
LUTs are the color magic sauce that applies color edits as you shoot, whether that’s stills or video – and a new app is using AI to create new color profiles from existing photographs. An update coming to the Lumix Lab App in the next few days is poised to bring Magic LUTs built from an existing inspiration photo – and the feature works beyond images taken with Lumix cameras.
LUTs or Look Up Tables are color profiles that were first popularized on cinema cameras. LUTs were most commonly used as color profiles for video editing, but now several cameras support LUTs in-camera, which means you can apply color profiles as you take the images (or video) in the camera.
Panasonic has been pushing in-camera LUTs, even launching cameras with dedicated controls for LUTs. Now, Panasonic is updating the Lumix Labs App with Magic LUT, a feature that uses an existing photograph and AI to create a custom LUT.
Magic LUT is a new feature inside the app that allows users to upload an existing image as a reference, then AI takes that image and builds a custom LUT that mimics the inspiration photo’s colors, tones, and mood.
The tool works with JPEG and HEIF still photos, and the reference image does not need to be taken with a Lumix camera.
After the AI generates the LUT, users can use the app to fine-tune the results before saving them as an LUT. The Lumix Lab app can be used to automatically transfer LUTs to supported cameras, but those profiles can also be downloaded as .cube files.
Panasonic says the goal of Magic LUTs is to make LUTs accessible to everyone by creating a simple way to create a profile from an inspiration image.
LUTs are among my favorite features on Panasonic's cameras because they help create fantastic colors in the camera, without editing. I'm curious to try the new Magic Labs feature – and especially curious to see if it works with photos like scanned film and some of my favorite edits from digital cameras.
The update to Lumix Labs will roll out on October 19 at 9 AM ET in app stores as well as on the Lumix website.
The Magic LUTs launch alongside an update to Lumix Flow and new firmware for the Lumix S5 II, S9, GH7, G9 II, and several lenses.
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