Colour and log footage

What happens to flat footage on upload, and how to steer a grade.

Footage shot in a log or flat profile looks washed out straight off the camera — that's intentional, and it needs converting before it looks like anything.

Detection on upload

When a clip arrives, its colour profile is read from the file's own metadata. If it's log, you'll see a banner offering to convert it to a normal picture.

Recognised profiles include S-Log2/S-Log3, V-Log, C-Log, Log-C, D-Log and HLG.

Why order matters

Correction happens before any stylistic grade. A look applied on top of raw log footage never quite lands — that's why a grade you liked elsewhere can look muddy if the conversion hasn't happened first.

If you ask for a look on unconverted log footage, the conversion runs anyway.

Asking for a grade

warmer, and lift the shadows a little

match the second camera to the first

keep it neutral — no look, just correct it

Limits

Detail the sensor never recorded can't be graded back. A clipped highlight stays clipped; a grade redistributes what's there rather than recovering what isn't.

If a clip carries no profile metadata and doesn't look obviously flat, it's left alone. Guessing wrong is worse than doing nothing.