gratitude enough buddy. One question though, I understand the LOGS have a curve to them that's why we use the s-curve to treat them. I was wondering how technically does this curve in the profile helps the dynamic range.
A log curve maps more stops of scene brightness to the fixed amount of stops in the digital video container. Going straight to gamma 2.2 you will have a more visually pleasing image but less headroom and will clip to white or black more quickly.
I don't even do video, but I could follow along with what you were saying. Incredible content. I enjoy your enthusiasm and how you present the content.
Thank you thank you thank you! I have never ever been able to understand log, but that X curve finally helped illustrate what exactly log footage is doing. Two questions though. 1. Why can't the camera just apply these corrections? Is it just a processing power issue or is it that most people who are using log want the ability to grade it afterwards? 2. Can you show an example of grading footage of something without a chart? It makes so much sense with the chart, but I feel like I would be totally lost if it was just random footage.
1. The camera does that for every non-log profile. It's captured linearally and then converted so we can see it. Log is asking the camera to do less so we can compress a wider dynamic range into the same digital container. It assumes you have the skill and tools to then expand that range back out into a normal image. 2. Yeah, most of us would be lost without any kind of chart. Log is a specialist format. You can shoot a chart (even simple X-Rite passport) and use as a general preset curve for grading LOG or just figure out middle gray and adjust highlights and shadows to taste. This takes a good bit of experience. Personally, I don't bother with log. I also use the Leeming LUT to get the hues and saturations right without much work on my part. Why go to extremes when you can get a great image with careful exposure and post-processing?
it was actually nice to see you using DaVinci. I downloaded it but seemed a bit too much, at first. Starting to understand how it might be the better color grading program. It's amazing how you can turn me into, even more of a nerd about this stuff. The complement is, that you take the mundane and hard to understand stuff (not much experience with picture profiles) and make them seem easier to understand and not so complicated anymore. Thanks!
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi, I'm Gerald Undone and I'm two stops happier today.
okay thats gold
Lawnmower guy lowered the greens too much. I'll leave.
Nothing like a good demon LUT!
😂😂😂
You came to mind when Gerald was talking about the red tones in the beginning :D
Hahaha good one
This was EXTREMELY helpful. When you said “why does my video suck after adding just contrast and saturation” I was like “lol thats me”. Thanks again and hope to see more videos geared towards beginners :)
Absolutely, lol that's me too! HAHAHAA
I would like to extend my gratitude to Gerald's mother. Thank you for bringing your son into this world and raising him to be the wonderful person that he is!
Not just the mother but also the father 😂
@Gerald: Since you're working in Resolve, it would be good to also mention its "Color Space Transform" function (which can be either globally applied in the project settings or applied as an effect to a node). It does all that a LUT or ACES DIT can do and more, i.e. translating most common log formats into the most common color spaces like Rec709, sRGB, Rec2020 etc.
But even more importantly, it can apply Tone Mapping to automatically correct exposure and avoid clipping of under- or overexposed Log-material during the transformation. It also features gamut mapping to make colors that are outside the range of the target color space fit that color space without bleeding out.
On top of that, since it acts as a mathematical function while a LUT just a color allocation table (that in most cases reduces color resolution), "Color Space Transform" is non-destructive. As a result, contrast boosts done after "Color Space Transform" are much less likely to result in clipping or color banding than contrast boosts done after a LUT.
Ah, i see you're a man of culture as well
Florian Cramer This is a very good point, and also worth mentioning that it is becoming the standard for delivering projects to companies like Netflix. Using Colour Space Transforms is a very good way of delivering multiple deliverables for example a HDR Rec 2020 PQ and an SDR Rec. 1886 2.4 gamma whilst using the same standard. The problem with the described workflow in this video is that you have to essentially regrade for any deliverable you do. Software like Resolve and the lesser known Baselight are perfect examples of professional tools which provide the ability to do exactly this. By using colour space transforms you allows for the ability to grade in an abstracted sense where all of your corrections are applied before the “tone curve” in a colourspace which is the same size if not larger than the original capture gamut. @Gerald it would be good to see a video on ACES/RED IPP2/ARRI ALF type workflows.
My big issue is that I’m using a camera that is unsupported by CST. I would definitely still like work arounds for this as a result.
@@JeremiahBostwick Which camera do you use?
@@flcrn Z Cam E2-F6.
Hi Gerald, just so you're aware "middle grey" for Rec.709 is defined in the ITU-R BT.709 spec as 40.9% - this is why slog3 has you target 41% and their Rec.709 LUT keeps middle grey there as it is technically correct for Rec.709 (so not the "50%" you seem to target in this video). There are other things including the usage of the term "linear" in this context that may confuse newcomers, but overall good attempt to help that audience learn. - Hook (Blackmagic Design)
Yes, I'm confused about "linear" - linear in a perceptually uniform encoding, or linear light intensity?
Edit: I have some understanding now - log encoding is a simple form of data compression, and it's basically the same type of dynamic range bit depth "companding" that's been used for computer displays & image encoding for decades. It appears that for video, log recording is a relatively simple dynamic range companding, that broadly encodes in a perceptually uniform manner, and omits the subsequent stages of image "enhancement" - the enhancement is left up to the user, and that's referred to as "grading". I assume that the reason we need different log encoding codecs is because, being an imperfect ("lossy") encoding, different codecs will be more appropriate for different material & intended viewing devices & conditions. For even more flexibility, that's why we have the option to record fully raw video.
This should be the "Intro" video to every color grading course. In less than a half hour, you clearly explain what's important to starting a grade and where to take it from there. Thanks so much.
"I'm Gerald Undone and my beginner level is your expert level." Thank you for these detailed color grading videos!
It's very difficult to find people (RUclipsrs especially) who really know -from a technical standpoint- what they are talking about and are actually technically competent, considering most only give generic and basic information to try and sell tremendous LUTS. I think it's safe to say your videos are contributing to school a new generation of more competent videographers. Thank you. ❤️
I’d really enjoy seeing you apply this to actual footage. There can sometimes be a disconnect when charts are used exclusively.
Minor tweaks are not that noticeable (esp on 8-bit monitors) and then it becomes opinion - the colors look "good enough to me" or I think LUT #1 is better than LUT #3 maybe like flying a plane in fog or at night - you are flying off the instruments your maintaining altitude and avoiding objects not necessarily flying the most efficient route or providing the smoothest ride and definitely avoiding flying by site or feel.
GU's dashboard just shows where things are supposed to be regardless of whether it "matters". Take cam A and cam B and match their colors... ok here's the results. Finally, on RUclips there's no shortage of color grading 'Fails' to make a "how not to grade" guide.
This is the video I've been waiting for you to make.
Picked up a 6400 just to piss around with log and hlg.
I learned way too much from this
I learned about some things I didn’t know existed in this video. It’s a lot more helpful when you share more than just “change the saturation and contrast”. Most people don’t explain WHY certain things matter, so thank you.
That's very informative and i wouldn't listen to anyone but you for such technical topics, however i would have loved a "real life" demonstration just so we can see how all this applies on, let's say...outdoor lit skin etc. I understand that those color patch are essentially doing the job and every situation and shot are different but..i think a real life demonstration would have been a good help. Thanks for all your work man !
The smartest guy with the best delivery on You Tube! Its beyond me why this man hasn't got 1 million subscribers yet.
People prefer to follow wound-up equipment cheerleaders who specialize in self-promotion.
So much value on this videos man, you don't just throw what to do at us, you show us with graphs and exemples and that makes a HUGE difference. I learn what I'm doing and why. Hands on my favorite channel
I have literally learned more in the last few months watching your videos Gerald, than in the last few years of film courses! 👍🏻 Thank you!
I've been dabbling in and out of video work for a few years and am constantly coming back to your videos to learn more. This video is several years old, and I am still using it to gain knowledge on what I am looking at on resolve and how to get technically great results and then use my creative touch as a final grade. Thank you for the way you speak about such complicated topics!
Gerald I hope you know how much value you provide to thousands of people around the world. Keep doing what you're doing man the production value and succinct delivery are top notch 👍
A thousand blessings on you and yours for generations to come. A seminal lecture. Thank you.
This video is more than how to handle LOG. It’s an explanation for why using the Tone Curve is always more nuanced than using Contrast sliders. Entirely applicable to photography as well.
this must be the fifth time I watch this video in the past few months, since I found Gerald Undone here on RUclips, and I still could leran something new. You're freacking brilliant, man!
I'm guilty of having done the "just add contrast and saturation" to Log footage and now I know! Clearly where you expose your footage is key. So useful, especially as I have to match a lot of cameras in upcoming work.
I know Gerald's channel has been growing steadily, which I'm happy about, but I'm blown away that he doesn't already have a million+ subscribers. I can't imagine my educational journey in cinematography without Gerald's channel.
I like this follow-up video. In a past video comparing Sony picture profiles, you said in passing "If you want Alexa colors, you may have to mess with luminance." I actually took that advice and experimented with color depth for my SLOG-2 footage and increased the saturation considerably in camera and I found that my corrections in Resolve were more predictable and closer to real life - requiring less effort. That relationship between luminance of a color and our perceived impression of saturation and contrast is incredible. You proved that here, too. Love your help guiding some experimentation!
You've demystified LINEAR and LOG workflows for me, and now I understand what those manufacturer's LUT are for. Thank you.
Extraordinary explanation as always. Thank you so much for your time and effort. Genuinely appreciate it.
Can I ask you a basic dummy question, please? If the final product should appear like a linear image, why even bother shooting log?
Thank you! :)
To capture more dynamic range and then you decide in post how to distribute it. Gives you more flexibility than standard profiles.
@@geraldundone Thank you very much, thank fully I was using it for the correct purpose, However, I was grading it all wrong :-D but not anymore, your video is super helpful
Some log footage can do really cool dual-exposure magic too. Less situations where one part of the image will be super exposed, leaving the objects in the front to be drowned out by shadow. With log, the bright area is toned down while the objects in the front still maintain detail. This does SO MUCH even after grading and everything.
Great video! Seeing it on the color chart was actually very helpful. I (Nikki) appreciate your explainer videos sooo much. Thanks.
Didn't expect to see one of the sailing channels I watch commenting on the filming channels I watch! Cool stuff!
Super valuable information! I've been mislead by the "adjust contrast and saturation" tutorials in the past. Glad to know why I am using log luts - and what to do if I didn't have one
Just want to say thank you for all the time and work you put in to these videos Gerald, I've been subbed to you since you have 20k subs!
Whenever I'm feeling cocky and arrogant and thinking I'm a genius, I watch a GU video and it pumps me full of perspective. I understood about 30% of this, but I enjoyed it. This will be a good video to watch every six months or so... Each time it will (well SHOULD) make more sense.
THANK YOU for making videos like this. I'm an experienced stills photographer planning to film my first movie sometime next year, and I've avoided jumping into color grading and LUTs and picture profiles because it seemed so daunting. I use a lesser program to Resolve to edit what I do now, again, because while I know Resolve is better, the learning curve seems/feels so much steeper. For the last month, I've been watching your videos like crazy, shooting test footage, and dipping my toe in the water with all of these things. You have made it so much easier and so much more approachable. I would STILL be avoiding it if not for videos like this.
When it comes to reviews it's you and Dustin Abbott. Hands down.. You are the best!
Gerald is a treasure. We need to protect this guy at all costs.
Educating is a skill, you have a fantastic ability to communicate/teach complex info in an entertaining and engaging way. thank you for all your work.
Been watching endless videos on LOG and this is by far the best. Really helped me understand how LOG works. 👍🏻
Thanks Gerald, this was really informative and I appreciate the thorough explanation. I will be paying way more attention to my curves from now on. I especially like when you talked about the range of tonalities across the face. I definitely have found that LUTs tend to crush the highlights together, and curves are a great way to bring that back.
Guys, we're lucky that we're getting such information for free.
Thanks Gerald.
Oh wow. Thanks buddy. I had serious issues grading my C200 raw footage. You paved the way. Pulled out my color chart, followed you directions and "boom!" my raw footage is now usable. Very useful. Thanks again. :-)
Gerald, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you. I thank you for showing why my colors didn't feel 100% correct when using HLG3, but I curse you for making me want to regrade all of my old videos to cure the problem. Agh! Wonderful video as always.
Man the amount of information i've gained in these 28 mins is insane. i mean i practically feel like a pro in color science now lol. Amazing work.
This is so useful. It's so hard to find in depth technical information about color. Amazing video!
the amount of value you provide is actually ridiculous. Thanks for all your hard work, man.
Thank you Gerald ! Your channel is probably the best content we can find on RUclips ! Cheers from France !
By default the contrast slider in Resolve adds the equivalent of an S-Curve. Im interested to see the results if you turn that off (general options in the project settings) and then add contrast and saturation with the S-Curve turned off.. Maybe less of that weird curve in the X? Worth giving it a shot maybe? Also, I need to get one of those cards.
This is a great point. It does produce a much nicer result. I was going to talk about this in the video, but I figured it might add a lot of confusion for people who don't use Resolve, because I believe other NLEs use a simple S-based contrast. It's still not as precise as finessing the curve yourself, but it's much better for expanding log than default S-Curve based contrast.
This was SOOO helpful. I am (or shall I now say "was") totally guilty of correcting C-Log footage with just contrast and saturation. INVALUABLE INFORMATION GERALD THANKS 🙏 !!
I simply cannot thank you enough for all your helpful videos, I already learned so much from your channel. You really hit the perfect ratio between going into detail and the "why" behind things without making them too hard to understand for a beginner like me. Thank you!
Thanks so much! I’d been struggling for years with the curves. All the tutorials say to make an S curve. Since I ETTR, it didn’t work. I tried your ‘inverted log curve’ today, works perfectly. And so quickly, too! 👍
Holy shit, this video literally changed my entire grading process. The "X" demonstration was incredibly eye opening. I was having a really difficult time trying to grade some low light log footage, kept getting too noisy or not looking quite right. The curves totally solved the issue. Thanks for this.
Not dealing with manually linearizing LOG and HLG and accurate colors is a great reason to just apply the Leeming LUT first and then tweak to taste. Great video and clear examples.
Man this video is pure gold! The way you simplify very complex concepts by giving us practical knowledge is mind blowing. Thank you!
Man, so grateful you made this video. It opens eyes and tells technical details in most and best compact form!
Just got an R5, and you have helped me understand how to grade footage and use curves CORRECTLY. I was over here thinking that my camera was broken because my footage was so grainy, but it turns out I just didn't understand how to use curves.
I haven't started the video yet but i know that this is something that i was waiting for someone to upload. Almost everyone kn youtube tends to grade log footage incorrectly! Which is just annoying. Thanks for the video
So awesome, this helped a ton. Noob here and a noob there, everywhere a noob noob! Thanks Gerald, this information is pure gold!
A tip for the curves window, you should click on the three dot options menu for the curves and enable Editable Splines! Every point on the curves will have a handle for moving splines and its so much easier to control your curve. I usually enable the editable splines and then only push and pull the handles for the end points on the curve
Learn twice as much from this channel than school on certain topics. Keep up the great work!!
As a musician and sound design guy, its funny how all the sliders and panels remind me of musical EQs, multiband-compressors, etc. I think its a lot easier to understand what’s happening to a picture with a bit of that sound engineer knowledge.
Fantastic work! And all available with a click 🤩 Thank you!!
I swear you and Waqas Qazi are the two most knowledgable colorists on youtube. i've learned SO MUCH from watching both of your guy's videos.
As an aspiring colorist I appreciate the depth you went into and that you’re comparing to scopes, not relying on your eyes. Why not use a color space transform instead of curves adjustments for the initial contrast correction?
That was the suggestion of the highlighted comment above
Extremely helpful video. At first, I just slapped on a LUT and that was it. But these extra steps makes footage look so much better. It's like night and day.
Well explained Gerald! Thank you! Your vector scope was at x2 for the colors to fit inside the boxes for proper saturation levels right? (around the hlg portion of the video.)
Yes, looking at it :) You need the 2x set for the DSCLabs charts.
Seems I have made every mistake! Best tutorial yet, most of the RUclipsrs are doing the just add contrast... as of late I only was playing with curves. You really helped make it an exact science. Thanks!
Hi, Gerald! Just discovered your channel weeks ago and loved it inmediately. Greetings from Spain! You make color grading easy to understand.
I just posted my first-ever color graded short film piece using the Panasonic S1 with the V-Log kit and I had some difficulties achieving a balanced color style within that footage. Thank you for helping a beginner like myself understand these color values and equations I will be taking these into my next practice piece thank you, Gerald you are the best! :)
This was extremely helpful. Completely made digital color correction make sense. I never really understood what was happening by changing settings, but this clarifies the process.
I was just about to grade log for the first time ever for a big project today, started my morning with this. Thanks a ton homie
One of the best channels that I have visited .
Great information!
Thank You !!
so incredibly helpful!! You really gave me a better understanding of what's happening when I apply the technical LUT and how to fix it if I miss exposure! Thanks!
Excellent video and explanation Gerald! I learned a lot... and now I understand why so many people avoid LOG like the plague.. it's because they don't understand it. This vid is a "must watch" for anyone who grades LOG.
Halfway through the video and I have to say, this is an awesome explanation. As someone who has experience in photography, but is just getting into video, knowing those concepts are really helpful!
I think your video is very helpful for understanding the way contrast works and how you want a 2.4 gamma (which looks straight line in a rec.709 waveform) around your 18% grey. For those who want to stick to their telecine style color grading workflow, this is a great explanation. I only wish you had adjusted the exposure differently at 27:15. Your LUT expects a specific log format and by applying a custom curve, you change how the luminance values are distributed. The proper way to adjust exposure on a log image is to change the offset, since adding in log is the same as multiplying in linear (offset vs gain).
Good point. I'm not sure how to do that in Premiere though. I was trying to only use tools available in all NLEs. Do you know if Premiere has a similar function to offset?
@@geraldundone I took a quick look and all i could find is the red, green and blue offset using the ASC CDL effect. Unfortunately, that method is very unintuitive and hard to fine adjust.
I'd suggest replicating the offset with the curves tool. Essentially, an offset is shifting the curve up or down but keeping it parallel. This worked great!
Really useful, and much appreciated. Thanks Gerald. I might even start using S-Log!
This was incredibly helpful. I’ve been crushing skin tones in SLog2 and trying to figure it out for so long. First actual technical explanation that I can use to do it right. I watched maybe 10 others who by this knowledge, were just breaking their footage from the start. Thanks!
"Hi I'm Gerald undone, and Zebras are not white with black stripes, but simply over exposed"
Love the physical point to the shadows ! Nice touch of connecting with the viewer
Can you make a video how you would properly expose the a7siii and what log you would use in what situation or stay on slog3, as well as how you would grade for quick turn around, thanks great work.
One of the best internet tutorials I have seen regardless of topic! Relevant content, well explained and without repetition. I use the Leaming LUT , but one take from this was that even if you don't use that color checker, a general good way to correct over/under exposure seems to be using the curves (a single point in the middle and adjust to taste)
More like this one - at first I thought that this would be too basic - however, you expanded my knowledge of using test charts thoroughly. I use several test charts and have be not using them to their full potential. Thanks.
Fantastic video! Thank you so much! Would it be possible to make something like this showing us how to do the best we can with this in Premiere?
Yes, thanks for this very good video. Please tell us if there is an equivalent to the pivot in Premiere?
You deserve a million subs and I’m not the least bit kidding.
Gerald “definitely smarter than Jesse Driftwood” Undone.
Haha. Oh, Jesse. 🤓😜🙏
maybe... but does he drive a bongo?
Thank you. I finally understand how log video needs to be graded. This video made it click for me.
Wow, great explanation. I've been using luts like a noob for years. Subscribed.
Gerald! This video is amazing. Thank you! One request as a followup to this, or for future videos. I was super excited when you said you were going to show a more "real world" application of this correction method if you don't have the chart, but then you went and continued to use the chart with the easy to follow "X". Yes, I can memorize your curve guide based on exposure but it would be (have been) much more helpful to see the process of correcting an actual clip of real-world footage without the "X" pattern and seeing how you apply these methods in that scenario. Anyway, thank you again for your fantastic work!
Hot damn! This was a great video! Thank you so much! I've always wondered why my skies never pan out the same manually graded as when I use the Leeming LUT or even the Varicam Nicest 709 on my S1H. I guess I never actually learnt how to manually grade for my ETTR'd log footage. Got lots of learning to do still!
So, the way I've been grading Slog3 with some success, is grabbing the top of the curves on each side and using the scopes to stretch out the white and black points to 100 and 0 in Rec709 respectively. Then I go and start adding in the actual curve points, which gives me the tonality but also allows me to preserve a lot of the data that Slog3 footage is using. Usually creating an exponential (reverse log) curve to counteract the actual log curve, which seems to "linearise" it fairly well. - Petros
Very helpful to see what actually happens with the colours when you use the standard controls on log. Would be nice if you could talk about the in-built function of Resolve where you can choose your Gamma and Color Gamut and what happens to the image when you grade it then.
Now this is the kind of breakdowns i like, with factual info and not just opinions. I think something to add would be that some Log LUTS seem to affect the hue/saturation of each color independently which would be a complete guessing game to recreate without a color checker. So, yeah, just use the manufacturer's lut or one from a trustworthy third party.
Learned a ton of golden nuggets from this, thanks Gerald!
This may be the most valuable grading video I've found in.. many years
Subscribed because I haven't watched anything anyone as professional as this
This is tremendous Gerald! Thanks so much for this more general guide. I’m glued to your content :) is there any chance you could do a grading guide as similar to the Sony one you did for the 3 log profiles on the Panasonic Side? (GH5) Especially mentioning legalising footage requirements on the Atmos ninja side and your recommendations for when to use each profile/lighting/iso with comments on the bit rates from your own angle. Would be extremely useful. :) Thanks so much for the great content.
Yess this would be so helpful
Another brilliantly technical explanation to a question that lingered in the back of my mind. Thanks!
Extremely interesting. First video I've seen that illustrated the differences between the colour modes! Learnt a lot. Brilliant!
This is by far one of the best theoretical explanation. Thank you so much, cant explain my gratitude enough buddy. One question though, I understand the LOGS have a curve to them that's why we use the s-curve to treat them. I was wondering how technically does this curve in the profile helps the dynamic range.
A log curve maps more stops of scene brightness to the fixed amount of stops in the digital video container. Going straight to gamma 2.2 you will have a more visually pleasing image but less headroom and will clip to white or black more quickly.
I don't even do video, but I could follow along with what you were saying. Incredible content. I enjoy your enthusiasm and how you present the content.
Thank you thank you thank you! I have never ever been able to understand log, but that X curve finally helped illustrate what exactly log footage is doing. Two questions though.
1. Why can't the camera just apply these corrections? Is it just a processing power issue or is it that most people who are using log want the ability to grade it afterwards?
2. Can you show an example of grading footage of something without a chart? It makes so much sense with the chart, but I feel like I would be totally lost if it was just random footage.
1. The camera does that for every non-log profile. It's captured linearally and then converted so we can see it. Log is asking the camera to do less so we can compress a wider dynamic range into the same digital container. It assumes you have the skill and tools to then expand that range back out into a normal image.
2. Yeah, most of us would be lost without any kind of chart. Log is a specialist format. You can shoot a chart (even simple X-Rite passport) and use as a general preset curve for grading LOG or just figure out middle gray and adjust highlights and shadows to taste. This takes a good bit of experience.
Personally, I don't bother with log. I also use the Leeming LUT to get the hues and saturations right without much work on my part. Why go to extremes when you can get a great image with careful exposure and post-processing?
So helpful! Thanks, Gerald!
it was actually nice to see you using DaVinci. I downloaded it but seemed a bit too much, at first. Starting to understand how it might be the better color grading program. It's amazing how you can turn me into, even more of a nerd about this stuff. The complement is, that you take the mundane and hard to understand stuff (not much experience with picture profiles) and make them seem easier to understand and not so complicated anymore. Thanks!
YES, GERALD.
JUST WHEN I NEEDED IT!