Creating a custom LUT in DaVinci Resolve, and free cinematic LUT to download

EDIT (13 Aug 2014): The download link went dead for a while because of dropbox, it is now available again. 

On the movie I'm currently working on, I'm both the post-production manager and the color artist (and data manager, I guess...). So once I've chosen how to shoot the movie, (with log profile and creating dailies on the set), as a color artist, I had to prepare custom LUTs that will be used to grade the dailies.

What is a LUT? 

A LUT, or Look Up Table, is a very small file that is basically a translation table: it will convert the colors of the original file to another set, basically. This is great because it allows you to create a specific "look" that you can apply very quickly. On our set, for example, I will not grade all of our files individually. I will just apply a LUT to all the files and then export them, in matters of seconds.

How to create your own LUT. 

While you can find LUT files on the Internet (including on this blog, just scroll down on this article), the best practice is to run some tests before you shoot and create your own LUT: one style doesn't fit all. 

Thankfully, DaVinci Resolve makes it really easy to create a LUT. All you have to do is to color-grade your shot as you normally would (with no power windows, as they of course can't be included in a LUT), and then right click on the thumbnail of your file, and click on "Generate 3D LUT". And voilà!

How to download and use LUT files. 

Once you have created or downloaded a LUT, you have to put them in a specific folder in DaVinci Resolve. 

On Mac:

Hard Drive > Library > Application Support > Blackmagic Design > Davinci Resolve > LUT 

On PC: 

C:\ ProgramData\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\LUT\

Then, there are two ways to apply a LUT in Resolve. You can either do it on a node, just right click on one and choose your LUT (It will most likely be in 3D LUT), or on a file, by right clicking on it, and you will see the same submenu with 1D and 3D LUT. 

The LUTs created for Incompatibles. 

Incompatibles, the movie this blog is about, is a romantic comedy shot in Monaco, in August. To create a LUT, I discussed about Romain Girard, our director of photography, about his approach on the movie, and his references. 

Our visual references were: 

L'Arnacoeur (Heart Breaker)

The Hangover

Les Emotifs Anonymes (Romantics Anonymous)

We wanted a warm image, far from the usual Teal and Orange craze that you so often see in American productions. I created three LUTs. 

FULL DISCLOSURE

While they have been manipulated quite a bit, my LUTs use the LUTS distributed by the great Juan Melara, that you can find here: http://juanmelara.com.au/print-film-emulation-luts-for-download/

My references however weren't cinematic film stocks exactly, but rather photographic ones. I shoot a lot of a pictures, and my favorite film, especially for skin, is the Kodak Portra 400 UC (now discontinued), so my LUTs are a mix between a more usual "cinematic" look and the results I get from my 120 films. 

Since I wasn't able to shoot in Monaco with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera yet, I created three different LUTs based on the same core. They are all made to be used with log (film mode) footage, and will not look good with shots in video mode. 

There's the Subtle version, which aims at creating subtle colors, just a bit muted to part away from the digital look that you easily get from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. 

Then there's the Lift version, which is the subtle version with a lift in the low mid-tones, especially on the skin-tone area, to lift a bit the shadows on faces. 

And then there's the Expo version, which is a high key version of the subtle, with more brightness and saturation. 

DOWNLOAD THE LUTS HERE

The LUTs are for educational purposes only. You have no permission to use it for commercial purposes. If you use it for your personnal projects, please credit me under the name Adrien Le Falher. 

Here are some frames for comparison purposes: