Bounce Color LUTs Review

LUT essentially stands for Look-Up Table. They arrive as a small file that can be loaded into hardware or software to give video footage a certain look.

There’s a variety of different approaches to using LUT’s depending on where you are in the production process, and whether you’ve shot in Log or 709 standard colours. So, before you start and delve into what’s possible with them, it’s worth familiarising yourself with your camera and gamma options such as SLOG2 and SLOG3.

Once you’re set and ready with the cameras base settings then you’re ready to get filming using LUTs. At present, there are few cameras that enable the direct application of LUTs without the need for additional hardware such as an ATOMOS Ninja V.

The Bouncecolor LUTs arrive as generic .cube format files that can be applied to both hardware and software. The process of loading the LUTs varies but is generally relatively straight forward.

Devices such as the ATOMOS Ninja V enable you to load LUTs .cube format onto the recording media and then the LUT is selected through the Mon menu. DaVinci Resolve enables you to load them directly into the Color workspace.

Using Bouncecolor LUTs with a field monitor

I loaded a series of LUTs into the ATOMOS Ninja V to check out the use and application.

As the LUTs is contained as a look within the monitor, you can preview how it will look on the final footage – this is just a preview and will not be applied (Baked) into the footage. However, you do that baked in option on some hardware such as the ATOMOS Ninja V.

For video this is the ability to preview the effect is especially important as the effect of grading can reduce the exposure considerably, so it’s good to see if the footage needs a tweak, either way, to ensure you have a good idea of how the effect will look once the final LUT and Grade are applied in the edit.

Using LUTs does take practice to ensure you get the correct balance of colour and tone in the RAW recordings, but the rewards for good controlled LUT use are huge.

Using Bouncecolor LUTs in a video editor

As well as applying LUTs in hardware they can be loaded into the Grading environment of most popular video editors such as DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro X and Premiere Pro.

Again a quick drag and drop from each applications colour grading environment enables you to apply the effect to the footage.

Bouncecolor LUTs offer one of the most comprehensive collections out there and will enable you to boost your production’s cinematic quality with ease.

Their use is relatively straight forward, but Bouncecolor has gone the extra mile and ensured that they had produced plenty of additional material and videos to ensure that you get up and running with their LUTs in multiple applications quickly. They also look as base grading and using base corrections and Log to Rec 709 use.

In this review, I’m looking at a small selection of the companies vast LUT range, including the Blackmagic Natural Enhanced Rec709 LUT, Luxury Grey LUTs, Bounce Color Nature LUTs, True Basic Log Conversion LUTs and Color Urban Dark LUTs.

I’ll be looking at the effect of these in use on the preview screen on the ATOMOS Ninja V and through the editing process using DaVinci Resolve.

All Bouncecolor LUTs arrive in the .cube format. This means that they’re fully compatible with any application or hardware that accepts the format; Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci resolve on the software side and ATOMOS, Small HD, BestView and countless more hardware side.

Installing the LUT’s couldn’t be easier. For example, on the ATOMOS Ninja V, you load the LUTs into a folder on the recording media, then in the MON menu, select LUT and one of the custom buttons, click to open the browser and assign.

Likewise, in an application such as Final Cut Pro X, you navigate the Effects panel, drag and drop custom onto your footage and then click LUT and locate the LUT you want. It’s not the most elegant selection, but there are applications out there, such as the ColorGrading Central Lut viewer or Color Finale that make the preview process a little smoother.

Once in place in the hardware or software, the selected Bouncecolour LUT can be applied.

The best way to describe LUTs to someone new to the concept is as a video style toolset that can be applied for different jobs.

As with any grading tool, you need to become familiar with the available effects and adjust your shooting and exposure settings accordingly.

The LUT’s can be applied to either LOG or 709 footage, but LOG footage with all that extra tonal detail should be used for the best results.

Either way, the exposure and white balance of the footage is critical to the successful application of a LUT. I’ve found that using the custom white balance is by far the best solution to ensuring that the footage is correctly prepared for LUT use.

Bouncecolor state that it’s important to ensure that the footage you shoot is well balanced when it comes to exposure. Don’t overexpose as many ILC tend to do and don’t underexpose. If you go, too far, either way, it’s better to slightly underexposing than over overexposing to ensure the highlights don’t blow. But, as ever experiment with your camera to see what’s the best fit for you.

The effect of each LUT is stark, and Bouncecolor has worked to ensure the maximum quality from the tones without crunching the detail too much.

Looks-wise the Luxury Grey and urban dark LUTs quickly transform the footage.

For what is a relatively small outlay, the effect of the LUT application on your footage is incredible. Through this test, the ability to see a LUT’s effect during the production process was invaluable. It enabled the adjustment of exposure and composition to fit the style of the production.

Loading LUTs onto the ATOMOs Ninja V was fast, and once you’ve gone through the process a few times, it forms part of your pre-shoot process.

When you first start to use LUTs in your production, ensuring you have exposed the footage correctly can be a challenge, but again the ability to preview the effect of LUT during filming makes all the difference.

Once all footage is shot and loaded in DaVinci Resolve, edited and ready for grading, the LUTs application is the finishing seal on the production.

In most cases, after a base correction, the LUT of choice can be applied directly, and there’s rarely a need to adjust the image properties further.

Bouncecolor offers a huge array of LUTs in their collection. In this review, I’ve covered the LUTs as a whole, but with such a large collection, pop along to Bouncecolor and check out the entire collection.