Photoshop and ACES are not easy to bring together. Photoshop is a display referred tool while the ACES framework uses a scene referred approach. On many projects I am using Photoshop for retouch and cleanup work of still images while the comp is happening in ACES with Nuke or Flame.
A convenient way is to use the Photoshop Proof Setup as a view transform while retouching log encoded images.
Why can’t I see a proper HDR preview on an iMac2020/MBP2018 UI screen? In FCPX this is possible.
For some time now I am testing with HDR content in FCPX and Resolve Studio. FCPX works best for me with Alexa LogC material in HDR/WideGamut projects. In Resolve I set the project to ACES 1.1 and use the ST-2084 (1.000Nits P3D65limited) ODT for the tests.
Seeing HDR content in FCPX and review the exported ProRes444 files works the same convenient as with SDR footage. What you see inside FCPX is the same as in the Quicktime player.
In Resolve Studio (both V16&V17beta) this is a different story. I can also get a HDR preview in the Resolve UI, but it is vastly to bright. I can’ judge anything here. The exported result as a ProRes 444 however looks very similar to the FCPX output. I am aware that I am comparing two different color management systems and different HDR tone mapping curves.
The following screenshots don’t help much, as they can’t show the HDR values, but the most noticeable difference can be spotted on the grey background of the CG car render, and the overall overblown car paint appearance.
SDR screenshots of HDR UI screens. Not that helpful.
FCPX HDR/WideGamut project: A Rec.2020 working colorspace and a Dolby PQ view transform with a HDR tone mapping to 1.000 nits maximum.
Resolve Studio ACES 1.1 project: A ACEScct working colorspace and a ST-2084 (1.000 Nits P3D65limited) ODT.
I posted in the Blackmagicdesign forum with no success. I am not sure if this is a bug or I am just missing a button somewhere. I would expect the HDR preview to work very similar in FCPX & Resolve.
Here are some Quicklinks to the articles that are most important to me at the moment. Everything else you can find here by scrolling down or checking the menu in the upper right corner: Panicpost – commercial break
HDR.toodee.de – a little subdomain which features only HDR content – updated in January 2021
SDR next to HDR – my latest article related to HDR, where I try to explain the advantages of HDR content from a perspective of media professionals who did not see their content in HDR (yet), but might like it. – from January 2021
HDR (If it is presented visibly a lot brighter on your smartphone display.)SDR screenshot taken from the HDR master (with ACES / Rec.709 output transform)
HDR edit available from Vimeo in HD resolution.
HDR edit available from YouTube up to UHD resolution.
Another collection of night photos shot in Barcelona in HD & HDR with a demo logo.
Use the “winner” HDRI from the previous article and render a car with “no” compositing effort.
The previous article was already a bit long, so I split it up into two parts. Here it now the second part. I go over the preparation of the footage, render a car model and place it in the plate.
HDRI and clean background plate.Blender Cycles rendering and more or less a simple A over B in Nuke.
Resolve HDR trim pass of the same image. Really shows the “ping” in the specular highlights.
A direct comparison, shooting brackets back to back on a parking lot.
It’s been a while that I wrote the last article in the color chart series. Actually it was January this year, but like it feels like years ago. This time I stick to my “best” workflow using CaptureOne for the RAW to TIFF conversion and PTGui for the stitching of the HDRI, but I had the chance to do a shoot-out between the Ricoh Theta-Z1 vs. my Canon 7D setup on a quiet sunny morning. This article will be followed by a comparison of some Blender&ACES rendering results with the different HDRIs (coming soon).
I am still playing around with HDR content on this site. That’s why I rendered more content in HDR for further tests. This clip was rendered with Resolve Studio as a ProRes4444 and uploaded directly to Vimeo and YouTube. Somehow they look already different…
Note: I am only able to watch the HDR content when I view this page in Safari on an iPhoneX upwards or from inside the Vimeo App directly. This works then also on an iPadPro.
Test upload of another video. This time from a ProRes4444 directly to YouTube.
Just some days ago I found a question in the facebook Logik group about how to apply a preview look LUT in flame when working in ACES. I had to do this already sometimes, so I could help out amongst others, but for sure I will forget about it in the next weeks and won’t be able to find it when I need it again. So I put together the working steps that are needed to do the same in Nuke and pointed out some obvious limitations with 3D-LUTs in ACES.
ARRI ALEXA MINI-LF clip – ACES (Rec.709)
ARRI ALEXA MINI-LF clip – ACES (Rec.709) with 3D-LUT applied (generated in LogC)
A look at Resolve and what the basic controls do to your image: without color management, when using a 3D-LUT and what changes when Resolve is switched to ACES.
I found out that I can link a HDR-Vimeo video here on the website and watch this HDR content on a iPhone (X or 11Pro) directly on the page when viewed with Safari. I don’t even have to be in the Vimeo App for that. I did not know that this is possible.
Sadly it doesn’t work on a iPad or MBP that support HDR as well. If the device doesn’t support HDR you will be presented with a down converted SDR version. Please note also that this page needs to be opened directly in Safari on iOS and not from within LinkedIn or Instagram.
HDR – jump from 100 nits to 1.000 nits peak brightness after 10 seconds.
ACES Blackbody converted
ACES blackbody converted
If the HDR works for you, then you will see a big difference to these two images.
