- In this video, we're gonna talk about
how you grade log footage super easily.
(upbeat music)
The reason you shoot like this
is so that you get more dynamic range,
which means in your footage
the skies aren't blowing out,
the blacks aren't getting completely crushed,
and you can grade it later and
put your own look on it.
However, the downside is, it takes time
to grade a log file, and sometimes
we just want to go quick,
because we have a lot of footage
to deal with and we don't necessarily need to
spend so much time grading each
individual shot for a long time.
So I have a few tips on how you can
grade your footage super fast and still
make it look really good.
Now there's a couple of elements
that you need to understand to
be able to grade log footage.
First you need to understand what a LUT is.
Second we're gonna talk about the
scopes that you use so you can see your exposure.
And third we're gonna talk about the curves
so you can get your footage looking good.
So when you're dealing with log footage
there's generally a LUT that allows
you to transfer your footage from log to REC 709,
and what REC 709 is basically your base.
And that is like the standard across
movies and television.
REC 709 is the color that you want
to achieve and start at when you
start grading to create a look.
If you start grading with footage
that has a color cast already on it,
or a look already on it you're not starting from zero.
So basically REC 709 is like your zero.
So what you're gonna do is go to your
manufacturer website of the camera that you have
that you're using, for me it's
the Panasonic GH5, and there's actually
a LUT that they have on their website
that goes from log to REC 709
specifically for the GH5.
And the reason you want to go to your
manufacturers website to find this
is that each that camera shoots log differently
and each camera has a different color profile.
And REC 709 is supposed to be standardized
across all cameras, that is just like
the baseline for every camera.
So what you're doing is you're bringing your log
and you're getting your colors to match
what is the standard.
So what you're gonna want to do is apply this.
I'm using Final Cut X and to do that
there is a specific plug in called Custom Lut.
I'm gonna bring that in. I'm going to
add my LUT to the footage, and there you go.
That's it. That's the first bit,
is you're basically just changing the color
of the log footage to REC 709.
Now what happens here is that with the GH5
I still need to go in and do more tweaking
and you're probably gonna have to go in
and do more tweaking with your footage as well.
So what you're gonna want to do is
bring up your curves and you're gonna
want to bring up your Luma waveform.
So on Final Cut X, it's super easy.
You hit command seven, and it pops up
with your scopes, with the menu settings
in the top right corner.
You can click down, you can find Luma,
waveforms, and make sure that it's full screen.
So now what you have in your editing software
is your Luma waveform and you have your footage.
And so what a waveform actually is,
when you're looking at Luma, is all your
exposures from zero to 100, it actually shows
beyond zero to 100, but zero is black
and 100 is white, and you'll see that
when you take off the LUT, you're gonna
have footage that's in the middle,
because log footage is very flat.
So you're LUT's gonna change some of the colors,
it's gonna add some contrast to it.
But what you're gonna want to do
is now go in using curves and this tool is
native in Final Cut X now, but
you're gonna want to bring your
highlights in, and your blacks in
until parts of the waveform are touching
the top and the bottom.
And you obviously are gonna tweak this
to what looks best for you and your footage,
but you're basically stretching your exposure
which is creating contrast.
And you're stretching all the exposure
values in your image so that you're
telling what is white and what is black.
And you can see this visually as you
pull your curves inward, you'll see it
on the scopes being stretched outward to zero and 100.
So the last thing you're gonna want to do
is add a little S curve to this.
You get that more cinematic look when you
add a little bit more of an S curve.
It brings down your darks a little bit,
brings up your highlights, and all
of this is up to you to figure out what you like best.
You might ask, well why can't I
just go in, do the curves, and add saturation?
Well that is one way that you can do it.
But let me show you what the difference is.
So with v-log footage in particular,
if I go in and just do the curves
using my waveform scopes, you can see
I can get my contrast to where it needs to be.
Now the image is still flat, so I can
go in and add saturation.
But what happens is, when you compare these
two clips side by side,
the footage that I didn't use the REC 709 LUT on
has a different color to it then the one
with the REC 709.
It's a little bit more yellows
and the skin tones don't look as natural.
So that's one thing you got to keep in mind.
By just pulling up your saturation,
and it's not necessarily correcting the file,
you might be adding some colors in there that
you don't necessarily want, and
the idea is that we're getting to REC 709
cause that's like baseline.
That's what you can start anything from.
From here, you would go through and start
color grading, maybe you have a
specific look that you're going for.
And then what you'll do is add on
that look now and that's when you
can create these cool effects that are more cinematic.
But what you need to understand
is just getting it to REC 709
cause that's like the baseline.
That's when your footage looks good.
But you might just use the footage
right here because this is natural looking.
Alright guys, that is a very quick
way you can go through and edit your log footage
and get it to REC 709, which looks
really good and I think is a great place to start.
A lot of times, I'll just do this
but you can definitely use the footage from here,
and I like using log because you get more
dynamic range, your skies don't blow out
your black don't get crushed immediately.
You can get a cool look, and
you can define where you want your
blacks and your whites to sit
so that your image has more depth
and it has more of that cinematic quality.
Alright guys, that is it.
If you're new to this channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
There's a lot of awesome film making tutorials.
I've got some camera reviews, some vlogs.
Also if you're new here, I do have
an online creator film school that
goes through beginning to end.
Everything that you need to know
to have a career as a filmmaker or creator.
So guys I suggest you go check that out
down in the description.
And that is it, I will see you on the next one.