Apple Color 1.0 - Manual (Page 119)

Chapter 6 Monitoring 119
This process typically involves printing a test image to film at the lab and then
analyzing the resulting image to generate a target LUT that, together with your display’s
calibration LUT (derived using a monitor probe and software on your system), is used to
generate a third LUT, which is the one that’s used by Color for monitoring your
program as you work.
Creating LUTs in Color
In a pinch, you can match two monitors by eye using the controls of the Primary In
room, and generating a LUT to emulate your match directly out of Color.
You can also export a grade as a “look” LUT to see how a particular correction will affect
a digitally recorded image while it’s being shot. To do this, the crew must be using a
field monitor capable of loading LUTs in the .mga format.
To create your own LUT:
1 Arrange your Color preview display and the target monitor so that both can be seen at
the same time.
2 Load a good evaluation image (such as a Macbeth chart) into the Timeline.
3 Display the same image on the target display using a second reliable video source.
4 Open the Primary In room and adjust the controls appropriate to make the two images
match.
5 Choose Export > Display LUT.
6 When the Save LUT As dialog appears, enter a name for that LUT into the File field,
choose a location to save the file, and click Save.
By default, LUTs are saved to the /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Color/
LUTs directory.
Important: If your project is already using a LUT when you export a new one, the
currently loaded LUT is concatenated with your adjustments, and the combination is
exported as the new LUT.
Using LUTs
All LUTs used and generated by Color are 3D LUTs. Color uses the .mga LUT format
(originally developed by Pandora), which is compatible with software by Rising Sun
Research, Kodak, and others. If necessary, there are also applications available to
convert LUTs from one format into another.
LUTs don’t impact processing performance at all.
To use a LUT:
1 Choose File > Import > Display LUT.
2 Select a LUT file using the Load LUT dialog, and click Load.