To LUT or not to LUT

[llirik]

So I've been playing around with 5D Raw and mostly figured out Resolve Lite now.... and i've come across something I can't wrap my head around.

This came about because I had missed the Reel Names step for a Resolve - FCPX - Resolve workflow, and after literally a night and half a day of trying to get it all matched up with my edit... I've decided to call it quits on grading in Resolve... I will do that on another test video in the future. (Basically, even after re-exporting proxies with reel names... most files link back in resolve, some dont... but i also just have black screens and can't do anything).

As such, I've decided to just grade in FCPX since I know that already... but what im stuck on is whether to export my dngs from Resolve with LUT (I'm using hunter's) to Prores or not... I'm going to be testing this anyway, but this whole 422/4444 and just the power of 14-bit thing is completely new to me, and searching online i'm not finding the answer i'm looking for.

So ive decided to ask you guys: from resolve... should I export the DNGs without a LUT so that the colors are washed out and dull from the BMD clip setting (which seems to keep my highlights more)... or should I export with a LUT?

Also, I'm reading that ProRes 422 HQ and ProRes 4444 are really not THAT different, especially with the 5D Raw footage... can anyone confirm this? I shot a bunch of stuff in Thailand, Goa and Dubai on raw and really want to push the grading to see how it holds up with these vast differences in location.

Basically: with the idea that im grading fully in FCPX, I shot on RAW and am exporting the DNGs from Resolve.... should I add the LUT at this point or keep it to just BMD clip... and should i export as ProRes 4444 or ProRes 422 HQ?

Thanks for your help!

[llirik]

I should add: I'm considering bringing an XML back into Resolve, but working with the ProRes files, and the DNGs just go to archiving.

I imagine I can provide the LUT in resolve later again.... but given that now its not from a DNG... does this effect it greatly than if I'm working off the ProRes (with my own tests now... ive settled on 422 HQ).

[Midphase]

If from this point forward you'll be working in ProRes, then no, you don't want to apply a LUT to it.

LUTs are essentially quick and dirty "looks" that you can use to export proxy files for editing while knowing all along that you'll online with the original raw files. Some LUTs are good enough to finish with, but it really depends heavily on the footage and most colorists would recommend against it.

If you're never going back to using the DNG files beyond this point, then don't do any grading, just leave it as Film BMD, and you're probably going to be fine with ProRes 422HQ.

Also, don't archive the CDNG files....that's kinda useless if you're not going back to them for online. Rather, archive the original .raw files from your camera since you can always re-extract the CDNG back if you need to.