Hi.

I would like to colorgrade my footage with LUT´s like the examples in this Phoenix package from Groundcontrolcolor: http://www.groundcontrolcolor.com/phoenix.html I am trying but simply cannot get my footage to look anywhere near the examples on the different sites that sell´s these LUTs, instead it looks horrible. And I would like to know why

This is my approach from start to finish:

1. I set my fps to 60, my shutter speed to 120, white balance to 5,6k check the EV value and put on the appropriate ND filter. In the following example, I put on a ND8 filter. The drone is shooting in D-log with contrast, saturation and sharpness to -3.
This is my result, and I think it looks as it color-wise should?:


2. When editing in premiere, I confirm that none of the blacks and whites are crushed, and I guess it looks OK, even though I´m not quite sure. Then I adjust the blacks and whites so that they kiss the 100 and 0 borders.


3. Now I would like to try out some of the free LUT´s that I´ve found, but as you can see it looks horrible, and does not look like it should like the examples on the LUT sites. I afterwards try to adjust saturation, contrast and alike but none of it helps:

It´s not like in the promotial videos where you drop a LUT on any d-log footage, and BAM it looks amazing.
My end goal would be a look that is warm, lush and colorful, like the ones that the Phoenix package offers, but I wont buy the package if I cant get it to work.


So my questions are:Arent this example footage ready for LUTs?
Are my settings correct?
Am I generally doing anything wrong in my approach?Are the promotial videos just bogus and requires deep experience with color correcting and grading, and therefore I would be better off with just shooting in auto settings?

I was having some problems with the post editor telling me wierd error messages, but here are the images I refer to:
1:
2.  
3.     

Thanks alot for your thoughts

This may help you. I don't use LUT that much other than that's the look your going for. But this may help you out. Even if you are not using FCP it  still will help you understand.  

You really should use an LUT designed for the particular camera. You dont say which Phantom you are using, but here is a link to P4 downloads, and there is an LUT avaialbe for download: http://www.dji.com/phantom-4/inf ... te_search#downloads

But looking at your example shot, it is going to be very hard to make something out of that shot, and it will need a lot of work. The reason is that the shot is quite under-exposed in terms of the scene, while the sky is over-exposed. It is not a good subject.

Some free LUTS can be awful their code is all wrong.  If you have colour corrected first then apply the grade, it should not be wrong. I would suggest you try another known working LUT pack.  

The same LUT applied to D-LOG footage from different camera manufacturers will have varying results. I researched LUTs a while back and that stood out to me.

Thanks alot for your answers.
@fansea1216d3 - great video, thanks!
I´ve tried the official LUT´s, but they really dont do that much. I think I should go with something more easier to work with, like Cinelike.

Thanks alot for your answers.
@fansea1216d3 - great video, thanks!
I´ve tried the official LUT´s, but they really dont do that much. I think I should go with something more easier to work with, like Cinelike.

Thanks alot for your answers.
@fansea1216d3 - great video, thanks!
I´ve tried the official LUT´s, but they really dont do that much. I think I should go with something more easier to work with, like Cinelike.