This will sound fanboy-ish a bit (which is funny as I barely use LR, and as a consequence the one Cobalt filmpack I've bought some time ago), but "Cobalt Colours" might be the first profile for RAW development, where I actually prefer the skintones (without much tweaking) to those from in-cam JPEG (I often struggle to get the RAW skintones close to the JPEG ones, as I like these most of the time).
j4nu wrote:
This will sound fanboy-ish a bit (which is funny as I barely use LR, and as a consequence the one Cobalt filmpack I've bought some time ago), but "Cobalt Colours" might be the first profile for RAW development, where I actually prefer the skintones (without much tweaking) to those from in-cam JPEG (I often struggle to get the RAW skintones close to the JPEG ones, as I like these most of the time).
Apparently there is a new version of this profile (v1.2)
---------------------------------------------
Update!
Version 1.2 of Cobalt Colour has been released.
Included:
-Cobalt Colour
-Cobalt Colour (SRGB)
-Cobalt Colour (Adobe RGB)
-Preset WB and Matrix for extreme recovery.
Cobalt Colour has been improved to avoid unwanted posterizations. The two added versions are for the straight export to reduce colour spaces (gamut mapping in CIECAM02 to sRGB and AdobeRGB). Please download it from the Basic Pack page, delete the old one and install the zip file by importing it from Lightroom/Acr.
JamesRitson wrote:
I'm done posting in this thread.
My free spectral profiles that will be available soon will blow these awful Cobalt things away.
Fred, you can test this clipping why don't you comment? I have wasted money based on your recommendation, going forward I cannot trust you.
I prefer the Cobalt Standard for the image you posted. When using the profile Cobalt "Colours" on this image, I find that using Matrix saturation "-15" and WB "Daylight" improves the result.
If I wanted accuracy, I would stick with the default Adobe Standard or Cobalt Standard depending on the image. However, I usually prefer using a profile that gives pleasant colors or skin tones for the image I'm working on. It's great to have so many options to choose from.
For the RAW image you posted, here is the Cobalt Standard using WB Daylight followed by Cobalt "Colours" with Matrix saturation -15 and WB Daylight:
Cobalt Standard using WB Daylight
Cobalt Colours with Matrix saturation -15 and WB Daylight
In fact it is a very difficult photo.
From what I can see the red flower is in an area close to clipping and the same phenomenon occurs in Adobe Colors.
This is the problem of building grading luts, taking into account the thousands and thousands of possible variations.
It is a very saturated red flower, with a WB that pushes the tint to 53 of Magenta; one of the worst situations.
Fortunately, the Matrix Mod helps to solve these special cases.
And yes, no one is perfect, like nothing we do is perfect.
We are human; but quite good.
A profile made correctly does not need all the above nonsense to deal with difficult images.
You can create presets containing those steps for Cobalt for a 1 click fix, you know. Some people will have to do similar with your own colors, since they won't be to everyone's taste, either.
A profile made correctly does not need all the above nonsense to deal with difficult images.
I think the workflow depends on the image. It would not be wise to apply a profile that accentuates color on an image that is on the verge of clipping already. It seems like you cherry-picked this image to intentionally bash the new Cobalt Colour profile.
If that's not your intention, at least stop promoting your own profiles on this thread. Thank you.
JamesRitson wrote:
I'm done posting in this thread.
I see...
Are you aware that you are comparing a workflow between a basic profile and a color grading profile?
We really would like to know about your account registered on our site to be able to know who we are dealing with.
Regarding the construction of spectral profiles: to obtain them it is necessary to know the SSF curves of the cameras, of each camera.
So I assume you have a spectrum analysis laboratory, consisting of a monochromator, integrating sphere, spectroradiometer. And that in just one day you have measured and calculated all Sony E-mounts and all Canon RF.
If so, wow, I wonder why you bought the profiles from us. And I also wonder why you complain about the price, given that just the spectrum analysis lab you have will cost around $ 40,000, plus the rental cost of all Sony E-mounts and Canon RF.
To my taste and my eyes everything is working well.
I'm actually quite liking the new Cobalt Colours profile as a starting point (so thanks for that), but to be honest: these examples all look horrible to me. (Fred's examples look way better).
1) The LR auto WB is just wrong here.
2) They all are too desaturated.
3) That's (first example) not how the image looks when being imported into Lightroom.
This is how it looks, Adobe Color profile, not a single thing touched:
Completely different than the one you're labeling as the default LR Adobe Color import. Already with clipping flowers.
Those things aside, it certainly is a difficult image. The flowers are clipping easily.
In most of my images I'm not noticing such issues so this is more of a worst case scenario.
Jochenb wrote:
I'm actually quite liking the new Cobalt Colours profile as a starting point (so thanks for that), but to be honest: these examples all look horrible to me. (Fred's examples look way better).
1) The LR auto WB is just wrong here.
2) They all are too desaturated.
3) That's (first example) not how the image looks when being imported into Lightroom.
This is how it looks, Adobe Color profile, not a single thing touched:
Completely different than the one you're labeling as the default LR Adobe Color import. Already with clipping flowers.
Those things aside, it certainly is a difficult image. The flowers are clipping easily.
In most of my images I'm not noticing such issues so this is more of a worst case scenario. ...Show more →
The right wb on this picture is quite hard to reach, from my opinion is not cols like mine but is cooler than your samples, the colour for the green is typical from a cloudy day so for sure IS NOT warm.
I did just an import, auto wb and the profiles shown above.
Seems weird your adobe colour compared to mine, the first one.
I double-checked, mine is the same again.
ps I was wrong, added a matrix correction...
BTW, we are talking about a dedicated mainstream profile for general photography, and the sample is close to the worst nightmare
For that we have Neutral, Flat and Repro...
Archive 2021 · Cobalt Profiles
