#fujifilm #fuji #f-log #flog #editing #davinci #resolve #colorgrading #colorgrade #tutorial #xh1 #xt4
I wish I knew more about the process but from what I understand about how film editing and processing works is that at some point in the process they convert the capture film, lets say Kodak vision3 500T 7219, to another film print for distribution. In the case of The Master, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Dunkirk they were put on Kodak 2383(Others that used it).
There is something special about this film print. The way contrast looks, skin tones, saturation. It is unique. Well if you download Davinci Resolve you get a set of what is called film emulation LUTs. They are designed for different film prints and processes.
In the color tab to the top left, if you open the "LUTs" dropdown you will see a folder called "Film Looks." Here you will see the two types of film emulation LUTs available. They each come in two different flavors, Rec709 and DCI-P3. From what I understand it is meant for the input color space. I have only ever used the Rec.709.
Each of those come in three types, D55, D60, and D65. Those have to do with the white point. D65 is cold, D60 is neutral, and D55 is warm. I am not sure what any practical use of these would be. I have only ever used the D60.
Now with any LUT it is going to expect a specific color space and gamma from the footage to work correctly. For these they are expecting rec.709 and a log gamma called "Cineon," This log gamma, from what I understand, was made for film digitalization. I guess how it would work is if you shot in film you would have it scanned and converted to rec.709 and this log gamma for the most dynamic range.
With LutCalc we can convert just about any camera's log to cineon. If you shoot with a camera that is fully supported in Color Space Transform(CST) you can use that to convert your footage to the proper input color space and gamma(HLG from a Fuji camera would work). Above you can see the settings I used to make the conversion LUT. You can also use a mix of the CST and a conversion LUT instead.
The problem that F-Log shooters have with Davinci is that in CST you only have F-Log as an option for gamma not color space. Which gives us an awkward limitation. In the LUT pack Fujifilm gives us they include a LUT to convert F-Log to rec.709 without changing the gamma. You can combine that LUT and CST to convert the gamma to rec.709. That is the process I use most often. I have not seen a situation where a single LUT made in Lutcalc would not just be a better and easier solution but in my mind using CST retains as much dynamic range as possible.
Putting your node tree together is pretty easy for either workflow. Let's say you are going to use one LUT from Lutcalc to do the conversion. You will want to start with a couple of nodes for editing and then another two nodes. These each with hold a LUT. The first is for the LUT you made in Lutcalc and the other is for the 2383 emulation LUT.
You will always do you edits before these LUTs. A general rule for editing in Davinci with LUTs is that a LUT with limit the output to what ever perimeter the LUT has. That means that you will not get anywhere the same dynamic range or quality by editing after a LUT than before.
It may look funky at first but with a little bit of playing you can make it look fantastic. The 2383 emulation LUT does best with low contrast scenes. In high contrast it can look really crazy. You will sometimes have to use a node or two just to counteract some of the stronger effects that the emulation LUT will cause.
I hope that this tutorial has been some help to you. Next time I will be doing a post about comparing F-Log to Arri Log-C from an Alexa Mini.
Thank you so much for reading,
William.