so anyway this has been bugging me for a while and i finally have to ask. i shoot in d-log on my Air 2S and i love the dynamic range but my editing process is just completely out of control. i import the clips, apply a lut, then i start tweaking and then i realize the lut isnt quite right for the lighting in that particular shot, so i start color grading from scratch and before i know it ive spent 4 hours on a 90 second reel and im not even sure it looks better than if id just shot in normal color profile.

do any of you have like a actual system for this? im not a professional editor or anything, this is all just for my youtube channel and personal projects, but i want to get faster and more consistent without sacrificing the look. ive seen people talk about proxy workflows but that sounds complicated and maybe overkill for what im doing. would love to know how other hobbyists handle this because right now its kind of killing the fun of the whole thing

proxy workflow is actually not that bad once you set it up, premiere makes it pretty painless now and honestly if youre on a laptop it will change your life. but if thats too much right now the simpler fix might just be building yourself a starting point ? like take a few of your best-looking grades that you were happy with and save those as preset sequences or adjustment layer templates. then when you import new d-log footage you just drop that adjustment layer on and tweak from there instead of starting cold every time. cuts the decision fatigue way down.

also worth asking ? are you grading clip by clip or using an adjustment layer across the whole timeline? if its clip by clip thats probably eating a huge chunk of your time right there

i just switched from d-log to HLG and honestly for youtube it suits me way better, the files are easier to work with and i dont need to spend as much time in post fighting the flat look back to something that doesnt look washed out. not saying thats the right call for everyone but if the log workflow is killing your motivation it might be worth experimenting. cinematic doesnt have to mean complicated