Luts - do they sharpen footage or just change colors?

[Hakob Hakobyan]

Hi All,

Question is simple enough.
If I shoot C-Log and than just drop in a Lut to get a close first look on how the footage will look after grading does the Lut just change the colors to get closer to graded look or it also adds sharpening?
Should I still sharpen the video even after dropping a Lut.

Just FYI I am talking about regular Lut, not the ones that apply special style or film look.

Thanks for any help!

[Noa Put]

As far as I know a lut doesn't add sharpness.

[Cary Knoop]

Originally Posted by Hakob Hakobyan

Hi All,

Question is simple enough.
If I shoot C-Log and than just drop in a Lut to get a close first look on how the footage will look after grading does the Lut just change the colors to get closer to graded look or it also adds sharpening?
Should I still sharpen the video even after dropping a Lut.

Just FYI I am talking about regular Lut, not the ones that apply special style or film look.

Thanks for any help!

No, a LUT cannot sharpen.

Unless you process RAW or have to downscale a video (and even then use only a little bit) I think sharpening does not make any sense as it harms your image.

Sharpening was mostly a thing of SD video.

[Noa Put]

It think it depends on how the camera processes it's log footage, my jvc ls300 takes all incamera sharpening out when you shoot in log so it does look softer, adding a bit of sharpening back in post again can in such a case make a difference but at least you have a choice so as it is not always required.

[Cary Knoop]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

my jvc ls300 takes all incamera sharpening out when you shoot in log

I would say that is a good thing. :)

[Hakob Hakobyan]

H@@@m, I shoot C100 mkii and the video looks fine even without sharpening but I guess I could make it a bit sharper in post...
Why this question came in in the 1st place was because when I used a Log imitating pre-set for Canon DSLR 70D it lloked extremely soft compared to Canon log.

[Steve Bleasdale]

If the lut was created by yourself which i do and not use other peoples luts then yes you can add sharpness then save it to my presets with your other settings you created.

[Cary Knoop]

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

If the lut was created by yourself which i do and not use other peoples luts then yes you can add sharpness then save it to my presets with your other settings you created.

Sorry Steve you are wrong, LUTs made by yourself or by others, I am not sure why you would think that makes any difference, cannot add sharpness.

A LUT works like a look up table, it transforms a given RGB value to another value without any regard for position.

A Premiere Pro preset is not the same as a LUT.

[Ann Bens]

What Is A LUT? Explained with Cats. on Vimeo

[Steve Bleasdale]

Originally Posted by Cary Knoop

Sorry Steve you are wrong, LUTs made by yourself or by others, I am not sure why you would think that makes any difference, cannot add sharpness.

A LUT works like a look up table, it transforms a given RGB value to another value without any regard for position.

A Premiere Pro preset is not the same as a LUT.

Are you sure as i created a lut from scratch and added sharpness then saved it as a preset in premiere, when i add the lut it shows the unsharp mask?

[Ann Bens]

You saved a preset for the Lumetri effect
Did you save it as a cube?

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

Are you sure as i created a lut from scratch and added sharpness then saved it as a preset in premiere, when i add the lut it shows the unsharp mask?

So you created a LUT, loaded it into Lumetri, added sharpness, then saved those Lumetri settings as a preset. And you present it here as evidence that LUTs somehow sharpen video?

[Steve Bleasdale]

No i created one in prem pro cs6 not cc, maybe i have just saved a preset i made not a lut will check it now, thought thats what i did.

[Gary Huff]

Premiere Pro CS6 cannot create LUTs. Perhaps if you have such a misunderstanding of what a LUT is, it's best to refrain?

[Steve Bleasdale]

ye your right Gary,thought it was a lut i created but it was just a preset i created in cs6,