Color Managed Workflows in After Effects - Part 1: Display, Log, Linearized, ACES

Learn how you can use Color Managed Workflows in After effects.

This is a practical After Effects guide which is a 2 part series:
In Part 1, I will explore color managing in 4 different color spaces: Display, Log, Linearized, and ACES. I will show a workflow for each, how to set it up, what settings to check or uncheck, what are the limitations, and show you comparisons.

In Part 2, I will implement these workflows on real project scenarios, and show a full workflow, with color managing and compositing, to see exactly how to do it, what to watch out for, and share when would I typically use each workflow.

Please share your experience with these or other methods in the comments, any feedback or observations about this will be appreciated. thanks for watching

For Part 2:    • Color Managed Workflows in After Effe...  

Part 1 Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:47 - Additional Resources
01:23 - OCIO Installation
02:01 - Project Settings
02:37 - Composite Introduction
03:23 - EXR Color Management - Import
07:02 - Display Working Color Space - The Easy Way
13:19 -Log Working Color Space - The “Bad” Way
16:48 - Linearized Working Color Space - The Right Way
21:38 EXR Export
23:35 - ACES Working Color Space - The Ultimate Way


Installation:
OCIO Plugin for After Effects:
fnord software blog: OpenColorIO for After Effects
http://fnordware.blogspot.com/2012/05...
Instructions: Place the plugin (OpenColorIO.aex) in your After Effects Plugin folder

OCIO Configuration Files:
https://github.com/colour-science/Ope...
Instructions: Press “Code” Link, Download Zip, Extract the two folders: nuke-default & aces_1.2 to:
Windows:
C:\ProgramData\OpenColorIO\
Mac:
/Library/Application Support/OpenColorIO/

Samples used in this tutorial:
Camera Sample Footage - Demo shots for workflow tests | Arri.com
https://www.arri.com/en/learn-help/le... (ALEXA LF Footage - ProRes)

Collection of images associated with the OpenEXR distribution
https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFou... (MultiResolution Folder - Bonita.exr)

Reading resources:

Series on Color Management, for AE users - Chris Zwar, Provideocoalition.com
https://www.provideocoalition.com/col...

Why Every Editor, Colorist, and VFX Artist Needs to Understand ACES
https://blog.frame.io/2019/09/09/guid...

Linear Light, Gamma, and ACES — Prolost
https://prolost.com/blog/aces

Color Spaces of the VFX Pipeline Part 5: Workspace | The Wright Stuff - www.fxecademy.com
https://www.fxecademy.com/color-space...

What is Color Management? – Netflix | Partner Help Center
https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.co...

Special Thanks to Shebanjah Klaasen, who helped me a lot with perfecting the explanations and procedures in this tutorial series.