OpenColorIO

Introduction

OpenColorIO (OCIO) is a complete color management solution geared towards motion picture production with an emphasis on visual effects and computer animation. OCIO provides a straightforward and consistent user experience across all supporting applications while allowing for sophisticated back-end configuration options suitable for high-end production usage. OCIO is compatible with the Academy Color Encoding Specification (ACES) and is LUT-format agnostic, supporting many popular formats.

OpenColorIO is released as version 2.0 and has been in development since 2003. OCIO represents the culmination of years of production experience earned on such films as SpiderMan 2 (2004), Surf's Up (2007), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and many more. OpenColorIO is natively supported in commercial applications like Katana, Mari, Nuke, Maya, Houdini, Silhouette FX, and others.

OpenColorIO is free and open source software (LICENSE), and one of several projects actively sponsored by the ASWF (Academy Software Foundation).

OpenColorIO Project Mission

The OpenColorIO project is committed to providing an industry standard solution for highly precise, performant, and consistent color management across digital content creation applications and pipelines.

OpenColorIO aims to:

• be stable, secure, and thoroughly tested on Linux, macOS, and Windows
• be performant on modern CPUs and GPUs
• be simple, scalable, and well documented
• be compatible with critical color and imaging standards
• provide lossless color processing wherever possible
• maintain config backwards compatibility across major versions
• have every new feature carefully reviewed by leaders from the motion picture, VFX, animation, and video game industries
• have a healthy and active community
• receive wide industry adoption

OpenColorIO Project Governance

OpenColorIO is governed by the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF). See GOVERNANCE.md for detailed information about how the project operates.

Web Resources

• Website:
• Documentation:
• Mailing lists:
  • Developer:
  • User:
• Slack workspace:
  • New users can join via

Reference Configs

Reference OCIO configuration files and associated LUTs can be found at the Imageworks OpenColorIO-Configs repository.

The following reference implementations are provided:

• SPI: Sony Pictures Imageworks
  • spi-anim
  • spi-vfx
• ACES: Academy Color Encoding System
  • aces_1.0.3
  • aces_1.0.2
  • aces_1.0.1
  • aces_0.7.1
  • aces_0.1.1
• Other
  • nuke-default

Sources for the newer builtin ACES configuration files can be found in the releases section of the OpenColorIO-Config-ACES repository.

Acknowledgements

OpenColorIO represents the generous contributions of many organizations and individuals. The "Contributors to the OpenColorIO Project" copyright statement used throughout the project reflects that the OCIO source is a collaborative effort, often with multiple copyright holders within a single file. Copyright for specific portions of code can be traced to an originating contributor using git commit history.

OpenColorIO was originally developed and made open source by Sony Pictures Imageworks. The core design, and the majority of OCIO 1.0 code was authored by Imageworks, who continue to support and contribute to OCIO 2.0 development.

The design and development of OpenColorIO 2.0 is being led by Autodesk. Autodesk submitted a proposal to revitalize the project in 2017, and have authored the majority of OCIO 2.0 code in the years since.

Significant contributions have also been made by Industrial Light & Magic, DNEG, and many individuals. See Contributors for a complete list.

See THIRD-PARTY.md for license information about portions of OpenColorIO that have been imported from other projects.

Images from "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" Copyright 2011 Sony Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright Contributors to the OpenColorIO Project.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.