LUT : Cinematic Look

Oct 06 2019

Views: 1188

LUT is a modern term in Digital world of film making used by Cinematographers, Colorists, as a process of digital film making the image shot on a digital cinema camera is a set of raw data which is later converted to video for editing and finally for playing in different platforms( Theatre, youtube, computer)

The Raw data recorded in a camera which looks like a flat image nearly colorless or with less color information.

During post process that is Digital Color correction required color is brought accordingly. A LUT, or ‘Look Up Table,’ holds a set of numbers which are looked up by the software to change the color,contrast and brightness of the Image.

Colour LUTs just take in colour values and output the corresponding colours. Some LUTs change saturation, some increase contrast and some can change the input colours completely.

They are a mathematically precise way of taking specific RGB values from an image and changing them to new RGB values by changing the hue, saturation and brightness of the original footage

creating a specific look and saving colour grades is also a form LUTs which can be used or applied to other projects.

 Today most of the film makers who are interested to have a organic look like Motion Picture Film…so now special film look is achieved by LUTs created by many companies for sale.
During post process or color grading LUT s are applied directly to the raw image for a specific look then contrast is adjusted and matching to other shots are done by colorists, but best way is to base grade the footage adjusting whites and blacks then a specific LUT s can be applied by colorists.
There are thousands of different specific color LUTs, like bleach bypass technique look in film can be easily created by applying specific LUTs….but most important thing is the specific color should not affect the blacks.
There are some LUTs available of replicating look of Kodak motion picture film stock.
https://www.filmconvert.com/
https://www.looklabs.net/
CJ Rajkumar
Author/Cinematographer
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