In addition to the plethora of fantastic video features packed on board, the Panasonic GH5 allows users to load custom LUTs as well so that they can preview different looks straight in their camera while shooting in V-Log. And the best part is that you can convert almost any LUT to make it compatible with your GH5 by using the free open-source software LUTCalc developed by Ben Turley. Luke Neumann of Neumannfilms will walk us through the process by showing off how you can easily transform virtually any grading LUT by converting it into an in-camera LUT compatible with the Panasonic GH5 in a few easy steps.
Once you access the LUTCalc in your web browser, choose the LUT that you want to convert from your computer, select 100% to 100% under the LUT Range and hit Analyze. That way, you’ll be able to preview the look generated by the LUT as well as further customize it to perfectly match your GH5 camera settings.
Furthermore, in the Customization section, you should change the Input Gamma to Panasonic V-Log, Input Gamut to Panasonic V-Gamut and export the LUT as a Camera/Monitor LUT instead of Grading LUT. In this particular case, you should opt for the Varicam 3D MLUT extension and then hit Generate LUT.
The next step of the process is to give the generated LUT a name that should be only three characters long due to the GH5’s naming conventions and copy the LUT file to the root folder of your SD card that goes into the camera. Next, make sure that your GH5 is in Video Mode and the V-Log picture profile is enabled. Finally, access the V-LogL View Assist in the main menu and choose Read LUT File.
If you’ve done everything correctly, you should be able to see the LUT that you’ve previously created in the LUT Data Select section of your camera. Keep in mind, that you can load up to four custom LUTs on your GH5. Ultimately, make sure that the LUT Monitor Display function is switched on. If you want to add more LUTs, you can use the same workflow as the camera will replace the older look-up tables with the new ones once you upload them.
This functionality can be extremely convenient when you want to show off certain look to a client while shooting on set, or just use it as a reference to get a better idea of what your footage would look like before it goes through color grading. Either way, it’s a fantastic feature that even some high-end cameras still lack so it’s great that GH5 shooters can utilize it whenever required.