LIMNMEDIA - ACEScg
Myndex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Definition
ACEScg is the wide-gamut working space inside the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES). It standardizes different media types — RAW stills, EXRs, stock .mov files, HDRIs, CG renders — so they can be mixed in one consistent color space.
Context
Stop-motion productions often pull from many sources: Dragonframe RAW image sequences, scanned film, stock QuickTime footage, or CG elements. If left in their native encodings, they don’t match. By converting everything into ACEScg before compositing, color and contrast stay coherent across shots and departments.
Typical flow
- Camera RAW → ACEScg EXR
- CG renders → ACEScg
- Stock/legacy footage → converted on ingest
- Composite in ACEScg → deliver in Rec.709, DCI-P3, or HDR
Examples
- RAW puppet plates converted to ACEScg EXRs and layered with CG skies without midtones shifting.
- Stock ProRes clips normalized into ACEScg so they cut naturally against miniature set shots.
Notes
- ACEScg is the working space; ACES2065-1 is for archiving and interchange.
- Requires correct OCIO configuration — software won’t guess the transform.
- When footage looks “wrong” in ACEScg, the issue is almost always bad prep: missing or incorrect input transforms on ingest. Once normalized, ACEScg keeps plates, CG, and stock aligned.
- QuickTime-only editorial workflows may not need ACEScg. Mixed-media and VFX pipelines almost always do.
Media
- Diagram of ACES workflow: input transform → ACEScg → output transform.
- Suggested BTS: comp timeline showing puppet plates and CG both in ACEScg.
Related
Color space · EXR · Pipeline · Post-production · Transform