PostMicroTools
Reference
Color & Log cheat-sheet
Pick your camera's Log format to see its gamut, ACES Input Transform and how to get to Rec.709 — plus a primer on color spaces and ACES below.
CIE 1931 — gamut comparison
InteractiveToggle gamuts to compare what each color space can reproduce. The outer "horseshoe" is everything the human eye sees; each polygon is a working/display gamut.
Log curves — visual comparison
InteractiveEach curve maps scene-linear light (x) to a recorded code value (y). Steeper rise above 18% grey = more dynamic range stored above mid-grey. Linear (grey diagonal) and Rec.709 gamma are shown for reference.
Display color spaces (quick reference)
| Space | Gamut | Transfer / EOTF | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rec.709 | BT.709 | BT.1886 (≈ 2.4) | HD SDR TV & web |
| sRGB | BT.709 | sRGB piecewise (≈ 2.2) | Computer monitors |
| DCI-P3 (D65) | P3 | Gamma 2.6 (DCI) / 2.2 (display) | Cinema, modern wide-gamut screens |
| Rec.2020 PQ (HDR10) | BT.2020 | PQ — ST 2084 | HDR streaming, mastering |
| Rec.2020 HLG | BT.2020 | HLG (BT.2100) | HDR broadcast — SDR-compatible |
| ACEScg (AP1) | AP1 | Linear | VFX/CGI grading working space |
| ACEScc / ACEScct | AP1 | Log | ACES grading curve (for color tools) |
| ACES2065-1 | AP0 | Linear | ACES archival / interchange master |
Conversion cookbook
How to get from camera Log to a delivery space using LUTs, ACES, or Resolve Color Space Transform (CST) nodes.
| From | To | Transform / tool |
|---|
Mini glossary
The ACES idea, in one paragraph
ACES turns "every camera looks different" into one managed pipeline: footage enters through an IDT into ACES (a huge linear gamut, AP0 or working in AP1), you grade in that common space, and an Output Transform (RRT + ODT) renders to Rec.709, P3 or HDR. It keeps multi-camera shows consistent and future-proofs the master.
Log vs RAW
RAW is sensor data (you set white balance/ISO in post). Log is a gamma encoding of already-debayered video that preserves dynamic range. Many RAW formats debayer to a Log space (e.g. Log3G10).
Do I need ACES?
Not always. Single-camera jobs can grade with the camera maker's LUT to Rec.709. ACES shines on multi-camera, VFX-heavy or HDR projects where consistency matters across vendors.
Why your footage looks flat — and why it should
Every camera vendor ships a log curve — ARRI LogC3/LogC4, Sony S-Log3, RED Log3G10, Blackmagic Film Gen 5, Canon C-Log3 — and they all exist for the same reason: squeezing 14+ stops of scene dynamic range into a signal a 10-bit file can carry without wasting codes. The washed-out look is not a defect; it's headroom. Grade-ready contrast comes later, through the matching conversion (LUT or color-space transform) into a display space like Rec709 or P3-D65 PQ.
The reference maps which curve and gamut each camera family uses and what the correct normalization path is — the thing that goes wrong when a LogC3 conversion is applied to LogC4 material (ARRI changed the curve with the ALEXA 35) or S-Log3 clips get a generic "log" LUT. It also covers the display side: Rec709/BT.1886 for HD broadcast, P3 inside Rec2020 with PQ for HDR deliveries — the color space a platform actually accepts is one of the fields you can check in the delivery spec validator.
For mixed-camera projects it makes the case for a scene-referred pipeline (ACES or a camera-native working space): normalize every source into one working space, grade once, and output through display transforms instead of per-clip LUT roulette.
Should I expose log footage brighter?
Most log curves benefit from exposing to the right of nominal — S-Log3 in particular is commonly rated 1–2 stops over to keep shadows out of the noise floor, then normalized in the grade. Check your camera's false-color against the curve's mid-grey placement (LogC3 puts 18% grey around 39 IRE).
Is a LUT the same as a color space transform?
A LUT is a baked lookup approximation; a CST is the exact math. For normalization (log → display) prefer the mathematically defined transform where your tool offers one — LUTs clip values outside their input range, which is where hue skews near clipping come from.
Can I grade log footage in 8-bit?
You can, and you'll see it: stretching a flat 8-bit log signal to full contrast spreads ~235 codes across the range and bands in skies and gradients. Log workflows assume 10-bit or better; if the source is 8-bit log, grade in a 32-bit float pipeline and add grain to mask what's left.