Lumetri Presets

Mike, I think the words correction and grade are often synonymous and it's kinda tricky to answer how presets apply as one or the other. The manual for learning color in Resove 15 is called ' color correction in davinci 15' and on bottom of cover says, 'learn correction and grading'. As you go through those lessons the author talks a little about the difference and similarities ( and the weird mushy inter-connection ). I suppose if you are just editing quickly and do the normal legalizing of highlights, midtones and blacks ( let's say within a rec 709 space), so it looks good for basic editing stuff ( I guess that would include log to rec 709 or raw to 709 and then a little white balance correction if it's like way too warm or cool ( red or blue), that would be like 'correction'. Then you'd go back into it later or send it to someone or another program, to fine tune things and that could be more of a grading thing. It's hard to say now cause everthing ( all NLE's ) can do so much of everything now.... including compositing and so on...

If you get into doing 'steps' of correction ( first grade, second grade, etc. ) and start saving your own grades to export as luts and stuff, then maybe that would be called grading more than correction. To me they just mean the same thing in general.  This horse ( was a lesson in resolve ) was from a blackmagic cinema camera and some lut was applied from the start to get to rec 709 but it was really subtle difference. The sky was blown out white and the blue sky with cloud was another image as a composite done in the color section ( not fusion ) and the grass under the white horse ( everything in front of the brown horse ) was turned green from a really burnt out hay like color. Some masks had to be used ( selection of areas, power windows, etc. ) and some of that I would call grading intead of correction because there wasn't anything 'wrong' with the burnt out grass.. that's the way it really was. So correction is more like when something is 'wrong' ( not like it was when you shot it ) and grading is more like changing or making what is right even better ??  Like skin tones and so on.  Or details. It's kinda hard to really be exact about the definitions for me at least.

If you can provide a definitive distinction definition that would be acceptable say for the colorist's on the LGG (Lift/Gamma/Gain) forum, maybe I could provide  a definitive answer.  

Past the semantics, use them as thou wist. They are provided simply as starting places. Understand, even a "pure" tech LUT such as a log->Rec.709 one can be the basis for either simple neutralization or the start of a complex grade.

And a bit of advice  ... for applying normalization and tech LUTs, the Basic tab slot is  ... not optimal.

As LUTs are the dumbest math out there. They WILL clip data that is outside their range, and if done prior to any tonal controls you cannot recover the clipped data.

Which is why all teaching colorists preach applying correction or look LUTs in place so you can trim the media through the LUT with tonal controls processing on the media prior to the LUT.

In Lumetri, that means either using say an RGB Curves effect prior to Lumetri if using LUTs in the Basic tab, or my preference, applying tech/correction LUTs in the Creative tab.

Neil

Which ones?