The default config in Maya 2022+ now uses ACES, therefore no further action is required.
Arnold uses the ACEScg color space by default. This tutorial provides information on how to configure Color Management to work with the OpenColorIO implementation of the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), as well as a summary of what ACES is. The article is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part will help you understand some of the basics of ACES, and how it works, before you get down to the practical part, and consider some of the nuances in setting up Color Management. The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) - is a free, expandable, device-independent color management and image sharing system developed under the auspices of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is also a set of technical specifications for working with color, coding, and transformation. This system allows you to store all the data of digital images in the same mathematical space, which allows a more consistent workflow during the transfer of working material between different departments. It is also important that ACES allows you to create archival materials with a high dynamic range and wide color gamut, even taking into account possible future devices. ACES consists of several components: In practice, the RRT and ODT are combined and called an Output Transform. One of the benefits of the ACES system is that it provides Output Transforms for a wide assortment of displays and projectors. You'll want to choose the appropriate Output Transform for your situation based on the following factors: The D60 native white point of the ACES system was chosen because experiments showed that humans subjectively preferred D60 over other white points such as D65. It is also closer to the white point of the motion picture system. If the creative white chosen for your project is D60 but you need to work on a device calibrated to D65, the "D60 sim." version of the Output Transform for your device will give you a more colorimetrically accurate result. Nevertheless, some people prefer using the non-"D60 sim." version since having the image displayed at D60 but the surrounding user interface displayed at D65 can make color judgments more difficult. Gamut comparison (image courtesy of Haarm-Pieter Duiker and Thomas Mansencal) ACES contains different color spaces, we will look at the main ones:
What is ACES and Why is it Recommended?
Some of the ACES features include:ACES Workflow
ACES Output Transform Choices
ACES Color Spaces
- ACEScg is the default rendering space in Maya 2022 and the default view transform is the ACES Output Transform for sRGB.
For simplicity, the default OCIO config file in Maya contains only the most important transforms and color spaces. The instructions below are written using the open-source ACES config that is widely used in workflows with other applications and which contains a larger set of transforms. However most of these extra transforms are rarely used in practice, so it is recommended to use the default Maya transform if you are just starting out.
Workflow
Download
- First, you will need to download the OpenColorIO (OCIO) configuration package for core ACES transforms: https://github.com/colour-science/OpenColorIO-Configs
Set OCIO Config Path
This can be done in two ways:
- Next, you will need to add the path to the downloaded ACES configuration in Maya (most 3D graphics packages already contain a predefined configuration package), but in this case, we will use the downloaded version.
- Install the OCIO variable with the path to the config.ocio file. This can vary according to your system (you can install OCIO as the default color configuration for all apps). This can be in the Maya.env or in the user Preferences (similar to the OS variable but only for Maya). For example:
OCIO = C:\OCIO\aces_1.2\config.ocio
- Or you can set the path to the config.ocio file in the Maya Preferences for working with projects.
We will consider the second option:
- Start Maya and create a New Project. Open the Preferences window (Windows-> Settings/Preferences-> Preferences). Go to the Color Management settings.
Color Management Preferences
- Set the path to config.ocio at OCIO Config Path
- Enable Use OCIO Configuration
Set Transform Preferences
- Rendering Space ACES - ACEScg.
- Set the View Transform option based on the discussion above in section ACES Output Transform Choices. For example: "sRGB (ACES)".
Define Color Space Rules
Go to the Input Color Space Rules in Preferences to configure the default color space assigned to textures. You can use the Add Color Space Name Rule button if your workflow involves putting a color space name (from the config) somewhere in the file path. Otherwise, you can define other rules based on the file extension or some other aspect of the naming.
Maya 2022 Color Management Preferences
The main color spaces for conversion will be: When converting images to sRGB, they will become darker than the original. This is normal and gives you the opportunity to work with higher light values without losing contrast.
For all other images, not converted to ACEScg, you will need to individually set up the color space for the Image and File nodes.
Remember, if you create a project with ACEScg as the rendering space, you will need to set the Color Space so that all images get correctly converted to ACEScg. Images in other color spaces will look wrong without conversion.
Thanks to Doug Walker and Slava Sych for their assistance with this tutorial.