As I said, I'm not interested in Plug'n'Pray conversions with fixed 'filmstock' presets , I want to be able to manipulate (grade) the image. But thanks anyway @Wolfgang S., noted and appreciated! (PS: using CINE4 with custom adjusted 'ProColour' profile..)

Then you do not know this plugin. It has significant capabilitier in grading.

I looked it up, and checked some tutorials on youtube. As I said, I don't think it meets my requirements.

Whatever your requirements are - up to you. But if you are not happy with most of the available plugins (that you mentioned but you did not say what does not fit) then I would switch to Resolve. And ACES 1 was not considered either - so I wonder what your requirements are.

Seems to me...

1) You need some way to accurately translate from SLOG to rec 709 before you grade - this is typically done with a LUT, but can be done with curves.

2) I have tried a lot of different plugins / software (including PPro, Speedgrade, Resolve, NewBlue...) and with one exception, I have never seen any real benefit to using tools other than the basics that have been around for a long time (eg curves, three way cc, secondary, cc. ) whether using Vegas or Filmconvert (it has its own three way cc plus can convert colour spaces like a LUT does so Wolfgang's suggestion is a good one).

3) The one exception is Resolve and especially the sat vs hue, sat vs lum, etc curves. But the workflow is ... er, "inconvenient" :)

"I mainly shoot with a Sony A6300/8Bit/Cine4 which gives me +800% more dynamic range than 709"

Unfortunately the log format is still being pushed through an 8-bit encoder to file.   This is a major limitation of what you can do with the format.  There are only so many steps, and as you reach the top the steps become huge.  

A "look" is based on artistic ability.  If you have an idea in your head, then getting that vision on screen is not that hard if you know what the element break down is.  If you do not know what the break down is, then no tool will help you.

Your monitor, cables, and GPU / output card all need to be in alignment.  The color representation on the monitor needs to fully represent 709, or roughly 80% of the REC2020 space to work there.   ACES is of course a step beyond REC2020.   The conversion of source 8-bit log footage to the linear space, then producing a color accurate RRT that matches your equipment is the hard part.   You should be shooting chip charts and using a SpectraCal Calman rig, or you are shooting in the dark.

If the OP really needed much more than what Vegas or Resolve offers, they would be shooting on a different camera.  They would also probably not be asking the questions of what software to use.   If you know the technical issues of working in a higher levels.  You can quickly determine that Vegas is not going to provide you what you want outside the 8bit formats.   Vegas is low end tool marketed at working the massive 8-bit format community (DV,DSLR,Camcorder,Phone,Youtube.)  The true professional level applications are priced well above Vegas and Resolve.

You could look at Sony Catalyst which is likely favoring the Sony custom formats.  Then use Vegas to edit only.

There is a large group on the Vegas forums, that have been asking for the better part of a decade for Vegas to support professional formats better.   Sony did a great job adding ACES, RED, and EXR to Vegas's engine, but ever since that brief forward looking vision there has been zero updates in this area.   The high-end pro community will never look at Vegas, until Vegas supports high end well.  Magix most likely does not have the financial means to dedicate a team to make this happen, that's long shot bet.   The safe bet is to market to the community that is interested in NVENC and Quicksync support.

There are some excellent Points I think:

It is really a contradiction - to shoot slog with a 8bit camera and then to state that all the plugins available for Vegas are "not good enough". Very true that then you should shoot on a different camera.

I have used my GH4 with Shogun 1 and started with v log l 10bit ProRes some years ago - and now I have my FS7 Shooting XAVC I most of the time. My practical experience is that the Catalyst Prepare has become more and more to a great tool, especially with the FS7 - but I not so much a fan of Catalyst Edit. But Prepare is great to prepare the footage if you grade for rec709. Same is true for Resolve - great to grade, and in the meantime one can do a lot with Resolve Overall.

The Major disadvantage that I see is that to grade the footage in Resolve or Prepare is nice - as Long as you Need it for grading to rec709 only. But what happens if you will grade for PQ and rec709 (HLG may be a solution, but I would like to have a solution that allows me to Switch Settings only to Change the target for the Output).

With Vegas working in the 32bit floadting Point mode is still tough - even with my 8core machine overclocked to 4.2 Ghz. ACES 1.0 is a wonderfull Approach and I like it - but it brings me to the Limits of Vegas (and another machine would not help since Vegas does not utilize that System in a great way at the Moment). So that is why Filmconvert is nice if you go to rec709 - it has clear grading capabilities (I do not use it to generate filmlooks really).

For HDR we will need ACES 1.0 in Vegas working really. I think it can be done, but the Performance of footage like XAVC-I has to be approved, and the Performance of the 32bit Floating Point mode has to be improved. We will not stay at 8bit for HDR since HDR is a 10 or 12bit game.

So Filmconvert is one of the plugins that work great in Vegas Pro 15, since it has a GPU acceleration. ACES - great, but there is still some work required from side of the development Team. Well, if they have enough funds to do that? I do not know, but I hope so.

Thanks for your 'Avid' contributions [..pun intended ;-)]

To clarify a few things: I was shooting in CINE 4 and not SLOG.

As this is an 8-Bit camera, any attempt with SLOG will fail due to data constraints, as we all know.

Sony's CINE 1-4 (or sometimes called Hypergamma curves, as used in their Cinealta series of cameras) are less 'brutal' as SLOG as it only extends the dynamic range a little bit better than 709; In addition to that, CINE 3&4 also use the entire space 0%-109% IRE thus effectively giving you more data, almost like shooting '9Bit'..So, in theory, I should be better off and getting the most out of my little cheap camera (until I can afford an FS7) [..just google Sony CINE gamma...]

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-pmw-f3-cinealta/501810-gemini-4-4-4-frame-grabs-2.html

So, I trialled the FilmConvert version, downloaded the SonyA6300 camerapack, and applied the FX: unfortunately there's no choice for CINE4/Pro, only CINE1/Pro, CINE4/Cinegamut, and lastly CINE4/S-Gamut. So, my required FilmConvert DeLUT doesn't exist, nor can I create it. Secondly, I didn't want to apply a 'filmstock look', I just wanted a conversion to 709 with more adjustment options. Thirdly, it didn't like my nvidia timeline preview..[That said, it looked the best out of everything so far]

Then, I tried LUTcalc online https://cameramanben.github.io/LUTCalc/LUTCalc/index.html since the new release ($3) has promised CINE gamma support; unfortunately I can't confirm this working for my scenario, unless I got something wrong (have contacted the maker of this glorious app)..not that I can use a LUT in VP14, but perhaps in 15 IF I upgraded..

Reocurring problem with VP I find, all the colour correction tools are split up in a multitude of bits instead having everything, from LUT apply to gamma, contrast, levels, curves, all in one place, so if you want to save ONE meaningful preset, or copy and apply ONE 'master' preset, you can.

..since I was investigating the Plugin option, and not ACES, REC2020 or HLG (which will suck just as bad or even worse for Vegas...)

/edit: I did send an email to Filmconvert asking if they can add this preset to their profiles. TBA

update:

According to FilmConvert customer service, the 'A6500 camera pack' has a Cine4/Pro preset. And it does (why this is not in the A6300 go figure..). /edit: in fact, this is different for just about any Sony camera on offer...weired....

I can apply, it works. But being a demo version, I cannot save a 3DLUT (for standard stock conversion, no grain), to see if that can be used in VP15...anyone?

(and: it works OK, but also takes a million lightyears to render for 4K..I know my machine is old, but just sayin'..)

Filmconvert can be applied at the track Level, and with keyframes set for every Event in a different  way. Or it can be used for every Event, whatever one prefers. Depending on your GPU you have a nice Performance in the timeline, at least on my machine also with tough UHD XAVC-I footage.

Do not know your machine, but for UHD it may be necessary to invest in new Hardware.

I picked up Filmconvert on a recommendation from this board. I am very happy with the results grading DJI-Log and S-log. As one commenter stated, they wish the controls were a little more fine grained. I agree. Would like to see them adapt the Ctrl key used by other Vegas plugins for fine tuning.

-- tom

There is one funny error that I see in VP 15: In every new Project that I open I see again the Filmconvert plugin in the new Project - and in every track that I add to the Project. Funny, I have not seen a way how to avoid that.

There is one funny error that I see in VP 15: In every new Project that I open I see again the Filmconvert plugin in the new Project - and in every track that I add to the Project. Funny, I have not seen a way how to avoid that.

Right click the track header and reset the track default properties. Of course, that will reset any other changes you have made, too. But that is where you can change the defaults.

-- tom

Thank you, that worked in a great way. You never stop learning... ! :)

Re FilmConvert: Whilst it is the only plugin (so far) that will convert my Cine4/Pro to 709, it really is what it says: a glorified LUT pack. There isn't really a lot of adjustments that I personally find useful, 'Film Colour' 'Curve' and 'Grain' don't really do it for me..; The histogram is OK, but as mentioned difficult to fine-adjust, and I think you're locked-in to use their presets...I don't think it will accept other 3DLUTs...

In all honesty, I was almost better off and (faster render) with Hitfilm Vibrance and a little hand-curve-drawing contrast tweaking.

Anyhow, also looked at the latest Sony Catalyst Browse (free), whilst it sees my codec/Gamma, there's no CINE conversion..only for SLOG2/3 etc..

@Wolfgang S., would be interesting to compare rendering speeds for XAVC-S 4K 100Mbps with XAC-I source material..I get the funny feeling perhaps -I might be faster as it's less compressed..better Intermediate codec putting less stress on computing power?? either way, that doesn't solve my problem either...

I wouldn't judge Filmconvert too quickly. It takes a little playing around with to get it where you want it. I've found my workflow is still changing with it. For instance: Find a "film" you want to use as a base look. Pull the grain all the way down if you're not looking for a "film" look. Play with temp (usually slight). Play with the film color and S-curve. I usually then go to the second tab and fine tune the levels, etc. I've used Catalyst for a fair amount of correcting and I feel like I'm getting Filmconvert to return the results I'm looking for, without the extra steps of taking your footage out of Vegas. I also find it is very responsive and has little to no cost in rendering time.

-- tom

Comparing U$150 FilmConvert to $400RedGiant MagicBulletLooks, MagicBullet is without doubt a more powerful tool, at a premium. Does LOG (no Cine presets but), LUTS, Filmstock, masking, curves, etc etc etc. But worth spending $400 if you could buy a proper Resolve for this? Not sure..

The $99 NewBlue ColorFast... is there any upgrade options for that (I see this is now part of a bundle..again..)

Tiffen DFX...my head hurts..also, very powerful, very expensive..

The more I play around with this, I start to get to like FilmConvert..and their customer service ;-)

I like MB Looks but it's frustrating to have to go into the interface every time I need to make a change and then jump back to view it on my second monitor. Also the scopes do not work properly inside of Looks. Red Giant has known about this for a while but I don't think there are enough Vegas users to make fixing this a priority.

Also use ColorFast and Filmconvert but neither are really what I'd like to see in Vegas.

I still use Vegas but I've given up on waiting for better color correction tools and just bought Resolve studio with the plan of learning it over a period of time and transitioning to it. The speed at which they are improving that program is mind boggling and the color tools are what I desire in an NLE.

The new Premiere color correction tools are also quite good but I refuse to join the "Creative Chains" crowd.

Have you tried Pixelan FilmTouch Pro (for Vegas)? Take a look on the site and try it out for free. It just leaves an X on the screen until you buy it.

thanks @john-brown, will try that next; @marc-s, couldn't agree more; the external interface gives me the geebees, feel like a kite on a string..never know when I'm cut off from muttertier...hate it; I'm not a big fan of round trips, or even half-round-trips. And also, say No to the Creative Chain. +1. Their revenue last year has been insane. You should wonder why.