Lumetri Color LUTs not being applied to export via Media Encoder

[td11300]

Hi,

I'm having an issue where LUTs applied using Lumetri Color, both on an adjustment layer or the clip itself, aren't being applied to the final export if I export via Media Encoder. It works if I use the Premiere exporter, but it's not ideal as it means I can't use Premiere until an export finishes.

iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, Late 2015

3.2GHz intel core i5

16gb RAM

Premiere Pro CC 2017

[taeke63]

Maybe for a (hopefully soon) future release, Adobe could place the common LUT's in a the "Adobe/Common" folder, so that all programs which use LUT's, have access to the same LUT's?

It's a not really maintenance friendly to manually copy LUT's to the program specific folders 😉

Obviously LUT suppliers need to adapt their installation routines for the various software versions.

[Kevin-Monahan]

taeke,

Maybe for a (hopefully soon) future release, Adobe could place the common LUT's in a the "Adobe/Common" folder, so that all programs which use LUT's, have access to the same LUT's?

It's a not really maintenance friendly to manually copy LUT's to the program specific folders 😉

Obviously LUT suppliers need to adapt their installation routines for the various software versions.

That is exactly what the devs have done. Update Premiere Pro, if you have not already done so.

Regards,
Kevin

[mattdial]

Kevin,

I think the big takeaway is that there really should be a LUT manager -- because it is not very user-friendly to do it in the correct manner. Thank you for posting that, as I see people continue to encourage adding their LUTs inside the application/content bundles.

[R Neil Haugen]

I just posted a suggestion for a utility app-let, that works from/with all three apps (Pr, Ae, Me) ...

Create a "LUT Manager" utility to clearly, easily, and quickly store/manage LUTs for use in Pr, Ae, ...

A utility mini-app for managing LUT location storage for both Technical and Creative folders for all three apps, Pr, Ae, Me ... that would work across the three apps, be linked to them all.

Just open the utility, drag/drop LUTs from Finder/Explorer into the appropriate folder ... done. Again, access the utility from all three apps.

There's already a suggestion to work LUTs through the CC assets, but that only uses the libraries, not the locations we really need for them on machines. Plus ... you should be able to simply drag/drop from Finder/Explorer with my idea.

And it should be very simple code, there's tons of apps like this in use.

Neil

[Kevin-Monahan · Accepted solution]

From my colleague Francis Crossman:

The problems you are experiencing are caused by tampering with the LUTs within the application package - please do not do this - it's not a recommended or supported workflow.  I know there are a lot of very official looking tutorials out there that tell you to do this, but that information is wrong.  The safest way to proceed at this point is to completely reinstall PPro and AME so the LUT directories are restored to their default state as intended by our engineers.  You should then install your custom LUTs according to the directions below.  You will then need to remove all LUTs from your project and reapply them.  I know this is inconvenient, but it really is the safest way to make certain your project will render as intended.

If you are using several custom LUTs and want them to show up in the Lumetri dropdown menus we have a solution which was introduced earlier this year (2018 - version 12.1).  You can install your LUTs into a specific folder in your user library and Lumetri will scan them in. Here are steps to set that up.

Mac

1. From the finder, use the Go menu to navigate to this directory: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
2. Create a folder named LUTs
3. Create two more folders inside the LUTs folder: Technical and Creative
4. Copy technical conversion LUTs (often called camera LUTs) such as LOG to Rec709 into the Technical folder
5. Copy creative LUTs such as day-for-night, B&W, or anything that is just a stylistic look into the Creative folder
6. Restart PPro
7. Technical LUTs show up in the Input LUT dropdown inside the Basic section in Lumetri
8. Creative LUTs show up in the Look dropdown inside the Creative section in Lumetri

Windows equivalent directories:

~\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Technical

~\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Creative

This is a convenient and easy way to add as many LUTs as you like to the Lumetri dropdown menus and this will persist through updates - unless of course you delete or change this directory.

P.S. This is a good example of why not to update any software in the middle of a project, especially in the home-stretch.  I've been there myself.  I feel your pain.  I wish I had better news for you.

[Stephen Barrante]

Quick followup on this. Do you know the correct path to copy LUTs over to so that you want to be able to always access/apply them in Media Encoder under the Effects tab? I've followed the procedure above and they do not appear. Thank you.

[R Neil Haugen]

Stephen,

Here's the chart with the "correct" locations on both PCs and Macs. One little bit ... the last folder in each tree, the Technical (for Basic tab use) and Creative (for Creative tab use) are not 'made' on installation, and you will have to add those two folders and then park your LUTs inside them.

I created a desktop shortcut to those folders to make it quick to get to them to add or remove LUTS. Using this setup, if Premiere can see them, then MediaEncoder and AfterEffects should also.

And ...there's no 'refresh' capability in Premiere, MediaEncoder, nor AfterEffects. So after you've added a LUT you need to close any of those programs if they are open so that when they re-launch they will then review the contents of those folders and 'see' the full extent of the LUTs/Look files there.

Neil