Panasonic V-Log to Rec.709 in Premiere Pro, step by step

Premiere Pro lists Panasonic V-Log/V-Gamut as a color space it can convert for you. That is the good news and the trap. If a clip is identified, the conversion happens before you touch Lumetri. If it is not, nothing happens and you start grading a flat picture. This guide shows how to check which one you got, what to do about it, and how to use Panasonic's own LUT instead.

Last checked 2026-10-10.

What Premiere Pro does with V-Log on its own

Adobe's Color Management options page lists Panasonic V-Log/V-Gamut as a camera log format Premiere can assign as a clip's color space. When a clip is identified and the sequence uses the Direct 709 (SDR) setup, Premiere converts the log picture to Rec.709 on input, before any Lumetri adjustment. That conversion is Adobe's own tone mapping and gamut compression, not Panasonic's LUT, so it can look different from a LUT-based conversion.

The catch is the word identified. Adobe notes that QuickTime, MXF and MP4 files may or may not carry metadata Premiere can use to assign the right color space, and that transcoded files have to be tagged by hand. A V-Log clip that another app exported or converted is the usual case where the tag is gone and the clip sits there flat. The steps below start by checking that.

Panasonic's V709 LUT

Panasonic's support site offers a download called LUT (Look-up Table) for V709 conversion: a zip named VLog_to_V709_forV35_EN.zip, about 369 KB. Panasonic's page describes it as converting V-Log footage to V709. The page does not list what is inside the zip. Panasonic's ProRes RAW workflow guide for Final Cut Pro loads a file named VLog_to_V709_forV35_ver100.cube, so that is the file to look for.

The same page tells you to save a LUT with a .vlt extension in the card's root folder. That is the in-camera version, for monitoring on the camera. For Premiere Pro you want the .cube file.

Step by step

1. 1. Check the sequence's color setup

   Select the sequence, choose Sequence > Sequence Settings, then open the Color tab. For a Rec.709 delivery, Direct 709 (SDR) is the preset to look for. Adobe describes it as letting SDR media pass through while log and wide-gamut sources are tone-mapped and gamut-compressed on input. Adobe's other preset, Disable Color Management, turns the automatic conversions off for people who work fully by hand, and the steps below assume Direct 709 (SDR). Pick one approach per clip. Mixing them is how footage gets converted twice.

2. 2. Open Source Clip on one V-Log clip

   Select a V-Log clip in the timeline, open the Lumetri Color panel, go to the Settings tab and expand Source Clip. Look at Media Color Space. If it reads Panasonic V-Log/V-Gamut, Premiere has identified the clip and is converting it on input, so the picture should already look like a normal, slightly flat Rec.709 image instead of a gray log one. If it reads Rec. 709 and the picture is gray and flat, Premiere did not identify the clip. Adobe's help also describes Clip Modify, Color for several clips selected in the Project panel, which is the quickest way to check or change a batch.

3. 3. If it is wrong, set the color space by hand

   Open the Media Color Space menu and choose Panasonic V-Log/V-Gamut. Do the same for every clip from the camera. Select the clips in the Project panel first and use Clip Modify, Color so one change covers the batch. Leave Preserve RGB off. Turning it on stops Premiere from converting that clip to the working color space, which is the opposite of what you want here.

4. 4. Or convert with Panasonic's LUT instead

   In Source Clip, open the Input LUT menu and choose or import Panasonic's .cube file. Then set Media Color Space to the color space the LUT outputs, which for a Rec.709 conversion is Rec. 709. In Adobe's words, Input LUT converts the clip and Media Color Space tells Premiere what the LUT produces. Do not combine this with the V-Log entry in Media Color Space on the same clip. Use one route or the other.

5. 5. Set white balance on the converted picture

   Premiere converts at the clip's input, before Lumetri's Basic Correction, so whatever you adjust there is already the converted picture. In Basic Correction, use the White Balance Selector on something that should be neutral, then fine-tune Temperature and Tint. Do it clip by clip. A ceremony by a window and a reception in a dim ballroom need different answers.

6. 6. Set exposure on the scopes

   Open Window > Lumetri Scopes and show the waveform. Bring faces to roughly 60 to 70 IRE and keep highlights from clipping. Judge by the scope, not by a laptop screen in a bright room. If shadows look noisy, that noise was recorded into the file, and no correction removes it.

7. 7. Match the other cameras last

   Once the V-Log clips look right, match a second camera to them using the Program Monitor's Comparison View or a reference frame, and only then add a creative look to everything. The multi-cam order covers that part.

Where to put the LUT file

You can import a LUT from anywhere with the Input LUT menu. To make it show up in the menu every time, copy it into Premiere's Input LUT folder (Premiere Pro 24.0 and later list these in Source Clip). If it does not appear, restart Premiere.

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/LUTs/Input
• Windows: C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Input

Where V-Log in Premiere goes wrong

• Converting twice. V-Log set as Media Color Space and a V-Log LUT on the same clip gives you far too much contrast and color. Choose one route per clip.
• Transcoded or exported files. They often lose the color space tag, so Premiere shows them as plain Rec.709. Set Media Color Space by hand.
• Setting V-Log on a clip that is not V-Log. A Lumix body also records ordinary color profiles. If the clip already looks normal, leave it alone. Log footage looks gray and flat.
• Using the .vlt file. It is for the camera's card slot, not for Premiere.
• Using a LUT built for another log format. Read the file name before you attach it.

Where Basecut fits

Everything above is per clip, and V-Log is two conversions, the curve and V-Gamut, Panasonic's wide gamut. Basecut's V-Log conversion does both. It is built from Panasonic's published V-Log curve and the V-Gamut primaries from Panasonic's V-Log/V-Gamut Reference Manual, converting to Rec.709.

In Premiere Pro, Basecut does not apply that color. It opens a project with label colors, markers and a sequence for each verdict, and ships one .cube file per clip for you to attach as the Input LUT. Do not stack it on top of Premiere's own V-Log conversion. The 14-day free trial has 5 free exports and needs no card. See it on real footage.