LUT processing in After Effects now has the option to use a more precise calculation method called Tetrahedral interpolation. The result is smoother gradients and better-looking results when applying LUTs. The old method is called Trilinear and is still available. This option can be found in the Project Settings.
Below is an extreme example for illustrative purposes:
ORIGINAL:
Your basic ramp . . .
TRILINEAR (old method):
Notice the severe banding. This occurs when you have smooth gradients and the LUT doesn’t have enough precision to handle the small steps. In practical terms, outdoor shots with a blue sky are a good example of smooth gradients that you see often.
TETRAHEDRAL (new method):
Notice the smooth gradient. Tetrahedral uses a superior method to interpolate values in between the steps, so even with a low precision LUT, you get very good results.
Tetrahedral LUT interpolation requires GPU processing and is a little bit more computationally intensive, but we don’t think it will be noticeable. Let us know if you see performance degradation.
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