Masterclass in Color Grading with Chris Jacobson

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience , wonderful tutorial!!!!

Great class.  

Hi Chris, thanks for this great master class. Very helpful. I would be very happy to see a real life session. Even for 10 minutes

On 10/7/2020 at 10:36 PM, chris jacobson said:

then I get into camera metadata settings and will adjust exposure and color temperature there and then move into the color tab.

 

For the metadata editing, does it mean that you grade RAW footage ? Or this lift gamma gain workflow also works on Alexa quicktime 444 log.

I never be able to have better gamut curve with the color tab than with the "technical" LUT or IDT on log footage (no raw). Especially for skin tone.

Thanks

Awesome to see the thought process behind a master. Would have loved to see how he does skintones, as he just glanced over that node. But I guess everyone needs their secrets. hahaha

I got some really good tips from this master class.  Thank you!

Dear Chris!

Color management is not a creative process that you would rather do... Color management is nothing more than the process during which your image goes from recording state to display state. In this case, after debayering, your image will be recoded from a logarithmic state then until it is linearized,then in this case to a power function, which e.g. the gamma is 2.4. The gamut must also be mapped using a 3x3 matrix. Or else you won't get accurate color reproduction.  The dynamic range of your monitor and camera is also different. In this case, the Tone mapping is adjusted, and the material goes through many other changes, such as Saturation mapping, OOTF, OETF, etc. This is much more complex and mathematically precise, unlike your LGG solution.   If you experienced clipping, it was because you were working in a display refereed environment.

You shouldn't skip the look development stage either, ask for the help of a color scientist. Once he will create a LUT for you, which you can use for the entire TV show. You need an S - contrast curve set to middle gray, which distributes the dynamic range in the SDR container based on your preferences. You need a nice general color palette that is made in 3D space, more advanced color modes and a lot of technical elements that you can't even reach under the resolve color tab.
 

On 9/12/2023 at 4:01 PM, Levente Horváth said:

Dear Chris!

Color management is not a creative process that you would rather do... Color management is nothing more than the process during which your image goes from recording state to display state. In this case, after debayering, your image will be recoded from a logarithmic state then until it is linearized,then in this case to a power function, which e.g. the gamma is 2.4. The gamut must also be mapped using a 3x3 matrix. Or else you won't get accurate color reproduction.  The dynamic range of your monitor and camera is also different. In this case, the Tone mapping is adjusted, and the material goes through many other changes, such as Saturation mapping, OOTF, OETF, etc. This is much more complex and mathematically precise, unlike your LGG solution.   If you experienced clipping, it was because you were working in a display refereed environment.

You shouldn't skip the look development stage either, ask for the help of a color scientist. Once he will create a LUT for you, which you can use for the entire TV show. You need an S - contrast curve set to middle gray, which distributes the dynamic range in the SDR container based on your preferences. You need a nice general color palette that is made in 3D space, more advanced color modes and a lot of technical elements that you can't even reach under the resolve color tab.
 

Thank you for your comments. I understand where you are coming from. Mostly a pure mathematical fundamental. However,

"Color management is nothing more than the process during which your image goes from recording state to display state"

I disagree, the "process" changes depending on who wrote the code.

It is the mapping that is open to interpretation. Just like every AI or social media has an algorithm so does color science. How one mathematical equation will interpret ...let's say for example red mapping bit depth, this  can make a huge difference in the output of the delayering and hence would change everything. For example how I could use a curve and key combination to achieve the desired look for skin tone. The biggest discrepancies become apparent in red  and blue Bit mapping. Bit mapping  is the biggest interpretations in color science. A process I prefer to leave to the colorist working in RAW, in this particular case, me.

The mention of Ansel Adams was great. I had heard of the black and white technique for contrast. Thanks for this insight. Will be testing this out!