Cinema 4D Tip: Filmic OCIO Pipeline and Camera-Based Exposure

Preserve highlight detail and natural contrast by adopting a filmic color pipeline and exposing with a photographic mindset. Here’s a concise workflow that keeps renders flexible for grading while looking great in-view.

Set up filmic/OCIO color management

• Open Project Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + D) > Color Management.
• Switch Mode to OCIO-based color management. Load an ACES config (recommended) or a Filmic OCIO config if your studio uses it.
• Set Rendering/Working Space to ACEScg (or Linear sRGB if you’re not on ACES).
• Set Display/View to your monitor space (typically sRGB or Rec.709) with the ACES/filmic transform. This provides a gentle highlight roll-off and cinematic contrast out of the box.
• Ensure color-managed viewing is enabled in Picture Viewer/Render View so previews reflect the chosen transform.

Expose with the camera, not the material

• Use photographic settings on the Camera (Physical Camera or your render engine’s camera): ISO, Shutter Speed, and F-Stop. Treat lighting like a real set.
• Start with: ISO 100–200, Shutter 1/50–1/125, F/8–F/11. Adjust exposure by changing one parameter at a time.
• Keep brightest highlights just below clipping in the viewer; the filmic/ACES transform will handle the roll-off elegantly.
• Avoid “brightening” materials to fix dark scenes. Increase light intensity or open exposure instead.

Texture and light color spaces

• Color/albedo textures: sRGB (display-referred). Data maps (normal, roughness, metalness, height): Raw/Linear. HDRIs: scene-linear (no gamma).
• Use realistic albedo values: most non-emissive surfaces sit roughly 20–80% reflectance. Overbright albedos blow exposure.
• Keep lights physically plausible. For HDRI lighting, adjust exposure—not a color-correct node—to maintain consistency.

Tone mapping and balancing

• Let the filmic/ACES view transform do the heavy lifting for contrast and highlight roll-off.
• Use gentle post adjustments (curves, lift/gamma/gain) after you’ve nailed exposure. Avoid hard clipping or extreme contrast.
• Check histograms/scopes in your Render View/Picture Viewer to verify you’re not crushing blacks or clipping whites.
• Reserve additional LUTs for looks, not for fixing exposure problems.

Rendering and delivery

• Render to 16–32 bit EXR for maximum latitude. Save linear scene-referred data; don’t bake the display/view transform into the EXR unless requested.
• In compositing, load the same OCIO config and apply the same view transform for consistent results.
• For client previews, export a display-referred format (e.g., 8-bit sRGB) with the filmic/ACES view baked in.

This approach protects dynamic range, keeps skin tones and skies natural, and gives you more headroom in post without fighting crushed blacks or clipped highlights.

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