For the Mavic 3 family of drone users (Mavic 3 Classic, Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine) who want more creative choices for their post workflow or who are unsatisfied with the standard DJI Technical LUTs on offer, I have developed a LUT that accurately emulates the ARRI Alexa 709 colour science for DJI D-Log and D-Log M.
Along with the emulation LUT, there are 4 creative variation LUTs that come with it packaged as an ARRI LUT 5 Pack.
For the nostalgic among you, I have also developed 6 Film Emulation LUTs that each emulate film stocks from the past.
These LUTs are super easy to use and will help your LOG footage reach the most pleasing starting point for grading.
The ‘Alexa Look’
A lot of Mavic 3 (Pro/Cine) users have emailed me describing their dissatisfaction with the colours coming out of it’s camera. Having recently purchased a Mavic 3 myself I decided to develop a LUT to emulate my Alexa Mini using the tried and true process I developed with Sony, Canon and Blackmagic cameras. While no camera is perfect, personally I find the Alexa’s colour science to be the gold standard in terms natural, accurate and beautiful colours right out of the box as a starting point to grade from.
Over the course of a few days, I shot exposure matched test footage with my Alexa Mini and a Mavic 3 (Pro/Cine) side by side. I shot in sunlight, shadow, overcast, indoor daylight, indoor mixed lighting, controlled studio lighting and all with my trusty Xrite Colour Checker Classic Card and my Xrite Digital Color Checker SG Card.
In total I shot approximately 80 scenes this way. With each set up I recorded 3 exposures – under 2 stops over 2 stops and correct exposure. With the extensive data gathered, I was able to build an emulation that is extremely accurate; factoring in not just the overall colour response but also the more subtle aspects of the Alexa colour science that it borrowed from photochemical film such as it’s non linear hue responses for rich, complex colours, subtractive colour modeling in relation to luminance vs saturation dynamics and the Alexa’s overall saturation profile for beautiful highlight rolloff and shadow falloff to name a few.
I’m really happy with the emulation and hope you enjoy it too!
These LUTs are designed to deliver:
1) An organic, smooth and gentle highlight roll-off that mimics Alexa in it’s highlight rendering to give an overall organic and naturalistic feel to the footage.
2) Natural skin tones designed to render contrast levels on skin like an ARRI Alexa.
3) Naturalistic, organic and classic colours.
4) Rich but not crushed shadows so that these LUTs can be used in low light scenes as well as broad daylight.
5) Commensurate exposure levels with the input footage that don’t shrink the dynamic range of the camera (by blowing out the highlights and crushing the shadows) or radically change the exposure value or luminance of the originating image.
The 5 LUTs Described Below:
LUT 1) Neutral – A neutral ARRI look – no colour cast or ‘look’ – just the classic ALEXA Rec709 look.
LUT 2) Tungsten – A slightly warmer golden cast designed to be utilised for subjects bathed in tungsten light.
LUT 3) Ice Blue – Blue, colder cast with punchy, deep blues (looks amazing on subjects with blue eyes).
LUT 4) Jamaica – Green and gold cast – distinctive, rich, filmic greens and beautiful golden skintones.
LUT 5) Utopia – the most filmic look of the LUTs, with blood red reds and filmic blues and greens. It’s my personal take on what Utopia would look like.
The ‘Film Look’
The ‘Film Look’ LUT Pack contains 6 LUTs inspired by real film stocks designed to give your D-Log and D-Log M footage the Film Look. The emulations are based on my own research and subjective impressions of the film stocks listed.
The 6 LUTs Described Below:
LUT 1) ‘Vision’ – Modelled on Kodak Vision 5274
- Shot on: The Matrix, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Gladiator
- The most colour accurate stock with accurate blues, slightly cool greens, accurate skin tones which slightly skew pink/gold
- Strong contrast and filmic subtractive colour model in saturation
- Gentle roll off and rich, smooth fall off in shadows
- Skews green in shadow areas and when underexposed
- Classic film character but less stylised than any other stock
LUT 2) ‘Eastman’ – Modelled on Kodak Eastman 5247
- Shot on: Apocalypse Now, Bladerunner, Alien, ET
- Vintage, dated Kodak look and feel.
- Saturation strongest in mids and falls off in shadows and highlights.
- Greens skew warm, blues slightly turquoise, gold/pink skin-tones.
- Smoother contrast than modern stocks.
LUT3) ‘Eastman RM’ – Variation on Kodak Eastman 5247 (Introduced Jan 2022)
- Classic Eastman Look but modernised (Orange & Teal)
- Greener in cast than the more magenta original Eastman 5247
- Modelled on the Re-Graded versions of classic films from 70s & 80s
LUT 4) ‘Vision Teal’ – Variation on Kodak Vision 5274 (LUT# 1)
- Subtle Orange/Teal colour scheme.
- More stylised version of ‘#1 Vision’. Less realistic – ‘prettier’.
- Greens are slightly warmer, blues slightly turquoise and skin more golden.
- Overall lift in saturation and contrast compared to ‘Vision’ but still balanced.
- Can elevate a dull scene with its look but not overpower a rich scene.
LUT 5) ‘Eterna’ – Modelled on Fuji Eterna 8563
- Shot on: Captain Phillips, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Butler
- Overall smoother contrast and rolloff compared to Kodak.
- Rich but not overpowering colours and saturation characteristics.
- My go-to for Fashion and Beauty but can work with almost anything.
- Very flattering skin-tones.
- Greens are cool and rich, skin is golden, blues skew turquoise and modern, colour accurate yellows compared to Kodak.
LUT 6) ‘Bleach’ – Modelled on Fujifilm Super F 8552
- Shot on: Munich, War of The Worlds, Crash
- Modelling the Bleach Bypass process for strong contrast and low saturation.
- Aggressive, gritty look – halfway between black and white and colour film.
- Great for War Films, Crime, Urban Fashion.
- Works especially well with heavy film grain.