Hi all,
so on WolfgangS's recommendation, I started experimenting with ACES.
The results are astonishing, and it turns out ACES is far superior to basic 709 transform LUTs ( so no specific cinematic color or look enhancing 709 LUTs) in term of color rendition. Also, the Vegas internal Sony Slog3 LUT is very inaccurate and quite useless. ACES also definitely shows the least amount of banding, if not none at all.
Vegas internal Sony Slog3 to 709
Sony SGamut3CineSLog3 To LC-709TypeA
ACES rec709
Yes, the ACES transformation delivers great results for log footage. Due to the fact that the transformation takes place in the very wide ACES color space, you will not be able to find banding at all. And the quality of the colours is great too. I saw that for all my footage - slog3 for the Sony FS7 for example, v-log for Panasonic (I love the results from my EVA1), but also BRAW from my Pocket 6K Pro.
It is so superior to LUTs, even if LUTs may be also deliver nice results. And ACES is not complex really - and not only necessary for HDR. It delivers nice footage for SDR/rec709 too. So give it a try.
Some settings have been shown here:
yes, it's a better transform, but it forces you to work in Vegas' 32-bit full mode, which I've found is extremely slow and buggy.
yes, it's a better transform, but it forces you to work in Vegas' 32-bit full mode, which I've found is extremely slow and buggy.
Tend to become better and better with the new video engine. Implementation started with VP22 and will continue.
yes, it's a better transform, but it forces you to work in Vegas' 32-bit full mode, which I've found is extremely slow and buggy.
I had indeed given it a try a couple of years ago and instantly decided it was crippling my workflow. That said, I felt it was far better now with V22, I was actually surprised I was at almost fill framerate, but fluctuating. LUts also do noticeably slow down preview though.
@Mindmatter The lut I just downloaded from the Sony site has this header and looks quite different (and better to me on someone else's similar media) compared to the lut Vegas supplies in cgp:
#Sony LookProfile LUT, SLog3SGamut3.CineToCine+709 full in full out v1.04.04 TITLE SLog3SGamut3.CineToCine+709 LUT_3D_SIZE 65
The Vegas-supplied lut is lower quality and highly saturated in comparison. I had to knock saturation down to 0.800 to come close to the official Sony lut. In any event, make sure you have the same type of lut in both your camera viewfinder and in Vegas so that what you see when shooting is closest to what you get in Vegas before grading. The 17- and 33-point luts are more appropriate for viewfinders with smaller imaging. The 65-point luts are better for grading on larger high-res monitors and render cleaner, especially if tetrahedral is selected.
I cannot use Aces myself because Vegas' implementation is proprietary and doesn't support all my cameras without developer intervention. But I only experience a noticeable performance drop with vp22 if I set projects to 32bit, which is required by Aces but optional with cube-luts. That performance drop only started after vp21 build 208. With vp22, I've determined that the quality difference between 8bit and 32bit 4k projects can me neutralized in best-renders by raising the output bit-rate a notch.