philmColor Release 3 - 02.08.2022

[Phil Holland]

Hello there friends. It's been a journey and a long haul. Over 4 years of development and testing. But today I am happy to announce philmColor Release 3 is out!

http://www.philmcolor.com

philmColor has been a bit of a passion project of mine since IPP2's introduction. That's led to some amazing opportunities to develop Creative Cubes for productions as well as my own shoots along the way. It even led to the opportunity to create the small selection of LUTs within RED DSMC3 cameras.

Here's the official release text:

- I am extremely excited to announce the newest release of philmColor. Several years in the making, this is a massive release that features 540 new LUTs across 15 separate categories. philmColor is designed for the RED IPP2 Color Workflow and with Release 3 there is a focus on not only Creative LUTs but also an IPP2 Color Grading Toolkit. I've designed the Creative Cubes in such a way that they can be combined to create even more personalized looks. The philmColor Creative Cubes can be used in DSMC3 and DSMC2 cameras that supper 33x33x33 cubes.

With this new version there's also a focus on cross camera color grading compatibility through the use of Color Space Transforms into the REDWideGamutRGB/Log3G10 Color Space and Gamma, I've included some popular ones and will be adding more as needed.

As promised this is a free upgrade to those who own philmColor R2, but for new philmColor users you also get the 178 LUTs included with the previous release as well. I've also added the appropriate metadata to both R3 and R2, I recommend downloading the new ones for future compatibility.

There’s also a new price. $300. And to celebrate the launch of R3 you can use the code “huckleberry” at checkout to save $25.

Thank you to all who have supported philmColor since it’s release. It’s been a heck of a ride. My goal has been to produce a versatile, flexible, and compatible collection of LUTs that work with all exposure techniques as much as possible that should be ideal and useful for filmmakers, VFX artists, colorists, and editors for many years to come.


I've really spent a large amount of time for this release. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Michael Tiemann]

I purchased via PayPal and don't have an account login. Can I send my old PP transaction info somewhere to verify?

 

[Phil Holland]

Got you sorted Michael.

There's instructions on the page for previous R2 purchasers, but if anybody who has purchased R2 in the past is having issues, please reach out. Fairly painless for me to send our a link to your license.

 

[Norbert Niederacher]

Thank you, Phil!

 

[Sergio Perez]

Hi Phil, purchased these and am very impressed with the results! Great work.

I use a lot of Final Cut Pro X , mainly because of the quick turnaround needed in some of my jobs. Would be great if you could provide a workflow guide for it. I sort of figured out through your workflow page in philmcolor.com, but still have some doubts about the ideal route, if I should use the Info/Lut/ route as a start and then stack up your creative luts after as custom Luts "effects."

Also saw the amazing transform luts you provide, can I ask for an update on the DJI one , specially because of the new Mavic 3, which is a bit different? Also, any solutions for Gopro Flat profile to REDWideGamutRGB and Log3g10?

Again, great stuff. Not a color grading man myself and most of my high end stuff goes to the professionals, but for the quick turnaround jobs and for a reference for an online edit this is an absolutely invaluable purchase for me.

 

[Phil Holland]

Hi Phil, purchased these and am very impressed with the results! Great work.

I use a lot of Final Cut Pro X , mainly because of the quick turnaround needed in some of my jobs. Would be great if you could provide a workflow guide for it. I sort of figured out through your workflow page in philmcolor.com, but still have some doubts about the ideal route, if I should use the Info/Lut/ route as a start and then stack up your creative luts after as custom Luts "effects."

Also saw the amazing transform luts you provide, can I ask for an update on the DJI one , specially because of the new Mavic 3, which is a bit different? Also, any solutions for Gopro Flat profile to REDWideGamutRGB and Log3g10?

Again, great stuff. Not a color grading man myself and most of my high end stuff goes to the professionals, but for the quick turnaround jobs and for a reference for an online edit this is an absolutely invaluable purchase for me.

Hi Sergio.

Workflow is pretty straight foward and looks like this:
- footage in REDWideGamutRGB and Log3G10
- philmColor Creative Cube LUTs
- Output Transform (RED's or mine or whatever)

I'll whip up a guide for Final Cut, but you use "Custom LUT" effect with appropriate settings. NLEs are the tricky ones as they aren't totally full blown grading apps. For Adobe users in Premiere Pro CC I like to "stack" Lumetri Color Panel layers, which allows for easy organization.

I'll take a look at the DJI and GoPro cams. I own both myself and actually forgot about the flat GoPro profile. I'll whack one out and update it. I expect with R3 we'll certainly be seeing things like a R3.1 or whatever update for exactly this reason plus I suspect we have some new gamma curves from other cams incoming. Just reminded me I need to add Autel into the mix too.

 

[Phil Holland]

Now that I have a second to breathe I want to chat about a couple of features you'll find in PCR3.

For those who don't follow me on ye old instagram, for the last couple years I've been rather aggressively testing motion picture lights and mixed lighting conditions that are common. I've been tasked more than once to do cleanup color work with often 3-5 competing sources in frame. Often a low quality LED is part of the equation, but sometimes an HMI that has drifted too blue, etc.

When I say there is an emphasis on skin tones with PCR3 this is pretty much what I am alluding to. Below is just one of the 70 polychromic LUTs that produce a color theme based on skin tones. Each one is unique, some are similar, some are simple, some are very complicated. This depends on your test, but this sort of guided color is in effect what I like to refer to as a digital stock.

One other thing I spent a bit of time developing for this release was a well crafted High Gamut Compression that can be used on all of philmColorR3's Output Transforms in both SDR and HDR. Interestingly this is something that is even overlooked in feature film color grades and I'm unsure to all the reasons why. But with modern digital cinema cameras with a lot of dynamic range, sensitivity, and wide gamut color you end up capturing a lot of information. This part is good! However, tricky lighting conditions out in the wilde like taillights, neon signs, etc. that may not light up with your chosen exposure for your subject can sometimes clip "fugly". Pretty common among all high end digital cinema cameras. So I've included this HGC built in with my transforms. This makes these really nice for fast turn around work, DOC, Reality, etc. shooting. Anything where the wilds of the real world might come into play within your frame.

And just a reminder, I am actively developing philmColor still. If there's stuff you want, stuff that isn't clear, or a need for some workflow help; just let me know. I'll be making more side by sides over the next week or so and some workflow helpers.


If you're curious what I keep loaded in my V-Raptor, my crv_curves and a few polychromic and schema LUTs I enjoy using. I also keep a couple ARC Transforms on there just in case. I don't like keeping a bazillion LUTs on camera, but I find that's a healthy grouping. The curves in particular are extremely useful. And remember I recommend using those with Medium/Soft from RED's IPP2 Output Transforms or my MSO Transform. The curves are essentially tackling the shape of everything from there.

 

[rand thompson]

Phil Didn't know if this had been posted yet, you can delete it if it has. This is PHIL`s Live Stream with Scott Balkum about PHILMCOLORR3

 

[Todd Gilpin]

Phil, I can't thank you enough for Philmcolor R2....let alone this upgrade to R3. And both Phil and Scott, this video contained so much useful information, not only about Philmcolor and how to put it to use, but color grading and camera tech in general....So grateful. Thank you.

And I'll second the GoPro transform.

 

[Phil Holland]

Thank you Todd. Today was a fantastic day. Spoke to a filmmaker in Vietnam, one in London, and a few locals. Really appreciate the support on this project and super happy so many find it useful.

Will be whacking out a few GoPro transforms. If you are using R709 footage out already, that transform works well. But I need to whack a Flat transform. I'm on it.

 

[Phil Holland]

And I'll second the GoPro transform.

And boom. Since we're early in the release I didn't do a 3.1 for this particular update. Just redownload R3 and you'll see I've included the GoPro R709 FLAT to RWG/Log3G10 transform.

Just completed tests on my GPB10 and it looks great. GoPro likes to go fairly bonkers in terms of saturation, this won't do that and skin looks a bit more human-like. Just take that in mind if you're aiming to grade to more typical GoPro-style of footage.

For their R709 looks the Generic R709 does a good job.

 

[Todd Gilpin]

Thank you!

 

[Sergio Perez]

And boom. Since we're early in the release I didn't do a 3.1 for this particular update. Just redownload R3 and you'll see I've included the GoPro R709 FLAT to RWG/Log3G10 transform.

Just completed tests on my GPB10 and it looks great. GoPro likes to go fairly bonkers in terms of saturation, this won't do that and skin looks a bit more human-like. Just take that in mind if you're aiming to grade to more typical GoPro-style of footage.

For their R709 looks the Generic R709 does a good job.

Amazing Phil you're the MAN!!!! Thanks for everything!

 

[Ryan Chernin]

These polychromic luts are SO useful. Wow. Love this release.

 

[Phil Holland]

These polychromic luts are SO useful. Wow. Love this release.

Thank you Ryan. I spent a great deal of time developing those. Ideally they do a good job of creating natural color schemes for most shooting situations. They do a good job of keeping skin tones in a range even with stray light and color.

 

[Ryan Chernin]

Thank you Ryan. I spent a great deal of time developing those. Ideally they do a good job of creating natural color schemes for most shooting situations. They do a good job of keeping skin tones in a range even with stray light and color.

Definitely. Every pch I’ve tried so far is a “magic skin tone button.” Plus, it’s a very cool approach to think of them as digital film stocks.

Love your suggestion in the release notes to stick a polychrome before one of the split tone luts. Getting some really gorgeous results with just a couple of those before an output transform.

I’m also simply amazed by how comprehensive this release is. Feels like a bit of a steal with how much is included. And a lot of them are really tools in and of themselves more than looks, which makes them immensely helpful in varying situations.

Quick question about ARC. That highlight gamut compression thing is really really interesting. I’m now starting to use these luts as my default output transforms. Is this a safe approach, or are there certain situations where Red’s standard Medium/Soft IPP2 output may serve the footage better? I’m guessing it’s a bit of “go with what looks best”

 

[Phil Holland]

Quick question about ARC. That highlight gamut compression thing is really really interesting. I’m now starting to use these luts as my default output transforms. Is this a safe approach, or are there certain situations where Red’s standard Medium/Soft IPP2 output may serve the footage better? I’m guessing it’s a bit of “go with what looks best”

I've done pretty extensive testing on the Highlight Gamut Compression. I have yet to find a situation where it looks weird or falls apart. I've been moderately frustrated by some of the other approaches to this where fire turns pink and similar weirdness. Goal was to create a nearly universal Output Transform with this HGC included. My take on it should be pretty in bounds. This really only shows with really "up there" saturated colors. So RED's IPP2 Medium/Soft and others work great leading right up to that really bright and saturated stuff. If I was doing a straight to deliver concert shoot or whatever though, that's where ARC and the rest of my tranforms do well in protecting against stuff. That's outside of the aesthetic driven reasons to use them as well.