Is there any easy way to bypass input LUT on export?

[morphinapg]

When I export small clips for VFX work, I'd prefer to export these without the input LUT enabled.

There are basically two ways I can achieve this right now:

Right click the source clips and disable input LUT, then export, then re-enable.

Or use an adjustment layer that I can turn on or off. This is easier, but seems to perform worse, especially if I'm making adjustments to the motion of the original clip, and sometimes doesn't work as well if the source is HDR. 

I'd prefer for there to be an option during export to bypass input LUTs. 

I'd also like an option for the project to have a default input LUT as well, rather than needing to set it up for every input source. 

I believe these are things you can do in Resolve, but I can't seem to find easy ways to achieve these things in Premiere.

[R Neil Haugen]

What Input LUTs are you choosing to use? Premiere doesn't have them as such. The new color management system relies on tonemapping (an algorithmic process) rather than LUTs for log media.

So it sounds like you are applying a LUT ... ?

[morphinapg]

Right click source, click Modify -> Color. Add Input LUT in this screen:

I generate my own LUTs. Do my own color space conversions and tonemapping, incorporating my own grading, rather than just standard color management. I have one LUT for SDR output, and a different LUT for HDR output. 

[R Neil Haugen]

Ahh. For working in both with the same clips, manually ... you need duplicate the clip in the bin. This creates a different metadata record for the same clip on-disc. Name them accordingly.

Then in one you can have your Input LUT for HDR work, the other one for SDR work. Just make sure you use the SDR referencing clip on Rec.709 sequences, the HLG referencing clip on HLG sequences.

The way Premiere handles metatadat about clips, this is kinda more useful for a totally manual workflow.

Personally, as someone who works for/with/teaches pro colorists, and spends a lot of time also in Resolve ... I've found the tonemapping used in Premiere a perfectly usable starter for bringing clips into the progam. And as working that way means you can use one clip reference without worying about using it in both HDR and SDR sequences, it's simply easier.

I'm not a fan of the "Input LUT" being placed before any possible 'trimming' of clip values. As LUTs can so easily be destructive, and typically can clip or crush out-of-expected values. It's nice to be able to 'trim' the exposure/contrast settings pre-LUT to be assured the clip meets the needs of the LUT.

But everyone works differently. Everyone.

[morphinapg]

No, I export the same sequence, one with the SDR LUT attached, and one with the HDR LUT attached, so it's the same clips both times because it's the same sequence.

When I export for VFX, I don't want any LUT attached. 

All of my LUTs are custom designed to work with the specific footage in each project, including custom clipping levels, adjustments to contrast, tonemapping, color handling, all that. My LUTs are generated using some custom math from measurements I make, designed to not be destructive with any of this footage, so that's not an issue. The source footage is PQ/2020 HDR, but I use my LUTs to create a custom tonemap to SDR, as well as a custom modified look for the HDR as well. I interpret as rec709 when I'm previewing my SDR LUT, and I interpret as PQ2020 when I'm previewing my HDR LUT. For exporting VFX, I export as rec709 with no lut and modify the color space in premiere later. 

While I can attach the LUT in the export preset, that would mean I would have to edit with the LUT disabled, which I don't want to do. I want to see the footage as my viewers will see it while I'm editing.

Resolve does have a way to do this. While editing I can set it as a monitor-only LUT, like this:

And while exporting I could set it as either an input or output LUT, depending on how I wanted to use it. This is applied project wide, which would be super useful in Premiere too.

Like I said, in premiere I could also use an adjustment layer with the LUT on it, and simply turn on or off that layer as necessary. This is easy, but it has performance issues when I need to make other adjustments to the clips it's affecting. It makes motion adjustments a lot slower than using Input LUTs, and it also sometimes is less accurate with HDR LUTs.

[R Neil Haugen]

Fascinating process there!

And it's complicated and unique enough that I'm not sure where the Fx send comes in your process. So it's not easy to guess how to handle your initial request of the thread.

[morphinapg]

Ultimately, you don't need to know much about my process. Just that I use the Input LUT feature and would like an option to bypass them when exporting. Or, like with resolve, a way to only apply a LUT to the preview monitor rather than to the footage itself, which would bypass it by default on export.

As for my VFX, because I'm going to apply different LUTs to different exports, I want the VFX colors to match the original footage, that's all. I apply the same LUTs to the VFX as well once they're rendered.

[R Neil Haugen]

I can't "give" a feature the app doesn't have at this point, I might be able to advise a usable workaround though. If I knew more.

Like ... are you applying any effects to the clip on  a sequence before sending to Fx? Do you need to send discrete sections of clips, or it is entire clips you are sending out?

[morphinapg]

I may have motion effects (moving the clip up/down, zooming) but I tend not to use any other effects before exporting for VFX. I set a custom in/out point from the sequence, not entire clips.

I was hoping Premiere already had the feature I was asking for, since it seemed to me like something that a lot of people would use if they used the input LUT feature. I was wondering if I was simply missing something.

[R Neil Haugen]

You're not the first to ask for disabling input luts on export. As yes, it would be a very useful switch to have.