How Blender 4.0 Replace Filmic with AgX

Introduction of Filmic with AgX

If you are a fan of Blender, you probably know that it is a powerful and free open-source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, and more. You may also know that one of the most important aspects of creating realistic and stunning images in Blender is color management, which is the process of controlling how colors are displayed on different devices and media.

By default, Blender uses a color config called Filmic, which is designed to mimic the behavior of real-world cameras and film. Filmic aims to preserve the details and contrast of high dynamic range (HDR) scenes, which have a wide range of brightness values, from very dark to very bright.

However, Filmic is not perfect, and it may not suit your needs or preferences. For example, Filmic may produce dull or washed-out colors, or it may introduce unwanted artifacts or noise. Moreover, Filmic has a limited number of looks, which are presets that apply different color transformations to your scene.

That’s why some Blender users prefer to use a different color config called AgX, which stands for Advanced Grading eXperience. AgX is a custom color config that was created by Troy Sobotka, the same developer who created Filmic. AgX is based on Filmic, but it offers more features and flexibility for color grading and editing.

In this article, we will show you how Blender’s new update Blender 4.0 will replace the default config Filmic with AgX, and how to use AgX in Blender for different purposes. We will also compare AgX with Filmic in terms of color accuracy, dynamic range, performance, and compatibility.

Background

Before we dive into the details of AgX, let us first review some basic concepts and terminology related to color management and Filmic in Blender.

Color management is the process of ensuring that the colors you see on your screen are consistent and accurate across different devices and media. For example, if you take a photo of a red apple with your phone, you want the apple to look red on your computer monitor, your printer, and your TV. However, this is not always the case, as different devices have different ways of representing and displaying colors.

To solve this problem, color management uses a standard system called color space, which is a mathematical model that defines how colors are represented and measured. A color space has three main components: a color model, a color gamut, and a color profile.

• A color model is a way of describing colors using numerical values. For example, the RGB color model uses three values (red, green, and blue) to represent any color.
• A color gamut is a range of colors that a device or a medium can produce or display. For example, the sRGB color gamut is a standard color gamut that is used by most monitors and web browsers.
• A color profile is a set of rules that tells how to convert colors from one color space to another. For example, an ICC profile is a common type of color profile that is used by many applications and devices.

In Blender, color management is done using a system called OpenColorIO (OCIO), which is an open-source framework that supports various color spaces and profiles. Blender uses OCIO to convert colors from the scene linear color space, which is the internal color space that Blender uses for rendering and compositing, to the display linear color space, which is the color space that your monitor uses for displaying images.

By default, Blender uses a config called Filmic as the OCIO config. A config is a collection of color spaces and profiles that define how colors are managed in Blender. Filmic is a custom config that was created by Troy Sobotka, who is also the creator of AgX. Filmic is designed to mimic the behavior of real-world cameras and film, which have a limited dynamic range.

Dynamic range is the difference between the darkest and brightest values in an image. Real-world scenes have a very high dynamic range, which means they have a lot of contrast and detail. However, most devices and media have a low dynamic range, which means they can only display a limited range of brightness values. This can cause problems such as clipping or crushing, which occur when some parts of the image are too bright or too dark to be displayed.

Filmic aims to solve this problem by using a technique called tone mapping, which is the process of compressing or expanding the dynamic range of an image to fit the target device or medium. Filmic uses a logarithmic tone mapping curve, which preserves more details in the shadows and highlights than a linear tone mapping curve. Filmic also uses a desaturation function, which reduces the saturation of very bright or very dark colors to avoid unrealistic or unnatural effects.

However, Filmic has some limitations and problems as well. For example:

• Filmic has a narrow gamut, which means it cannot represent some colors that are outside its range.
• Filmic has a limited number of looks, which are presets that apply different color transformations to your scene. Filmic only has 16 looks, which may not be enough for your creative needs.
• Filmic has poor performance, which means it can slow down your rendering and editing process.
• Filmic has low compatibility, which means it can cause issues with other tools and plugins that use different color spaces or profiles.

These are some of the reasons why some Blender users prefer to use AgX instead of Filmic as their default config in Blender.

Installation

To install AgX in Blender, you need to download the latest version of Blender 4.0, which is currently in beta testing and will be released soon. Blender 4.0 will come with AgX as the default config, so you don’t need to download or install AgX separately.

You can download Blender 4.0 from the official Blender website , or from the Blender Foundation’s GitLab repository. To verify that AgX is installed correctly and working as expected, you can open Blender 4.0 and check the color management settings in the render properties panel. You should see AgX as the display device and view transform, and a list of AgX looks in the look menu.

You can also check the color space of your images in the image editor or the compositor. You should see AgX as the color space option for your images.

If you want to switch back to Filmic or other configs in Blender 4.0, you can do so by changing the OCIO config file in the preferences window. You can find the OCIO config file in the datafiles folder of your Blender installation directory. You can also download other configs from the OpenColorIO website or from other sources.

Usage

To use AgX in Blender 4.0 for different purposes, you need to understand how AgX works and what are its main features and settings.

To use AgX in Blender 4.0 for rendering, you need to set the render engine to Cycles or Eevee, and choose the output format and resolution of your image or animation. Then you need to select the display device and view transform as AgX, and choose one of the looks from the look menu.

The look menu has four submenus: Base, Creative, Film Emulation, and Utility. Each submenu has eight looks that apply different color transformations to your scene. You can preview the looks in the viewport or in the image editor.

To use AgX in Blender 4.0 for compositing, you need to enable the use nodes option in the compositor, and add an OCIO node to your node tree. The OCIO node allows you to apply AgX or other configs to your image or animation. You can also use other nodes to adjust the color, brightness, contrast, saturation, and other properties of your image or animation.

To use AgX in Blender 4.0 for animation, you need to set the frame rate and duration of your animation, and choose the output format and resolution of your animation. Then you need to select the display device and view transform as AgX, and choose one of the looks from the look menu. You can also animate the exposure, contrast, saturation, and tone mapping settings of AgX using keyframes.

Comparison

To compare AgX with Filmic in terms of color accuracy, dynamic range, performance, and compatibility, you can use some examples of scenes that show the differences and benefits of AgX over Filmic.

For example, you can use a scene that has a lot of bright or dark areas, such as a sunset or a night sky. You can render the scene with both AgX and Filmic, and compare the results. You should see that AgX preserves more details and contrast in the shadows and highlights than Filmic, and that AgX produces more realistic and natural colors than Filmic.

You can also use a scene that has a lot of colors, such as a rainbow or a flower garden. You can render the scene with both AgX and Filmic, and compare the results. You should see that AgX can represent more colors than Filmic, and that AgX produces more vibrant and expressive colors than Filmic.

You can also use a scene that has a lot of complexity or detail, such as a cityscape or a forest. You can render the scene with both AgX and Filmic, and compare the results. You should see that AgX renders faster and smoother than Filmic, and that AgX works better with other tools and plugins than Filmic.

Conclusion

In this article, we have shown you how Blender 4.0 will replace the default config Filmic with AgX, and how to use AgX in Blender for different purposes. We have also compared AgX with Filmic in terms of color accuracy, dynamic range, performance, and compatibility.

We have learned that AgX is a custom color config that is based on Filmic, but it offers more features and flexibility for color grading and editing. AgX has a wider gamut, more looks, better performance, and more compatibility than Filmic.

We hope that this article has given you a clear and comprehensive overview of AgX, and that you have enjoyed learning about this new and improved color config for Blender. We also hope that you will try AgX in Blender 4.0, and see for yourself how it can improve your workflow and results.

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