5 Fun LUTs to Color Grade Your Video

LUTs—or "Lookup Tables"—are arrays of numbers that translate to a specific color grade or visual look. In the world of video editing, you can think of LUTs as color templates that editors use to alter the look of their videos quickly.

Without LUTs, color grading is a labor-extensive, detailed process that involves adjusting contrast, white point, saturation, and other color variables manually. LUTs allow even the most novice editors to apply predetermined color grades in one click.

In this article, we are going to look at 5 LUT packs you can use on your videos to give them a stylistic, cinematic appearance without in-depth knowledge of color grading.

All packs are available in the video editor PowerDirector. It includes a wide selection of LUTs you can add to your videos, streamlining the color grading process. Plus, there are new LUT collections added every month.

• Difference Between Color Correction and Color Grading
• 5 LUTs to Color Grade Your Videos
1. Color Pop
2. Food - Darks
3. Outdoor
4. CyberPunk
5. Faded Film
• Color Correction and Color Grade with LUTs

Difference Between Color Correction and Color Grading

Color correction and color grading are two important steps in video post-production.

Color correction is the process of making your video footage look as if you are viewing the subject through human eyes. Cameras often change the colors, lighting, and saturation of video footage, creating a contrast between the footage you take and the way you viewed it in real life.

You can use color correction to even out these differences, making the footage look as realistic as possible. Documentary editors often apply color correction to remove any altered hues from their footage.

In contrast, color grading is a more creative process in which editors alter the hues in footage to create a specific mood or aesthetic. For example, editors may use color grading to brighten up footage of a fun day at the pool or darken the hues in a dramatic war movie.

When it comes to color correction and grading CyberLink hands down has the best solution. The video editor PowerDirector comes with a wide variety of correction tools, preloaded LUTs, and a color match tool that allows you to recreate the look of any video in one click.

Download PowerDirector for free to try LUTs out on your videos.

If you want even more control you can use ColorDirector in tandem with PowerDirector. ColorDirector includes powerful region tools and keyframe controls that allow you to be incredibly precise for professional results. Both are available in Director Suite 365, a complete editing studio for your Windows PC.

5 LUTs to Color Grade Your Videos

1. Color Pop

Capturing video footage that adequately showcases the bright colors or pastels you see in real life is next to impossible. However, the PowerDirector Color Pop LUT pack automatically brightens up the colors in your footage, creating a more attractive visual appeal.

This pack includes both cold and warm LUTs that are perfect for accentuating the colors in your footage. If your video features mainly cool colors like blues, greens, and purples, applying one of the six "cold" LUTs can make those colors pop. If your video includes warm colors or you would like to add warmth to the footage, you can choose from one of six warm LUTs.

2. Food - Darks

Dark food videography is a current trend in the foodie world. Setting colorful, appetizing food against a dark background draws the viewer's attention to the meal and creates a professional, chef-worthy appeal.

PowerDirector's Food - Darks LUT pack includes twelve different LUTs to apply to your videos, featuring six cool and six warm presets. Using these LUTs on your dark food videos can create a subtle hue change to brighten up the footage and make the colors more appealing while maintaining the natural quality of the food.

3. Outdoor

Filming outdoors during the day often results in dull, under-saturated color palettes within your footage. PowerDirector's Outdoor LUT pack can help you optimize the hues in your footage by enriching dark colors or creating a golden hour look.

4. Cyberpunk

PowerDirector's Cyberpunk LUT pack creates a futuristic, neon aesthetic that resembles the colorful nighttime street lights you would see in an urban cyberpunk film. This pack includes twelve LUT styles to create different aesthetics for your footage.

For example, Cyberpunk 12 changes the blue hues in your video to pinks, while Cyberpunk 04 cools down warmer shades for an icy effect. Cyberpunk LUTs create the most appealing effects on outdoor night footage that features colorful glows from city lights.

5. Faded Film

Vintage movies often feature faded colors that create a sepia-like tone over the footage. PowerDirector's Faded Film LUT pack mimics this vintage effect by slightly muting the colors in your video, adding an old-timey feel to your videos.

PowerDirector and its companion coloring software ColorDirector offer stunning LUTs for a variety of uses. Download both programs for free today to see these top-quality LUTs in action.

PowerDirector

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ColorDirector

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Color Correction and Color Grade with LUTs

Color grading is a piece of cake with PowerDirector. The program makes it easy to apply dozens of preset LUTs to your video footage to create any aesthetic appeal you want.

PowerDirector can handle your color correction needs but if you want complete control with precision coloring and dynamic effects you can manipulate with keyframes ColorDirector is for you.

You can start editing in PowerDirector then seamlessly integrate ColorDirector into your production workflow by directly editing any video on your PowerDirector timeline via ColorDirector.

Both are available in Director Suite 365. Download this suite today to begin applying pro-level color grading and correction to your videos. Then check out our article about the top ten transition effects to add to your next video for more inspiration.