In the world of expensive cameras like the Sony A7s III and Canon EOS R5, there are those who use Canon’s budget cameras like the Canon Ti Series, SL series, etc. With those cameras, there’s a common picture profile being used called Prolost Flat. It’s good and all, but the most difficult thing about it is getting the footage to look great while editing. That’s were LUTS come into play.
(Downloadable Prolost Flat to Linear LUT can be found below.)
First off, What is Prolost Flat?
Prolost Flat is a modified Neutral Picture Style with these settings.
Arri log c Blackmagic BMD Film Blackmagic BMD Film 4K Canon Cinestyle DJI D-log Gopro Protune Other Panasonic Cinelike-D Panasonic V-log RED Color RED Log Film Rec 709 Sony S-Log Sony S-Log 2 Sony S-Log 3 linear Panasonic V-log L. Convert Any LOG File to Rec.709 With Just One Click - DaVinci Resolve - Duration: 8:13. EXPOSE Sony S-Log Correctly EVERYTIME + LUTS - Duration: 7:26. Henbu 169,150 views. This pack includes the following LUTs: Sony S-Log 2 to Rec.709 Sony S-Log 2 to Rec.709 better skin tones Sony S-Log 2 to Rec.709 more contrast Sony Cine4 Daily Use 1 Sony Cine4 Daily Use 2 Sony Cine4 Daily Use 2 less Contrast Sony Cine4 Daily Use 3 Sony Cine4 Autumn Sony Cine4 Blue look Sony Cine4 Green look Sony Cine4 cold Sony Cine4 sorf cold. An example Display LUT would be a Sony S-Log2 to Rec. This LUT could be general in nature—that is, being used with any camera that supports S-Log2 gamma—or specific to a certain camera, such as the Sony FS7.
Sony Slog2 To Rec709 Lut
- Sharpness set to zero
- Contrast set to all the way to the left
- Saturation set two notches to the left
- Color tone set to zero
This profile has less contrast and saturation to help preserve information within your cameras dynamic range, specifically in the highlights and the shadows.
Linear LUT for Prolost Flat
Lowering the contrast in cameras causes the shadows, mid tones, and highlights to curve. As a result, grading straight from a flat footage doesn’t always have a favorable look just by bumping up the contrast and saturation. Bumping the contrast and saturation only stretches the waveform generally from the mid tones out towards the highlight and shadows. Instead the footage should be converted into a linear color space first.
Sony S Log2 To Rec 709 Lut To Log In Resolve
Here are some test shots from Prolost Flat to Linear.
Adding the LUT causes the flat video to have a bit more color and better contrast than Prolost Flat to have a starting point for the color grading process. Keep in mind the contrast and saturation controls were not used during the making of the LUT. The only thing that changed was the curve.
Download the Prolost to Linear LUT here.
What Now?
Assuming that you exposed and white balanced your footage, you can bump up the saturation and contrast as you like and grade the footage after adding the LUT.
Enjoy!
Additional Information
The Linear LUT will only work on the Prolost Flat Picture Profile with specific settings:
18% Grey @ 50% IRE for ProlostFlat_to_Linear_EV0.cube
18% Grey @ 62.5% IRE for ProlostFlat_to_Linear_EV1.cube
This LUT was create by me and I’m not claiming to be a professional colorist or a LUT creator. I made this LUT for experimentation and will continue testing. If you would like to support the continuation and making of the LUT feel free to message me!
If you would like to get a hold of a Prolost to Rec.709 LUT visit Adrian Bacon’s article.
Q&A
Is this a conversion LUT to Rec.709?
Not necessarily, but take is as you will. I don’t have Rec.709 to compare with Canon’s sRGB color space so I won’t call this Prolost to Rec.709, but Prolost to Linear.
How did you come up with this LUT?
Gerald Undone, a youtuber, has made a very informative video on Common Log Grading Mistakes. I took information from his video and created the LUT.
Why does the 11-Step Gray Scale image look like that?
The 11-Step Gray Scale image I shot isn’t the true dsclabs 11-Step Gray Scale Chart. It’s a screenshot image of the 11-Step Gray Scale Chart. Although it may not be it’s true color I had to work on the Prolost Flat footage relative to my camera’s Neutral Picture Profile, not the screenshot image. This keeps a consistent curve conversion.
One thing that may be flawed is the light coming from the monitor itself effected the 11-Step Gray Scale screenshot. Monitors are known to be inconsistent with exposures while look at the monitor at different angles.