What ZoneLAB is, in plain English
ZoneLAB is an OpenFX plugin that maps the image into a grid and assigns an exposure zone to each cell. You get a zone readout per cell, directly over the picture, so you can judge how light sits across the frame without leaving the viewer. It runs as a single tool that combines exposure analysis and grading controls. The product page describes it as built on a Live Zone System and lists it as patent pending.
What ZoneLAB is, in novelty rap.
If you want to hear it in Rap-Form, here is a Video about the Plugin (Hopefully GenAI, but we wouldn’t put it past low-level proto gangstas to do it).
The zone view modes
ZoneLAB includes a 21 zone exposure map with a false colour overlay. It also includes an 11 zone Ansel Adams mode with greyscale zones and roman numeral notation. The interface can show an A B split view for comparing raw versus graded imagery side by side. There is also a Zone Isolate option to highlight only the zones you care about.
Exposure and grading controls
ZoneLAB includes per zone exposure control over shadows, midtones, and highlights, also a suite with temperature, tint, saturation, contrast, and density. For monochrome work, ZoneLAB includes black and white grading with traditional filter simulation and split toning, and film grain with exposure dependent weighting.
Skin Tone Selection lets you select grid cells over faces for targeted exposure work. Auto Expose is a “intelligent scene analysis” with skin tone awareness. If you want the short mental model, ZoneLAB encourages you to fix expsoure where it lives in the frame, then keep grading with the same tool instead of jumping between overlays, scopes, and separate node setups.
Export formats and what they are for
ZoneLAB can export PNG screen grabs via the PNG format, or 16 bit DPX with alpha overlay via DPX. Multi layer EXR export is listed, which aligns with OpenEXR. Those exports can make the zone overlay portable for reviews, notes, and downstream work, but you still want to test them against your own deliverables and comps before you rely on them in production.
Camera profiles and supported log spaces
ZoneLAB lists 22 camera profiles with pre configured dynamic range data for ARRI Alexa 35 and Mini LF, Sony VENICE, FX6, FX3, and A7 V, RED V RAPTOR, KOMODO X, and KOMODO, Canon C300 Mk III, C70, and R5C, Fujifilm X H2S, Panasonic LUMIX S1MII and S5IIX, Nikon Z9 Z8 and Z6 III, plus Blackmagic Design cameras and more.
It also lists 16 log and colour spaces, including DaVinci Wide Gamut, ARRI LogC3 and LogC4, Sony S Log3, RED Log3G10, Canon Log2 and Log3, Panasonic V Log, Fujifilm F Log2, Nikon N Log, and more.
The quick start workflow is simple: apply ZoneLAB to a serial node, set the Color Space to match the camera log format, then pick a camera profile so the tool sets dynamic range.
Performance, requirements, licensing, price
ZoneLAB lists GPU acceleration via Metal compute shaders for real time performance. Requirements are DaVinci Resolve Free or Studio on macOS, an Apple Metal GPU, and macOS 10.15 or later. One purchase includes two machine activations, described as desktop plus laptop. The licence key is generated after purchase and the page says to follow the included instructions. The listed price is £90.00 GBP. Windows support is listed as “coming soon”, with also a compatibility imminent for Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro.
However you plan to use it, treat it like any new grading tool: throw real footage at it, confirm the coluor management and exports, and only then let it into a production pipeline.
https://driftwood-dctl.com/products/zonelab-zone-system-exposure-color-grading-plugin
