The future of color in video and motion production is ACES! I’ll outline my Cinema4D/Redshift to After Effects method here as a reference for myself and any others that are interested. I will update this page as my knowledge develops on this topic.
What is ACES?
This is where most info about ACES can be found.
Great tutorial to follow here by i_go_by_zak.
Cinema4D (R21-R26)
The following are render settings for creating ACES content.
Render Settings
Save / Regular Image:
This is the Beauty render to reference. I usually set this to Format of JPG. *OR you can set it to one of the below (Min or Max) settings if not creating AOVs.
Save / Multi-Pass Image (Minimum):
This is the setup for our AOVs to be used for compositing in After Effects. Set Format to OpenEXR / Depth set to 16 Bit/Channel. Then twirl open Format and set Compression Method to ZIP. Then Check ON the following: Use 16 Bit Floats, Multi-Layer File and Layer Name as Suffix.
Save / Multi-Pass Image (Maximum):
Set Format to OpenEXR / Depth set to 32 Bit/Channel. Then twirl open Format and set Compression Method to PXR24. Then Check ON the following: Use 16 Bit Floats, Multi-Layer File and Layer Name as Suffix.
Save / Multi-Pass Image (Photoshop):
Set Format to PSD / Depth set to 16 (or 32) Bit/Channel. Multi-Layer File and Layer Name as Suffix.
Redshift (v3.5.01)
Setting up Redshift within C4D for best results.
Globals
Under Redshift’s Globals tab Twirl open the Color Management section. Your OpenColorIO Configuration should already be set to $OCIO.
Settings for working in RS RenderView:
Rendering Color Space set to ACEScg
Display set to sRGB
View set to Un-tone-mapped (*could also be set to ACES 1.0 SDR-video)
Compensate for View Transform should be checked ON
Settings for Final Renders:
Rendering Color Space set to ACEScg
Display set to sRGB
View set to Raw
Compensate for View Transform should be checked OFF
AOVs & Compositing Layers
Under Redshift’s AOV tab set the Mode to Enabled. Set a Base Filename (I use the default: $prj_AOV). Then Check ON the following: Multi-Part EXR and Multi-Pass Compatibility. Everything is at default settings (for now). Then click the Show AOV Manager button to add the AOVs needed. All AOVs that have a Check under Multi-Pass will be included in our layered EXR file.
After Effects 2022 (v22.2.1)
Info and screenshots coming soon.
OpenColorIO
You’ll need the latest version of this plugin installed in the After Effects plugin folder to continue.
Project Settings
Depth should be set to 32 bits per channel (float). Working Space should be sRGB. Linear Working Space should be checked ON.
Import Assets
Import your EXR images/sequences. *Make sure to check on Create Composition when importing. In AE Import as Composition, Pre-compose Layers & Contact Sheet checked ON.
ACEScg Setup
It’s best to use the Redshift plugin provided OCIO config (ocio.config) which on a PC can be found in C:/ProgramData/redshift/Data/OCIO.
Create an Adjustment Layer above your imported comp layers and apply the OpenColorIO plugin. Select the Configuration tab and select ‘Custom…’ then make sure to apply the token path ($OCIO) from C4D’s Redshift for the Configuration (so results match). See the image below for the best setup for color correcting (Lumetri, etc.) in ACES.
Here’s a link to Maxon’s Redshift Compositing Help page.
Compositing Layer Order
Do you want to recombine your AOV’s into your beauty render? It’s all outlined here.