Slog3 and Other Wide Color Volume Formats: Workflow Automation and Integration

As the lines between motion picture and television workflows increasingly blur, the demand for formats with superior dynamic range and color gamut (non-broadcast Wide Color Volume, or WCV) puts our traditional broadcast workflows under significant strain. Contrary to display-referred, what-you-see-is-what-you-get workflows, advanced formats do not translate directly to broadcast-ready images on the screen; color-managed workflows need to be employed, and currently, this entails manual post-production work by a colorist, which adds significant cost and time to broadcast production workflows. Some of the other issues that the technical community faces, when trying to fulfil the creative request of WCV images, include quality control and asset lifecycle management. For example, some images may end up on screen in their native non-broadcast format, making them look desaturated and “washed out” as their Code Values (CV) are improperly interpreted. Proper format identification as well as minimal bit depth for higher dynamic range and wider color gamut are not always guaranteed. Over and under-exposed assets are common, leading to the impossibility of using pre-built, manufacturer supplied 3D Look-Up Tables (3D LUT) for automatic conversion to BT. 709. In this paper, we detail new QC methods to ensure non-broadcast source material is properly exposed, automated workflows used to convert those assets to broadcast formats like BT.709 and BT.2100 for immediate use, a post-production workflow that takes advantage of increased Dynamic Range and Color Gamut, the archival process to ensure rapid access to assets in both ready-for-broadcast and color-managed post-production workflows as well as a training program for creatives wishing to use non-broadcast Wide Color Volume formats.

Published

2024-10-21

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

color, color volume, 3d lut, wide color volume, dynamic range, slog

DOI

10.5594/MOO/3012

ISBN

978-1-61482-965-2