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!

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

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.

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.

my jvc ls300 takes all incamera sharpening out when you shoot in log
I would say that is a good thing. :)

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.

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.

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.

What Is A LUT? Explained with Cats. on Vimeo

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?

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

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?

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.

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

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

Sorry Hacob made a mistake, i created my own luts but added sharpness later on in prem pro cs6 then saved it as a preset so it does not look like you can add sharpness to a lut. they are right. Steve

Seems like the terminology misunderstandings have been straightened out...

The reason these misunderstandings occur, IMO, is that although strictly speaking a LUT has only to do with color/luma values, workflows that use log footage and application of a LUT commonly address sharpness too, not just color.

Strictly speaking, a LUT is a look-up table that reassigns the color/luma/gamma values in log footage to colors will be acceptable starting points for color correction or grading for display. Commonly, we want to use it for two reasons; we think the scene's dynamic range is too wide for conventional recording, resulting in crushed blacks, blown whites, or both, and/or, we want to preserve more choices in post. The downside is that you (almost) always *must* apply effects/LUTs in post. It's more of a cinematography approach, not a common videography method.

Sharpness is an independent effect that is better addressed in post as well, if that fits in your workflow. Some cameras will reduce the in-camera processing for sharpness when you apply a log preset, some won't. It's perhaps worse than color, in that the in-camera processing choices for sharpness become baked in to your footage. They really *can't* be properly evaluated in the field, you need good monitoring that you're not going to get with most camera's LCD or viewfinder.

Not only that, but in-camera sharpness is a single setting in many cameras. Post sharpness, depending on the effect chosen, may allow for degree of sharpness, but also the fineness of detail to which the effect is applied, and, the edge-contrast values to which the effect is applied.

A good videographer will have seen so much of their camera's footage under different circumstances that they'll be able to choose in-camera settings that won't require any post color or sharpness work.

A good cinematographer may have a larger reference monitor available during the shoot, but will still dial down sharpness, leaving the decisions to a post-production grading process.

Here's a good reference:
Guide to Image Sharpening (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-sharpening.htm)

Too much sharpness looks like old TV tech... not like film, not like what we expect from modern electronic cinematography gear and methods.

Seth, Thank you, for yet another in depth, accurate, and informative response to a topic.

The sound of Gary wielding his ruler on someones knuckles like a 90 year old Nun teaching cursive in the fifty's is so old!

Kind Regards,

Steve