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Magic Bullet Looks

Tools Framework and Tutorial

As cinematographers know, what you see on set is not what you get on the final output. Color grading can take the muted or harsh conditions of a set, particularly outdoors, and render them beautiful and, well, cinematic. Viewers can feel the difference when color is done well.

Nailing cinematic color is what Magic Bullet Looks is all about. Earlier in this user guide, we touched on the many different tools contained in Looks, and we know — it’s a lot to take in. To the uninitiated, it can feel like stepping into a woodworking tool shed and being told, “There’s everything you need. Go build a barn!”

This tutorial page aims to help bring a framework, a sense of flow and logic, to how one might use all these tools in real life.

Setting the Stage

We’ll begin with the clip you see below. It’s not terrible, but it’s washed out and muddy. It lacks the energy and vibrance that should echo and accentuate four young dancers.

Part of this lackluster appearance has to do with acquisition technique. To get the widest dynamic range possible, this footage was shot using a logarithmic (“log”) video format, wherein the camera captures a wider range of brightness and color information than can be displayed on a typical monitor. This extra information helps editors adjust the video’s brightness and color in post without losing detail or introducing unwanted artifacts. Because this information has not yet been used to aid in post-processing, though, our initial scene appears quite meh.

There are two ways to approach improving such visuals. The first is the “old school” method of adjusting basic image characteristics to taste. You can take a 60-second shortcut through this approach with the aforementioned Colorista Guided Color Correction wizard, which makes quick work of selecting video type, black and white levels, saturation, and so on. While this approach may be “good enough” in some circumstances, it ignores all the math involved in translating images from capture through output. As noted earlier, images fine-tuned for one display may look very different in another team’s editing bay or projected on a theater screen.

One step toward a better approach is to begin with using a lookup table (LUT). For example, simply beginning your post process by telling your software the footage was shot using ARRI Log C (or whatever other encoding method was used) will remap the scene with a more appropriate exposure and color space. This provides a better, more accurate image foundation from which to perform subsequent adjustments. You’re offering your subjective enhancements to an objectively accurate representation of the scene as it was captured.

Magic Bullet Looks goes beyond LUT mapping by providing a color-management framework — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ ACES framework we described in this guide’s Color Management section. Access the Color Management controls by clicking the Input or Output blocks on the Tool Chain. The top-left corner of Looks will show the Color Management pane.

Mode Control defaults to 1D Color Handling. Use the pull-down to switch to OpenColorIO – ACES. (Note that the pop-up menu may appear some distance to the right of Looks and display off your screen. Scoot Looks to the left on your desktop to ensure you’re seeing the pop-up.) Now, ACES lets you choose what type of input you’re working with. In our case, we’re using an ARRI camera, so we use the Input pull-downs to select Input > ARRI and specifically the V3LogC (EI800) option for the correct exposure. Then, we use the Output pull-down to select our target profile, Rec. 709. This is the color space that our output screen can fully reproduce. For the Preview pull-down, you select whichever color gamut is best supported by your current monitor. For example, most Apple displays support P3, so you might select P3-DCI. Our Windows-based system has a Dell monitor that specifies sRGB. Naturally, you can adjust these variables to fit your workflow devices, but it’s a best practice to work in a larger color space than your final target.

The image pair below compares our original source (left) with the new preview after just performing these few steps.

The color-management framework provides a properly transformed image and, once applied to all your clips, a unified working space for your project. You can have footage coming in from a dozen different cameras, everything from a smartphone to a RED EPIC Dragon, perhaps along with drone footage and CG renders. The color-management framework provides a unified space for all these so the tools you use with them will look and feel the same.

Note: When using Looks within another color-management environment, such as in DaVinci Resolve, you will want the input and output to match. Clicking the Same as Input button in Looks is an easy way to maintain this continuity.

Color Grading

With an accurate color foundation established, it’s time to move on to color grading, or creating your desired “look.” There is no right or wrong way to go about color grading, but you may want to start by considering three things:

  1. How is the contrast?

  2. How is the color?

  3. How is the texture?

Contrast

Let’s start at the top. You may be fine with the existing contrast, or you may want to change it for creative effect. Again, there’s no right way to do this. The following image shows four different ways to modify contrast placed on the Tool Chain. From the Selective group, we picked Contrast and Shadows/Highlights. From Color Correction, we picked Colorista and S Curve. (We highlighted S Curve in our illustration because it showed the most dramatic change.)

Feel free to add tools to your Tool Chain, toggle them off and back on to compare how each affects your image, then discard the ones you decide you don’t need. These are only tools. Which is better for cutting toast, a dinner knife or a steak knife? Answer: It depends on what else you might want to do with the knife. The same idea applies here.

The advantage of the Contrast tool is that it really only does one thing: contrast. Look at the Contrast tool controls and you’ll find that Pivot is set to 0.180. This reflects the 18% neutral gray commonly used in photography. When you increase contrast, the lights get lighter and the darks get darker. But if you envision that rising and falling as a lever (like a playground seesaw), the pivot is that fulcrum around which the two sides move in opposition. Changing Pivot to 0.300 makes 30% gray the fulcrum point for contrast adjustments. Different profiles will have different neutral points, such as the middle gray of ACEScct being 0.41358840 (although Looks will cut this at the third decimal place). For this example, since we are working in ACEScct, we’ll set the pivot point to 0.413.

Note that this only describes one pivot use. There are others, such as using the pivot to expand the range of shadows or highlights in an image, thus making the scene darker or brighter.

The triptych above shows the Contrast tool beginning with default values (left). We increased contrast by 0.2 (center), but this sacrificed a lot of detail in the dark background. Lowering contrast by 0.2 (right) returned this detail and looks more natural, but it drained a bit of pizzazz from the image. However, we brought in the tool’s Exposure Compensation control (+0.70) to counterbalance raising the contrast (+0.2) and liked the result:

This isn’t a perfect balance. We still lose detail in the sunlit foreground cobblestones, and two of the dancers lose the edges of their heads into the background. But it’s a decent start. And the point is that the Contrast tool gives us a different, arguably more nuanced approach to contrast than we would have had with Colorista, which lets us adjust shadows, midtones, and highlights but without the ability to type in the exact pivot point. Similarly, the S Curve tool lets us add contrast but has no ability to reduce it.

Color

With contrast dialed in where we want it, we can turn to color. The first thing that pops out to us in the above image is that red shirt. We’d prefer it to be darker. (Generally, the more saturated a color is when shot on film, the darker it appears, so we’d like to emulate that.) Also, the bright green of the background foliage keeps distracting us from the dancers. What to do?

The Color Correction group in the Tools Drawer contains a dozen tools, each with its own answers. Let’s pick Colorista.

Our red arrow in the above image points out the circular icon that exposes the fine numeric controls associated with each color dot on the Hue and Saturation wheels. You can drag the color points in or out from the circle’s edge to change values, or you can adjust the values by manual input or click-dragging. In the example above, we liked the more crimson tone of that shirt when we subtracted 30% from the red lightness. Similarly, pulling 30% from the yellow helped deemphasize that background foliage without sacrificing its authentic “greenness.” If we’re OK with minimizing that green further, we could go to the Hue wheel and rotate the yellow and green dots, subtracting perhaps 10 to 15 percent each.

We might feel the overall image is a bit cool and want it to feel warmer. One approach could be to go into Colorista’s Color Correction section and shift the midtones more toward orange and push the shadows deeper into red. Or we could edge the Temperature slider up a bit and maybe nudge Tint more toward magenta. Additionally, if we wanted to unify the red hue throughout our image, we could also use Huenity.

Texture

Finally, let’s turn to texture. Maybe we think the image’s texture is a bit harsh, and we want to soften it. One approach to this could be the Optical Diffusion tool, located in the Camera collection. We’ve talked before about how the order in which you apply tools can make a difference, and this is a good example:

It may be hard to tell from this side-by-side comparison, but the light blooms are noticeably stronger when Optical Diffusion comes at the end of the Tool Chain. We prefer the softer effect when Optical Diffusion is applied first. Even still, the default values appear quite strong. We could fiddle with the individual settings for hours…or we could use the Preset pull-down to select from our favorites, such as Tiffen Glimmer Glass Full. This gives us some of that nice glow without the in-your-face blooming.

We realize that perhaps having such deep shadows in much of the image is contributing to that harsh texture feel. Depending on the clip, we’ve had good luck with Telecine Net in helping with such issues before. So, we dig into the Film group and add Telecine Net onto our Tool Chain, like so:

Hard nope, right? The darks and light blooming are much worse. (At a different time, going for a different look, this might be exactly what we’re after. It’s just not our goal in this example.) Some experimenting reveals that dialing the Strength back to 0% looks much better, but why? Because the tool has added 1.00 exposure — essentially the same effect we would have had from increasing the Exposure tool by 1.00 stop. Should we use Exposure or Telecine Net? (Telecine Net softens shadows, like an opposite of optical diffusion, which can darken the overall image. This is why the tool has an exposure compensation slider to help balance that darkening after softening the shadows.) The answer depends entirely on your workflow and how you prefer to accumulate effects in your look. For now, let’s say that Telecine Net gives too much of a “vintage” feel that we’re not going for, so we drop it from the Tool Chain.

The last element of texture we’ll address for now is filmic grain. If we wanted an old, low-budget feel to the scene, perhaps we’d emulate the grain of Super 8 footage. No problem. In the Film group, we select the Renoiser tool and choose the Super 8 preset. To create this grain, Renoiser analyzes the image pixels and interpolates new “virtual pixels” that fit that grain profile. This becomes obvious when zoomed in.

Oof, that’s a lot of noisy grain. Maybe old and cheap isn’t quite the desired result for this, after all. We could work with the controls to minimize the effect, but perhaps it’s easier to try a different preset, such as Modern Master.

There we go. Sometimes, you have to see the result to know that it’s what you wanted in the first place. (And to be clear, if you work with adding grain and decide maybe you want the opposite — no grain, even eliminating that ISO noise from the source — you could do this by applying Magic Bullet Denoiser before Looks in the ECP. There are always options.)

As you can see by now, the range of tools offered in Magic Bullet Looks, and the many controls for each of those tools, create millions of creative possibilities for crafting the exact look you want. Because the functionality of some tools overlap, and because there is no “right” way to craft a look, we have tried to offer one path through the Tool Drawer labyrinth to help inspire you and offer a beginning framework for you to follow your own path.

Emulating Film

For many projects, having a “filmic look” is key. Each film has its own set of characteristics that contribute to its specific look. Hence, a possible shortcut through that contrast > color > texture process we outlined above may be to emulate a film process, as the film will bring its own contrast, color, and texture attributes with it.

To be clear, no film emulation can fully match content shot, edit, and printed on film. Some may argue this point, but bear in mind that film emulation is a moving target. Two different labs working to mathematically characterize a given film may have variances in the film ASA, lens selection, light, and scanner used to sample film stocks. Thus, the result may differ. Magic Bullet Film (part of which is built into Looks) is an interpretation of film emulation.

The look of film (e.g., high contrast, highlight roll off, color density) mostly comes from the film print. Negative stocks were optimized for capture. In general, then, it may make sense to begin with the Film Print tool, then add Film Negative (before Film Print in the Tool Chain) if needed.

Film Print

Back when film was still widely used, it was common to capture onto a film negative and then directly transfer to a film print for viewing in a projector. However, it was also common to transfer from the negative to a positive and from there to multiple internegatives, and hence to interpositives, before reaching the film print. Similarly, some people opted for reversal or bleach bypass methods. With each transfer process, there is a loss in image quality, but the ways in which those transfers happen, and the characteristics of each process, contribute to certain known, digitally reproduceable looks. The many film stocks represented in the Magic Bullet Looks Film tools were derived from physical scans of those stocks.

Film negatives were designed to capture the greatest color range, but film prints tend to emphasize contrast, offer smooth roll off in shadows and highlights, and exhibit the most pleasing colors. When people strive to create a “filmic” look, they’re likely talking about the results typical of film prints.

Let’s get a first glimpse of this by dropping the Film Print tool on our Tool Chain.

Film Print defaults to using the popular Kodak 2383 stock. In the side-by-side image above, you can see how applying Film print yields more contrast and deeper, denser colors, with a soft roll off in the highlights. You’ll see that the shadows are bluer and the highlights have picked up a warmer, more orange tone. The Kodak 2395 gives a bit less contrast than the 2383, with not as strong of an S curve, but it still has similar color density changes. FujiFilm has its own color properties, leaning more into blue/green in the shadows. You’ll want to explore and see which you prefer.

With a conventional film LUT, you get what you get. There’s no way to tweak it. That’s not the case with film tools in Looks. You get the appearance of film, but it’s customizable. As we’ve seen earlier in this guide, you can use other tools to achieve these customizations, but Looks might provide all you need in its own Tint, Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, Skin Tone, Vintage/Modern, and Grain controls. If you want to make it look like your print film has been stored at the back of a refrigerator for 10 years, slide that Vintage/Modern control deep into the negative range and watch your stock lose its color vitality — because that’s what happens when film’s organic materials age.

With the Kodak film print applied, we get a warmer feel, but at the expense of some brightness. So, some things we like, and some we don’t. Let’s work through our framework from this default starting point.

How’s the contrast? Pretty good. As a rule, film tends to have strong contrast, so let’s leave that alone for now. The bigger priority is not losing detail in those shadows. Bringing the Exposure control up by 0.50 helps.

How about the color? Dropping Saturation from 100 down to 80 takes the distracting red edge off that shirt without really impacting the overall warm feel. With negative values, the Vintage/Modern control flattens our image, emulating the feel of scanning a digital image onto aged (vintage) film stock, which deteriorates in known ways over time. Alternatively, positive values introduce a complementary color scheme to the image, with warm highlights and cool shadows. This color scheme often appears to increase contrast. In this case, though, neither effect delivers what we’re looking for, so staying at 0 is fine. Likewise, we’re good with Skin Tone where it’s at.

Texture? The default adds 50% grain, and it’s subtle enough that it adds some filmic flavor without being obvious. Let’s leave that.

We’re not entirely sold on this last result. We could bring down some of that background glare and make additional adjustments with other Looks tools. But if we want a filmic look, starting with Film Print and running through our contrast > color > texture model provides a quick, effective shortcut.

Having said that, this makes the point — yet again — that there are no right answers, and every supposed rule can be easily broken. Film is the last group in the Tool Drawer, but, generally speaking, we feel it’s a best practice to begin with the Selective tools, then proceed through Camera and Color Correction, then finish with Film.

Film Negative & More

Maybe Film Print will deliver everything you need for your desired look. Or perhaps you want to go further in emulating the real-world flow of an image from source to capture. That may mean putting a Film Negative tool in front of your Film Print tool (again, because that mimics the chronological process of post-production). You will note that the controls for these two tools appear identical, except Film Print has a Skin Tone control that’s absent from Film Negative.

Let’s reset Film Print to its defaults and add the Film Negative tool before it. The tool defaults to Kodak 5218 Vision2 500 T stock. Instantly, you can see that we’re losing detail in shadows and even faces. Bringing Exposure up 1.00 cures our shadow issues but at the expense of blowing up our highlights. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you like that look. Perhaps you want to convey how bright the sun was on this shoot.

The below image (left) shows how our clip appears at this point. What if we could make it a pinch punchier? One common Film tool for this is Print Bleach Bypass, which emulates the retention of silver in the film stock. We particularly like how this gives a slight boost to skin tones.

And so on. A complete tour through all of the tools and controls in Looks, along with their many interactions, would fill a thick book. Our goal with this tutorial was to provide one possible framework that could help you move beyond the prescribed bounds of Looks presets so you could develop greater creative flexibility. Feel free to run with this framework or experiment and develop your own.