TOPIC:

I have been trying to reverse engineer how Rob Legato and his FX team did the 2-strip and 3-strip process on the Aviator.

The process was documented on the Aviator Visual Effects - Behind the Scenes  site for years. A number of people have tried to replicate it, and I looked at their results but was never satisfied by it.

It took me a bit of time, but I think I finally have it, by combing through clues left in articles from American Cinematographer and what is left behind of the behind the scenes website.

Turns out, Legato's process relies on After Effects and Photoshop channels, extracting keys and multiplying the results together to simulate what Technicolor III and IV did in camera and in printing.

I documented the 2-strip  and 3-strip  process and I also have a couple of LUTs available  for free if anyone is interested in trying it out.

Flemming