You are on page 1of 3

1 System Requirements

In order to apply the M31 Cinema LUT to your footage, at least one of the following programs has to be properly installed on your system: Adobe Photoshop CS6+ Adobe After Effects CS5+ Adobe Premiere Pro CS5+ * Adobe Speedgrade DaVinci Resolve Apple Motion 3,4 * Apple Shake Final Cut Pro 6,7 * Pandora Revolution/Pixi Nuke (* requires installation of the free third party plugin Magic Bullet LUT Buddy by Red Giant Software.)

2 Supported Input Color Spaces


The M31 Cinema LUT comes as a LOG and Rec.709 version.

2.1 Supported LOG Formats


Blackmagic Cinema Camera FilmLOG Arri Alexa LOG C Canon C100/C300 C-LOG Canon 1DC C-LOG Canon DSLRs Technicolor CineStyle Sony S-LOG Red One/Epic/Scarlet RedLOG Film Cineon LOG

2.2 Supported Rec.709 Formats


Blackmagic Cinema Camera Video Arri Alexa Rec.709 Canon C100/C300 Cine 1&2 Gamma Canon DSLRs
VisionColor/VisionTech Prolost Flat Similaar Flaat 10p CinePlus Lightform N Canon Neutral most other Rec.709 profiles

GoPro Awesomesauce Red One/Epic/Scarlet Red Gamma 3 pretty much anything, really....

2013 VisionColor www.vision-color.com

3 What is a LUT?
In data analysis applications, such as image processing LUTs (lookup tables) are used to transform input data into more desirable output formats. In one-dimensional LUTs for any given input value of R, G, and B, there is a given output value of R, G, and B. The m31 is a complex 3D LUT that is based on a three-dimensional cube with the ability to alter given single R, G, or B output values based on single R, G or B input value changes.

3.1 Benefits of using LUTs over regular Presets


By remapping existing colors as opposed to introducing them the m31 Cinema LUT allows for an effective homogenization of the individual colors present in the source palette. Input colors are automatically transformed to create complimentary color contrasts that are completely unique to each scene. The LOG and Rec.709 versions of M31 also feature custom contrast curves that keep highlights intact while never blowing out to 100% white.

Saturation values are carefully equalized (see above) with visual emphasis on hues revolving around the skin tones and their diametrical opposites on the blue end of the spectrum. The following examples have been color graded with the click of a button using the LOG version of m31.

Image by Jonathan M. Ochmann (BMCC)

Image source: editroom.wordpress.com (Arri Alexa)

Image by Matej Kokalj (Canon 600D)

2013 VisionColor www.vision-color.com

4 Workflow Tips
Depending on various aspects of your production workflow there are a couple of things that should be kept in mind when shooting for color grading in post. Just because you're shooting LOG doesn't mean you should underexpose your images by three stops. We see people substituting LOG profiles for NightVision all the time so please use a light meter or the histogram on your camera to properly expose your images using ASA/ISO and lens aperture. Don't shoot LOG when your camera outputs crappy 8-bit compressed files (DSLRs). Just don't. Granted, the before and after color grading comparisons will be more impressive when you start with LOG footage but that's like saying good Make-Up artists should only work in retirement homes to show off their skills. Speaking of DSLRs... never apply the LUT if you haven't first denoised and dithered your footage. This goes for all consumer grade video cameras that output highly compressed files. The m31 may do some aggressive color shifting depending on your source footage so prepare it carefully or it may fall apart. As briefly mentioned above, the m31 cinema LUT works with the colors that you recorded on set. Feed it a good negative and it will spit out the image equivalent of Keri Russell in Felicity or Brad Pitt in Fight Club but if you feed it underexposed, muddy pixelvomit the m31 most certainly won't be able to save your video unless you manually do some major corrections first. Just like white balance and exposure, lens artifacts and physical filters can have a major impact on the quality of your images and may require manual correction before the m31 LUT is applied. For example you may be dealing with a shot that, due to the quality and position of the light, is washed out and desaturated beyond average LOG standards. In such a case you could either reintroduce some contrast and saturation manually before applying the preset or simply apply the m31 twice and adjust the strength of the second copy to match your desired results.

5 FAQ
My camera is not listed above. Is it supported? - The m31 is a color remapping preset that will work with color footage from any source. You can even use it for graphics, scans of paintings and fully computer generated imagery. I don't see much of a difference. Am I doing anything wrong? - When working with Rec.709 footage you should already have decent contrast and color information before the grade is applied. The m31 is much more flexible than regular presets so that it will only change contrast and colors when the source material needs adjusting. If you don't see much of a difference chances are you started out with a pretty awesome image in the first place that probably wouldn't benefit much from additional color correction. Think of subtle adjustments as the m31 congratulating you on your skills as a cinematographer. Can I adjust the strength of the LUT? - That depends entirely on the software you use to apply it. In most programs you can change the amount to which any effect is applied. (Layer transparency, Layer-Node Key output gain etc...) Please consult your software's manual for details. I love your CineLook picture style. Will I be able to use the LUT with CineLook footage? - You can use the m31 cinema lut with pretty much any footage you want but adding it on top of CineLook would be quite redundant since the output colormap for both presets is similar.

Can I get a cookie for having read all the way through this stupid document? - Nope. Sorry but the cookie monster ate them all. But hey, check out how the color of the cookie is perfectly complementary to the color of his fur!

2013 VisionColor www.vision-color.com

You might also like