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LUTs

DaVinci Resolve LUTs: what they are and how to use them well

A LUT is a lookup table: colour in, colour out, one mapping step. Understanding that sentence well is the difference between a useful shortcut and footage that looks washed out because two conversions were stacked by accident.

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  • Technical conversions and creative looks are different jobs
  • Apply, check the scopes, then grade on top
  • An organised library beats a folder of downloads
A glass prism on a matte black surface splitting a beam of light into wide ribbons of amber, teal and magenta
What a LUT is

A map from colour in to colour out

Camera Log footage looks flat because it is; a technical LUT maps that footage into the standard viewing space. A creative LUT maps a look: teal shadows, warm highlights, a filmic curve. Both are just a table, which is why they are cheap to apply and easy to misuse.

  • Technical LUTs: Log to Rec.709, camera and monitoring conversions
  • Creative LUTs: a fixed look, applied for consistency or speed
  • Both ship as .cube files; neither interacts with the project on its own
Applying one

Right place in the chain, right amount

Conversions belong early in the node chain, before the grade; looks belong late, after the balance is right. Applying either at the wrong point, or at full strength when a partial would do, is where most LUT disappointment comes from.

  • Convert first: Log footage lands in Rec.709 before any creative step
  • Apply looks after primary balance, so the grade sits under the look
  • Dial the key output down when a look is too loud out of the box
  • Check the scopes after every LUT: clipping is easy to hide behind a look
The library

A library that stays organised

LUT collections grow quietly until nobody knows which file does what. Naming by source and purpose, camera conversions in one place and looks in another, turns a folder of downloads into something a whole team can use.

  • Name by camera, space and intent: the future you will thank you
  • Keep vendor conversions separate from purchased and homemade looks
  • Free sources are fine: camera makers ship conversions, marketplaces ship looks
  • Build your own from a grade you like and export it as a .cube
Pitfalls

The four mistakes that cover most cases

Almost every LUT problem is one of four: the footage was already converted, the LUT expects a different input space, the look is fighting a stubborn grade, or the judgement is being made on an uncalibrated display.

  • Double conversion: check whether the clip is already Rec.709
  • Wrong input space: a Log LUT on converted footage goes dark and muddy
  • A look cannot rescue exposure; grade first and let the LUT sit on top
  • Trust the scopes: a display that flatters everything hides the problems
Help

Frequently asked questions

LUTs questions that come up before a first render.

Where do I get LUTs for the studio?

Three sources: camera vendors ship free conversion LUTs for their Log formats, marketplaces sell creative packs, and you can export a finished grade as your own .cube for reuse across projects.

Why does a LUT make my footage washed out?

Nearly always an input space mismatch: the LUT expects Log and the footage is already Rec.709, or the reverse. Check what the clip actually is before blaming the look.

Do I have to use LUTs at all?

No. A node grade built by hand is often cleaner and always more flexible. LUTs earn their place as conversions and as consistency tools across a series or a team.

Can I save a grade as a LUT?

Yes: export the grade as a .cube and it becomes a reusable look. That is the honest way to keep a house style consistent across editors without sharing project files.

Keep reading

Where this fits in the workflow

The studio is one project with several pages. These are the pages that usually come before and after this one.

Colour pageOnline colour grading with node based tools in the browser

The Colour page reads the same timeline as the Edit page, so a grade never waits for a conform. Build a node tree per clip, balance with wheels and curves, isolate with keys and windows, then push the look across a whole sequence from the stills gallery.

Read the page How-to guidesDaVinci Resolve how-to guides, collected in one place

This is the index page for the whole studio: start with the first session path if you are new, or jump straight to the task, the fix or the finishing detail you came for. Every guide runs on the same account.

Read the page Green screenGreen screen editing in the browser: keying that holds up

A chroma key succeeds on set, not in the keyer: even lighting, clean separation and a subject not wearing the background colour. The software side is then a short checklist, whether the composite happens in a browser tab or a suite.

Read the page GlossaryVideo editing glossary: the working vocabulary of post, in plain language

Post production runs on shorthand, and most of it compresses cleanly into one line per term. What follows is the vocabulary used across this site, written the way colleagues explain it to each other.

Read the page
Ready when you are

Grade the next shot the right way round

Convert first, look second, scopes throughout; the colour page has the full chain the LUT sits inside.

Read the colour page
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DaVinci Resolve LUTs | How to Apply and Use LUTs