Want to shoot N-Log with a Z9 and edit/grade in Resolve?

[MotoPixel]

First off, kudos to Steve for implementing this forum section, I think it will become quite popular.

This short clip was created by Nikon Asia and is without a doubt, the best tutorial to get you started grading N-Log footage from a Z9 in DaVinci Resolve. This applies to the free or paid Studio version.

There are many free and reasonably priced video editors out there, but after trying many of them at one time or another, several years ago I settled on DaVinci Resolve and I've never looked back...I'll never outgrow it. There is a learning curve and the hardware demands can become substantial if you get into more complicated VFX, Stabilization and NR or want to work in 8K timelines. That said, there is a wealth of tutorials out there to learn from and doing basic assemble edits and adding transitions is not really different from editors.

Cheers!

 

[Nimi]

For those attempting, be sure to download the appropriate LUT which is the first thing you apply to the Nlog file (in any software). Find it here: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/230.html

 

[MotoPixel]

For those attempting, be sure to download the appropriate LUT which is the first thing you apply to the Nlog file (in any software). Find it here: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/230.html

Just to touch on a key point in that video I linked and one of the things that had me stumped very early on when I started editing N-Log Z9 footage. Yes, you do need to download the LUT from Nikon...and there are two versions now.

Not sure how PPro handles this, but for DR users need to be aware of a aspect of using LUTs in Resolve.

But...and this is a very key "but " that is explained in the clip I linked...in the project settings page for your editing project, you should set the Color Science setting on the Color Management page to DaVinci YRGB Color Managed and let DR apply the LUT automatically as the clip(s) are imported. When clips are imported and the LUT applied at import, the processing operates a different level, mathematically, and provides a more accurate color space transform to your desired output gamut and gamma settings. Some might ask, "What if you have clips from different cameras?" DR reads the file metadata and processes accordingly, assuming there's a LUT available for it. If there isn't, it will import it anyway, as is and you can grade it to taste manually.

As happened with me at first, when I'd apply the LUT on the color page instead of import, the colors and saturation were totally overdone...I was essentially applying the LUT twice. It took me a while to fully understand why that was happening and I see questions about this all the time. Most YT tutorials on LUTs completely gloss over this matter.

 

[Nimi]

Just to touch on a key point in that video I linked and one of the things that had me stumped very early on when I started editing N-Log Z9 footage. Yes, you do need to download the LUT from Nikon...and there are two versions now.

Not sure how PPro handles this, but for DR users need to be aware of a aspect of using LUTs in Resolve.

But...and this is a very key "but " that is explained in the clip I linked...in the project settings page for your editing project, you should set the Color Science setting on the Color Management page to DaVinci YRGB Color Managed and let DR apply the LUT automatically as the clip(s) are imported. When clips are imported and the LUT applied at import, the processing operates a different level, mathematically, and provides a more accurate color space transform to your desired output gamut and gamma settings. Some might ask, "What if you have clips from different cameras?" DR reads the file metadata and processes accordingly, assuming there's a LUT available for it. If there isn't, it will import it anyway, as is and you can grade it to taste manually.

As happened with me at first, when I'd apply the LUT on the color page instead of import, the colors and saturation were totally overdone...I was essentially applying the LUT twice. It took me a while to fully understand why that was happening and I see questions about this all the time. Most YT tutorials on LUTs completely gloss over this matter.

First, re the two LUTs, the first is garbage. Overdaturated and muddies the shadows. The second one was developed specifically for the Z9 and I found it perfect.

Second, I haven't tried it in DR. I shoot pretty exclusively in Nlog now and prefer PP. In PP, it's the same issue you describe if you apply that LUT then try to correct and grade the base layer. Best practice which takes care of it is creating three adjustment layers stacked above the base layer. The Nikon LUT is applied to the lowest adjustment layer, color correction to the middle one and color grading, either with a LUT or manually to the top. Graphics go on top of all that.

 

[Nimi]

For those attempting, be sure to download the appropriate LUT which is the first thing you apply to the Nlog file (in any software). Find it here: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/230.html

Here is a comparison of those two LUTs btw.

 

[Activert]

Does anybody know what it is the best video setting for action, like smming dolphins, birds in flight or running deer?
Thank you

 

[Nimi]

A good tripod... Then probably 30fps, 1/60 or 60/120 but be sure to edit it on a 60 timeline otherwise you get slow motion. @Activert

 

[Activert]

A good tripod... Then probably 30fps, 1/60 or 60/120 but be sure to edit it on a 60 timeline otherwise you get slow motion.

Thank you Nimi, as always you have the answer for everything dealing with videos. I rely on your expertise. My knowledge with videos shooting is zero.
I am going in 10 days to the Big Island and I want to do some videos for Dolphins and whales, as well for waves and other creatures. I also want to make videos for landscape. My question is what is the best file type, frame rate and frame size to use to get the best quality without having trouble later in editing.
I do really appreciate your help and your response.

 

[Activert]

A good tripod... Then probably 30fps, 1/60 or 60/120 but be sure to edit it on a 60 timeline otherwise you get slow motion. @Activert

Do you give online courses?

 

[Nimi]

Thank you Nimi, as always you have the answer for everything dealing with videos. I rely on your expertise. My knowledge with videos shooting is zero.
I am going in 10 days to the Big Island and I want to do some videos for Dolphins and whales, as well for waves and other creatures. I also want to make videos for landscape. My question is what is the best file type, frame rate and frame size to use to get the best quality without having trouble later in editing.
I do really appreciate your help and your nd frame size to use to get the best quality without having trouble later in editing.

What camera are you using?

 

[Activert]

The Z9 with the z70- 200 mm ( if I need with the 1.4 tc) and the macro z 105. I still hésitante to bring my Z 600 tc on this trip with me . Thank you

 

[Nimi]

The Z9 with the z70- 200 mm ( if I need with the 1.4 tc) and the macro z 105. I still hésitante to bring my Z 600 tc on this trip with me . Thank you

I suggest shooting at 30fps, 1/60th, ISO 800, 4k. As far as profile, standard or vivid. Since you're shooting outdoors in daylight, a 3-6 stop ND since that and aperture are the only tools for exposure. The 4k will give you a stunning file which has enough resolution to crop later. And stabilized. The video here is actually very good for the basic settings.

 

[HeyMikeRiley]

Just to touch on a key point in that video I linked and one of the things that had me stumped very early on when I started editing N-Log Z9 footage. Yes, you do need to download the LUT from Nikon...and there are two versions now.

Not sure how PPro handles this, but for DR users need to be aware of a aspect of using LUTs in Resolve.

But...and this is a very key "but " that is explained in the clip I linked...in the project settings page for your editing project, you should set the Color Science setting on the Color Management page to DaVinci YRGB Color Managed and let DR apply the LUT automatically as the clip(s) are imported. When clips are imported and the LUT applied at import, the processing operates a different level, mathematically, and provides a more accurate color space transform to your desired output gamut and gamma settings. Some might ask, "What if you have clips from different cameras?" DR reads the file metadata and processes accordingly, assuming there's a LUT available for it. If there isn't, it will import it anyway, as is and you can grade it to taste manually.

As happened with me at first, when I'd apply the LUT on the color page instead of import, the colors and saturation were totally overdone...I was essentially applying the LUT twice. It took me a while to fully understand why that was happening and I see questions about this all the time. Most YT tutorials on LUTs completely gloss over this matter.

great thread! I know my basics around resolve but am struggling with the Z9 LUTs as you said. I had no issue using Canon LUTS when I shot that. When I went to Fuji I found that the manufacturer LUTs seemed weird, but I bought some other ones that were one click and looked great.

I'm getting the same issue on these Nikon LUTs, but I can't seem to find a way around it.
Even when I apply Color Managed, the clips are super blown out and saturated whereas the N-Log footage is properly exposed.
Do you mind posting a screenshot or a bit more info as to what settings you're putting and the workflow on importing?

 

[Calson]

If one is going to process with Resolve then why not N-RAW and have more dynamic range and grading options?

 

[Nimi]

great thread! I know my basics around resolve but am struggling with the Z9 LUTs as you said. I had no issue using Canon LUTS when I shot that. When I went to Fuji I found that the manufacturer LUTs seemed weird, but I bought some other ones that were one click and looked great.

I'm getting the same issue on these Nikon LUTs, but I can't seem to find a way around it.
Even when I apply Color Managed, the clips are super blown out and saturated whereas the N-Log footage is properly exposed.
Do you mind posting a screenshot or a bit more info as to what settings you're putting and the workflow on importing?

There is only one factory Nikon LUT to take it from NLog to Rec.709. Then any LUT works.

 

[Garfield]

If one is going to process with Resolve then why not N-RAW and have more dynamic range and grading options?

N-raw has a little more latitude when grading due to the extra bit-depth (it's still not true RAW) but the files are saved more-or-less unprocessed vs. H.265 files which are stored partly pre-processed (e.g. some noise reduction). By the time you take into account the extra work to process N-Raw, the MUCH larger file sizes and the fact that any visual benefit isn't noticeable on social media, the benefits of shooting RAW isn't worth it for most people.

 

[MotoPixel]

great thread! I know my basics around resolve but am struggling with the Z9 LUTs as you said. I had no issue using Canon LUTS when I shot that. When I went to Fuji I found that the manufacturer LUTs seemed weird, but I bought some other ones that were one click and looked great.

I'm getting the same issue on these Nikon LUTs, but I can't seem to find a way around it.
Even when I apply Color Managed, the clips are super blown out and saturated whereas the N-Log footage is properly exposed.
Do you mind posting a screenshot or a bit more info as to what settings you're putting and the workflow on importing?

Mike,

If you are shooting in Nlog, you don't need to apply the LUT manually, Resolve does it automatically. And that's assuming you have the Nikon LUT installed in the proper location, which it seems you do if you're able to apply it and screw everything up!

Here is a screen capture of what should work for you. This setting will read the metadata in your Z9 clip and apply the proper LUT (and Rec.709 color space) automatically when you import it into your timeline. Do NOT apply a Nikon LUT in your color page. Under "Color Processing Mode" where I have SDR selected in this capture, I typically set that for DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate instead, but start out with SDR for now. Don't worry about any of the other settings below Output Color Space.

You will still need to edit somewhat in the Color Page, depending on your exposure, etc. but you should be darn close.

Drop a note if you're still having issues...

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

Cheers!

 

[MotoPixel]

N-raw has a little more latitude when grading due to the extra bit-depth (it's still not true RAW) but the files are saved more-or-less unprocessed vs. H.265 files which are stored partly pre-processed (e.g. some noise reduction). By the time you take into account the extra work to process N-Raw, the MUCH larger file sizes and the fact that any visual benefit isn't noticeable on social media, the benefits of shooting RAW isn't worth it for most people.

I couldn't agree more...I'm amazed at how clean the H.265 10-bit files are straight out of the Z9. N-Raw and even Nlog are not worth the extra effort unless you're doing major VFX in Fusion. Most are just posting to social media directly or via YT or Vimeo, etc...and that includes me, other than some training videos I shoot for a small, local manufacturing company, and those are most often viewed on a cell phone!

All that said, it's always good to invest the time in learning all the different modes of using the tools you have at hand...go for it...but don't be surprised at how hard it can be to get your video looking as good as what comes out of the camera. I'm really impressed by what Nikon has done with their first serious effort at video...I'd bet that more surprises await us...soon. After all, they don't have Pro video camera lines to worry about cannibalizing!

Cheers!

 

[Garfield]

I couldn't agree more...I'm amazed at how clean the H.265 10-bit files are straight out of the Z9. N-Raw and even Nlog are not worth the extra effort unless you're doing major VFX in Fusion. Most are just posting to social media directly or via YT or Vimeo, etc...and that includes me, other than some training videos I shoot for a small, local manufacturing company, and those are most often viewed on a cell phone!

All that said, it's always good to invest the time in learning all the different modes of using the tools you have at hand...go for it...but don't be surprised at how hard it can be to get your video looking as good as what comes out of the camera. I'm really impressed by what Nikon has done with their first serious effort at video...I'd bet that more surprises await us...soon. After all, they don't have Pro video camera lines to worry about cannibalizing!

Cheers!

It's interesting that while camera manufacturers seem to be championing "raw" codecs ostensibly to cater to the relatively small cine crowd (that I really can't see using hybrid cameras in a substantial way), from what I can gather the future of video is more likely to be along the line of incremental improvements to non-raw highly compressed universal codecs like H265, especially as dedicated encoders become more commonplace.

 

[Nimi]

It's interesting that while camera manufacturers seem to be championing "raw" codecs ostensibly to cater to the relatively small cine crowd (that I really can't see using hybrid cameras in a substantial way), from what I can gather the future of video is more likely to be along the line of incremental improvements to non-raw highly compressed universal codecs like H265, especially as dedicated encoders become more commonplace.

Not so sure. Hybrids, right now the Lumix S5II, Sony 7v and Siii, Fuji XH2, maybe the Canon R5, are the entry level cine cameras for crew-less filmmakers. Entry level "proper" cinema cameras like the FX6, Komodo, and R5C or C70 are 2 to 3x the price. Some oddbals like the FX3 and 30 and BDOCC, but I am not sure they are making a dent.

 

[HeyMikeRiley]

Mike,

If you are shooting in Nlog, you don't need to apply the LUT manually, Resolve does it automatically. And that's assuming you have the Nikon LUT installed in the proper location, which it seems you do if you're able to apply it and screw everything up!

Here is a screen capture of what should work for you. This setting will read the metadata in your Z9 clip and apply the proper LUT (and Rec.709 color space) automatically when you import it into your timeline. Do NOT apply a Nikon LUT in your color page. Under "Color Processing Mode" where I have SDR selected in this capture, I typically set that for DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate instead, but start out with SDR for now. Don't worry about any of the other settings below Output Color Space.

You will still need to edit somewhat in the Color Page, depending on your exposure, etc. but you should be darn close.

Drop a note if you're still having issues...View attachment 57065

Cheers!

Hmm ya, I’ve got all of that. I used to have to manually set up some of these parameters when I was shooting in F-Log2 but I don’t know why I’m having such weird results on the Nikon side.

Watching the video from Asia that you posted, the clips looked great in both instances when he applied the LUT or the automatic colour management. When I do it, everything goes wild.

I shot these clips today, the log is properly exposed and the LUT or colour management (I typically use colour management and don’t manually apply a LUT anyways) brought the exposure way up. I dropped the exposure on most of these clips pretty dramatically. The light was bad and it was snowing so none of them are fantastic image quality, but I’ll have to keep tinkering here.

 

[HeyMikeRiley]

I couldn't agree more...I'm amazed at how clean the H.265 10-bit files are straight out of the Z9. N-Raw and even Nlog are not worth the extra effort unless you're doing major VFX in Fusion. Most are just posting to social media directly or via YT or Vimeo, etc...and that includes me, other than some training videos I shoot for a small, local manufacturing company, and those are most often viewed on a cell phone!

All that said, it's always good to invest the time in learning all the different modes of using the tools you have at hand...go for it...but don't be surprised at how hard it can be to get your video looking as good as what comes out of the camera. I'm really impressed by what Nikon has done with their first serious effort at video...I'd bet that more surprises await us...soon. After all, they don't have Pro video camera lines to worry about cannibalizing!

Cheers!

I’m definitely interested in n-raw in resolve but I’ve come to the same conclusion on my own. I might even switch off Log and use the flat profile. I was shooting some otters before sunrise a while ago. Had to use manual focus because it was so dark and the clip was very noisey. I did ok with Neat video Noise Reduction but it got me thinking that it may have been a good spot for raw that would let me change iso at the computer, but the processing required is so intensive, I’d MUCH rather let the camera do it for me.

 

[Nimi]

Hmm ya, I’ve got all of that. I used to have to manually set up some of these parameters when I was shooting in F-Log2 but I don’t know why I’m having such weird results on the Nikon side.

Watching the video from Asia that you posted, the clips looked great in both instances when he applied the LUT or the automatic colour management. When I do it, everything goes wild.

I shot these clips today, the log is properly exposed and the LUT or colour management (I typically use colour management and don’t manually apply a LUT anyways) brought the exposure way up. I dropped the exposure on most of these clips pretty dramatically. The light was bad and it was snowing so none of them are fantastic image quality, but I’ll have to keep tinkering here.

Are you editing the footage directly or using adjustment layers. I'm in Premiere Pro, but I think same principles apply. First adjustment layer is Nlog converted to Rec709 using the Nikon-provided LUT (the second one, first one is garbage). Second adjustment layer for balance, contrast, exposure, etc. Third for grading directly or with a LUT.

I run into trouble as you describe if I try to correct and grade inside the same layer, especially exposure and contrast.

 

[MotoPixel]

Nimi and Mike...

In Resolve, when working in a color managed environment, the LUT is applied transparently to bring the clip to Rec.709 color space and 2.4 gamma. This is assuming that, in the screen I posted above, you haven't unchecked "automatic color management" and selected a different color space and gamma...or color processing mode other than SDR. Once you've inserted the clip into a timeline the only LUT you might want to apply would be something for a particular "Look", a film look or whatever. As far as I know there is no node or adjustment layer in the timeline where the LUT can be altered unless you go back to the project settings and operate in full manual mode, entering the LUT once you've imported your clip(s), which is a pain and as the Nikon Asia clip shows, results in a lesser quality transform.

In my case, instead of editing and color grading in the SDR color processing mode, I switch to DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate (DWGI) which works in a much larger color space with more precision...and the grading controls have a better feel/range to them. I leave the Output Color Space set at SDR Rec.709 and when I render the output, it's automatically transformed from DWGI back to SDR Rec.709 without intervention on my part.

As for color grading, I generally just edit at the clip level in the Color Page if there aren't any major problems with the footage or clips from different sources, vis a vis cell phone, drone, GoPro, etc. If things get more complicated, I'll add some adjustment nodes on the color page and deal with each clip type separately, setting up nodes for gain, contrast, offset, etc., as necessary for each source and then I can apply those to other similar clips easily.

Here is a very quick video I just shot...two clips, the first shot in NLog and the second in Standard Picture mode regular Rec.709 Gamma 2.4. I set up my color management as per above, imported the two clips into my media pool and then added both clips to my timeline. I didn't have to tell DVR that one was in log or the other in a standard 2.4 gamma...it knows. I did have to boost the contrast, gain and color boost of the log clip to 1.196, 1.31 and 3.00 respectively to get the clips to match reasonably close. Took me all of a minute to bring the two clips close in look.

Might take a few more minutes for YT to have the 4K version available. This was shot through glass in my French Doors out to my deck, so some aberrations.

Cheers!

 

[MotoPixel]

Hmm ya, I’ve got all of that. I used to have to manually set up some of these parameters when I was shooting in F-Log2 but I don’t know why I’m having such weird results on the Nikon side.

Watching the video from Asia that you posted, the clips looked great in both instances when he applied the LUT or the automatic colour management. When I do it, everything goes wild.

I shot these clips today, the log is properly exposed and the LUT or colour management (I typically use colour management and don’t manually apply a LUT anyways) brought the exposure way up. I dropped the exposure on most of these clips pretty dramatically. The light was bad and it was snowing so none of them are fantastic image quality, but I’ll have to keep tinkering here.

Hard to tell with that clip, it being mostly a "white out". Are you saying that when you brought that clip into the timeline it came in way overexposed before you did anything to it? That's very odd...I almost always have to bump the gain and contrast a little bit, sometimes color boost, as well...as with the clip I just posted above. I could send a short NLog clip for you to try and see if your system responds the same way. It's a mystery!