Rendering is at 90% so clip should be up sometime tonight, or tomorrow morning.

My color grade ended up doing:
-a 4K upsample (4096x1740 via the Instant 4K plugin)
-a rec709 to slog3 conversion (common sony curves which the PT was shot on, well actually it was shot at slog2 I believe but I prefer slog3)
-a slog3 to kodak 5219 cineon emulation (TFA and TLJ were shot on this stock)
-curves adjusments (to brighten up image)
-a cineon to Kodak 2283 print emulation (modern theatrical film prints are printed on this stock)
-levels adjustments (to get pure black and pure white levels)
-white balance (to remove greenish/yellow tint from film emulations)
-a Hue-Saturation-luminance curves adjustments (primarily to make teal colors appear more grey)
-and finally real 4K scans of Kodak 5219 grain overlayed on top

This isn’t the most thorough grade I’ve done, but I think it looks good. I’m debating about darkening/adding more contrast back to make it match the theatrical 35mm prints as shown in the trailers above, as well as adjusting the emulation and conversion curves for more accuracy. I thought I’d release it as it is and get feedback first. I’ll render out a high bitrate x265 4K version once I make some more refinements.

Essentially I wanna release a single pass color grade for each prequel that gives it a filmic look but retains most of the original intentions in color timing. After releasing those, I will begin work on shot-by-shot more radical color regrades that will feature more aesthetic changes some of which I’ve previewed in images I’ve posted before.

I feel good about again sharing what I’ve been working on. The haituses were necessary because of some crazy things going on in my life over the last few years, but I’m glad to be back for a bit.

To note though I will be going on a 2 month vacation starting next month so I will be gone then, but I’m happy to squeeze in some updates and previews before then.