Why does normal look better than d-cinelike/d-log?

[marceldacs]

Tried shooting in d-cinelike and d-log, but even after noise reduction and using Film Poet's LUT I still feel that normal looks better. The colors just seem to pop out more whereas with d-cinelike/d-log it's looking pretty flat. What am I doing wrong? Clips can be found here:

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[Just_nick]

Because the whole point is to have a base to work with in post, that way you don't have to spend a bunch of time correcting the horrible lack of realism in normal or vivid. If you don't plan on doing post work, then just choose whichever is prettier.

 

[gnirtS]

d-log is supposed to look flat. That's the whole point. It allows you more score editing and emphasising the contrast and colour you want. d-log will ALWAYS require editing as a result.
"Normal" to me looks unnaturally over saturated amongst other things.

Cinelink is a compromise- boosts things without looking too unnatural but can still be edited. Whether d-log is worth it due to the fact the data is only an 8 bit file is a whole new debate...

 

[sleebus.jones]

You may want to try the free d-log LUT from Ground Control.

FREE D-LOG to Rec.709 LUT

Gives you a good starting point to tweak from, and the price is certainly right.

Also may want to look at their "how to" guide

The Ultimate LUT Guide

 

[ELAM]

As other said - any flat color profile like D-log, S-log, Cine-like and others will 'flatten' the image from a color perspective, which will give you more details in the shadows and allow you to color grade your footage to your liking in the edit.

 

[LeafPeeper]

I think I'm giving up on D-Log. With overexposing as recommended, I just can't get the exposure I want in post. When lowering the exposure, I just get more noise than in other profiles. Just not worth the trouble for the kind of amateur stuff I do anyway.

LP

 

[marceldacs]

Thanks to everyone for all the responses. I tried color grading D-log in post by applying a LUT but it still looks pretty flat. Is this a problem with the LUT or do I need to make manual corrections as well.

 

[Kilrah]

LUTs expect a specific set of settings for the input footage, and provided with that will give a specific look to the output that was decided by that LUT's creator and that obviously may or may not be to your liking.

That's why there are thousands of them around for various purposes and looks.

 

[marceldacs]

what corrections would I have to make with the input footage so that it turns out well when I apply the LUT? If anyone has any good tutorials they could point me to I’d really appreciate it. Also is it worth buying LUT packs or are the free ones usually sufficient.

 

[sleebus.jones]

what corrections would I have to make with the input footage so that it turns out well when I apply the LUT? If anyone has any good tutorials they could point me to I’d really appreciate it. Also is it worth buying LUT packs or are the free ones usually sufficient.

Read my post up above, I did exactly that.

 

[marceldacs]

Read my post up above, I did exactly that.

Thanks, ya I watched those but still had one remaining question. The tutorial said something about correcting the footage before applying a LUT. If I’m tweaking my d-log footage before applying the LUT, should I view the effect of those changes on the original d-log, or through the LUT? I’m just wondering how I can tell if the corrections I’m making are right like exposure, highlights, shadows, etc.

 

[sleebus.jones]

One of the assumptions of a LUT is that they assume that there is good footage going into the LUT in the first place. It's the ol' GIGO problem (garbage in, garbage out). What I do is pretty much what they show in the video. I use DaVinci Resolve, so I have a corrections node before my LUT node. First I look at what I'm getting from the LUT on the scopes, without any corrections. If they look like they are in range, and it looks good, then I stop...usually that's not the case haha. So, if I am blowing out the highlights or crushing blacks, I'll adjust that in the correction node until it looks good in the scopes. The LUT will expand your dynamic range, so you don't really want to go correcting before evaluating what it looks like in the scope first. Sometimes the LUT won't be able to get the footage where you want it, and that's usually due to poorly exposed source footage, which is the point of the correction node.

Hope that makes sense. There's a lot to learn in color grading, it'll take a while to get comfortable, but the results are really worth it IMO.

 

[stony.sk8]

I think I'm giving up on D-Log. With overexposing as recommended, I just can't get the exposure I want in post. When lowering the exposure, I just get more noise than in other profiles. Just not worth the trouble for the kind of amateur stuff I do anyway.

LP

I have the same problem, I own a dji mini pro and it only records d-log M. I bought ND filters to reduce flare, but for now I'm just experimenting with it.