The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max support the new Apple Log. What is Log and why should we use it? Answers coming up. In this post, I’ve also got some Apple Log LUTs to share with you.
How to Shoot in Apple Log
The simplest way to shoot a video with Apple Log is to go into Camera Settings, then formats, then toggle on Apple ProRes. Now you can choose which type of ProRes encoding you want. Here you want to select Log.
Open up the camera app in regular video mode (you cannot shoot Apple Log in Cinematic mode) there’s an option to switch ProRes Log on or off. Everything now looks horrible, washed out and almost colourless.
As well, we have to shoot ProRes which consumes a ton more storage. However, we can get around that using the new Blackmagic App and I’ll show you how.
Why would we want to do this to ourselves? you might be asking yourself. Well, let me explain. Actually, I’m going to let Apple explain.
What is Apple Log?
Apple has even created a white paper for their Apple Log. A white paper is basically a scientific document. So I downloaded it and had a look (see link above). In fact, it’s only about 2 and half pages and there’s like some graphs and some equations which make no sense to me whatsoever.
But here’s what they say in the introduction.
“The Apple Log profile is a scene-referred encoding using a logarithmic curve and a wide colour gamut.”
Those 2 phrases are important:
logarithmic - which is where the Log comes from in Apple Log, and
wide colour gamut.
You might have heard that last term when buying a TV. Basically a colour gamut is simply a range of colours. Obviously, having a wide range of colours is generally better than having a narrow range of colours.
They continue:
“The purpose of using this type of profile is to best preserve video data at capture time, with minimal processing. Log captures are not intended for direct viewing, but rather as source clips used in post-production workflows, where the desired rendering look and feel are applied during colour grading. These captures are characterised by a transfer function and a colour space.”
When they say captures, they just mean video clips you’ve captured. And a colour space is a mathematical representation of a range of colours. When you see things like Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 these are different colour spaces.
If you just record video normally with your iPhone, with Dolby Vision switched off, the videos in your gallery will be Rec. 709. This video that you’re watching now is also encoded in Rec. 709.
Not for Direct Viewing
But the important phrase here is “not intended for direct viewing”. In other words, you're not supposed to shoot Log video and then upload that directly to YouTube, untreated. The Log video format is for creators who want a more flexible colour grading experience.
When we’re watching video on Apple TV or Netflix, what we’re seeing is heavily treated. The video is compressed and the colour is worked on to create a certain look. It’s like a cake with all the icing and decoration added and ready for consumption.
Now, imagine trying to add icing to a cake which already has icing. Log on the other hand is like a bare cake, waiting for the icing expert to come along and apply the final look.
Log is like a cake without decoration.
When should we shoot in Log?
The answer (to continue the cake analogy): if you just want a cake that’s ready to eat, don’t shoot Log. If you want to add the icing yourself, shoot Log.
Using the regular iPhone shooting mode, there will be a colour palette baked in. As well, iPhones add lots of sharpening to videos which can look quite harsh and not too cinematic. Another thing that iPhones do is add dynamic tone mapping, which means we can never fully lock exposure.
By shooting Log we can remove all this: neutral colour palette, no extra sharpening, no dynamic tone mapping. But it does mean we will have to do more work ourselves.
How to Shoot Log with Blackmagic Camera App
Blackmagic is a new free camera app for iPhone. If we use this app, we have more flexibility when it comes to capturing in Log. There’s different types of ProRes to choose from. As well, we can even shoot Apple Log in the h.264 and h.265 codecs.
As well, we can use a display LUT which shows us what our Log video will look like in the standard Rec. 709 colour space. You can install a LUT for preview, so the clip you end up with will still be the washed out Log. But it just helps you to see what you’re actually getting when you’re recording.
And they recently updated the app so you can now bake in the LUT. If you toggle on Record LUT to clip, you will get a video clip with the LUT already added.
How to Add a Preview LUT
Let me show you how to add a preview LUT in Blackmagic.
Open settings, go down to LUTs and toggle it on. You can see I already have a LUT installed, which is called OneLUT and gives you the look of an Arri Alexa camera. Apple has made available their own LUT which converts Apple Log to Rec. 709.
You can download this LUT from the Apple Developer website or you can get it HERE.
First you need to download the LUT to your iPhone. Then, in Blackmagic, tap the settings cog, scroll down to LUTs. There’s a switch here which toggles on and off any LUT selected below.
Tap LUT selection and then Import LUT. Navigate to where the LUT is on your iPhone, or just search to find it, and open.
Head back to Camera and now you can see what Log looks like with the Apple Rec 709 LUT applied. If you just want to see Apple Log without the preview LUT, toggle it off in settings.
You can switch between any LUTs you’ve installed and preview them.
Color Space Tag
Below we now have a setting for Colour Space Tag. If you’re using a LUT then you need to change this tag to the colour space of the LUT. If you don’t then your iPhone might display the video incorrectly.
For example, if you’re using the Apple Rec 709 LUT then switch this to Rec 709.
Using a LUT when Editing Apple Log
These LUTs can also be applied when you’re editing your footage. Different editing software will do this differently, but I’ll just show you how to do it in Premiere.
Open up the Color tab, open Basic correction, and then click on LUT. Choose Browse, locate your LUT and open it. The LUT is now added to the video, but this time this is not a preview. When you export your video it will include the new look.
Create Arri Alexa Look with your iPhone using OneLUT
The guys at One LUT have created a LUT which emulates the look of an Arri Alexa. They’ve tested the iPhone 15 Pro side by side with the Arri Alexa cinema camera to create a LUT that achieves a comparable colour response.
They say they’ve modelled their LUT to match Arri’s official Alexa K1S1 Rec 709 LUT.
This is what it looks like compared to Apple’s Rec 709 LUT.
If you’re interested in using this LUT, One LUT are giving away 5 free to my members here on Patreon. Just leave a comment below saying you would like the One LUT and the first 5 comments get the LUT.
One LUT are also offering to my followers a 20% off code for a limited time. The code is SIMONTWENTY. This offer will only last a few weeks, so grab it while you can.
Creative LUTs
We can also use more creative LUTs with our Apple Log footage. These allow us to quickly add a more distinctive colour palette to our videos. Using Log instead of regular footage should mean we get more pleasing results.
Color Grading Apple Log without a LUT
A big question is, do we really need LUTs when we’re colour grading? The simple answer is no. A professional colorist won't normally use LUTs when color grading the final video. They're usually only used for reference or previewing when recording.
You can even grade your Apple Log within the iPhone's Photos app. Check the video above to see how.
Happy filming!
Simon
