How to color grade LOG in Final Cut Pro

[@NateGigovic]

COMMAND-SHIFT-X What a great tip!

[@Serge1913]

Color adjustments before LUTs… I wish I knew this sooner. Saves so much frustration when color correcting/grading. Thanks Tyler

[@BrandonTalbot]

This finally ended the debate of what goes first; the Lut, or the exposure changes. Thank you Tyler.

[@peightw]

That command + shift + x tip was dope! even after almost 8 years using FCPX, you can still learn something news! thanks bro

[@stalman]

That was a game changer for me, it's missing from my previous tutorials so it might be the most helpful new detail in this one

[@kustoo]

That one just changed my life.

[@10MinuteWorkshop]

Thanks for this. LOG has always been a bit of a mystery dance, and you're making the moves clearer. Much appreciated.

[@danielromagnoligoncalvss]

I’ve been telling friends to do this kind of workflow… thank you so much for sharing this. Applying corrections before color space transform is a standard in most editing software and FCPX seems confusing when doing proper workflow. Corrections work exactly as they should… love this!

[@bbacalhau]

I could never see the difference between color grading before or after the transform, but this made it so clear. Been doing it wrong my whole life 😅

[@JamesEChapman]

Its good to see Final Cut is still going strong. I have to use Premiere Pro for my work and the colour tools are just horrendous. I end up round tripping into Resolve every single time. For those not in the know, the colour grading advice in this video is spot on 👏

[@AkashNayee]

I remember getting your Stalman C-Log LUTS 4 years ago and I swear I use them for every single clip, they are my absolute favourite. I'm just a hobbyist filmmaker but I absolutely love tutorials like this about colour grading directly within FCP without additional plugins, they've completely levelled up my footage

[@stalman]

So glad to hear they’re working for you! But I agree, FCP is at its best when it leans into its simplicity

[@reflexfilms]

I have been railing against log for most people because between the high isos in daylight, (yes- you now need more ND if you want to open up your aperture - or you are forced to go to the shutter) inability to track focus and exposure without using reference luts and lots of other details that people get wrong - even as far as log footage going out ungraded / un fixed into edits (seen it too many times) - there are lots of boxes to tick and many shooter / ediotrs are not detail focussed enough not to miss one along the way. A Natural in camera consistent look is your friend. Especially for fast turn around /low budget pressure production (which is nearly everyone!) Thanks for this video - someone finally shining a light on the correct log / LUT work flow - its way more complicated than it should be.

[@henrypatricy2252]

My man, great video! Thank you for the tips. I myself and guilty of going straight to the color correction tab to hit on highlights and shadows, but NEVER touch saturation, unless removing or adding magenta, yellow, and/or cyan. One thing I will say is, it's totally ok to talk about and try to sell your luts! Everyone watching I'm sure appreciates you mentioning you aren't here to sell it to us, but hey man, you've worked hard on them and they are marketed very well from a visual standpoint. Be an advocate for your brand and tell us how great they are! I think you will find that us as a community will appreciate this. Great quality visuals is a big part of your livelihood/KZbin presence, so just don't be afraid to sell us on those items! sneaking your luts in your tutorials is a smart move, and we get it, so try not to hide that and own it! You owe it to yourself and us patrons. Keep up the great work. Appreciate your knowledge!

[@GoPro_Matt]

I'm on an iPhone 16 Pro. I LOVE your Apple Log to Rec709! I had to set my input as "2020" and output as "709" when using the custom lut. As the kids say, it slaps! Great work Tyler!

[@lalilland]

This was super useful, thank you! I just tested it, and it works the same way, if you do the transform in an adjustment layer. It will not be destructive.

[@stalman]

Yes that’s right I don’t know why astutely layers aren’t included in FCP

[@ByteReview]

Thanks for this video, I have avoided shooting LOG for my entire KZbin channel because I can never seem to get it to look right in post, now I'll try again!

[@blueanthias]

Thanks! great tutorial, much appreciated.

[@stalman]

Wow, thank YOU! I hope it helped

[@safetyhomeloans950]

just a small detail for future wonderful videos such as this one: For those early beginners , it would help to show them even the smallest of changes that occur as your switching from your various video clips on your timeline as well as when going back and forth on your (right panel window). it is dose small details that really help drive the point as simple as it may be. (yet not as simple as I kept doing the same error years ago, not knowing the Simple Before and After placement of those adjustment layers). All in all kudos!

[@WoodworkJourney]

Rec709 AFTER adjustments?!? Holy Hell changed everything for me and answers so many questions!!! I was getting furious with S-Log3 A6700 footage after changing over from Fuji. THANK YOU!

[@matthewTobrien]

Here's to hoping Apple overhauls the color pipeline workflow in Final Cut Pro 11. And Gling looks great! Especially the ability to make a Multicam with the edited a-roll. Wow. I need to reach out to them ASAP. Great FCP video, Tyler!

[@stalman]

Absolutely, I hope this video is irrelevant soon! We need color management

[@digitaldevigner4080]

@@matthewTobrien I actually prefer the way FCP does it without color management. It’s actually a nightmare in Resolve to get to this level of manual control. Way more effort than it should be. I feel like we have to turn off too much and force Resolve away from its auto behavior. Once you know a good workflow FCP is very freeing in how it lets us so quickly and easily apply what ever order we want. It’s like nodes in Resolve except we have layers and we don’t start off forced to work a certain way. I even find HDR a lot more flexible in FCP vs Resolve.

[@thengatv9254]

Most challenging one is colour grade the log footage you pawed a new pathway on this matter,appreciatable

[@homelessballoon]

Thanks for all you are sharing! I have a question: Several things are still confusing (for someone like me who just started exploring Log and LUFS on my iPhone 15 Pro) with the Final Cut Camera app and FCPX on my MacStudio. You and some other KZbinrs say that we shouldn't shoot in HDR but SDR (to avoid trouble in FCPX), but in your LUT Folder I purchased there is only one Apple LUT: Stalman - Apple Log to Rec709.cube. When I import this into the Custom LUT window and add it to my AppleProRes-Log video file (recorded with the Final Cut Camera app), the image get very oversaturated with too strong colors, very different from the look the clip gets if I let FCP use it's own LUT when importing the clip into FCP. Note: I did deselect this LUT in the clip's info-window before adding the Custom LUT to the clip. Right now, I don't understand why the Apple LUT shouldn't be used. I get the point that the Custom LUT window should be placed after any colour correction (like Color Wheels), but I don't understand what LUT I should use to get the best result when recording in SDR.

[@ryanwalsh_golf]

this is one of the best editing videos I've ever watched. thank you

[@motionbymike]

Been using FCP for years now and just learned a bunch of key things! Thank you!

[@MrHombre]

Hey Tyler! I have a question and maybe try it out… I usually just use the correction lut on and adjustment layer and the edits of my primaries and so on the clip and I don’t know if it’s me, but I get similar results as if the lut was the last one of the list… I hope I make myself understand

[@Bjuiful]

same question here

[@oddbirds8315]

I believe this is because the effect order works bottom to up in the timeline, but top to bottom in the inspector.

[@ANDJVisuals]

Bro... so simple and to the point! This is a real tutorial..! Thank You Tyler! Subbed!

[@BenettGraezer]

Thanks for the tutorial! I'm curious about the AI tool Bling. I'll definitely give it a try to see if it can streamline my editing process in FCP. I used to use Timebold, but this seems like an even more efficient option. 👍🏻

[@brandknewme]

Always such great tutorials. Thank you, Tyler. I love you,

[@Sankew]

Thank you so much Tyler

[@magnusgraham]

Really helpful tutorial. I've been working this way in Resolve, but hadn't considered my workflow properly in FCPX. Thanks!

[@DoubleMEndeavor]

Well, color space override was the tip I needed. Great video.

[@stalman]

FCP should really be smarter about helping with this

[@AhmedMakkiyah]

Thanks for the great illustrations

[@brianwhite3410]

I added your iPhone lut and the colours went CRAZY. I'm using proLog or whatever on an iPhone 16 Pro. Has it changed in a year? If I turn your lut down to 55%, things are ok. Thanks for any input.

[@prodbyselase]

If you're using Final Cut, I think making the input Rec 2020 and then the output Rec 709 makes it look normal. But I'll let someone else or Tyler correct me if I'm wrong!

[@brianwhite3410]

@@prodbyselase THANKS! I'll try that.

[@klhonestguide6937]

how to colour grade LogV2 from filmic pro?

[@thiagopinheiromusic]

Use the Filmic LUT available around

[@tquinn3630]

If you apply your LUT in the settings tab (where it's recognized in the first part of your video), then you make adjustments, is the LUT considered above or below the adjustments?

[@stalman]

The settings tab is applied unfortunately applied first, which is so unhelpful

[@tquinn3630]

Very unhelpful, mystery solved though. I've learned so much from your channel, thanks@@stalman

[@ronaldroberts9555]

Never heard of gling…definitely about to get this

[@motoed]

I’m a Premiere User (considering a shift to Final Cut though)… So I’m trying to transfer this process in my head over to PrP. Around 6:20 you mention about adding the color wheels adjustment above the LUT applies. I love this, but I’m wondering how this might be applied in PrP. I think I saw a tutorial that said the Lumetri color panel applies effects top to bottom. So Basics, then creative lut, then curves….etc. I’m wondering if you or anyone else might know how to correlate this to PrP.

Great speeding up of my workflow in FCPX! I usually do so much more - Color board for EV, then curves for contrast... HSL... this one is so much quicker!

[@benjamin.kelley]

Once you make the transform, you're taking all the light and color information from the typically bigger color space, and smashing it down to rec 709. This is why you should make exposure and color adjustments before the LUT, since you have more color information to work with in the original log footage.

[@stalman]

Yup, if you color grade after you might as well just shoot in rec709

[@IvoHorsey]

Why don't you use the Custom LUT in the info inspector tab. This seems to correctly apply the LUT to all of your HDR footage at once (saves time). It also seems to apply this after colour adjustments with more detail preserved in the highlights while still exporting in Rec 709. Just curious to hear your thoughts

[@stalman]

If you have no other corrections or adjustments to the color, you can do that, but then there is no way put the adjustments BEFORE the LUT, which is essential

[@zubair.asyraf]

Hello tyler, can you produce / sell a log transform for dji d-log / d-log m as well?

[@theprofessionalhomie]

So clear and concise. Thank you for such an amazing tutorial!

[@IainAnderson]

Nice! I was all ready to write a comment saying "Why not just add the Log transform in an adjustment layer?" and then you did that at the end. :) One really nice additional feature that might help is the set of shortcuts to Apply Color Correction from Previous Clip (and 2 and 3 clips back) which are just a massive time saver for correction.

[@stalman]

The other reason not to is that I often mix different cameras into an edit

[@Lansdownmedia]

great video, thank you. currently trying to understand FCP and this helps immensely! i was doing it wrong in Premiere this entire time...

[@HarryLang]

This was eye opening. Question about using the adjustment layer. So if I add the adjustment layer, then apply the N-Log LUT to it, and then make my color adjustments, are those color adjustments on top of the LUT still? Since applying the LUT to the layer, it's not in the inspector so I can't drag the color adjustments above it.

[@nischalpopat934]

Great video. Could you please share the export settings please

[@camcamwatt]

Slapping on a LUT early in the pipeline chokes your footage and takes away most of the very reason you film LOG - Nice TUT , I feel you can go deeper into colour on FCPX around how you make your creative choices :) Love yur channel man

[@joshuamuniz7347]

Thank you…a much needed video. Do more of these. Maybe Color Finale Pro next 👀

[@SuryaFriends]

thankkkk youuuu so much these little things helps so much....... just when i needed ..... please keep making such videos i am a canon r8 user & would love to see your video for r5mii

[@J3University]

how do you make luts? I have color finale pro 2 and i just don't know enough to actually create a unique look, or how to then export them for log only, rec 709, or iphone footage. Can't find help on this anywhere

[@stalman]

Most lut creators use Resolve but Photoshop can do it too

[@benyantovisuals]

This has been completely helpful!

[@EasyET_]

im so confused. I thought you put the "transform" lut in the camera lut where its located in the info section of the video in fcpx. or is that the same as adding a custom lut like you stated in the video?

[@utah62]

Thank you for sharing. I recently started using FilmConvert. Does this mean I don’t need to follow the steps you mentioned, such as Colour Wheels/LUT Rec. 709 conversion?

[@Anaandjerome]

Hi! Really helpful stuff but for some reason I can't see the built in LUTS when adding Custom Lut from the effects but I can see them in Settings?

[@oddbirds8315]

So why is what I read of FCP online wrong: "The Camera LUT applied in FCP’s Inspector (Extended Settings) acts as an interpretation layer and doesn’t bake into the footage. It’s more like a "view transform". This is very different from how it works in Resolves node based grading for example, where subsequent adjustment won't have access to the original LOG signal. In FCP, even if adjustments are made after a LUT, they’re still calculated in the context of the original LOG data due to its 32-bit floating-point processing. This makes the workflow inherently more forgiving."

[@stalman]

I’m not sure where you got that quote but just spend 5 minutes testing yourself. I’ve also spoke to members of the FCP team and can confirm that applying a transform at the clip level bakes you into the rec709 color space.

[@beeldenman]

Thanks for this great video. FCP has a camera LUT setting. Does this get applied before anything else? Because if that's the case it's a no-go setting to use considering you can't correct before the conversion then.

[@AtomicSummer]

I´ve been using cinemagrade to color grade my footage. Do you know if the same principle applies to it? Because i can adjust everything and apply the Lut after the adjustments, but i don´t know if the order makes a difference in the programm itself.

[@stalman]

I don't know about cinema grade, but the same principle applies everywhere in all apps. It's possible they are doing the correct order of operations in their internal pipeline, but the transform always always comes after adjustments

[@WolfbloodOST]

Is it possible to apply color wheels before FCPs default “apple log” transformation? Or do you NEED to use a custom LUT to do so. I’ve been looking for this answer everywhere and can’t find it

[@BRNDNSLVRA]

Can you do a video on how to grade the footage from the Black Magic Camera app? Seems like it's tougher to grade or I'm just dumb.

[@TITANSKRISH]

dies the same apply in premiere pro as well?, the color space thing and making adjustment before the conversion lut?

[@livinginidaho]

Do you have luts for Sony?

[@stephenkane741]

Can an adjustment layer be used for the transform lut or is that making it “before” the adjustments not after like it’s supposed to be

[@lgsoltek]

Thank you for a very clear tutorial! However I tried to find the Custom LUT effect on the iPad version and it doesn’t seem to exist.

[@jimcoon]

Hi Tyler - I"m 71 yrs old and doing my best to finally shoot in V-Log on my new Lumix G9II. When I have a clip in FCPX and I click on it, where do I go to see if I shot that specific clip in Log, Natural, CineD, etc? I am doing tests of different modes and before I work on the clip I want to know what color profile I shot the clip in. Pretend you are talking to your Dad. Or Granddad. Thanks very much. Jim in Oregon

[@andre_zeferino]

I normally skip the “ads” part but I have a question about Gling, I have been using it for about a year now, but still can’t figure out the Multicam how do you sync it because Gling doesn’t do that

[@juminy7]

Thanke for that! Just one question why does the creative lut coming before the transforming lut?

[@michg01]

Hi bro. Do you have this same tutorial for Final Cut for iPad?

[@ColinRobertson_LLAP]

I did not know you should put the corrections before the LUT... THANK YOU! I'd still like to know why this is the case, but knowing is half the battle-GI JOOOOOEEE...

[@digitaldevigner4080]

@@ColinRobertson_LLAP think of it like you want to fix what the camera sensor saw before it applied the log curve to the data. Luts are not smart. They take a known start point and move to. Known end point. They are built to perfectly reverse the log curve applied in camera. So if the exposure or color was slightly off when the shot was recorded then the lut will move incorrect values to new incorrect values. You want to adjust the log first to attempt to get it to that perfect start point. Rec709 is also a limited range and only fits so many stops of range and colors. By adjusting first you push and pull the larger amount of data vs adjusting the crushed rec709 conversion. Think of like trying to grade standard profile video and how limiting it is. It’s not just because the look is baked in but that standard profile video has very limited range. By adjusting the log first you can take those 13-15 stops of dynamic range and say ok my end result is 8 stop rec709 and where can I borrow from those 15 stops to give the best look. This is why we are able to push and pull detail around and fix shots. Because log provides us a much larger bucket of stops to pull from and build the final 8 stop rec709. The lut converting to rec709 is already throwing out all those extra stops saying ok we don’t need those anymore. We don’t need those extra colors either. By adjusting at that point after the lut you are now working with the limited rec709 space and pushing it around like you would standard profile video.

[@delas0ul]

1000% Colour correct before colour grade. Curious, is it a big difference if you put an Slog3 to Rec709 conversion lut on adjustment layer, then colour correct, then add adjustment layer creative lut?

[@livinginmontgomeryalabama]

Great video...do LUTs have any effect on SDR video straight out of the iPhone? If my previous videos are all shot in SDR(or even HDR), would it make any sense to color grade with a LUT? Or no?

[@AchyutChaudhary]

I'm an  iPhone 15 Pro user, but hat does LOG actually mean?

[@kofidotse]

Log basically means video in its raw format

[@stalman]

Usually an iPhone takes all the available image data and attempts to make it look averagely nice. LOG ignores all the processing and gives you bare bones image, no look applied, you have total freedom to choose what it looks like.

[@stevenkralovec]

Yeah just to add upon these other comments, it’s basically a very “flat” (low contrast, low saturation) color profile that gives ultimate flexibility to customize the look of the footage through the process of color correction and color grading. It’s “unprocessed” so it has the most data to work with and better dynamic range, and therefore more flexibility for color grading.

[@gabricks1224]

Is there a way to download Luts that you’ve made and want to sell them to others who would gladly want to use em for their videos?

[@kylemckenna]

Yes.

[@clementstevens1541]

I was literally just looking for a video like this 😂thanks for the information Tyler

[@WEDraskaz]

Om namaste. How do you change the color of the footage and time line?

[@ErikBrainOS]

⌘+⇧+X = 🤯 and color adjustments before LUTs ? Thanks!👏🏻

[@artofkaza1823]

Does rec 709 still good settings for Lumix g7?

[@stalman]

Yes, Rec709 is still the industry standard final output.

[@WEDraskaz]

Om namaste precious. That is, first you make the correction in circles and then apply the developing LUT?

[@sunlit777]

basically, hey - Final Cut already fixed your LOG with its own original Apple LOG LUT, and it looks amazing, but I want to sell you my LUTs so turn it off and waste more time for what's already there with Final Cut Pro's automatic color conform! =) Also, overriding the clip to rec.709 IS WRONG because override is only used for clips with MISSING or INCORRECT metadata, while here we got a perfectly legit iPhone video file.

[@penningtonsm]

Quick question: I always hear people talking about Sony color science or canon color science being so good, and then they shoot in log?? I don’t get it. Can I see the difference between regular footage vs color corrected footage?

[@Focusshotstudio]

Thanks a lot Tyler!

[@TheLegendsNJ]

Great tutorial - thank you!

[@puzzydee]

really helpful, thankyou !!

[@josephmedina0319]

Do you have luts for sony?

[@sarvpriyaadarsh5018]

gling was the tool i was trying to find. let me know if it is actually good

[@stalman]

It’s actually insane, I throw all my a-roll in there now

[@mechakoush]

Tyler, ask them to buy your Luts, you are making these videos you need the support, I believe it is not salesy at all :)

[@stalman]

@@mechakoush thanks! But if anyone wants a free alternative they’re out there. Propose luts are also great

[@svikramajit]

Thank you for this!

[@Sim1Designs]

Thank you for this video

[@Axelocho2siete]

Any Sony LUTS? :/

[@JoshFryer]

Gerald Undone with long hair is wild. #fabio

[@theomarins]

Great video.

[@22WeddingFilms]

What a game changer, I converted my A7sIII Slog3 to the Apple LOG and it retains more highlight detail than the in-built SLOG3 LUT, insane, thanks for sharing!

[@sayedf3796]

I'd love to find a video where no one is trying to sell or promote anything-just straightforward teaching. Can anyone recommend a beginner-friendly log editing video that's purely focused on learning?

[@MaximoJoshua]

this was pretty good, but really, the LUT is not the best way to do it, as you noticed, different LUT's give different results. Log is just math, specifically the logarithm, that log curve is how it "compresses" the image. I think its probably the only way to do it using Final Cut though... There is an exact answer to what the transformed image should be, and you can use a Color Space Transform to get that. A LUT could also implement that in a less precise way. P.S. HDR is Rec2100 (not Rec2020), Rec2020 defines the color gamut, the PQ or HLG transfer functions that all HDR uses are defined in Rec2100. It's actually pretty easy to use on KZbin, but you are 100% right that you can shoot yourself in the foot, if you are not careful. The key is to start with a neutral image, which Color Space Transforms make easy to get Tons of benefits to using it, less compression, better colors. Almost every mid-tier cell phone and up for the last 5 years supports it.

[@robmcd]

You told me the XH2S autofocus was as good as the R5. Why have you been silent on this?

[@ANTOINE.3000]

you just upgraded me !

[@DadsDenTechReviews]

This isn't using built in features of FCP, we have to download a LUT.

[@Thechicagosniper_]

Do you typically underexpose at all to reduce grain? I see so many people underexposing this footage by -1 -to -1.7 stops to maintain a noise-free image. Also, are you shooting 24fps or 30fps? I find that the 24fps ProRes Log footage is choppier than Log footage from my mirrorless cameras.

[@stalman]

Exposing with log is highly dependent on the camera and shooting environment. Canon C200 is better at +1.5 and Canon C70 is best at +-0. And in a bright environment, overexposure is less useful for more risky. Vice versa in a dark environment. You’ll need to research and test for your setup

[@Thechicagosniper_]

@@stalman thank you, but I was specifically referring to the iPhone Log footage. I’m aware the type of shot and environment matters, but in general, are you underexposing at night to make sure the ISO doesn’t get to an unusable level?

[@TylerPKegger]

I don’t get the whole HDR crap, my OLED TV looks great with my own displays settings I have for it, then when I switch to HDR it looks so washed out dual and lifeless, and I thought it suppose to be the other way around

[@digitaldevigner4080]

100% agree about using a logarithmic lut designed for a log profile. Log is a very specific curve applied to the video where each stop is mapped along that curve. In order to get the most out of the curve and the values the way the sensor captured them we need to apply the exact opposite of that curve. This gets us to a starting point and then like he shows in the video we add adjustments before the lut to make small tweaks to how that reverse curve is applied. The corrections before as if the camera was corrected that way before it was converted to log. The sensor doesn’t see in log. It sees raw linear data. That linear raw data is converted to log to cram that linear data into a smaller space. This is also why I’m not a fan of color managed workflows like Aces in Resolve. Aces is a grossly over exaggerated tool. We should never just let the system auto apply a color transform without being able to tweak the material before. That’s why even in Resolve it’s best to start with the log video and add a color transform node. This way we can add adjustment nodes before just like an adjustment layer before in FCP. Color managed workflows are way overrated and overhyped. While some feel they are amazing manual graders, they are warping and stretching that log curve in ways the camera wasn’t really designed for. Plus it creates a lot of randomized guesswork and way more work than shouldn’t be done. It’s just kind of silly to put in effort to try to recreate that log curve on every single shot.. let the lut designed to reverse that curve work for you to get to a normalized state. Then tweak from there. By having the log video you still have the ability to push and pull but now you have a known starting point. It’s just good in grading to break things down in stages. Don’t try to correct and create the look with one adjustment. Correct then work on the look. FCP gets a lot of crap for not being as advanced as Resolve but really once you really dig into the tools and apply them in stages in layers like one would with nodes in Resolve you actually can do a lot. Even with the color board I tend to use one just for exposure, one for saturation and one for color. This way they can be adjusted easier and turned on/off just like nodes in Resolve.

[@oddbirds8315]

You seem very knowledgable, perhaps you can help me? I watched this video but the advice in it goes against my usual workflow based on what I read: "The Camera LUT applied in FCP’s Inspector (Extended Settings) acts as an interpretation layer and doesn’t bake into the footage. It’s more like a "view transform". This is very different from how it works in Resolves node based grading where subsequent adjustment won't have access to the original LOG signal. In FCP, even if adjustments are made after a LUT, they’re still calculated in the context of the original LOG data due to its 32-bit floating-point processing. This makes the workflow inherently more forgiving."

[@SoundSuiteDeluxe]

oh yes thanks 😎

[@JustRomainYT]

I was hoping to learn how to color grade a footage.. not to add a LUT 😢 thanks for the video anyway

[@stalman]

The correct way to color grade in Final Cut Pro is using a transform LUT. Unfortunately it does not support color management like DaVinci Resolve so you need to reply on transforms created externally. Sorry you didn't find the grading segment of the video helpful, but it really is pretty basic in FCP.

[@srikanth6106]

Hi

[@stalman]

Hello