Improved support of max colour management

[piotrus3333]

From my point of view, the Agx color management is quite seducing. Nice highlight falloff, colors OK, i like the desaturated aspect as will on high values.

I most of the time use your AgX matrix (thanks) + custom 1D curve made with Lutcalc, and it works quite well.

I also tend to have little photoshop editing at the end, so i like to have my colors right in the render, and i find it very hard to finetune them in the VFB.

So i thought of finding the nice color setups with a lut in Resolve, and then bake them with AgX in one single LUT.

are you using Corona Image Editor?

[muoto]

almost never.

always the 3dsmax corona vfb with some editing in the tone mapping (but very simple, most of the time just AgX Lut), and most of the time directly saved to .jpg

[piotrus3333]

looks like you have everything you need here:
https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=40952.msg216985#msg216985

you are good to go with luts I posted a while ago.
edit: no need for string options or gamma operators in vfb.

in Corona Image Editor / VFB:

LUT: mP_Corona_AgX_A_matrix.cube  (this is color matrix from AgX ocio config simulated as lut for Corona and Corona only, it relies on how Corona handles luts, will not work as expected anywhere else - use ocio instead)
LUT(logarythmic): mP_Corona_AgX_B_log_AgX_kraken.cube (this take us to AgX Log (Kraken) - make all your colour correction, grading, look or whatever here)

here goes your custom look, lut most likely. create it on AgX Log (Kraken) image saved from CIE or frame buffer. in Fusion, Photoshop etc.

LUT: AgX_Default_Contrast.cube (attached below, this one would put your Kraken log nicely on a srgb display. edit: nicely but still missing the "look" so it is "bland" on purpose. this is cube version on the lut from original AgX ocio. 1D lut, just a contrast curve. you can obviously add this transform to your look for convenience)

and if you find AgX great - do not forget to say Thank You to Troy Sobotka: https://blenderartists.org/t/dealing-with-aces-agx-srgb/1480752/662

[maru]

Hey guys, I saved this thread to reply in it once we have improved the 3ds Max color management support in Corona and I guess the time has come.

The "custom config" option is now supported - please try it.

There is no need to use the gamma string option hack any more since you can apply LUTs in linear space or use the gamma operator (or just use neither if you can do without LUTs).

Rendering Color Space > Color Space is not fully supported, though. It only works with sRGB, WideRGB, ACEScg.

Since Corona Image Editor was mentioned here, please note that reproducing in CIE identical results as the ones you see in 3ds Max with the OCIO color management mode is in most cases impossible, because we would need to transfer 3ds Max color management system to CIE (which is either undoable or would be a huge effort). We are working on some articles explaining this.

So let us know if the newest daily lets you achieve what you are after, or at least brings you closer to achieving it: https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=41598.0

[piotrus3333]

if .cube luts with 1D shapers are finally correctly handled across Corona then full OCIO support can wait. 3ds Max’s implementation is poor at best and VRay’s only marginally better.

what is important is accepting inputs (colours and textures) in wider colour spaces. add acescg inputs - this one would be totally enough. it’s just more PBR in PBR - quite in line with your philosophy.

if this is too much to ask for now - I would suggest providing support for .csp luts like Photoshop does. this is how you properly support Corona-PS combo, not by hiding things from users behind “user-friendliness”.