How to Apply LUTs in After Effects (Step by Step)

Two Ways to Apply LUTs in After Effects

After Effects supports LUTs natively. No plugins. No third-party tools. You have two built-in methods, and they work differently enough that knowing both is worth your time.

Method 1 is the Apply Color LUT effect. It is faster to apply, easier to swap, and the right choice for most color work in AE. Method 2 is the Lumetri Color effect, which gives you more controls but uses a workflow that is more at home in Premiere Pro.

Both methods work on adjustment layers, which is how you should always apply LUTs in After Effects. Never apply a LUT directly to a footage layer. An adjustment layer gives you the ability to toggle the LUT on and off, swap it in seconds, and control its intensity without touching your source footage.

Method 1: Apply Color LUT Effect

This is the direct approach. It is what I use for most color work in After Effects.

Step 1: Create an adjustment layer

In your composition, go to Layer > New > Adjustment Layer (or press Cmd+Option+Y on Mac / Ctrl+Alt+Y on Windows). Make sure this layer sits at the top of your layer stack in the timeline so it affects all footage below it.

Step 2: Add the Apply Color LUT effect

With your adjustment layer selected, go to Effect > Utility > Apply Color LUT. You will see the effect appear in the Effect Controls panel.

Step 3: Choose your LUT file

In the Effect Controls panel, you will see the Apply Color LUT effect with a single option: Choose LUT. Click it. A file browser opens. Navigate to the folder where your LUT files are stored and select a .cube file.

The LUT applies immediately. Your composition updates in real time.

Step 4: Preview and swap LUTs

To try a different LUT, click Choose LUT again and navigate to a different file. After Effects does not have a built-in LUT browser that shows previews the way DaVinci does, but you can open a second Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Windows) window, keep it positioned next to your After Effects window, and double-click LUT files from there to load them one at a time. With your composition paused on a frame that represents your typical footage, you can cycle through LUTs quickly this way.

The keyboard shortcut approach: keep your file browser open, single-click each LUT, and click the Choose LUT button in AE without closing the browser. You are one click away from the next LUT each time.

Method 2: Lumetri Color Effect

The Lumetri Color effect in After Effects is the same color grading panel that lives in Premiere Pro. If you already know the Premiere workflow, this will feel identical. If you are primarily an After Effects user, the Apply Color LUT method above is simpler for most use cases.

Step 1: Create an adjustment layer

Same as Method 1. Layer > New > Adjustment Layer, positioned at the top of your layer stack.

Step 2: Add the Lumetri Color effect

With the adjustment layer selected, go to Effect > Color Correction > Lumetri Color. The full Lumetri panel appears in Effect Controls.

Step 3: Apply a LUT through Lumetri

In the Effect Controls panel, expand Basic Correction. At the top of that section, you will see an Input LUT dropdown. This is where technical LUTs (log conversion LUTs) should be applied. For creative LUTs, expand the Creative section instead. The Look dropdown at the top of the Creative section is where your creative LUT goes.

Click the Look dropdown and choose Browse. Navigate to your .cube file and select it. The LUT applies to the Creative section, meaning it goes on top of any basic corrections you have made, which is the correct order for a proper grading pipeline.

When to use Lumetri vs Apply Color LUT

Use Lumetri when you want to combine a LUT with additional grading controls in a single effect, specifically when you want to adjust exposure or white balance before the LUT hits (using Basic Correction) and then fine-tune with curves or HSL after (using the Curves and HSL sections). Use Apply Color LUT when you want to apply a LUT cleanly and do any additional grading with separate effects. Both approaches are valid. The cleaner architecture is often Apply Color LUT plus separate grading effects, because each step is independent and easy to toggle.

Adjusting LUT Intensity

Applying a LUT at 100% opacity is rarely the right move for every clip. Most LUTs are built to be used at full strength on the ideal footage they were designed for. Your footage may not be that ideal footage. Or you may simply want a subtler look.

Method: Adjustment layer opacity

The simplest way to dial back a LUT's intensity is to reduce the opacity of the adjustment layer it lives on. In the timeline, click the adjustment layer's opacity value (or press T to reveal it) and reduce it. At 60%, the LUT applies at 60% strength with your original footage showing through at 40%. This is a fast, non-destructive way to tone down an aggressive LUT.

The limitation: reducing opacity blends the graded image with the ungraded image. The math is a simple mix. This works well in most cases but can sometimes produce muddy results if the LUT makes drastic changes to contrast. In those cases, there is a more precise method.

Method: Lumetri intensity slider

If you applied the LUT through Lumetri Color, the Creative section has an Intensity slider directly below the Look dropdown. This slider controls how strongly the creative LUT is applied, from 0 (no effect) to 200 (doubled strength). For dialing back, set it to 50-75. This gives a more integrated result than reducing opacity because it controls the LUT's internal blending rather than doing a simple mix with the original image.

Organizing Your LUT Library for Fast Access

This sounds administrative. It is actually one of the most practical workflow improvements you can make. The difference between having 60 LUTs scattered in Downloads and having them organized properly is 10 seconds per LUT versus 2 minutes of hunting each time you want to try something different.

Create a single LUT folder and add it to your sidebar

On Mac, create a folder at ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/common/LUTs/Technical for technical/conversion LUTs and ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/common/LUTs/Creative for creative LUTs. When After Effects launches, any LUTs in these folders appear directly in the Look dropdown in Lumetri Color without needing to browse. For the Apply Color LUT method, the file browser will still require navigation, but at least you know exactly where everything lives.

On Windows, the equivalent path is C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\LUTs\.

Name your LUTs descriptively

When you download a LUT pack, rename the files if the original names are cryptic. A file named "Cinematic_TealOrange_v2.cube" is immediately clear. "LUT_014_final_MASTER.cube" is not. Take 10 minutes when you first get a pack to rename to something useful. You will save that time back within the first session you use them.

Keep a favorites folder

After a few weeks of using LUTs, you will notice that you reach for the same 8-10 LUTs most of the time. Duplicate those into a Favorites subfolder. When you are in the middle of an edit and just need something quick, check Favorites first. It will be there.

Common Mistakes When Applying LUTs in After Effects

Applying the LUT before correcting exposure

This produces the worst results and is the most common mistake. A LUT has assumptions about the exposure, contrast, and white balance of the footage it was designed for. If your clip is two stops underexposed, the LUT will push the already-crushed shadows deeper into black. If it is overexposed, the highlights will clip and lose color information.

Correct order: exposure and white balance correction first, then apply the LUT. Add an effect like Curves or Exposure before the Apply Color LUT effect in your effect chain. Adjust your footage to a reasonable baseline. Then apply the LUT on top.

Applying the LUT directly to footage instead of an adjustment layer

When you apply a LUT directly to a footage layer, changing or removing it requires going back into that specific layer's effects. If you have 30 clips in a composition and want to swap the LUT, you are visiting 30 layers. One adjustment layer at the top of the stack affects all footage beneath it. One click to swap the LUT for everything.

Stacking multiple creative LUTs

Two creative LUTs applied in sequence do not add up to a better look. The second LUT is reprocessing the output of the first LUT, which was never designed as input for another LUT. The result is usually oversaturated, overly contrasty, and unpredictable. If you want a blended result between two looks, use opacity to mix between the original and a single LUT rather than stacking two LUTs.

Using a log conversion LUT on already-graded footage

If your footage is already in Rec.709 (standard color space from most mirrorless cameras on standard picture profiles), applying a LUT designed for S-Log3 conversion will completely destroy the image. Check what color profile your footage was shot in before choosing which LUT to apply. This is covered in the What Are LUTs guide on this blog if you need a refresher on technical vs creative LUTs.

Using LUTs in a Motion Graphics Workflow

After Effects is not just a color correction tool. It is a motion graphics and compositing application. LUTs fit into that workflow in a few specific ways that are worth knowing.

If you are compositing footage with motion graphics elements (text, graphics, 3D renders), the LUT adjustment layer should typically sit above everything in the comp. This makes the entire composition read with one consistent look, which integrates the live footage and the designed elements together visually.

If you have pre-comped graphic elements that should not be affected by the LUT (because they were designed with specific colors that should not shift), put those pre-comps above the adjustment layer or use a blending mode that excludes them.

For a consistent look across a multi-comp project, apply the same LUT in a master composition rather than in each individual pre-comp. One place to change it, everything updates.

Getting the Best Results from Any LUT Pack

The difference between editors who get great results from LUTs and those who do not is rarely the LUTs themselves. It is the footage going into them.

Flat, well-exposed, properly white-balanced footage responds to a LUT the way the LUT was designed to behave. Poorly exposed, mixed-lighting footage responds unpredictably. The LUT will still apply. It will just not look like the preview.

Shoot with this in mind. Slightly flatten your in-camera contrast settings if your camera offers it. Expose to the right (slightly bright) without clipping highlights. This preserves shadow detail and gives the LUT more to work with in the dark areas of the image.

If you are working with existing footage that has problems, fix those problems before applying the LUT. It takes an extra step. The results are significantly better.

The DJM Complete LUT Pack Bundle comes with a full color grading course that walks through exactly this workflow: how to prep footage before applying a LUT, how to adjust after, and how to get consistent results across a timeline with mixed clips. The 60+ LUTs span cinematic, moody, and vibrant looks, all delivered as standard .cube files that work in After Effects through either method covered in this guide.