In the film industry, 3D LUTs (lookup table

Lookup table

In computer science, a lookup table is a data structure, usually an array or associative array, often used to replace a runtime computation with a simpler array indexing operation. The savings in terms of processing time can be significant, since retrieving a value from memory is often faster than...

s) are used to calculate preview colors for a monitor or digital projector of how an image will be reproduced on the final film print. A 3D LUT is a 3D lattice of output color values. Each axis is one of the 3 input color components and the input color thus defines a point inside the lattice. Since the point may not be on a lattice point, the lattice values must be interpolated, most products use trilinear interpolation

Trilinear interpolation

Trilinear interpolation is a method of multivariate interpolation on a 3-dimensional regular grid. It approximates the value of an intermediate point within the local axial rectangular prism linearly, using data on the lattice points...

.

Cubes may be of various sizes and bit depth

Bit depth

Bit depth may refer to:* For bit depth in graphics, see color depth* For bit depth in audio, see audio bit depth* For bit depth in drilling for petroleum, see drilling rig...

s. Often 17x17x17 cubes are used as 3D LUTs. The most common practice is to use RGB 10bit/component log images as the input to the 3D LUT. Output is usually RGB values that are to be placed unchanged into a display device's buffer.

Modern graphics cards have direct support for 3D LUTs, allowing entire HD images to be processed at 60fps or faster.

Some systems for 3D LUT Generation

• Cine-tal cineSpace 3D LUT generation software for film color management
• FilmLight
  Filmlight
  FilmLight Limited is a digital cinema technology company started in 2002 by the Scientific and Technical Academy Award-winning former Computer Film Company R&D team.Their main products are:...
  
   Truelight color management system
• Light Illusion LightSpace CMS for full colour management.

Some systems supporting 3D LUTs

• Apple Shake compositing software
• ARRI ARRILASER Film rekorder, ARRICUBE Color Management System
• BARCO BARCO RHDM-P Series High-Definition Reference Monitor
• Assimilate SCRATCH color grading system
• Autodesk Media and Entertainment
  Autodesk Media and Entertainment
  Autodesk Media and Entertainment, formerly Discreet, is based in Montreal, Quebec as the entertainment division of Autodesk. This division produces software used in feature films, television commercials and computer games. It also provides products for management and distribution to complement its...
  
   Flint, Flame, Inferno, Smoke, Fire, and Lustre, Composite
• Avid DS digital mastering system
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve
• CHROME Imaging MATRIX Color Correction and Dustbusting Solutions
• Cine-tal Cinemage monitor and eLuma LUT processor
• Digital Vision Film Master, Data Conform and all software products
• Digital Film Technology LUTher 3D LUT processor
• DVS Clipster digital mastering systems
• Eyeon Fusion compositing software
• FilmLight
  Filmlight
  FilmLight Limited is a digital cinema technology company started in 2002 by the Scientific and Technical Academy Award-winning former Computer Film Company R&D team.Their main products are:...
  
   Baselight color grading system and Truelight LUT processor
• The Foundry Nuke compositing software
• Gamma and Density 3cP on-set color grading system
• Interactive Effects Piranha Cinema visual effects system and Piranha Player
• IRIDAS SpeedGrade and FrameCycler
• OpenColorIO Open Source Color Management for visual-effects and animation
• Pandora Revolution and Pixi color grading systems
• Quantel
  Quantel
  Quantel is a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designs and manufactures digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries...
  
  color grading system
• Tcube FIG LUT processor
• TVLogic XVM-245W monitor
• YoYotta YoYo