What is the difference between primary wheels and log?
What is the difference between primary wheels and log?
What is the difference between primary wheels and log? You and many others probably wondering the same question, why there are two types of wheels available and what is the difference?Â
Primary Wheels
Let’s start with primary wheels! Color Balance wheels, let you adjust all three color channels at once, affecting the color temperature of the scene at a specific tonal range. Lift, Gamma, Gain. You can also use Color bars which operate in the exactly same principle as primary wheels. Primary wheel adjustments overlap or bleed through each other. For example, if you are making an adjustment to Lift, it will affect gamma a little bit as well. If you adjust Gain, it will bleed to the gamma. In the picture below, you can see how each of those parameters is intertwined.
Lift, Gamma and Gain work together to let you alter image contrast in different ways.
- make shadows deeper, darken midtones and make them deeper, and lighten the highlights to create desired image tonality.
The below slide shows an example of the same adjustments being done in PRIMARY wheels and LOG Mode. We can see that the blue tone down with primary wheels affects almost the entire image while the Log Mode only slightly affects the shadows.Â
Both images were processed with Origami Blackamgic Gen 5 LUTsÂ
For this demo, I partnered up with new Stock Footage Platform called FindStory. Use code ARAMK to get 20% Discount on any subscription
LOG Mode
Log Mode controls the overall signal in a linear, film oriented way. Log mode provides Shadow, Midtones, Highlights, Offset controls that offer more restrictive and more customizable areas of adjustment, because you can manually set the ins (low range) and out points (high range) of your adjustments. Log mode is intended to be used on the Log image data. Primary wheels and Log wheels work in different ways from each other.Â
Log is typically used on the log footage (Arri Log C, RED RAW, Blackmagic Film etc)Â
PS: Fake “LOG” Camera profiles often supplied for cameras such as Canon are not true LOG but rather imitations that appear similar.
In this other example below, courtesy of FindStory. In this second example, I added magenta to the shadows using Primary wheels and it completely altered the entire look of the image making it more neutral. The green version of the image received the same treatment and we can barely see any magenta in the blacks. Of course, those are default parameters without configuring the low and high range of the image.
- Log adjustments can be used before (REC709) LUT is applied or on the same Node.
- The Log controls designed to work specifically with media with Log-C
or similar gamma and color encoding, derived from the Cineon Log gamma curve, developed by
Kodak to digitally store flat-contrast, wide-gamut image data that preserves image detail with a wide
latitude for adjustment.
Hopefully, that explains what are the primary wheels and log, and the video below should also help you as a little guide to understanding further! If you would like to learn more about filmmaking and color grading, be sure to check them in my blog!
Conclusion
To conclude this, I just want to say that even though there are “rules” and certain processes that are considered to be “standards” in the color grading process. Working as a professional colorist for over 10 years I believe that it doesn’t matter who or what tells you to do a certain way. Create your own style that works for you. In the end, what matters is a clean good image and if you can deliver that, nobody cares how or what you used in making it.
The very same people writing manuals and creating rules, at some point sat in the studio scratching their heads thinking about solutions. Believe me it happens all the time, every time even right now. The myth of a “PRO” just because he or she works in Hollywood means absolutely nothing. A lot of times, some of those people just happen to ran into somebody they knew and got the job by accident and in many cases even now they probably don’t even know how to use most of the available software tools. So don’t be afraid to do your own thing and also don’t be afraid to subscribe to my youtube channel and Instagram! Cheers!
