Wide Gamut HDR Coloring of Log Footage and SDR Delivery – Final Cut Pro 11 Workflow

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Level 1

13 points

Wide Gamut HDR Coloring of Log Footage and SDR Delivery – Final Cut Pro 11 Workflow

Wide Gamut HDR Coloring of Log Footage and SDR Delivery – Workflow

From my experience, when shooting with a Nikon ZR or even a SONY camera, it’s best to set the library in Final Cut Pro 11 to Wide Gamut HDR and the project to Rec.709 color space.

The source footage is recorded in N-Log, but Final Cut Pro 11 incorrectly interprets it as Rec.709 in the metadata, even though N-Log actually captures in Rec.2020. This means that on the timeline, I select the clip and in the inspector I set the Color Space Override to Rec.2020. After that, Final Cut Pro 11 correctly interprets the footage as Rec.2020.

Next, I apply an adjustment layer for the LUT conversion, specifically the LUT that converts N-Log Rec.2020 to Rec.709. I set the LUT’s output to Rec.2020 and input to Rec.709, since my final export is planned in SDR Rec.709.

The footage grades beautifully — and although the tools feel slightly more sensitive when color grading — the final export in Rec.709 looks smoother, and the colors appear better than if I had graded the entire project from the start in an SDR library and Rec.709 project.

In my experience, it’s better to color grade N-Log and all log footage within a Wide Gamut HDR library, with the project set to Rec.709, applying the correct Color Space Override and using proper LUT input/output settings. This gives better results than working entirely within an SDR library and Rec.709 project from the beginning.

Converting from this workflow — using a Wide Gamut HDR library, with clips set to Rec.2020, and exporting to SDR — results in a smoother image and better-looking colors.

What’s your experience? How do you set up your Final Cut Pro library and project for color grading N-Log or other log footage from different cameras?

Posted on Nov 8, 2025 11:58 AM

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Answer 1

visualdemon Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 9, 2025 2:51 AM in response to visualdemon

One small correction regarding LUT input and output.

The correct way is like this:

*Next, I apply an adjustment layer for the LUT conversion, specifically the LUT that converts N-Log Rec.2020 to Rec.709. I set the LUT’s input to Rec.2020 and output to Rec.709, since my final export is planned in SDR Rec.709.

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Answer 2

BenB

Level 6

13,166 points

Nov 11, 2025 9:24 AM in response to visualdemon

Joema, Nikon N-Log is a proprietary Log format to Nikon and they publish their own LUT for it. You can download the Nikon N-Log LUT here.

https://www.nikonusa.com/learn-and-explore/c/tips-and-techniques/what-is-nikon-n-log-and-should-i-use-it-to-record-video

Here's an article on how to handle Nikon N-Log in FCP.

https://rdubcreative.com/edit-nraw-in-final-cut/

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Answer 3

visualdemon Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 8, 2025 2:33 PM in response to visualdemon

For completeness, I’m working on an EIZO CS2731 monitor. The main point, however, is that even though I don’t see the full Rec.2020 range, the color grading is more accurate, and the SDR conversion is of higher quality.

To simplify — it’s like shooting source footage in 4K and exporting it to Full HD. The quality is still better than footage originally shot in Full HD.

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Answer 4

joema

Level 4

1,137 points

Nov 9, 2025 7:53 AM in response to visualdemon

When you say "N-Log," what codec is that? NRAW? H.264 in an MP4 container? The only downloadable samples I could find online were NRAW. Do you have a sample unmodified camera clip we could examine? If you mean NRAW I can get that from Nikon's site. However, neither FCP nor Premiere can read Nikon's NRAW .NEV format, so maybe you don't mean NRAW.

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Answer 5

visualdemon Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 10, 2025 11:09 PM in response to joema

I have in mind the H265 codec in a mov container. set to a log called n-log from Nikon. But we are talking about H265, prores 422 hq or ProRes RAW (all in n-log) the settings and procedure in final cut pro 11 I would set as I write. So far it seems to me like the best way for a proper colorgrading start.

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Answer 6

joema

Level 4

1,137 points

Nov 11, 2025 2:32 PM in response to visualdemon

You previously mentioned a specific case: "source footage is recorded in N-Log." What codec was that? I've spent several hours looking for non-RAW N-Log samples but haven't found any.

I have an EIZO CG2700X and an UltraStudio 4k video interface, and I'll be happy to investigate this, but I need an actual clip to examine. It needs to be non-RAW (e.g, H.264, H.265, All-Intra) because there is technically no such thing as a RAW codec that contains a certain RGB gamma curve. RAW is a Bayer-format mosaic and is captured from the sensor and recorded before RGB gamma exists.

E.g, my documentary team has three Sony FX6 cameras and we sometimes shoot ProRes RAW, but that does not contain S-Log3. Rather, when those clips are imported to FCP, *then* we usually convert it to S-Log3. Likewise our DJI Ronin 4D also shoots ProRes RAW but that does not contain D-Log. In fact, we usually import to FCP and convert that also to S-Log3. So there is no inherent relationship between a RAW format vs an RGB log gamma curve.

Your general concept of using a Wide Gamut HDR library and applying a conversion LUT when processing log material can be a good idea, even for a Rec.709 final product. One reason is the FCP built-in conversion LUTs (inc'l N-Log) are applied as an attribute, not as an effect in the stack. Thus, the content can get clipped, and later effects in the stack can't fix that.

However, in an SDR library and project, you can apply an N-Log-to-Rec.709 conversion LUT using FCP's "Custom LUT" effect. That also gives the opportunity to apply a Color Wheels or other effect before the LUT and avoid clipping or crushing blacks.

If you can upload a simple N-Log clip (such as the one you mentioned) to a file-sharing site and post the URL here, I'll be happy to examine it.

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