GH5 to Alexa Conversion

[Wild Ranger]

3 minutes ago, mercer said:

you have a handheld cinema camera that the straight out of box color didn’t previously have

The GH5 is the new super 16mm camera for low budget indie films. 

[Jonesy Jones]

7 hours ago, mercer said:

Yup, there’s a few shots with the girl in the blue raincoat and the blue in the coat is simply beautiful. The GH5, even in 1080p, with Sage’s color, really turns that camera into something else. It has such a modern, digital cinema look to it that I have grown to appreciate. Add the IBIS and voila, you have a handheld cinema camera that the straight out of box color didn’t previously have. I’m still happy with the camera I have but as prices drop on the GH5, I’m definitely keeping the option open.

And don't forget about ETC. The combination of IBIS and ETC make for a crazy powerful one man band camera. The new Leica 10-25, plus ETC make this lens/camera combo an FF 20-70 f1.7. As wide as you'd ever need. Great portrait. Leica cream and colors. 

I was all about the new P4K. Maybe I still am. But I'm thinking I may just stick with the GH5. If I can take the edge off with a black satin filter or something, I may just keep the GH5. 

[Jonesy Jones]

@mercer I'm starting to come out of the personal funk I've been in for about a year. I'm looking forward to trying @Sage's LUT. Mercer did you say there was a CineD version to try? Where do I find that?

[mercer]

33 minutes ago, Jonesy Jones said:

@mercer I'm starting to come out of the personal funk I've been in for about a year. I'm looking forward to trying @Sage's LUT. Mercer did you say there was a CineD version to try? Where do I find that?

Mr. Jones, the work you did with the 7D was simply astonishing, I am still trying to remember to watch the film but the trailer alone is amazing. So, in my opinion, you don’t need the P4K, you already have what you need. Hell, you could get by with a lot less. 

Yes, somewhere upthread, Sage has a link to the CineLikeD version. I assume it’s still active.

[PannySVHS]

@Sage holy spaghettimonster! That Ireland video has some awesome color, looking effortlessy natural. Is it possible to ask its maker about the parameters like WB, grading, profile? Is it someone of EOSHD members who made it?

@mercer Hey Glenn, are you talking about the Canon DSLR video about a kid driving home in a school bus? Or which one? I am a sucker for beautifully shot pieces, done with expertise rather than with the best camera around.

@Jonesy Jones GH5 is indeed a monster camera, even in 8bit it has the robustness of Panasonic codec magic, 10bit no contest! That 150mbit 4K codec is magic. No need for its 400mbit ALL-I alteration really. Taking edge off, I am going with Sages approach of using lens blur octagon 1.62 and 0.5 blending in Davici, works well even for material shot in Natural profile, with sharpness set at -5 of course.

[mercer]

@PannySVHS I share that with you. I love great videos and films shot with older, cameras. Here’s a link that will lead to his trailer...

It’s amazing what is available to us now. It’s amazing what was available to us 5 years ago. I’d love to see Sage work his magic with some older 8bit cameras.

[kaylee]

14 minutes ago, mercer said:

@PannySVHS I share that with you. I love great videos and films shot with older, cameras. Here’s a link that will lead to his trailer...

It’s amazing what is available to us now. It’s amazing what was available to us 5 years ago. I’d love to see Sage work his magic with some older 8bit cameras.

wait i wanna see the trailer!! where is it?

[webrunner5]

 

[mercer]

1 hour ago, kaylee said:

wait i wanna see the trailer!! where is it?

@webrunner5 posted it above. I didn’t want to directly embed because I didn’t want any confusion in this GH5 thread since that was shot with a 7D. But my original point stands... if you already have a camera that is really good, in this case the GH5, then don’t worry about what else is available or will be available, just go out and produce work. This is very hard for me sometimes because I want to try all cameras but what I already own is way more than enough.

And in Jonesy’s case the GH5 is also way more than enough. And with Sage’s color, the GH5 is a top notch tool.

[webrunner5]

37 minutes ago, mercer said:

@webrunner5 posted it above. I didn’t want to directly embed because I didn’t want any confusion in this GH5 thread since that was shot with a 7D. But my original point stands... if you already have a camera that is really good, in this case the GH5, then don’t worry about what else is available or will be available, just go out and produce work. This is very hard for me sometimes because I want to try all cameras but what I already own is way more than enough.

And in Jonesy’s case the GH5 is also way more than enough. And with Sage’s color, the GH5 is a top notch tool.

I agree. The vast majority of people on here would be better off with a Canon C100 mk II, including me. And my son just traded his 5D mk III for a 80D and a lens, and some more stuff. And I think it is definitely a Way better film making tool with the DPAF, touchscreen and other benefits. I think it would compliment a C100 very well as a B Cam and for Run n Gun.

We can all wait for the perfect camera to come along. But WE are the ones that need to get more perfect at shooting, editing, not the Camera getting  more perfect.

[Jonesy Jones]

@mercer really appreciate the encouragement. Means a lot to me at this point in time. 

It's funny. It's almost like the message of that trailer, made years ago, was meant for me today. 

Words can't.

[Sage]

On 9/26/2018 at 10:54 AM, ChristianH said:

Sage, this is bloody amazing. I've read the whole thread now and watched just about every video posted. I didn't really consider the GH5 (small sensor etc.), but with these settings, it blows everything in its price range away. Sony colors look mighty wonky compared to this. If I get a GH5 this is an insta-buy.

Thanks Christian, I appreciate that

On 9/26/2018 at 3:45 PM, mercer said:

That Ireland video is gorgeous. I prefer a little blue in my greens... I think that has a more Alexa look (of course I’m basing that from graded Alexa material) but whatever, that’s an easy fix with Hue/Saturation curves and the Ireland video still looks great!!!

Damn, every time I’ve convinced myself against the GH5, as a second camera, another GHa video gets posted and mucks up my plans.

Well spotted; I had a conversation a bit ago with the creator of the video, and he said that he didn't like something about the greens from the conversion, and tried to correct for that. Indeed, a signature quality of Alexa color is slightly cyanish greens, and I think this is probably what he felt must have been a mistake. This is what the greens look like from the current raw conversion:

On 9/26/2018 at 3:19 PM, mirekti said:

@Sage Will the new PDF contain instruction of "optimal" setup?
In other words, what camera settings are expected (sharpness level etc.)?
How do you prefer to expose? ETTR or 55 IRE for the skin tones (by the book)?
What is your post process, do you apply Noise Reduction and Sharpening or simply throw the LUT and play with curve a little bit?
Any other tip would be welcome as well.
Thanks!!! 

It will; trying to get this ready as fast as possible. The key for Main/Soft is moderate exposure (avoid over/under)

-5 on sharp/NR is the closest in cam to Arri texture (doesn't affect color though). I prefer no further processing in post (ideally well lit, focused etc)

The only necessary correction for a moderately exposed GHa shot is to set the black level

 

Also, the OLPF setting is simply fantastic for achieving the Alexa texture; the PDF will be updated on this as well (in Premiere, the preview can look a bit softer than actual export; the texture is decidedly improved and smoother)

@PannySVHS He isn't; I found him through a reddit post. I'll see if he might drop by to chat

@Jonesy Jones Impressive work.

[will_fowkes]

hello all! I made the Ireland video, thanks for all of your lovely comments

@PannySVHS I'll try to remember as much as I can about the process I used for this video. 

In-camera: I set my WB for each shot using a grey card, and the whole video was shot in V-LOG 24fps 150mbit 4K. 

Post: I use Premiere Pro for all post-processing, and I'm pretty sure I did all of the colour correction and grading within Lumetri for this video. I used the GHa Premiere 10-bit VLog [PRE] LUT in the 'Input LUT' section of Lumetri. And then used the GHa Daylight (Soft) at 80 Strength in the 'Creative LUT' section. I would do those 2 steps first, before colour correcting (minor adjustments to WB, exposure, possibly adding contrast in the RGB curve, slightly increase saturation). I didn't have to do anything else to the video in terms of grading, I really liked the colours like that. As @Sage mentioned, I found sometimes that greens went too far towards blues, but this was fairly easy to correct with the Colour Wheels in Lumetri. After colour correcting, I duplicated the videos into a second layer and set this new layer to Opacity 0.18 and Gaussian Blur 5.2, as recommended in the LUT PDF as a way of removing some of the GH5's digital sharpness. I then added in some grain which has been smushed by Youtube as expected.

 

It's worth mentioning I only have a very limited experience of videography and colour grading, having done it as a hobby for about a year now. However, I'll gladly try to answer any other questions anyone has. Equally, I'm very open to any suggestions on my process anyone has after watching my video! I can't recommend @Sage's conversion LUT enough, it does magical things to the GH5.

[ChristianH]

@Sage, the OLPF screenshot in the documentation doesn't quite match what I see in Resolve 15. Will it be updated (or am I just missing something)?

[JeremyDulac]

@ChristianH It is the same. The settings are all there, Alex seems to have just cropped out unused settings. The blend mode is at the bottom of the ofx.

[ChristianH]

5 minutes ago, JeremyDulac said:

@ChristianH It is the same. The settings are all there, Alex seems to have just cropped out unused settings. The blend mode is at the bottom of the ofx.

@JeremyDulac You're right. I think the extra options threw me for a loop.

[mercer]

7 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

@mercer really appreciate the encouragement. Means a lot to me at this point in time. 

It's funny. It's almost like the message of that trailer, made years ago, was meant for me today. 

Words can't.

I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. I’ve worked on about a half dozen DIY feature films and I am finally working on mine now. I don’t think a lot of people realize how near impossible it is. Moving boulders would be easier. It’s as if the world is constantly fighting you. Sheer will and determination is the only thing that gets you to the end credits. So be proud of that. And go make another one. And another one. And if need be... another one until somebody notices it. You have all of the tools and the talent.

I’m reminded of a theory I read when I first started screenwriting. The theory goes, when you first start, there are a thousand other screenwriters aiming for the same sale as I am. After a couple of years, half of those other writers quit and move on. After 5 years, half of those quit. After 10 there are less than a couple of dozen of those original screenwriters still writing. In those 10 years, the odds are in your favor and your craft has grown exponentially. So keep plugging away and tell the stories that show the world who Jonesy Jones is.

[hypp]

I currently own the BMPCC and never considered the gh5 due the colors/look but this LUT changed my mind. How does the GH5 stack up against the BMPCC/BMMCC with this lut?

[kaylee]

14 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

@mercer really appreciate the encouragement. Means a lot to me at this point in time. 

It's funny. It's almost like the message of that trailer, made years ago, was meant for me today. 

Words can't.

jonsey, that trailer was AMAZING!! ??? what tha heck!! i had no idea?!! whats the story with the film (Luggage)? can i watch the whole thing online somewhere??

i agree with @mercer, the lovely art direction and cinematography in this trailer perform far beyond how a camera can – you could shoot on potato, jonesy~! what r u up to right now??

*I* need as many bits and Ks as possible for emotional support ? seriously tho, cant believe that was shot on a 7d... awesome

Quote

6 hours ago, mercer said:

I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. I’ve worked on about a half dozen DIY feature films and I am finally working on mine now. I don’t think a lot of people realize how near impossible it is. Moving boulders would be easier. It’s as if the world is constantly fighting you. Sheer will and determination is the only thing that gets you to the end credits. So be proud of that. And go make another one. And another one. And if need be... another one until somebody notices it. You have all of the tools and the talent.

I’m reminded of a theory I read when I first started screenwriting. The theory goes, when you first start, there are a thousand other screenwriters aiming for the same sale as I am. After a couple of years, half of those other writers quit and move on. After 5 years, half of those quit. After 10 there are less than a couple of dozen of those original screenwriters still writing. In those 10 years, the odds are in your favor and your craft has grown exponentially. So keep plugging away and tell the stories that show the world who Jonesy Jones is.

 

I couldnt agree more, very well said @mercer

thats the story of my life. keep plugging away. if you have to, just keep your head down, and dont look at what other people are doing. chances are, youll wake up one day being the person you once dreamed of being

 

[Sage]

11 hours ago, hypp said:

I currently own the BMPCC and never considered the gh5 due the colors/look but this LUT changed my mind. How does the GH5 stack up against the BMPCC/BMMCC with this lut?

Its a measured LogC combined with a cinema color pipeline; I'm interested in bringing this to the P4K, and will have a very direct comparison of BMDFilm to EC eventually (the EC space for the P4K will be identical to the GH5)

For the raw EC color, check out Always Already, which has no color grade (Download 'Original' for faithful color reproduction)