OpenColorIO Setup and Usage (Affinity Photo)

[@graftedworks]

James is an incredible mashup of a nerd and a creative. I love it. The 3D renders are amazing.

[@JamesRitson]

Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment! I do struggle with 3D scene creation, I must admit. Some of my efforts I want so desperately to look good, but I lack that extra creative vision to make them work. I love the technical/nerdy side of things though, so hopefully I can always fall back on that...

[@graftedworks]

@@JamesRitson It was absolutely meant as a compliment! It seems like all creatives struggle to render what they imagine or to push their limits, so that may not be an accurate gauge of creativity... :) Nerdiness is key because it keeps us interested and learning!

[@charlesxix]

Thanks for the video but it was as clear as mud to me, way above my head.

[@Swaggerlot]

Sadly all of his videos are like that.

[@JamesRitson]

@@Swaggerlot this is a really esoteric video for a niche feature that only a small group of users will use (and they will know if they need to use it). Could you point to an example where all my videos aren't very clear? For example, there's this recent tutorial on making basic edits with the Develop Persona that I hope is straightforward: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHLNm3iKfKiGZrcsi=VD8PnhnVZ1GbqrwD

[@AN-qt7mk]

In my long experience of using Blender, *everything and anything* related to colour management is impossible to understand.

[@AffinityPhotoOfficial]

Please note: certain configurations may not display correctly in 2.2, in particular those with colour spaces that make use of both a log2 AllocationTransform op and a LUT FileTransform op. These are prevalent with Blender-related configurations that use Filmic and AgX view transforms. James has provided an adapted configuration for the Blender 4.0 OCIO configuration (which contains AgX, Filmic, Rec.2020 and Display P3 colour spaces etc). This will display correctly in Affinity Photo. You can download it here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/geo9h5wklq23fjge4habp/JR-Blender-4.0-OCIO-adapted-for-Affinity-Photo-2.2.zip?rlkey=dg9dxababy633erxgyin89efu&dl=0

[@visualfighter]

I followed the link and dropbox said 'This item was deleted'

[@JamesRitson]

​ @visualfighter sorry about that, the file is still there but the link has stopped working for some reason. I've created a new link to it and edited the original comment, try now

[@thomashelzle]

The download does not work here for Affinity 2.3. Not transforms show up in the 32 Bit preview panel. Can you please fix this at the core instead of this linking to some obscure dropbox download under a tutorial video? This belongs directly into Affinity or at least into the docs. Include a basic OCIO setup with the application and then let the nerds have their specific setup when they need it.

[@JamesRitson]

@@thomashelzle the configuration appears to work fine here in 2.3-it may be a couple of things depending on your OS. On macOS, you may need to re-select the .ocio and folder for sandboxing reasons after upgrading. On Windows, the OCIO combo boxes aren't populated unless a valid 32-bit per channel document is open (they will appear blank otherwise). We could include a config by default, but that's not particularly Photo's purpose, it's more for ensuring visual preview parity with software that uses OCIO and outputs linear pixel data. If it gains the ability to write the OCIO transforms into a typical gamma-encoded format (e.g. via File>Export), shipping a default configuration may make sense.

[@thomashelzle]

I now found out, that in Affinity 2.3 the Blender 4.0 ocio config works out of the box, but I couldn't get the OCIO 2.0 setup from the official website working, and the documentation does not define, what version of OCIO exactly is supported. Please go the extra mile and define clearly what is and isn't supported! Thank you!

[@Mokikimoki]

I still think if Affinity Photo is the final destination for an image that there should be an option in the exporter to take care the correct conversion when exporting to PNG jpegs etc when working with OCIO.

[@leolibbey9852]

I was really hopeful when I first ran across this function that it might solve my biggest problem using Affinity Photo --matching colors (especially shades of colors) between two shots. I do astrophotography and would REALLY like to get some consistency of colors from one shot to the next. But due to different cameras, filters and subtle processing differences, my shades of blue, for example, vary considerably from one photo to the next. Will delving deeper in OCIE help solve this? I would love to be able to extract the exact colors from what I consider a great shot and apply that same color scheme on all future astro shots. If you could point me to which Adjustment Layer tool to learn really well that would solve this issue, I would be grateful!

[@AffinityInspiration]

Are the example Images you use available for download? This is complex stuff. I love it. The video is great. I can't see where I can use this yet but I'm sure there is something it's good for in the single image space.

[@GlitchBloxyOFFICAL]

I think I lost my projects after the new update to affinity photo 2 ipad is there a way that I can get them back also can you guys fix it so I get all of my projects back

[@error-4518]

Seems there is a small difference compared to OCIO display transform image and the image with ICC + 2 OCIO adjustment layers. Other is a bit brighter, is that to be expected?

[@JamesRitson]

Hey, you will most likely see a small difference, yes: the OCIO transform sends document colour values straight to the display (transformed based on the device and view transforms you choose), whereas ICC converts from the document profile (linear sRGB) to the display using the active display profile. I don't think it would be feasible to achieve a complete 1:1 match when comparing ICC and OCIO display transforms, but I have been able to match the gamma-corrected output from Blender, e.g. when you save out a TIFF/PNG/JPEG. Comparing one of those images in Blender with an EXR version that uses the OCIO adjustments to achieve the same look, I've found you can get close if not completely identical. Hope that helps!

[@jjones2582]

Am I correct that the config.ocio file was generated by Blender specifically for the rendered photo that you were editing? If so it seems like that kind of document paired setting should be set in the 32-bit preview panel rather than buried in main settings. If that is not correct, then where did you get the config.ocio file?

[@JamesRitson]

Hi, no, the config is generalised-I extracted it from Blender 4.0's colour management folder to use it with Affinity Photo...

[@thomashelzle]

I find this procedure totally silly. Since the 32 Bit preview already has all the transforms in place, why on earth do I need to put another 2 layers of OCIO transforms on my images just to send a JPG to a client? Why not simply put a checkbox in the export dialog to "apply view transform to output"? Affinity Photo IS my final step in creating imagery for my website and other online uses and this feels like a totally over the top way of dealing with it I've never seen in any other app. Color management is complicated enough, you guys should strive to make it as painless and transparent for users as possible instead of going fully bonkers. And since not everybody is using Blender, it would be great if Affinity 2.x would simply include the full OCIO 2.x and current ACES files by default or at least in a direct download from Affinity, not some obscure dropbox link. Then leave those nerdy options for people in the movie industry who need it...

[@JamesRitson]

It's not meant as an awkward question, but does your workflow actually require or need OCIO? You refer to nerdy options for movie industry people, but that's primarily what OCIO is designed for (VFX and 3D pipelines that use linear scene referred data). Downloading specific configurations is part of the process. Software like Blender ships with its own configuration because it makes sense to (many users will be saving non-linear, gamma-encoded images straight out of Blender). You haven't mentioned what type of imagery you work with, is it possible that OCIO just isn't applicable and you'd be fine with traditional ICC colour management? You can tone map and transform between colour spaces non-destructively easily enough with ICC display transform.

[@thomashelzle]

@@JamesRitson I use SideFX Houdini, Blender and Rhino with renderers like Octane, 3Delight, Toolbag etc. I found that I get much more realistic results and better colours with ACES/OCIO. So yeah, although I'm on the fringe, I would love to have a smooth workflow with ACES and the way it's implemented in Affinity Photo is not that. I'm especially referring to the output of JPEGs etc. when a view transform is already in place and the need for two OCIO layers to re-do what's already there. That is really awkward IMO

[@latenzcy]

i cant find the film folder

[@latenzcy]

Also the film transform including the Srgb/Display/rec1888/rec2020 options are missing

[@Mithferion]

I always found it funny that OCIO is the spanish word for FREE TIME

[@JamesRitson]

Indeed. You'll need plenty of free time to grasp the complexities of OCIO and colour management!

[@Mithferion]

@@JamesRitson Exactly my thoughts 🤭

[@newoyaj]

I must agree with most commenters on this OCIO...not very useful to me and my brain is now scrambled after listening to all that technical jargon.

[@m.a.stough4994]

WOW. Either you have a special version of Affinity apps (Photo 2 here), or you cut out of your video the extreme pain we, your customers, experience on MacOS with launching your apps…specifically…the wait time.

[@ColdCoffeePhotography]

Photo 2 is becoming like Instagram - sod photographers we know whats best

[@JamesRitson]

Hi, not sure what you mean by that comment? OpenColorIO support has actually been in Affinity Photo since 1.5 which was released in 2016. V2.2 integrated a new version of OpenColorIO, hence why I've done a new tutorial for it. It was not introduced as a slight to photographers. Photo is a raster image editing application, and as such it has to appeal to a wider base of users than just photographers. That said, V2 introduced live masks (luminosity, HSL, band pass) which are predominantly for photographic workflows, JPEG-XL export for HDR imagery etc-and it already has a back catalog of functionality you can use for non-destructive photographic workflows.

[@ColdCoffeePhotography]

@@JamesRitson Basically there are no new features for photographers, Photo lacks behind just about every other photo editor now, seems like its an after thought for Serif now, nothing in this release that isn't "fluff" no new features & your masks are so far behind the competition now its embarrassing IMHO, I want to produce a basic AI mask in a few seconds, not bugger about refinning and messing about - NO subject/background/sky masking AI & seems serif get very touchy when you ask why! Supported Photo from the very start, but its getting to the point where others offer alot more for the same pricing point & do it just as good in a lot less time.

[@earychow839]

@@ColdCoffeePhotography My reply got flagged by KZbin and hidden somehow so I am re-posting it. OCIO can be very helpful for photographers if you know how to convert your Camera Raws to unclipped EXRs, and import to these software that support OCIO, instead of only working with JPGs. I am not familiar with Affinity to know whether its Camera RAW can work hand-in-hand with its OCIO support. If they do work, you don't even need to convert to EXRs. This can help you workaround some not-so-good "color science" some DSLRs use to generate their JPGs.

[@JamesRitson]

@@earychow839 thanks for your reply, I recognise your name and really appreciate your work towards Blender's OCIO configuration. You can certainly do what you are describing: Photo's Develop Persona (RAW workspace) has an option to develop straight to unbounded linear 32-bit space, and it's how you make single exposure RAWs work for an HDR view and eventual export. More info here if people are interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHTOgGuXhduZqLcsi=zh_vYmFosrnU6Eqg&t=327

[@PGNogueira]

Monotone voice and boring way of explaining things.

[@JamesRitson]

Thank you 🙂

[@sechmettara]

Monotonous voice? I find his voice quite sexy. It is inappropriate to badmouth a tutorial because it does not meet your need.

[@davidleatham5173]

Total gobbledegook to me. I cannot think of any use I would make of this.

[@charlesxix]

I know the feeling.

[@JamesRitson]

OpenColorIO is a colour management system primarily used with VFX/3D workflows. Outside of that, it doesn't really apply to your typical image editing workflow: this tutorial is for a smaller user group who know why they need to use OCIO. Hope that helps

[@davidleatham5173]

@@JamesRitson I find it reassuring that there are people out there who actually know what you're talking about.

[@PGNogueira]

@@davidleatham5173 😂

[@Dstinct]

@@JamesRitsonYup. I use it every day at work, but at home it's a little overkill. The main thing that it can be useful for is if you take a lot of shots and want a similar base profile across a lot of shots. I tend to correct every shot individually.