Ok. I have set mine up in scene referred workflow, so if I use film emulation lut it comes near last in the pipe.
Sorry, I expressed myself poorly. What I mean was that I apply all the modules in the correct scene-refered order, just as you do, using my own default values. And after I’ve done that I adjust my default values.
This is a great point. Do you have specific sources that detail this information?
Sorry, no. I sort of guess it from their effect. Eg. if the LUT give a bluish colour, it was probably designed for compensating for tungsten lighting.
@emem did you try the Velvia module? I wonder how it compares to using the Fuji400 LUT as you do.
I switched to a scene referred workflow recently but still using Velvia, I just like the results specially on skin tones and blue skies but wonder if LUT gives you comparable results and if it’s technically better for any reason
Your speedrun is very impressive indeed, showing the power of the customizability available in darktable.
I’m just not sure it addresses the issue that new users have: they don’t know the means to achieve the result they want yet.
Obviously you know which exact settings you want to use ahead of time to the point that you’ve created shortcuts. But the real question is, how can a newbie speedrun from zero darktable knowledge to your level of adeptness?
Two common complaints from beginners are that it takes time to edit pictures with Darktable, and it isn’t easy to get good results. I don’t see it this way, and here I show how I make a stylish edit in less than 40 seconds using a scene-referred workflow.
In other words, I intended this post to be inspiriational, not a beginner tutorial. I would recommend anyone who is completely new to Darktable to go through the videos by Bruce Williams or Aurelien Pierre. With that said, I tried to explain why I chose this particular workflow with the beginner in mind. In the end photography is a craft, and the only way to learn is to try out things for yourself. And I believe the best way to learn is to analyze and copy what others have done.
Once you know how you reproduce what others done, you can take your knowledge and make something that is of your own.
thanks @MStraeten - is it better to use a “velvia LUT” instead of the module?
If so are you aware of a good source for the LUT file? I found this: Fuji Film Simulation Profiles – Stuart Sowerby, but these LUTs seem to be specific to the Fuji XTrans sensor
Good suggestion! I find that the t3mujinpack LUTs give a less pronounced effect (ie smaller boost in contrast and saturation). Well worth looking into.
in my calibrated setup (colormunki), t3mujin LUT looks much better than rawtherapy’s (the latter seems to shift blacks towards green). I will defintitely try the LUT module very soon and it will hopefully replace the velvia module - one of the last remnants of my old workflow.
The lut 3d module. I always place it AFTER Filmic RGB but BEFORE output colour profile. In this example, I use the “Fuji 400H ++.png” colour lookup table from RawTherapees collection of free LUTs.
did you have to change the default module order for this? if so, why?
The original t3mujin filmemulations are presets that makes use of tonecurve (and channelmixer) which are placed in the nonlinear part of the pixelpipe, after filmicrgb.
So if you are using a scene referred workflow, the LUT also must be applied in the nonlinear part of the pipe.
Do I change the module order for the LUT module? Yes, I place it after Filmic but before the output colour profile. Why? Because the LUTs I use affect saturation and contrast. If I place the module before Filmic the contrast-and-saturation-alterating effect of Filmic and the LUT interact in a way that I find produce unpleasant results. Results that are difficult to counteract with other modules. Try it for yourself, and you’ll see.
The reason that the default order of the LUT module is before Filmic is that LUTs have two purposes: A) colour grading or produce a certain look (my use), and B) for colour correction. If you want to use the LUT to correct colours you want to place the module as early as possible in the pipeline.
If you aske me, the developers should set the default placement of the LUT module to somewhere after Filmic. Because I believe LUTs are mostly used for colour grading.
Thank you very much for the writeup. By now I must have spent the equivalent of multiple days learning darktable, and your text still gave me many useful suggestions and ideas.
I think it would be a great addition to the darktable manual, as an advanced tutorial.
Thank you so much for this. As a darktable user I felt I was getting left behind with the recent changes and confused with the lengthy posts about tweaking this and that or why I shouldn’t use my old favourite modules.
I have been using ART and Filmulater of late but I will try out your speed technique.
Your welcome! But I do very much recommend taking your time and learning the theory behind the new scene-referred workflow. Check out Bruce Williams videos if you haven’t seem them already: https://www.youtube.com/user/audio2u
I am not ‘style experienced’ and never did a re-order pixelpipe. So I tried this with Fuji 400H4++. Does that look correct?
Is there a specific reason for using sharpening? I usually do contrast equalizer and lift the chroma curve a little. This is based on how I understood your entry post. I do get quite a strong purple tint though.
If the picture on the right is the result, I cannot tell you if it looks right. That is a subjective.
You can change the place of a module in the processing pipeline by pressing ctrl-shift and click-dragging the module by the module name.
Because I like the sharpening effect. There is no 100% right or wrong here.
The LUT modules I suggest all give certain color cast. That is the point of using them. If you just want to change the contrast and saturation you could use the color balance module.
The white balance of your image may be off. Try raising both the tint and the temperature. Or you could use the color balance module to get rid of the color cast. If you look up a color wheel you see that the opposite of the mauve-pink color of the sky is blue-green. Add blue-green to the midtones and the highlights to neutralize the mauve-pink color cast.
I made a mistake. I should have written Fuji Pro 400H. I mistook H for N. I use the HALDCLUT versions of t3mujinpack.
Nope, those were the default values for my style at the time.
I wrote: “My custom style gives me a reasonable starting point, but seldom an immediate perfect result.”
The creator of the Filmic module stated explicitly that there can be no default value that works all the time. And I agree. You have to made a set of styles that work for you, and then adjust the values for each picture you take.
What is a decent starting point depends on the type of lighting conditions you have, what kind of artistic transformations you apply, the dynamic range of your camera and the lens you’re using.
Btw, I used Darktable 3.2.1. But I don’t think that matters in this case.
There is no 100% right or wrong here.