EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic (GH4, GX85, G85 + more)

[HelsinkiZim]

Just purchased and very excited!

I am still trying to figure out its best use, but it definately add some life to lighter skin even when adding a grade/ lut that usually makes everything mush together.

After 5 minutes, here is my test grade.

Filmed in Cine D - Noam Krolls preferred settings, google them, cant remember... theyre saved as C1

[Cary Knoop]

On 12/21/2016 at 3:45 PM, Andrew Reid said:

The EOSHD Pro Color LUT brings out so much shadow detail from the Standard profile, recovers the crushed blacks, recovers the clipped highlights - they are still there in the codec but for whatever reason aren't there when you view the files in your NLE or media player!!

Whether high or low luma levels are seen or are clipped/crushed in an NLE depends on the recording format (full vs limited video levels) in combination with the NLE settings.

While you can define the recording level format in the GH4/G85 you can't in the GX85 which actually records an absurdity.  The GX85 records at 16-255 with the codec header marking it limited levels.  So in effect you will have whiter than white levels which must be brought down to legal levels before you apply any color grading LUTs.

Here is a little tutorial on how to do that:

 

[HelsinkiZim]

5 hours ago, imagiNet said:

I have been testing the LUT and are some what disappointed in the huge red shift int he highlights on all my test shots. I have been using the LUT One by Paul Leeming up until now. It preserves skin tones beautifully while Andrews LUT add too much red that has to be dealt with as an extra step. I have the settings configured per the instructions that came with the download. The only thinng I am not doing is using Auto WB. I do nt see why that would matter. I use a custom WB on every shot and have done so for 30 years. I also have a color reference in most of my shots, as was the case in these tests. 

The first image is un adjusted. The WB is correct as evident in the 90%, 40% and 10% traces of the grey scale swatches in the RGB parade. 

The second image is right after I apply the EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic LUT.  Notice the 10 IRE increase in red in the highlights.

Does anyone notice this extreme red shift?  

I think the idea is that it adds some much needed blush to Gh4 skintones. I have noticed this, GH4 can do clean extremely well- but it sometimes is so clinical. It is a great beauty cam, although beauty folk prefer Canon, but they should use the GH4 - look at Curtis Judd, the cleanest looking reviewer out there and he is using GH4.

But Canon skintones straight-outtta-cam-ton are a quick fix for amateurs, and Andrew spotted this and offered a quick-fix solution for us pro-summers. enjoy it, but don't over analyse it - the cam is still the cam.

[John Roque]

This was shot with the Gx85 and the contrast was 0, I was shooting jpegs along with vids and I forgot to change the color profile to the the recommended settings when I shot that day. Even then, I love the images I was getting, and shot even more footage yesterday with the recommended settings and they are great!!

[imagiNet]

48 minutes ago, HelsinkiZim said:

But Canon skintones straight-outtta-cam-ton are a quick fix for amateurs, and Andrew spotted this and offered a quick-fix solution for us pro-summers. enjoy it, but don't over analyse it - the cam is still the cam.

Thank you for the confirmation. But in all my tests, it is sooo red it is unusable without another correction to bring down the reds. White should be white, not light pink. So adding this next correction is defeating the purpose, is it not as I am bringing down the overall reds rathe than the skin tones.  To me this look totally unnatural. 

I have never used a Canon camera but have a shelf full of Panasonic cameras. I am thinking it is the Canon shooters should have a LUT to make it look more realistic, like a Panasonic.

I have had conversations with both Curtis Judd and Caleb Pike, both huge GH4 users. Neither use any LUTs and their videos look beautiful.  I guess there is a reason I never used Canon cameras.  :-)

[Cinegain]

2 hours ago, HelsinkiZim said:

Just purchased and very excited!

I am still trying to figure out its best use, but it definately add some life to lighter skin even when adding a grade/ lut that usually makes everything mush together.

After 5 minutes, here is my test grade.

Filmed in Cine D - Noam Krolls preferred settings, google them, cant remember... theyre saved as C1

Those both don't look very appealing skintones wise if you ask me. But you know, subjective and all. I'd probably push it more in the direction of something like uhh... (lol @ red/pink shift due light emitted from behind the monitor)

[Orangenz]

x

[Matt Holder]

A tip of the Hat to you Andrew!

I am a professional video producer and have historically found my business benefits most from focus on story - grading / color has been down on my list of priorities in terms of what my clients notice and pay me for. I have seen a lot of my colleagues get bogged down in grading to the detriment of their delivery schedules.

However This workflow is so easy and fast and the results so powerful that I simply cant ignore it.

Indeed I am noticing dramatic results using the LUTS. Especially highlight roll off and color pop - I have always been a fan of those deluxe reds and blues from Canon and now I have them. Those popping colours are a matter of taste - i like candy colors so I am stoked. but one can always dial them down to taste.  (Of course I am bracing for the usual online slamming about how my colours are all wrong...) 

I put together a quick and dirty before (in camera using recommended settings) / after  (LUT applied) edit so you can intuitively feel the difference this LUT workflow makes - In my case on GH4 footage - with an Oly 7-14 at f7.1 - shutter speed way up as i don't have a vari ND set up for this lens yet.

Dont discount setting idynamic range to high if you are in a challenging dynamic range situation - i put an example of this at the end of the video. 

 

 

[imagiNet]

13 hours ago, Matt Holder said:

I put together a quick and dirty before (in camera using recommended settings) / after  (LUT applied) edit so you can intuitively feel the difference this LUT workflow makes 

Nice comparison Matt. But what yo are comparing is not a standard in camera setting. You are using the settings in camera are set to work with this LUT.  What a more useful comparrison would be is the shot with he LUT applied (Std setting set per documentation) versus another profile with no LUT. i.e the Natural profile which does a very nice job on skin tones. 
 

The comparrison you presented here is the same as comparing ungraded versus graded raw footage. 

[Vesku]

Does this LUT do additional auto white balancing? Why recommend AWB in camera because most user says AWB makes wrong choices for image? AWB changes also color during a clip. On the other hand I like Panasonic AWB.

[Fatalfury]

Awesome lut, just bought it and will be using it for sure, thanks! While it makes a drastic difference to the usual Panasonic look as it is, and i don't mean to be rude, but i'd be thrilled if Andrew could somehow add additional third Panasonic lut that has more or less same features, but is less emphasized in the reds. I'm not very good with colour correction and this would be a huge time saver.

[HelsinkiZim]

20 hours ago, Cinegain said:

Those both don't look very appealing skintones wise if you ask me. But you know, subjective and all. I'd probably push it more in the direction of something like uhh... (lol @ red/pink shift due light emitted from behind the monitor)

Pretty in pink, indeed. This scene needs work, but its a fun foundation imo. Maybe it needs a rotoscope...

[HelsinkiZim]

22 hours ago, imagiNet said:

Thank you for the confirmation. But in all my tests, it is sooo red it is unusable without another correction to bring down the reds. White should be white, not light pink. So adding this next correction is defeating the purpose, is it not as I am bringing down the overall reds rathe than the skin tones.  To me this look totally unnatural. 

I have never used a Canon camera but have a shelf full of Panasonic cameras. I am thinking it is the Canon shooters should have a LUT to make it look more realistic, like a Panasonic.

I have had conversations with both Curtis Judd and Caleb Pike, both huge GH4 users. Neither use any LUTs and their videos look beautiful.  I guess there is a reason I never used Canon cameras.  :-)

I have done more tests and I found that bringing it down to between 10 - 30% works best depending on profile/ situation for my tests.

But it is still an easier step for fast turnaround projects than trying to add some 'blush' with color correction. I also film with daylight balanced lights, so this could be fantastic when I want to add a more tungsten feel.

Its a nice tool (for me), but I wouldn't call it a fix. Not that the GH4 needs fixing with regards to its color in lit environments. Just an option.

[Mat Mayer]

Looking forward to trying it out with frost soon. I know this is a silly place to ask but I was told on here recently that putting my computer out in the cold would ruin it because of condensation. Is that the same with non weatherproof cameras like the G7? (and non weatherproof lenses)? If so is there anything we can do, like leave the camera in the garage overnight?

[Orangenz]

1 hour ago, Mat Mayer said:

Looking forward to trying it out with frost soon. I know this is a silly place to ask but I was told on here recently that putting my computer out in the cold would ruin it because of condensation. Is that the same with non weatherproof cameras like the G7? (and non weatherproof lenses)? If so is there anything we can do, like leave the camera in the garage overnight?

Temp mixed with water content of the air. Condensation is more a problem when going from a cold environment to a warm one. The machine is cold and being introduced to warm moisture filled air (because inside houses people breath) creates the condensation. I tend to leave the camera in the bag when going inside and leaving it in there for a little while so it warms up slower.

[Vesku]

Why use AWB with EOS PRO COLOR? Usually people say it is a stupid idea to use AWB.

[Andrew Reid]

On the Panasonic version you can use AWB.

Only on the Sony version I recommend custom WB as Sony's auto-WB is rubbish.

[Vesku]

1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said:

On the Panasonic version you can use AWB.

Only on the Sony version I recommend custom WB as Sony's auto-WB is rubbish.

I like the Panasonic AWB too. It is very reliable and changes slowly or not at all during a clip.

[markr041]

I offer this to show what the official Panasonic LUT produces in terms of color from its VLog.  Shot AWB, Vlog (10bit ProRes 422 HQ In the Shogun) with the Panasonic LUT applied in Resolve with no tweaking of color at all:

And, yes, there are skin tones too.

[Dave Del Real]

7 hours ago, markr041 said:

I offer this to show what the official Panasonic LUT produces in terms of color from its VLog.  Shot AWB, Vlog (10bit ProRes 422 HQ In the Shogun) with the Panasonic LUT applied in Resolve with no tweaking of color at all:

And, yes, there are skin tones too.

Nice, what was your exposure? ETTR? or under by 2/3?