If you’re an ActionVFX user working in Adobe After Effects, you might have run into issues with certain assets in the DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4 color space. Since After Effects doesn’t natively support this format, getting the most out of these assets requires a few extra steps.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to properly interpret, transform, and composite DRAGONcolor2 assets while keeping all the original data intact.

Why Some Assets Use DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4

Many of our older assets were filmed on RED DSMC2 cameras, which used DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4 to retain as much data as possible. While this was a great choice for quality, Adobe After Effects doesn’t play nice with this color space—meaning your assets may look washed out or incorrect when imported. You might notice this on our older pyro collections like Window Fire or Gas Explosions Vol. 1, among a few others.

The good news? There's an easy way to fix this thanks to our friends at RED.

The Fix: Custom LUTs from RED

To solve this issue, RED developed custom LUTs specifically for ActionVFX users. These LUTs convert different RED gammas into a more usable format, making compositing in After Effects much easier.

🔥 Pro Tip: You can download these LUTs for free here.

Before you get started, if you're not familiar with ACES color management and how it streamlines compositing, you'll need to check out our ACES guide first.

How to Set Up DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4 Assets in After Effects

Follow these steps to properly set up your assets and maintain full color accuracy.

You can follow step-by-step along with Sam in our tutorial:

1. Set the Correct Input Color Space

• Right-click your asset in the Project Window → Interpret Footage > Main
• Go to the Color Tab
• Under Override Media Color Space, select: Input/RED/Input - RED - Linear - DRAGONcolor2

At this point, the colors will still look off—but don’t worry, we’re about to fix that.

2. Apply the RED LUT in Lumetri

• Add the Lumetri Color effect to your asset
• Under Basic Correction, locate the Input LUT option

Instead of using the default presets, we need to add one of the custom LUTs:

• Open File Explorer
• For Windows, navigate to: Local Disk > Program Files > Adobe > Adobe After Effects > Support Files > Lumetri > LUTs > Technical
• For Mac navigate to: Macintosh HD > Applications > Adobe After Effects > Adobe After Effects.app (right click to “Show Package Contents”) > Lumetri > LUTs > Technical
• Drag and drop the RG4_2_LIN_64.cube LUT from the RED LUT pack into this folder
• Restart After Effects
• Now, in Lumetri’s Input LUT section, select RG4_2_LIN_64

Once applied, your footage will now display correctly in ACES, retaining all of its original data for proper compositing. Once the LUT is added to the correct folder, it will always be available in future projects.

Making This Process Even Faster

If you’re working with a lot of our DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4 assets in the same project, you can save time by applying your initial footage interpretations to multiple files at once.

Use “Remember Interpretation”

• After setting up one asset, right-click it in the Project Window
• Select Interpret Footage > Remember Interpretation
• Now, apply this interpretation to multiple assets at once by selecting them, right-clicking, and choosing Apply Interpretation
• Add Lumetri once the asset is in your Comp
• Select your RG4_2_LIN_64 LUT as your Input LUT

Final Thoughts By following this workflow, you’ll ensure your DRAGONcolor2 / REDgamma4 assets composite seamlessly into your After Effects projects without any color issues.

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