What Are LUTs? How Color Grading Lookup Tables Work

What a LUT Actually Is

LUT stands for Look-Up Table. That name is accurate but not very illuminating, so let me explain what it actually does.

Your camera records color information as values. Every pixel has a red value, a green value, and a blue value between 0 and 255 (or 0 and 1023 in higher bit depths). A LUT is a file that says: "When you see this specific color value coming in, output this different color value." It maps every input color to a predetermined output color across the entire image, simultaneously, in a single operation.

The result: your footage looks completely different. The contrast shifts. The shadows lift or crush. The highlights roll off in a specific way. The skin tones shift warmer or cooler. All of this happens in one step because the LUT has pre-calculated every mapping in advance. That is what makes LUTs fast. The work of deciding what every color becomes was already done when the LUT was built. Your software just executes the lookup.

Technical LUTs vs Creative LUTs

There are two fundamentally different types of LUTs, and confusing them causes real problems.

Technical LUTs (also called input LUTs or camera LUTs)

These are conversion tools. They exist to transform footage from one color space to another. The most common use case: your camera shoots in a log format (S-Log2, S-Log3, V-Log, C-Log, Arri LogC) to preserve maximum dynamic range. That footage looks flat and washed out because it is. The log format is not meant to be watched. It is meant to be graded.

A technical LUT takes that log image and converts it to a standard viewing color space like Rec.709 or sRGB. Now it looks like normal video again. You would apply this LUT first, at the beginning of your color pipeline, before doing anything else.

Camera manufacturers provide official technical LUTs for their log formats. Sony provides LUTs for S-Log. Panasonic for V-Log. Blackmagic for Braw. They are widely available for free. You need the right LUT for your specific camera and log format. Using the wrong technical LUT on log footage is one of the most common grading mistakes I see.

Creative LUTs (also called look LUTs or stylistic LUTs)

These are the ones most people are thinking about when they search for LUTs. A creative LUT applies an intentional aesthetic. It is the tool that makes your footage look cinematic, moody, warm, cool, desaturated, film-like, or whatever specific look the creator built into it.

Creative LUTs assume your footage is already in a standard color space. They are not conversion tools. They are style tools. Apply them after your technical conversion (if you shoot log) or directly to standard camera profiles.

The packs you buy, download, and apply to give your video a specific look. Those are creative LUTs. That is what this post is primarily about.

How LUTs Work Under the Hood

You do not need to understand this to use LUTs effectively. But understanding it will help you make better decisions when things do not look right.

Most modern LUTs are 3D LUTs, which means they operate in a three-dimensional color cube. One axis is red. One is green. One is blue. The LUT defines a specific output for points throughout that cube. Your editing software reads the input pixel value, finds the nearest defined point in the cube (and interpolates between points when the exact value is not defined), and outputs the corresponding mapped value.

The size of the cube matters. A 17-point LUT has 17 defined values along each axis (17x17x17 = 4,913 data points). A 33-point LUT has 35,937 data points. More points means more precision, especially in the transitions between colors. For most creative applications, a 33-point cube is more than enough precision.

The practical implication: LUTs are approximations. They are extremely accurate approximations, but they do not have infinite precision. This is why a good LUT is built with specific types of footage in mind. A LUT built on S-Log3 footage will not apply correctly to V-Log footage. The input assumptions are different.

Where to Apply LUTs: Software Breakdown

Every major editing application supports LUTs, but the path to apply them differs.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Go to Lumetri Color panel > Creative tab > Look. Click the dropdown and choose Browse to navigate to your LUT files. You can also apply a LUT as an Input LUT in the Basic Correction tab, which is the right place for technical/conversion LUTs.

Adobe After Effects

Two methods. The more direct route: Effect > Utility > Apply Color LUT. Apply it to an adjustment layer sitting above your footage. The second method uses the Lumetri Color effect (same panel as Premiere). The Apply Color LUT method is faster for applying and swapping LUTs. The dedicated After Effects guide on this blog covers both methods in full detail.

DaVinci Resolve

The most powerful LUT workflow of any NLE. In the Color page, right-click on a node and select LUT > Browse. You can also import LUTs into your LUT library for easier access. DaVinci also lets you apply LUTs in the Media Pool before cutting, which is useful for on-set monitoring.

Final Cut Pro

In the Color inspector, use the Custom LUT effect. Add it as an effect to your clip or to a compound clip. Navigate to your LUT file. Final Cut supports .cube format files, which is the universal standard.

Lightroom and Lightroom Classic

Lightroom added LUT support in 2023. Go to Develop module > Color Grading > Profiles. LUTs can be imported as custom profiles. The workflow is a bit different from video NLEs but the underlying math is the same.

For all of these applications, the LUTs from the DJM Complete LUT Pack are delivered as standard .cube files. The universal format. No plugins required. Drop them in, apply them, and they work.

When NOT to Use LUTs

This is the part of the conversation that gets skipped in most LUT tutorials. LUTs have a set of assumptions built into them. When your footage violates those assumptions, the LUT will not look right. Sometimes it will look terrible.

Bad exposure

LUTs assume your exposure is correct or close to it. A LUT designed for properly exposed footage applied to underexposed footage will crush the shadows into black and create noise artifacts. Applied to overexposed footage, it will blow out the highlights and create color clipping. Correct your exposure before applying any creative LUT. This means adjusting your white balance, lifting or lowering exposure, recovering highlights if needed. Do that first. Then apply the LUT.

Mixed lighting conditions in the same clip

If you have a shot that starts indoors under tungsten light and cuts to a window with daylight coming in, a single LUT applied to the whole clip will look wrong in one of those two conditions. The LUT was built for one lighting scenario. Mixed lighting requires either manual keyframing of the grade or splitting the clip and treating each section separately.

Already heavily graded footage

If you have already applied significant color correction to a clip, adding a LUT on top is stacking corrections that may not be designed to work together. The LUT will react to the corrections you have already made, not to the base footage. The results are unpredictable. A cleaner approach: start with a neutral correction layer, then apply the LUT, then refine on top of that.

Wrong color space

A LUT built for Rec.709 footage applied to log footage will look wildly wrong. The colors will not map correctly because the input values mean completely different things in each color space. Either convert your footage to the correct color space first, or use a technical LUT specifically designed for your log format before applying any creative LUT.

LUTs vs a Full Color Grade

A LUT is not a color grade. This distinction matters.

A proper color grade is a multi-step process. Primary correction (fixing exposure, white balance, and contrast across all clips for consistency). Secondary correction (isolating specific colors or regions and adjusting them independently). Creative look application. Matching shots within a scene. Skin tone work. Motion tracking corrections on specific elements.

A LUT is one step in that process. Specifically, it is the look application step. It applies a predetermined stylistic mapping to your already-corrected image. A good LUT shortens the creative look development time dramatically. It does not replace the corrections that should happen before it or the refinements that might happen after.

Professional colorists use LUTs as starting points, not endpoints. They apply a LUT that gets them 80% of the way to the look they want, then refine from there. This is exactly how to get the most out of any LUT pack. Use the LUT as a foundation. Dial it back if it is too strong. Push specific elements (shadows, skin tones, highlights) after the LUT is applied to make it specific to your footage.

Building a LUT Workflow That Saves Time

The efficiency argument for LUTs is real, but only if you set up your workflow correctly.

Organize your LUT library before you need it. Create a folder structure that makes sense to you: by mood, by use case, by the pack they came from. When you are in the middle of an edit and need to try five different looks quickly, navigating a folder of 300 LUTs named "LUT_001.cube" through "LUT_300.cube" is useless. Rename them descriptively. Keep the ones you use in a favorites folder.

Apply LUTs to adjustment layers, not directly to clips. An adjustment layer that sits above your entire timeline lets you swap, disable, or adjust the opacity of the LUT without touching individual clips. This is especially important when a client wants to see two different looks. Change the LUT on the adjustment layer. Everything updates.

Use opacity to dial in intensity. Most NLEs let you reduce the intensity of a LUT by adjusting the blend mode opacity of the layer it is applied to. A LUT at 100% opacity is the full look. At 60%, it is more subtle. Starting at 70-80% and adjusting from there is often better than using the LUT at full strength, especially on skin tones.

Match your LUT to your footage characteristics. A LUT built for cinematic car footage in controlled lighting will not work as well on run-and-gun documentary footage shot in mixed available light. Build your library with your typical shooting conditions in mind.

The .cube Format: What It Is and Why It Matters

Most LUTs you will encounter are distributed as .cube files. This is the most widely supported LUT format across video editing software. Premiere Pro, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Lightroom, Capture One, and dozens of other applications all read .cube files natively.

When you are buying LUTs, confirm they are distributed as .cube files. If a pack distributes only .3dl or .look files, check compatibility with your software before purchasing. The DJM Complete LUT Pack delivers everything as .cube files with no compatibility worries.

The other format you will occasionally see is .lut or .mga. These are DaVinci-specific formats. They offer some advanced features within Resolve but do not work in other applications. For cross-software flexibility, .cube is the format to use.

What Makes a LUT Pack Worth Buying

The market for LUT packs is massive and the quality varies enormously. Here is what separates a pack worth keeping from one you use once and forget.

• Flexibility. A good LUT works across a range of footage. A bad LUT only looks right in the exact conditions it was built for.
• Variety within a pack. A pack with 20 variations of the same look is not 20 LUTs. A pack with distinct moods, contrast levels, and color signatures gives you real creative range.
• Built on real footage, not test charts. LUTs built by working editors on actual client footage are calibrated to the way cameras actually capture color in the real world.
• Designed for specific use cases. Automotive LUTs need to handle metallic surfaces, environmental reflections, and motion. Documentary LUTs need to handle mixed available light and skin tones. Specificity matters.

The DJM Complete LUT Pack Bundle was built on real automotive and cinematic footage, tested across multiple camera formats, and organized into three distinct collections: Cinematic (20 LUTs), Moody (15 LUTs), and Vibrant (15 LUTs). Plus a full color grading course included at no extra cost. If you are looking for a starting point, the guide to the best LUTs for video editing on this blog breaks down what each collection is best for.