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How to mix RED and ARRI LogC footage in DaVinci Resolve using ACES

Set ACEScct color science in DaVinci Resolve, assign REDWideGamutRGB and ARRI LogC3 input transforms, and get a 90% matched multicam timeline before touching a color wheel.

What is the correct ACES workflow for mixing RED and ARRI footage in DaVinci Resolve?

To mix RED and ARRI footage, open Project Settings > Color Management, set the Color Science to ACEScct, define your ACES Output Transform (e.g., Rec.709), and assign the correct ACES Input Transform to each clip (REDWideGamutRGB for RED, ARRI LogC3 for ARRI).

Indie feature films frequently use multiple camera ecosystems to save budget, such as an ARRI Alexa Mini for A-cam and a RED Komodo for B-cam or drone work. Trying to manually color match LogC3 and REDWideGamutRGB using primary wheels is a nightmare. The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) mathematical transforms completely solve this. By working in ACEScct, DaVinci Resolve automatically linearizes the color spaces of both cameras into a massive, unified working space. The result is that a RED clip and an ARRI clip will instantly look 90% matched before you even touch a color wheel.

Step-by-step: Configuring an ACEScct project for mixed RED and ARRI footage

Getting the setup right from the start saves hours of troubleshooting later. Here is a full walkthrough from a blank timeline to a color-matched multicam edit.

1. Set the colour science before importing anything

Go to Project Settings > Color Management. Set Color Science to ACEScct. For current productions, select ACES 1.3 — it offers improved handling of highlights and better saturation rendering compared to 1.2. If your VFX house is still on 1.2, match their version to avoid pipeline mismatches.

2. Choose your ACES Output Transform

Under ACES Output Transform, select Rec.709 if you are finishing for broadcast or streaming. Select DCI-P3 if you are grading for theatrical projection. This transform is applied at the timeline level — you do not need to add LUTs on individual clips.

3. Configure RED RAW decode settings before importing

RED clips require attention to the RAW decode panel before they interact with ACES. With an R3D clip selected, open the RAW tab in the Color page:

• Set Decode Quality to "Half Res Good" or "Quarter Res Good" for real-time playback during the grade; switch to "Full Res Premium" for final render.
• Set Color Science Generation to "IPP2" — this is RED's current generation and maps correctly into ACES via the REDWideGamutRGB IDT.
• Leave the "Clip" metadata setting enabled so the IDT reads the intended look metadata from the R3D file.

4. Assign Input Transforms on the timeline

In the Color page, select all RED clips and assign the ACES Input Transform to REDWideGamutRGB. Select all ARRI clips and assign ARRI LogC3. Do not rely on auto-detection — Resolve sometimes misidentifies the camera format, especially with mixed-card media or repackaged QuickTime wrappers.

5. Verify the match on a split screen

Put a RED shot and an ARRI shot on adjacent timeline tracks. Use the split-screen wipe mode in the Color page viewer. In ACEScct, the exposure levels, skin tones, and black points should land within a fraction of a stop of each other. If they do not, check that all clips have the correct IDT assigned — a common mistake is leaving a clip on the default "Use Project Setting" when the project setting does not match the clip's native color space.

6. Handle anamorphic and high-frame-rate clips correctly

If your indie feature used anamorphic lenses on the Alexa Mini (e.g., Master Anamorphic) and spherical lenses on the RED Komodo, set the correct anamorphic desqueeze in the Clip Attributes panel before entering the Color page. ACES does not handle desqueeze — that is a Resolve-level operation. For high-frame-rate clips (slow-motion shots at 48fps or 60fps), confirm that your timeline frame rate matches the project setting; Resolve handles the retiming, but the IDT transform remains the same regardless of frame rate.

Why should colorists use ACEScct instead of DaVinci YRGB Color Managed?

Colorists prefer ACEScct over DaVinci YRGB Color Managed because ACES is an industry-standard, vendor-agnostic pipeline that guarantees mathematical consistency if the project ever needs to be handed off to a VFX house using Nuke or Maya.

While DaVinci Wide Gamut (DWG) is incredibly powerful, it is proprietary to Blackmagic Design. If you are working on an indie feature with complex VFX shots, sending DWG EXR sequences to a VFX artist working in Nuke creates color pipeline confusion. ACES is the universal language of high-end post-production. By setting your project to ACEScct (the logarithmic working space designed for colorists), you ensure that the EXRs you export for the VFX department will look exactly the same when they bring them back into your Resolve timeline.

How do you hand off an ACES-graded timeline to a director for review?

Once you have locked the grade and exported your EXR sequences for VFX or your Rec.709 master for review, the next problem is getting that version in front of the director with the color integrity intact. A standard Vimeo link or Google Drive H.264 will crush blacks, shift gamma, and undo the precision you spent days dialling in. For raw-origin projects, the challenge compounds — you need to manage the original camera files alongside the graded review.

This is where Cutsio's enterprise raw ingestion fits into the pipeline. Cutsio offers ARRI RAW and RED R3D ingestion as an enterprise add-on service for qualified production accounts. Once enabled, you upload the native camera files — .ari, .mxf, .arx files from ARRI, .r3d files from RED — directly to the platform. Cutsio transcodes them into streamable review assets on the backend. No manual pre-transcode required. No separate ProRes proxy generation. The review stream preserves the intended color space and look metadata where possible, so the director sees the grade the way you intended.

The original camera files remain attached to each asset, available for download and conform when the project moves to finishing. This means you never lose the source of truth — the raw originals are always accessible for the online conform in your NLE.

How Visual Intelligence connects your graded timeline to the raw source

When you have hundreds of R3D and ARRI clips spread across multiple shoot days and camera cards, finding a specific shot during review rounds becomes its own production bottleneck. Cutsio's Visual Intelligence indexes every frame of the uploaded raw footage, making it searchable by visual content.

Here is how this plays out in a real ACES workflow: after you export your locked cut and upload the raw camera files to Cutsio, the editor or post supervisor can search for a specific actor's close-up, a particular lens flare, or even a background detail without scrubbing through hours of media. This is especially valuable for MOS footage shot without scratch audio — there is no waveform to navigate by.

Agentic Chat extends this further. Instead of building complex search queries, you can ask for footage in natural language: "Find the RED Komodo shots from Day 3 with the blue car in frame." The system retrieves the relevant clips from your indexed library, connecting the graded timeline back to the original camera files without manual logging.

Moving through the post pipeline: grade, review, conform, deliver

The full arc from raw camera files to finished master looks like this:

1. Ingest — Upload R3D and ARRI raw files to Cutsio (enterprise add-on). Streamable review assets are generated automatically, and the originals are retained as attachments.
2. Offline edit — Editors pull the streamable review assets or download the originals to assemble the cut.
3. Grade — The colourist builds the ACEScct project in DaVinci Resolve, assigns IDTs, and dials in the look.
4. Review — The graded master is shared via Cutsio with view tracking, password protection, expiration dates, and branded presentation. Approval gates allow the director to sign off on the grade securely.
5. Conform — The online editor downloads the original raw files from Cutsio to conform the final timeline in Resolve.
6. Deliver — The final master is rendered from the original raw source, not a compressed proxy.

Throughout this pipeline, Cutsio's pay-for-minutes model means you are billed by the duration of the reviewed media, not by the size of the raw camera files — a meaningful cost difference when R3D and ARRI RAW files run hundreds of gigabytes per hour.

FAQ

What does ACEScct stand for?

ACEScct is the Academy Color Encoding System color space designed specifically for color correction. The "cct" indicates a logarithmic encoding with a "toe" that mimics the feel of traditional film grading.

Should I use ACES 1.2 or ACES 1.3?

Use ACES 1.3 for new projects. It improves highlight handling and saturation rendering compared to 1.2. If you are collaborating with a VFX house that has not upgraded, match their ACES version to avoid transform mismatches in EXR sequences.

Can I use LUTs in an ACES workflow?

No, traditional Rec.709 LUTs will break an ACES pipeline because they expect a different input color space. You must use ACES-specific Look Modification Transforms (LMTs).

Why do some RED clips look wrong in ACES until I adjust the RAW settings?

RED clips in ACES depend on the IPP2 colour science generation matching correctly with the REDWideGamutRGB IDT. If a clip looks oversaturated or has clipped highlights, check the RAW decode panel to confirm Decode Quality is set appropriately and that the Color Science Generation is IPP2. If the clip was recorded with an older RED firmware, you may need to update the R3D metadata in RED's own software before importing into Resolve.

What happens when the IDT dropdown doesn't auto-detect the camera format?

Resolve sometimes fails to auto-detect the correct IDT, particularly with repackaged QuickTime wrappers or media from third-party offload tools. Manually assign the IDT in the Color page by selecting the clip, opening the ACES Input Transform dropdown, and choosing the correct transform (REDWideGamutRGB for RED, ARRI LogC3 for ARRI). Always verify the match with a split-screen comparison after assignment.

How do I handle anamorphic footage in ACES?

ACES does not perform anamorphic desqueeze — that is handled at the Resolve clip level. Before entering the Color page, select the anamorphic clips in the Media pool, right-click, choose Clip Attributes, and set the correct Desqueeze factor (e.g., 1.33x or 2x). Once desqueezed, the ACES IDT transform applies normally.

How do I get ARRI RAW or RED R3D ingestion enabled on my Cutsio account?

ARRI RAW and RED R3D ingestion is available as an enterprise add-on. Contact the Cutsio sales team to enable raw format support for your production. Once enabled, you upload the camera files directly and Cutsio handles the rest.

Are the original raw files preserved after upload?

Yes. The original camera files — .r3d, .ari, .mxf, .arx — are retained as attachments on each asset. They remain available for download, conform, and finishing in your NLE throughout the post-production pipeline.

What is an ACES Input Transform (IDT)?

An Input Transform (IDT) is the mathematical formula that tells DaVinci Resolve how to convert a specific camera's raw sensor data (like ARRI LogC) into the universal ACES working space.

Can I organize raw footage by project or shoot day in Cutsio?

Yes. Collections allow you to organize raw footage into visual hubs by project, scene, or shoot day. This is especially useful for indie features shooting across multiple locations or camera packages.

Does Cutsio charge by file size or by runtime for raw footage?

Cutsio's pay-for-minutes model separates storage cost from file size. You are billed by the duration of the reviewed media, not by the size of the raw camera files — a significant advantage when working with R3D or ARRI RAW files that can be hundreds of gigabytes per hour.