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About ACES 2

ACES Version 2 is the second major release of the ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) framework. This release focuses on refining the default rendering behavior, completing unfinished system components, and delivering a more robust and consistent end-to-end color management solution.

The most significant change in ACES 2 is the introduction of a completely redesigned suite of rendering transforms, which were developed in direct response to feedback from ACES 1 users.

What’s New in ACES 2

ACES 2 introduces several important improvements and additions:

  • New Output Transforms for rendering ACES images to displays, featuring:
    • A less aggressive tone scale with reduced mid-tone contrast and a gentler highlight rolloff
    • More intuitive parameter controls for supporting custom or uncommon display configurations
    • Robust gamut mapping for improved perceptual uniformity and reduced clipping artifacts
    • Optimized performance for inverse transforms
    • Additional transforms with preset parameters targeting common display calibration standards
  • Enhanced AMF (ACES Metadata File) Specification
  • Updated specification of ACES Transform IDs
  • OpenEXR Compression Recommendations
  • New Tools and Guidelines for generating Input Transforms, especially for prosumer-level cameras
  • Look Transform Library for creative color grading workflows
  • Expanded Documentation across all components

These key features aimed to address the top feature requests extracted from user feedback on ACES v1.