Venice Look LUT’s For 14 stop cameras A7, FS5, FS7, F5, F55 etc.

Hello all. So after numerous problems for some people trying to download the official Sony s709 LUT for Venice, I decided to create my own Venice Look LUT’s. These LUT’s have been created using image matching techniques plus some small tweaks and adjustments to make the LUT’s work well with the 14 stop cameras.

Venice is a 15 stop camera with a new sensor and as a result the official s709 LUT’s are not quite right for the current 14 stop cameras like the FS5, PMW-F55, FS7 and even the A7 series. So the LUT that I have created is slightly different to allow for this.

The end result is a LUT that gets you really close to the way Venice looks. It won’t magically turn your FS5 into a Venice, there is something very, very nice about the way Venice handles the extremes of it’s dynamic range, plus Venice has Sony’s best colour filters (similar to the F55 and F65). So Venice will always be that one very nice step up. But these LUT’s should get you close to the default Venice 709 look. This LUT should NOT be used with Venice as it this LUT is restricted to 14 stops.

Of course do remember that the default look and indeed the official s709 LUT was designed as a first pass look. An instant viewing output for a DIT or for on set viewing. It is not really meant to be the final finished look. It would be normal to grade the Venice material, perhaps from scratch rather than using the s709 LUT for the final output. But, s709 is what comes out of the cameras SDI connectors if you use the default LUT/Look. This is what this LUT set mimics, with some tweaks for the lower cost cameras.

This is one of the largest and most comprehensive LUT sets I have ever created. There are versions designed specifically for grading in Resolve or other grading suites. The bulk of the LUT’s are designed to be used with S-Log3 and SGamut3.cine. There are monitoring versions with offsets for use in monitors such as the Atomos range. I have created a set with offsets for both the Zacuto and Small HD viewfinders and monitors and finally I have also created sets of LUT’s for use with S-Log2 so users of the original A7s or those that wish to shoot with S-Log2 on an 8 bit camera are not left out.

The LUT’s work best with the PMW-F55 as this has the closest native color to the Venice camera, but I think they work really well on the rest of the Sony range.

If you find the LUT’S useful, please consider buying me a beer or a coffee using the “Buy Now” button below. There are different drink options depending on what you feel is fair, it takes time to prepare these and there are costs associated with hosting the files. I’m not paid to run this website and every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated.

If you don’t wish to buy me a coffee, that’s cool. But please don’t host the files elsewhere. Feel free to link back here and share the link, but please don’t distribute these anywhere else.

Here’s the link to the zip file containing the my Venice Look LUT set:

Click Here to download Alister’s Venice Look LUTs V2

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460x150_xdcam_150dpi Venice Look LUT's For 14 stop cameras A7, FS5, FS7, F5, F55 etc.
300x250_xdcam_150dpi Venice Look LUT's For 14 stop cameras A7, FS5, FS7, F5, F55 etc.

65 thoughts on “Venice Look LUT’s For 14 stop cameras A7, FS5, FS7, F5, F55 etc.”

  1. Sorry if this is a stupid question.. but is there a LUT that can be used to bake in over Slog3.cine in camera.. or they are just post /monitor LUT,s.. which one would it be if there is..

    1. Use the standard Sony EI Camera LUT within the LUT set to bake it in. If you want to rate the camera a bit lower for less noise either use a low EI or use the -1p5 offset LUT from the camera/monitor LUT set with the EI at the base ISO. Using the offset LUT rather than EI will increase the highlight recording level comapred to using the base EI LUT and offsetting via a low EI. DONT use an offset LUT and an offset EI at the same time!

  2. Thanks for the luts. I have noticed that resolve 14.3 “overly sharpens” venice 6k footage xocn compared to sony raw viewer and baselight. Noticed when matching to dailes.

    1. I’m not seeing any sharpening in Resolve and I’m working on a huge Venice X-OCN project right now.

      1. I don’t see it with 4k only 6k. I only have the footage from the shoot I am working on. Is there sample 6k venice footage available online somewhere?

        1. Which decoder are you using and at what resolution, the Sony decoder is the only one that delivers the full quality but it’s processor intensive. Also are you using YRGB, color managed or ACES?

          1. I am exporting native rez 6k dpx in all 3 programs. In resolve, I am using yrgb color management

          2. I’m not sure I follow. Are you exporting DPX’s from Resolve, or working with DPX
            s in Resolve? If it’s the latter then Resolve won’t know what it was shot with. If working directly with the footage in Resolve which raw decoder within Resolve are you using? There are two, a built in Blackmagic one, which is fast but not the best, then there is the official Sony decoder which is better quality but slower.

            All I can say is I’ve put hours of Venice 6K through my system and it is not being sharpened and it looks fantastic. I use the Sony decoder and ACES in most cases but DaVinci Colour Managed works too (other than some extra noise that this workflow generates in the shadows).

          3. I am exporting dpx’s from all 3 programs working off the camera mxf file & comparing the dpx . For me, in baselight–the mxf match the dpx from the 2 exports. Baselight defaults to the sony sdk as does the sony raw viewer. The resolve export has jaggies around edges.
            I have now–in resolve– tried the sony decoding & that matchs the camera file–so I guess resolve full rez decoding was the culprit.

            Thank you for your patience with me.

            I guess whats possible is that I get Dailies that seem sharper than the camera files.

  3. These are AWESOME. I want to buy you a Singapore beer but when I click the link it just takes me to PayPal without your info. Can you post an updated link? Thanks Alister.

  4. You sir, are wonderful. Thank you. Just in time for two projects, and quite a killer “first step” in grading for these cameras to come close to that look.

  5. Thanks for these Alister
    Can I double-check if using with an FS5, SmallHD monitor and Sony Catalyst Prepare in Slog3 (Pro Color mode) that, for best results, I should:

    * Use the SmallHD V-look -2p00 LUT for the Small HD monitor
    * Use the Grading V-Look -2p00 LUT in the SGamut3/Slog3 setting’s Look Profile within Catalyst (or possibly one of the other options if the exposure wasn’t perfect at time of shooting)

    Many thanks

    1. Or in Catalyst should I then apply the Grading V-Look 0-Native and work from there?

      Thanks again

      1. One added follow-up:
        When shooting indoors/low light where Slog would not be appropriate, is there any way to treat the FS5 footage to help the colours match, short of buying an FS5 II?

        Thanks again

        1. You could shoot with a cinegamma perhaps and then grade it with a proper grading package.

    1. If you need to change the exposure use one of the LUT’s with the exposure offset built in. It will give better skin tones.

  6. Alister do you think that this could be the base for creating a Fs5 lut to emulate the fs5mk2 color look?

  7. Down load the Sony EI camera file to SD card.. but it doesn’t read in there camera menu to down load.. all no file.. formatted SD card in camera .. all No file.. Sony f5..Mac book pro 2018.. V10.13.4.. any idea,s.. ?

    Thanks

  8. Hello,

    I am a Sony F5 owner operator. I do understand I use the Sony EI Camera file and set the F5 into Cine EI, however is the colour space S-Gamut3/SLog3 or S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3. Am I just choosing Category User 3D LUT and applying the out to the output of my choosing? Thank you. J

  9. Thanks Alister! Used these as a starting point for a grade on a recent project (put on Timeline node in Resolve, and graded individual clips on the Clips nodes).

  10. (Enjoy the beer!) Could someone please explain to me what the meaning and difference between p00 and p50 is?
    Also, why is there a -0 and what does this imply?

      1. They are the exposure correction offsets. See earlier in the comments where it is all explained. There was supposed to be a readme file in with the LUT’s but for some reason I missed it out. I’ll add it back in.

  11. One question. In many test I found out that the combination of S-LOG2 and S-Gammut3.cine give the best results and are very easy to grade.

    Alister:
    You added Slog-2 Versions of this LUT. For which s-gammut is it supposed to be? s-gammut ?

  12. Hi ..
    Can anybody explain the exposure correction offsets on these for me? (-3p00 etc.)
    I have a very vague idea on the decoding of the suffix ..but I do want to get it right.

  13. Alister, correct me where I’m wrong, but I thought I remembered you recommending the use of SLog2 for shooting ProRes RAW on the FS5. You mentioned above that you’d recommend using these with SLog3, but you said we could use these with anything under a 15-stop body. Am I confusing something here, besides myself 😉

    FWIW, I’m crazy excited to try these! Can’t freaking wait!

    1. The ProRes Raw workflow is somewhat confusing as the camera should be set to PP7 (S-Log2) and the Atomos Inferno will use S-Log2 for signal level measurement. But when you bring the footage into FCP-X it only has options for converting the PRR to S-Log3.

  14. Can you give a brief explaination of what “offset” means. I’m recording out from an FS5ii to Ninja Inferno and I’m looking to use a viewing LUT to help with exposure when filming in SLOG 2.

    1. It’s common to expose log at different brightnesses to alter the ratio between highlights and shadows or to get lower noise levels. So when yo go in to post production you need LUT’s that have offsets for these different brightness exposures otherwise the footage will look over or under exposed.

  15. Hi Alister,
    Thanks for your hard work! As a fellow F5 owner, my F5 will not read your Sony EI camera LUT called Alister_V-Look.cube .
    Can it be used as an MLUT? It tells me it is NG when I try to load the file after selecting it. Is it an FS7 LUT or an F5 one?
    Thanks!
    F

    1. I don’t know why it won’t load for you, I’ve just tested again and they load fine for me. The LUT’s are not camera specific. If you used a Mac to copy the LUT’s to the SD card it creates junk files in the LU folder that start with ._ make sure you are not trying to load one of these junk files. Do also check out the V3 Venice look luts that I posted recently.

  16. Just started using these a month ago for our FS5 footage and they look great! Thanks for making these available! Also thanks for all the great training you provide for shooting in SLOG that makes this possible as well.

  17. I can’t find any description of the p50 exposure prefixes Alister and I cant find any readme file in the download. Can you add the readme file to this post as an attachment?

    Many thanks

  18. Thanks man!

    I’ve been using these in post with the A7sII and they’re awesome. I just ordered the Atomos Ninja V. Which ones should I load into that? The LUTs in the “Camera Monitor With Offset” or “Small HD” Folder? I figured it’s the first one, but just double checking. What does the “With Offset” mean?

    Thanks!
    Dan

  19. Hi Alister,

    Can’t see a buy now button on the page. (Perhaps it appears by magic when I’ve loaded the LUTs into the camera!!)

    Please could you check, if you’re starting to feel thirsty?

  20. I saw in the comments that there is suppose to be a ‘read-me’ file explaining the various LUTs. I am not seeing one in the downloaded zip file? I’m using a FS5 II, shooting in SLOG2, over exposed by 1.5 stops. Which LUT should I be monitoring with? And in post, can I assume I would use the same LUT to start the grading process or would you recommend a different LUT based on these specs? I have various questions that I’m sure have been answered, just not seeing where to get that info. (e.g. what’s the difference between -0p50.cube and 0p50.cube? or what’s the difference between the folder that includes ‘Grading’ LUTs versus ‘Monitoring w/offset’? The LUTs share the same names, but the looks are slightly different.)

    1. -0p50 is a -0.5 stop offset to make a bright image darker. 0p50 is a +0.5 stop offset to make a dark image brighter. If you have shot with a +1.5 stop offset then you will most likely want LUT’s with a -1p50 offset.

      Grading LUT’s have a full range input and full range output while monitoring LUT’s have a full range input but legal range output as most monitors use legal range only.

  21. Hi Alister
    The V LUTs including your HDR Hybrid Log Gamma for the FS7, F5 & F55 won’t load onto my camera (F5) it’s gives me a message “File Access NG” which means No Good I presume. Can you offer some advice please
    many thanks

  22. superb alister and many thks

    Sony Fs5 II atomos proresraw in fcpx wide gamut library to output HDR content

    what is the lut to apply in that case.. the grading lut or the slog lut???

    thks in advance

  23. F5 user here. Just reformatted SD card in camera, made file structure: PRIVATE/SONY/PRO/CAMERA/PMWF55_5 – running V9.20. Put LUTs into the PMWF55_5 folder. Camera does not see the files and I’m out $25.

  24. Hello Alister,

    Considering the A7III is a 8 bit camera, do you suggest using the S-Log 2 LUT’s? You had also mentioned in a article dating to 2014 that for a 8 bit camera you recommended S-LOG 2 with overexposing 2 stops (middle grey or your exposure). If I use a ninja flame as a monitor/exposure guide, what look would you recommend to use as a exposure guide with the concept of overexposing 2 stops? Thanks for the knowledge!

    Dom

    1. For all 8 bit cameras I still recommend S-Log2. Expose a white piece of paper at 70% using 70% zebras or the waveform display and you will be good.

  25. Thanks Alistair. I really appreciate your hard work and generosity. It’s a really big help. You’re a great resource/knowledge base and real leader in the community. I’ve been using you LUTs and following your blog for years. The question I’m asking myself is on a pure image quality basis, is the FX9 really worth the upgrade from an FS7 when these LUTs push the FS7 into a Venice/s-cinetone look? Also if you burn in these LUTs in Cine Ei mode on the FS7 are you getting a similar DR as s-Cinetone in FX9 Custom Mode? I’d love an FX9 but bottom line – I don’t think it will get me more work. Strangely I think if I spent my money on a Red Komodo when it’s out, that might get me more work. A lot of people that I work for are not that savvy and I’ve not been hired for a few jobs because they wanted a “Red”. Do you think the industry will move towards a “Full Frame” need as opposed to a camera brand need (i.e Red/Arri vs Sony/Canon)?

    1. The FX9 still delivers a better image. All a LUT can do is adjust what the camera has captured. The recent ACS tests have revealed what I think lots of us have suspected for a long time which is that the older Sony sensors don’t have a uniform colour response. Gain and tweaks in the camera can make up for this by boosting weak areas, but can really never make up for colours that perhaps the sensor can’t actually see. While the FS7 sensor is actually a pretty good sensor overall, the FX9 sensor is much better with a very good colour response, the best in the industry it would seem.

      The key thing about the FX9 is it’s actually a very easy camera to use. The lower noise and better sensitivity means it’s easier to get a great result under a much wider range of lighting conditions, whether shooting Log or Custom.

      The FS7 didn’t become the industry standard that it has because it was the best camera. The FS7 is a very good jack of all trades at a great price. The FX9 will likely follow in a similar way but now with much improved image quality and much improved usability. And you can’t discount the impact the really excellent autofocus is likely to have.

      There will always be fans of particular brands. Red Komodo is certainly an interesting camera to watch, but I’ve become quite sceptical of any of Red’s marketing campaigns over the years as they often fail to deliver what has been promised. Hydrogen being one example and then there is the original Red Dragon, which was always touted as being a game changer but never really hit the price points or performance levels promised. An interesting side step from Red is to now pack 6K of pixels on to a s35 camera. This implies much smaller pixels than most other 6K cameras which tend to use larger sensors. Normally you would expect this to impact dynamic range and sensitivity. Also they say there is some sort of global shutter and this tends to increase noise. So who knows what Komodo will be like. There are no XLR’s so it makes it much more like one of Z-Cams offerings. Plus there are also the Black Magic and Kinefinity options.

      FF is of course going to be in demand, simply because it’s new and it sounds cool. It doesn’t matter whether the audience will actually be able to tell whether you shot on FF or s35 (in most cases it makes no significant difference). But because it’s new, because it sounds cool and camera manufacturers want us to buy new cameras, the internet hype-train will do it’s thing and FF will be much in demand. Perhaps over time there will be a migration back to s35, but for the next few years FF will be the flavour of the month.

      1. Thanks Alister. Very interesting. For sure ease of use is a big factor including post workflow and the FX9 is a natural progression for me. I’ll have to mull it over. It’s best to buy at the beginning of camera’s life to maximise the benefit. Mmm…

  26. Thank you for posting, this was very useful.
    I’ve been trying to match footage from an FS7 to an A7SII but the LUTs that Sony provide on their website are way too harsh on the A7SII footage to be useable. These LUTs from Alister give wonderful colors on the FS7 footage and are still gentle enough not to ruin the A7Sii’s.

  27. Hi Alistair, thanks so much for making these available. They’ve given me the confidence to shoot in Slog3 on an upcoming project! I have a quick question about the monitor LUT: If I’m exposing +1.5 stops, should I set the monitor lut at +1.5 or at -1.5 to best judge my exposure in the monitor? Thanks

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