GH5 Color Grading Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) 

Hey hey Supperconductor! Well dang you picked both of the HLG flavors! Definitely, HLG will need either a correct WB or you can skew it if you're going for something more contrasty in color. I frequently will purposely shoot tungsten WB inside a moody scene to get the scene to look blue and make the skin tones paler. Or purposely light the subject with tungsten and everything else with daylight lights, makes it easier to push the blue channel into the greens or darker blues if I want. While I haven't played with RAW, definitely can't treat HLG like it since certain things are baked in. But even still, HLG does a darn good job! Thanks again for stopping by! See you in the next one!

Hey hey Red Light! You are most welcome! Thank you so much for checking out this video and stopping by! Hope to see you in the next one!

Greetings Robert! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! In terms of the Zebras, they are generally used for the highlights, for HLG and then conforming it down to rec709 in your editor, I would suggest to keep it at 95% (90% to be extra safe) so that you know you won't go past where the HLG is able to see details in the highlights. Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and I'll see you in the next one!

Hey hey abcaldwell! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! When in HLG for these tests, I left all the settings at the default "0" (zero). Thanks again for the kind words and stopping by! I’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker Thanks. I meant to ask outside of the testing, what are your settings? Ive seen suggestions of dialing sharpness and noise reduction to -5 to achieve better results with HLG.

Ah gotcha! I used to mess with all those setting and turn the sharpness and noise reduction all the way down. But I have since stopped doing that and leave it at their default settings. This is mainly because I don't use any native electronic MFT lenses so the optics don't get as harsh of a digital correction as those would. However I finally purchased my first Electronic MFT lens (Olympus 12-40 2.8) and shot in portrait today for some interviews. I didn't mess with any of the settings and the image looked quite nice from the screen. Will know more when I bring the footage into the computer later but for the most part I think it just depends on your personal taste and workflow. The specific thing I shot today is going to be blown up on a stage projector which will soften the image because of the material its being projected on, so I don't mind just having it sharp out of the gate. I would say film yourself with the default HLG and then another with the sharpness/NR drop and see which one you like better. The reason some filmmakers drop the internal NR is because sometimes it could soften details and you could get better results denoising the image later yourself with plug-ins. This always goes for the sharpness drop as well, some filmmakers prefer to use their own sharpening settings to retain a little more edge sharpness. Hope this helps!

Hey hey Flying High! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! "Natural" is the profile I default to for pretty much everything that I don't want to tweak later. HLG I feel works the best when you're outdoors, contrast scenes I feel it depends on how its lit. I unfortunately have not purchased V-Log, I'm not entirely sure if I will as I am contemplating on getting a S1 to add to my kit. I think in general the V-log may give me some better fine tuning of certain things while HLG is a quicker way for rec2020 and or rec709 delivery. At the end of the day, I know my general audience won't know the difference, but as I get into more larger projects where I have more time, I may or may not determine if an entire production will be shot in V-log or HLG. Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey Olivier! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! I have no purchased the V-Log L upgrade on my GH5, not sure yet if I will. But if I remember correctly, the 400mbps recording format I think was 10bit. So you should set your color space to rec2020. Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey hey My-Max-Media! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! That's definitely what Panasonic announced that it's suppose to go right to TV and look great no matter if its in HDR or SDR. I used to be carried into the realm of that everything should be finalized in post, but after the two most recent feature films I helped DP, and both directors requesting that I get their final vision in the camera, I realized just how naive I was and that there was little reason to finish it in post. Of course not everything can be done on set, but you can get pretty darn close for sure! I love forming longer takes these days too, a lot more fun and if I plan it out right ahead of time I can save sooooo much time between scenes. Of course not all scenes should be long takes, but I use them where and when appropriate. Thank you so much for stopping by! Hope to see you in the next one!

I'm new to HDR + HLG so I could be way off base here... Would I be right in thinking in this video you're treating HLG as just another gamma profile like log that you use to manipulate in post for viewing on SDR displays and you are NOT intending to use HLG as a method for viewers to view your footage on their HDR/HLG capable displays with extended dynamic range (which was original intention of HLG)? By manipulating the HLG footage in rec.709 would you be bypassing the advantages of the 2020 colorspace? How would your final footage look on an HLG display?

Hey hey @goandseetv! Thank you so much for checking out the video and asking a question! You are correct in that I am forcing the HLG into rec709 and not using the codec as intended. In terms of if there is advantage in doing this, what I have noticed is that I do gain additional latitude in my highlight and when using that rolloff into a rec709 space, the transition between light and dark looks smoother and less harsh when I'm filming a baked in rec709 color profile. While rec709 is only capable of displaying X-amount of colors, when the rec2020 colors get smashed into the rec709 space I see that I'm getting higher saturation levels while retaining a decent color shade. As far as how the footage looks on a HLG display. Because the final output of my video has a rec709 marker instead of a HLG or HDR marker, the display will treat it as such and display it as rec709 and not try to force it into rec2020 values (Think watching RU-vid or any blurays on your HDR TV, the TV will resort to "legacy" settings and you won't see a major difference from a regular TV). If you somehow graded everything looking at it in rec709 but on the render settings you accidently told it to output with rec2020... My best guess is that your footage will look dark and washed out because the rec709 values are not as high. I don't know this for sure, but that is my best guess. Hope this helps! Thank you so much for stopping by! Hope to see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker I see...got it!!

Hey hey again Buddy FX! I'm actually going to finally buy the V-log L firmware update and will be doing my own tests and thoughts on how to use it. Reason I am getting it is because of my transition to the Sony A7S III, but don't worry, I'm not leaving the GH5. It's still a tool in my kit that I use :)

Hey hey Karl! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! Definitely, for me its seeing the smoother color gradation as well on the face, it has less crunch to my eyes. Thanks again for stopping by! Stay safe, healthy, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey hey Wayne! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! Through my tests in the HLG series, you're getting about the same dynamic range as V-Log L. That being said, with your filming situation and desired result you will need to light the interior to get it bright enough so that you can retain the view outdoors. This is the only way you can achieve the result, in video, with this specific camera. The reason some real estate photos can have the outdoors and indoors look nearly the same for that HGTV look is because they are either taking the picture in Raw, or doing a double exposure. It's a technique they can use for photography, but harder for us to achieve in video without additional equipment. There isn't a specifical light I could recommend as each house is different, and of course depends on the day you are filming. I personally would purchase a very powerful light, maybe even two if you're filming a large home, to ensure that you are always capable of lighting up the interior. The light specifically I would get is the popular Aputure 300D. Hope this makes sense and helps! Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker thanks for taking the time to explain this. Though I already know the answer, you really have been putting in work for your viewers. Recently discovered you and am about 10 videos in tonight 😅

Hey hey Andrew R! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! Unfortunately I don't think Panasonic published too much about these color profiles in terms of technical data. The only technical data I can remember was for V-LOG L where they talked about the mid grey IRE point being similar to the full V-LOG. Thanks again for stopping by! Stay safe, healthy, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey hey Conrad! That is definitely the question that people have, this is something I will have to figure out if and when I decide to get V-log. As of right now I'm not seeing a need to get V-log based on this test and how it handled grading compared to 10bit NAT. I pushed 8bit NAT pretty hard for my film here and there and it worked pretty well for that stylized grade, the HLG is definitely better with its less harshness. I'd have to assume that V-log's potential advantage may not be a night and day difference because white balance is still taken into account on V-log. In the end for the most extreme of grades we see in theatre, you'd need to start depoying tracking masks, color keying etc. to get that really really color pop look. So in theory HLG and even 8bit codecs, to a degree, can achieve close to that same look, you will just need to spend lots of time and computer power to go through each shot. Hope this makes sense, I may do a video explaining this concept in the future! Thanks again for stopping by, see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker Makes total sense. I use VLOG for most of my shoots, just because I haven't taken the time to learn HLG yet. But from what I'm seeing in my work, HLG definitely has a better color science right out of the camera.

@@TheToneWork That's because the HLG mode in the GH5 (and GH5S) is converting the captured sensor color range to Rec 2020 (aka BT 2020) right out of the gate. Unfortunately, most grades or conversion LUTS of Panasonic's Vlog-L have been to the opposite limited Rec 709 gamut even though the camera itself is capable of a wider range of color capture.

Hey hey Eugene! Thank you so much for checking out this video and chiming in your answer! HLG I feel definitely has a lot going for it with how you want to expose and pull it around, love it! Thanks again for stopping by! Hope to see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker thank you for your work!

Hey hey CultureJapon! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! Without a doubt the GH5 just doesn't do well once you get into the deeper shadow territories, for the most part I am not bothered by it for the projects I am on as we don't really go down that low where it becomes a problem. For HGL you'll want to expose off to the right a little more than CineD. As for color grading it, I find it does give much better gradients that looks very nice for cinematic grades, but it is something you gotta get used to as its behavior when grading is a bit different than Cine-D in terms of its response to Curves etc. Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker thanks for the tips ;)

Hey hey John! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! If you don't have an external monitor you can use any of the modes really, Mode 1 being the easiest one to use because you can see the contrast. What you really want to make sure of is to look at your GH5's waveform monitor and keep your image between 20-90 IRE (approx) even though the monitor may not show it this way, knowing where the image lies in the waveform will ensure that you are capturing all the detail without blowing out the image in post. If you're not too sure about how to approach a waveform, I did a little video here that will help you understand what it means: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8aNDmG1b_pc.html Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey hey Best BBQ Show! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! I'll answer your question here since you asked it twice on a different video. The pixelation you see if from the whole process because I filmed in h.264 in Long GOP instead of ALL-I, that was then compressed to a youtube format, and then youtube further formats it again for their needs. The Raw untouched long GOP files does not show pixilation rather just the Panasonic "Noise grain" that shows up in darker areas. Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and i’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker I'm trying to figure out an upgrade from the osmo pocket/go pro/rx100va setup that I use now and these bigger cameras are getting more complicated every time I try to do some research. I'm thinking GH5 and also EOS-R or A7iii. It seems the GH5 has the highest quality recording but again I'm not positive that's right. I also love the 120/180 slomo that this has. I know the Sony has 120 and the EOS-R has 120 at 720p but I'm not sure where to go on this journey. I don't truly know what your comment is saying or what it means. I get that it has to do with some video formats but is there something I should read before I choose a camera? Thanks!

I checked out a couple episodes of your show to see what kind of footage you film. Looks like mainly some sit down interviews, but I'm guessing you'd like to get some slow mo footage of the BBQ being made etc? Honestly the show looks good, is there any other reasons you want to change your camera systems to these larger systems? In my opinion it may be more beneficial to unify your cameras so that you are using the same camera for each angle. I want to try and answer you question a little. The GoPro might be the odd one out the bunch as it probably doesn't have as much use between the Osmo and Sony. In general I love the GH5, it does a lot of what I need it to do and more. The A7iii is great but can get expensive moving over to that system as the lenses for that type of sensor (full frame) is more expensive (because the sensor is larger, you need larger lenses) the Gh5 is a smaller sensor camera so lenses are more compact and depending on the lens, isnt as expensive. However, with all of this being said. Based on what I'm seeing on your show, you may actually benefit the most from a camcorder instead of a DSLR video camera. I say this because the system with lens is small and compact, most of them have a Mic jack if you run wireless audio to it. I'm sure some of them now have high speed slow motion recording options. The only thing you won't get as easily is that "out of focus" look if you start doing food videography of the places you visit. If this is what you are aspiring to do, then the GH5 is enough, no major need to go to a Full Frame system like the A7iii. This is all that I can gather from watching your show, hopefully some of these answers help in your journey. One last thing to note, Sony cameras currently stop recording at 30 minutes and you'll need to restart the recording when it hits the limit. the GH5 does not have this. Might be something to consider how you will combat this when you are doing longer interviews. Its not a big deal, but something to keep in mind. Good luck and keep reading and researching on youtube the cameras you might want to go with. All of them are great but can serve different purpose depending on how you want to use them.

@@TLDR_filmmaker wow, thank you so much! This is a very comprehensive answer and I appreciate the time you took! I'll keep saving up and someday upgrade, but you're right, it looks pretty good as is

You're most welcome! Keep doing what you're doing man! One of these days I hope to travel around the states and try me some authentic BBQ, I love BBQ but think I haven't REALLY had it yet. I have some colleagues from Texas say "man, even some gas stations there have killer BBQ". I'll take their word on it and I can't wait! All the best on your filmmaking endeavors and I'll see you in the next one!

You're most welcome Guru Raj! Hope this video helped! Will be working on the HLG guide once I finish up all the NAB stuff!

Hey hey Adam! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! The Dreamer look was just a quick grade I did randomly haha. Essentially just desaturate all colors and raise the mids and shadows so that it decreases the contrast of the overall image. I just called Dreamer because it reminds me of dream sequences in movies where everything needs to look light and not harsh. Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next one!

Hey hey again Neon! Thank you so much again for checking out this series of videos! This is hard for me to say because I haven't personally touched the GH5 V-log and of course the GH5s's V-log. But from the general comments of what people have said. The HLG and V-log noise floor is in the same area however one viewer stated something very interesting. Because of how prevalent and consistent the noise pattern can be at the V-log stage before grading it out and such, he found it much easier to just do a Neat Video denoise pass first and that allowed him to get clean graded footage no matter what. But I would say that HLG, for all intended purposes is a wonderful free color profile in the GH5 that makes it easy for people to get nice footage out of the camera, especially outside and when lit to taste indoors (Because of the previous ISO tests where 400 and 800 gave the best color and performance. Eventually when I do decide to purchase V-log...maybe (because budget monitors are now allowing 3D LUT support) I can't say for sure how well they compared for my own perceptions and needs. That being said HLG does a darn good job now that I understand more of where it's boundaries are! Hope this helps, thanks again for stopping by! See you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker Thank you!

Hey hey This & That Northwest! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! I actually do not have anyone who do Subtitles, it is Googles own auto caption that tries to do the best it can. I wonder if it's getting better? haha Thanks again for stopping by! Stay safe, healthy, and I’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmakerThanks! Nice work!

Greetings NXN Music! Thank you so much for checking out this video and asking a question! I think it depends, from some people they have said that HLG gets more accurate colors right out of the gate if you're just doing a natural WB, if you already have a LUT that works with your V-log workflow and you get what you want quickly, then I don't see the need to switch over to HLG. In the end they both perform similarly, for us GH5 users that have been holding out on V-log, this HLG gives us a free way to have more dynamic range into our shots. Hope this helps! Thanks again for stopping by and hopefully I'll see you in the next one!

TLDR Filmmaker thanks for the reply, loving your channel! I ended up sticking with VLog as I found the colours to be more pleasing for my taste, the HLG seemed to change the colours of greens and yellows quite drastically, kind of similar to cineD and took more work to get it to how I like it. All personal preference in the end!

You're most welcome! Yup, definitely all personal preference, I used to Love CineD but now film with Natural. Probably won't use HLG for youtube stuff, but definitely will for feature film or short films!

@@TLDR_filmmaker yep natural is also my faviorate when shooting 8 bit!

Hey hey again Guru Raj, Unfortunately no, the reason is because you can't do 60p 10bit on the GH5 so the option wouldn't be available. HLG require 10bit recording to get all the color and dynamic information. Sorry :(

@@TLDR_filmmaker but we can record 4k 10bit 60fps Vlog with Atomos screen recorders... I ask whether the same will work with HLG or not.. ?

@@TLDR_filmmaker am gonna shoot a short film next week with my GH5 , i don't have VLog.. am getting Godox SL150W lights and CP2 lens for rent.. if Shogun Inferno Records 4K 10bit 60fps HLG means i will get it for rent too..

Sorry, misread. With the external you should be able to do 10bit 4k for HLG. And I'm saying "you should be able". Because unfortunately I do not have the same setup that you're going for so I can't tell you for sure. Generally speaking it's always best to just do a google search to see if someone else has used your setup. Because I can only provide you theoretical answers that won't help you get a definitive answer. I know asking someone is easier (if they reply), but keep in mind that I'm a very budget conscious creator that doesn't buy or use extra expensive equipment if I don't believe the audience members can tell the difference. So in my case I wouldn't even go for the shogun for 10bit 60p and just do 8bit 60p in CineD if I want .5 extra dynamic range, or just expose for the NAT profile on set and use more bounce for a softer roll off in the shadows to make it look like HLG. If the rental store is nearby the best and fastest way to get your answer is to either ask the store themselves if they can test that feature real quick, or just go to the store and test it there before you commit to renting. Hope this helps!

Extremely late reply lol, but yup, it was release on a Tuesday for the major reasons of all that was last week lol. Decompression time

Greetings Franciscus! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! You are correct, the initial roll of examples was done on purpose for two reasons, if I made it small and had all three showing, I feel people would complain they can't see the detail to determine the quality. The second was to show that the brain forgets very quickly and buy showing you a series of examples from one setting versus showing the grades back to back to back, that in the end no one will be the wiser as to what color profile it was shot in. This is more or less to emulate that even budgeted production can pass off "low quality" cameras with an Arri and no one would be the wiser if seen in rapid succession. That being said I do show all three side by side a little further into the video for those that want to see the contrast differences between the settings. In the end as much as I enjoy seeing what technical feats can be achieved with higher end products and codecs, I always have to pull myself back and realize that in the end the audience doesn't really see what I see and I can trick them very easily and pass off my illusion. Thanks again for stopping by! hope to see you in the next one!

Actually I was thinking about this more and would like feedback from you guys. When you say shooting people for that M Bay look to use blue and orange gels. How practical would this be when shooting vlog? I think the norm is to shoot log and preview with a lut that achieves the look you're after.

Hey hey again Jerome! Thank you so much for checking out another video and commenting! Sorry apparently the first comment was in the Spam filter for whatever reason. For this test it's to see how different the HLG behaves when color graded in a forced Rec709 delivery. There are some advantages that I'm seeing when using this approach, mainly that the transition between luma and color seems much smoother to me and gives it that (I hate this term) "cinematic look". However it depends on the subject matter and what mood the film calls for, I love harsher looks, but if I was filming a romantic comedy, I'd opt for HLG to get softer transitions. For now even though not a lot of content is HDR, people are still watching Rec709 content on their HDR monitors or TV's. Which the TV will do its own processing to make the Rec709 looks as good as possible as it realizes its not taking in a rec2020 source. To a certain degree the regular viewer would be non the wiser if they are watching a SDR or HDR video. In the end, for me, this test showed me that depending on how harsh or soft I want my transitions, I now have some options of which color profile to film in for a SDR finally delivery. As for the teal and orange idea, I didn't think about using make up for the orange, that makes sense and probably is done on sets too! In terms of your second comment about Gels and LOG with LUT etc. I know you can't get 100% the same Teal and Orange look because your subjects costume wouldn't hit the right amount of Teal as you light their face to be orange. Unless you have the costume department specifically make a shade of wardrobe to combat it, but that may or may not be too much work. I think the idea, in my mind, is to at least introduce those colors into the camera so that when you're filming in these compressed codecs you don't have to push it as hard and cause weird artifacts (even though it doesn't really seem to be the case anymore) But probably just a good overall way to approach the craft. Thanks again for engaging! I'll see you in the next one my friend!

@@TLDR_filmmaker And thank you for your reply kind Sir! I genuinely enjoy learning through discussion thereby confirming what I did and didn't understand correctly.

You're most welcome! I as well in joy learning from discussions, I hope to have a livestream show one of these days where we can just all gather around and chat it out about anything and everything film!

Hey hey again David! Thank you so much for checking out another video in the series and chiming in your thoughts! You are definitely correct on that guess!

More for people that want to work in Rec2020. I agree that I'd rather just stick with V-log and call it a day. But I will say that there is finally HDR transform tools sets in editors so that you can freely shoot in HLG or HDR and have it convert it down to rec709 so that you can get the extra Dynamic Range compared to the standard profiles.

Hey hey Hairy Guy Sketches! Thank you so much for checking out this video and commenting! From what tell, HLG only really gives about another half a stop of dynamic range with a smoother color gradation in the midtone's. The smoothness does help make the overall color profile feel less "digital", if you will, but depending on what type of film you are creating, the smoothness may not really be needed. The type of action films I do are technically spanning the full 10 stops, but its very contrasty so I don't technically utilize the full range. The more I work on different movies and such, I'm not sure if I'm a candidate that would necessarily benefit from 14+ stops of range. TLDR: 10 stops is plenty as long as you find a little time to craft your lighting in the scene and get it close to where you want it to be. Thanks again for stopping by! Stay safe, healthy, and I’ll see you in the next one!

@@TLDR_filmmaker thank you for replying,

You're most welcome!