LUT Comparison of Mini 4 Pro and Air 3

[MotoSavy]

I pretty new to flying drones and try to understand and use LUTs. I have an Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro. From all I have heard they both have the same upgraded Mini 3 sensor with some added backlighting to the sensor to improve it. I think they call it Dual Native ISO Fusion.

I have seen people on YouTube selling LUT packages for the MINI 4 Pro and different ones for the Air 3. Is there really a need to have different LUTs when the sensors are suppose to be identical?

I did some testing with the DJI LUTs on the Mini 4 Pro and they made the image look dark and colors look saturated. I shot in my office in a controlled environment in Normal, HLG and D-log M and actually the Normal looked better.

So for those Color Experts, is there really a need to use different LUTS when the sensors are suppose to be identical or are the drones processing the data different and producing different 10 bit output for HLG and D-log M? And am I suppose to use the DJI LUT for HLG or suppose to color grade it manually and only use the LUT for D-log M?

I just looked at the DJI OSMO Action 4, DJI Mini 4 Pro and Air 3 .cube file and the all have this in the beginning and the files are identical (this is from the different DJI xxx to REC.709.cube files):

# DaVinci Resolve Cube (3D LUT).
#
#Generated by LUT Editor.
#Not-Clipped.
#
# Mavic 3 Pro, D-Log M, 2023-03-24
#

LUT_3D_SIZE 33


Which leads me to believe that people the are selling different LUTs for different drones are actually selling the same thing under a different drone name.

 

[VenomXts]

LUTs are just fine-tuned options that they save, some may be tweaked some may be the same.

End of the day I don't understand buying LUTs but love getting free ones or or making my own.

We really should share more around here when i get home i will upload a few i have for Air3 i made and sunsets.

 

[Daytona500]

What r luts

LUTs are just fine-tuned options that they save, some may be tweaked some may be the same.

End of the day I don't understand buying LUTs but love getting free ones or or making my own.

We really should share more around here when i get home i will upload a few i have for Air3 i made and sunsets.

what R LUTS

 

[VenomXts]

What r luts

what R LUTS

LUTs (Lookup Tables) are a kind of color filter you use to alter the colors in your image. They apply predetermined sets of mathematical formulas to your video's existing colors to change those colors and achieve a desired result.

What everyone else calls filters not doing photo editing.

 

[BigAl07]

I would loosely define a LUT as a "Macro" for photo editing. It's using presets for a specific lens/sensor narrowed down to a couple of mouse clicks. The right LUT can save a TON of time when you find/make the one that fits your needs and your "style".

 

[Daytona500]

thanks

 

[Dave Maine]

You are much better off learning how to adjust the color to your taste in post processing. LUTS assume too much about what exposures and shooting conditions to be very useful to me.

 

[Ancient Aviator]

I pretty new to flying drones and try to understand and use LUTs. I have an Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro. From all I have heard they both have the same upgraded Mini 3 sensor with some added backlighting to the sensor to improve it. I think they call it Dual Native ISO Fusion.

I have seen people on YouTube selling LUT packages for the MINI 4 Pro and different ones for the Air 3. Is there really a need to have different LUTs when the sensors are suppose to be identical?

I did some testing with the DJI LUTs on the Mini 4 Pro and they made the image look dark and colors look saturated. I shot in my office in a controlled environment in Normal, HLG and D-log M and actually the Normal looked better.

So for those Color Experts, is there really a need to use different LUTS when the sensors are suppose to be identical or are the drones processing the data different and producing different 10 bit output for HLG and D-log M? And am I suppose to use the DJI LUT for HLG or suppose to color grade it manually and only use the LUT for D-log M?

I just looked at the DJI OSMO Action 4, DJI Mini 4 Pro and Air 3 .cube file and the all have this in the beginning and the files are identical (this is from the different DJI xxx to REC.709.cube files):

# DaVinci Resolve Cube (3D LUT).
#
#Generated by LUT Editor.
#Not-Clipped.
#
# Mavic 3 Pro, D-Log M, 2023-03-24
#

LUT_3D_SIZE 33


Which leads me to believe that people the are selling different LUTs for different drones are actually selling the same thing under a different drone name.

All excellent questions!! Thanks for asking.

 

[StevenBrodsky]

What r luts

what R LUTS

in my opinion, luts are just color enhancers or reducers, each with different color pallets they enhance or reduce. They set the mood for a shot. You can change a sunny shot into what looks like a cloudy shot and vice versa. You can change a day shot into what looks like a moonlight shot and vice versa.

They are also used to keep the colors in each footage segment looking the same from shot to shot when splicing and connecting a long film. Otherwise, you will have each connected piece of footage looking like it came from a different movie or different camera. Luts can equalize each video segment, so the entire movie has the same color pallet in each video recorded segment.

A great example of a LUT being used is in the Matrix movies. Everything is greenish tinted throughout the entire movie because of a lut. They did this because they used so many green screens, the tint was getting in the shots. So they made all the other shots match the green screen shots with a LUT filter.

 

[davidarmenb]

Online LUTs are great to experiment with and learn color grading. The best method is to find your own style that pleases you and then make your own LUT that you can then apply to all footage from the same camera, in this case the drone. This will also give you your own style, with all your videos and publications having a consistent theme and color scheme.

They are only meant to be used on the D-Log M profile, as it is a flat logarithmic profile meant to be graded. Since the 8-bit Normal and 10-bit HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) profiles are not flat log profiles so they do not need to be color graded. But nothing is actually stopping you from doing so.

 

[Gazwas]

LUTs are similar to colour profiles in stills.

Technical LUTs (normally provided by the manufacturer) convert the info from the camera sensor in to a broadcast friendly colour space which is usually REC709.

Cinema cameras manufacturers will give you details of what IRE to expose 18% grey for use with their technical LUT to get perfect exposure but don’t think DJI offer this.

LUTs for looks are different and are basically to taste to boost specific parts of the image.

Normally a “technical’ LUT is applied first for conversion to REC 709 followed by a “look” LUT to taste.

 

[Droning on and on...]

LUTs like so many terms gets overwrought.

The simple of it: Have you ever taken a picture that was overexposed, and adjusted brightness and contrast to bring detail back to a washed-out face? That's color grading, and a LUT is just a saved preset for adjustments like that. Maybe you've also adjusted color tone too 'cause it was a little greenish.

There are quite a few other knobs you can turn color grading, and to do it well requires some learning and practice. But in the end, it's nothing technically complicated, just a bit fancier, more flexible brightness/contrast adjustment.

 

[Droning on and on...]

End of the day I don't understand buying LUTs but love getting free ones or or making my own.

Different people have different talents. You pay for things all the time that others are far better at than you, and you're not interested in developing those skills.

Same with color grading.