Grade School: Learn ACES w/ A Pro Colorist

Bring your Q's and I'll see you live!

00:09 Introduction
05:12 Initial thoughts about ACES 1.3
12:23 Do you see yourself moving away from Resolve Color Management to ACES once ACES 2.0 gets released?
19:52 Is there a way to not affect the offline reference when setting up the color management at the project level?
26.02 When using ACES 1.3 in a node based setting, what is the difference between reference gamut compression and parametric gamut compression?
32:01 How would we use ACES AP0 gamut with an ACES cct tone curve within ACES?
42:38 How would you approach REC709 material using ACES? What if the original source material goes beyond 100 nits in REC709?
52:11 Can you work in ACES with cameras that are not included in the panel?
55:39 What are the benefits of ACES compared to any other color management system?
58:20 Why does ACES not have an option for outputting DWG even in 1.3? Could you do that using Color Space Transforms?
1:02:07 ACES 2.0 transforms demonstration
1:05:31 Final thoughts and conclusions

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[gibinprince]

5:25 changes made in ASCES 1.3(recap)
7:25 history behind ASCES already has a look/feel
12:10 will cullen pivot to ASCES when ASCES 2.0 releases or remain with DWG
15:00 node based color management (ASCES 1.3)
19:45 when setting the color management on a project level is there a way for it to not affect the offline reference clip ( i.e. offlice ref clip shouldn't be color managed)
26:00 difference between parametric gamma compress and ref gamut compress
31:50 a way to work in ASCES AP0 gamut with ASCEScct curve in ASCES
42:37 best practice for idt rec709 material into ASCES and if the rec709 source has a value greater than 100 nits how do we deal that in ASCES
52:10 working with cameras that dont have a idt preset in ASCES
55:35 benefits of ASCES
58:10 why ASCES transform doesnt include DWG
1:02:15 ASCES 2 candidates

[egodreas]

Actually, the colour tearing you're seeing in those highlights has nothing to do with Arri Wide Gamut v3 being out of gamut for ACES AP0 or AP1. It's actually not out of gamut at all for that specific cyan hue, but even if it were, it wouldn't matter. Resolve will perfectly preserve any out-of-gamut values; they will just be mapped outside of 0-1. Sure, working with negative values can be a pain, but they are not technically the problem here. The problem occurs at the output transform. The cyan colour is way out of gamut for Rec709, and the ACES ODT does not handle the remapping gracefully. This is where the 1.3 gamut mapping comes in, and where you will want to apply it. Not on your input transform.

This is also why you do not see any difference when switching from AP1 to AP0. The issue persists because the problem had nothing to do with the gamut of the working space or the IDT clipping. And although a wider gamut certainly has it's benefits, you probably would not enjoy actually grading in ACES AP0. To completely encompass the full spectral locus with the minimum amount of virtual colours, the primaries are way out of alignment with the Rec709 primaries. Everything will feel hue shifted when you are trying to manipulate the colours. That is one of the benefits of DaVinci Wide Gamut. It has tried to keep the primaries more aligned with Rec709, while still being wide enough to encompass most camera gamuts. The price it had to pay for this is wasting a lot of space on virtual colours, but for an intermediate format, I think that is probably a good compromise to make. And DaVinci Wide Gamut also has very good gamut mapping on their output transforms, which is why you tend not to see as much colour tearing in saturated highlights. But it is still a proprietary solution, so I hope ACES 2.0 will overtake it. Despite your concerns, I do think they have focused their attention on the right areas. Ditch the RRT and improve the gamut mapping of the ODTs.

[GuidoValdata]

wow... this is... wow.. wow... the loop from aces ap1 to ap0 and then to 709 is mind blowing, you're a superhero, by managing to explaint it so clearly. that and tackling every other incredibly smart question that was thrown at you. super

[jseamans]

It’s very valuable to understand the history of ACES, especially with 2.0 on the horizon. Thanks for reminding us about this.

[shebbe]

13:34 To my knowlege AP1 primaries were brought to life as working space primaries for couple reasons. They make for much more efficient data use as it will have a significant portion of the gamut's code values used by captured/generated colors. AP0 is quite 'tilted' in relation to LMS and most RGB spaces making operations on individual channels feel weird. There may be more reasons but don't know them. In regards to "just make a huge gamut to fix all problems" creating a DRT that converts that back into display space is also not that easy and comes with the same conclusions as above plus what would you even do with data that would be there? Any color outside the target display and definitely any color outside the spectral locus need gamut compression. And how do you decide what such non existent colors look like? This is one of the topics that has been onging on ACES and is one of the factors that plays a big role in shaping the ACES 2.0 output transform.

[markbuschbacher]

Thanks for this, it's helped me a lot with footage from 3 different cameras and their IDTs. I have used the BMCC 2.5K, the original URSA 4K PL and the DJI X5R, (all very ancient cameras that are no longer supported by their vendors). I will be using the footage from these three cameras in Nuke for some compositing and I just want to confirm the ODT I should select so I can import them properly into NUKE's ACES colour managed environment.

[J_HNP]

Thanks for sharing another great topic, Cullen. I always appreciate your eagerness to share knowledge.

I do miss the time stamps/descriptions you used to provide in the description of your Grade School session.

I’m sure it’s time consuming, but the lack of these time stamps is honestly the reason I haven’t watched as much of your content recently.

Thanks for everything!

[badboujee]

Fantastic class, as per usual. Thanks a lot for your time, Cullen! TGIF became a whole new meaning :)

[movie-trailer]

It is rare to see such a professional assessment and analysis of the color science of color as ACES 1.3. But, nevertheless, there is uncertainty as to how much better it is than the color science of DaVinci. What are the significant advantages?

[theloungenz]

Cullen you are fantastic, I have only recently found out about your channel however in the past few hours I have learnt a lot, possibly more than I learnt in film school about ACES, it was always a misty topic to me but now I can use it with much confidence. I would like to know if you will be holding anymore courses on LUT production and colorgrading this year as previous years, I have searched online and seems like the links on there to your courses are a bit dated so I don't know whether to purchase or wait.

[mohamadali]

Hey Cullen, Thx for this Aces episode, how to reach to the DCTL webinar?
I also request you to make an episode on working in CMY color model in resolve. Thank you so so much.

[i]

24:00 Isnt that just trying to import and display regular srgb material in aces workspace? Why not choose input color space -> srgb?

[MylonasFilms]

Hi I don't have APO only AP1, I'm on Resolve V17.
Also, I love grading in a Linear node in DWG, can I get the same effect doing a linear ACES pipeline with nodes (ACES transform?) cause I know you usually have to work in a Scene Refered timeline like DWG

[JimibobThun]

Is it possible to select Arri Wide Gamut 4 instead of 3 somewhere if I have an Aces color managed workflow?

[airbeoneairbeone]

unfortunately, V-Log color space (from Panasonic Lumix) is not available in input's camera in ACES 1.3
even in latest studio version 18.1.3.
Did anybody has a hint ?

I've found that REDcolor4/REDlogfilm seems to approach this V-Log gamma,
and allows me to deal with the benefit of an ACES color space transform, rather than CST in DWG
But always better is to used the perfect source's camera settings.

Any returns welcomed, thx

[radioicer]

Hello cullen, I'm looking for how to use the fpe 2383 but in aces, how can I do it

[qusainofal]

Hi Cullen, thank you for this great video.. regarding the DCTL creation webinar, where can we find it, thanks :)

[koushikbhattacharya]

sir after watching ur class i did so many test what i find that is...
1. Technical transformation with ACES plugin is very harsh and everything is leaning towards yellow but when i use CST for ACES transform everything is gentle and my skin tone is proper place.
2.ACES 1.3 Gamut compression option sometimes creates artefact in Rec 709 material...sometimes turn off the option solving the problem...

[cirorussocolorist-colornau]

Hi Cullen could you enable subtitles to this movie. Thank you

[nikitavvedenskiy]

Hi! Can someone send link for DSTL course?