Apply LUT

This effect applies a 3D Look Up Table (LUT)[1] to the clip. A LUT is an easy way to adjust the color tone of a video, and therefore is mostly used for color grading. It is important to note that if your clips do not match from clip to clip or shot to shot, is not properly exposed or not (yet) color corrected, that applying a LUT will not work the way one hoped it would.

Supported formats:

  • .3dl (AfterEffects)

  • .cube (Iridas)

  • .dat (DaVinci)

  • .m3d (Pandora)

kdenlive2304_effects-apply_lut

Apply LUT effect

  • LUT file to apply - File containing the LUT to be applied. Select Custom… to open a file dialog window to browse for LUT files.

  • Interpolation Mode - Select from Nearest, Trilinear or Tetrahedral (default)

LUT Filter Example

For the example we are using the Tahoe.cube LUT file. You can download LUTs from many places on the internet, like freshluts.com or smallhd.com. Put the downloaded files in a directory or folder that can be reached easily from with Kdenlive. For example, you may have a media stock folder and want to create a similar one for your LUT files.

This is the after and before view:

kdenlive2304_effects-apply_lut_example_3

Project Monitor showing the clip with LUT applied, Clip Monitor the unaltered clip

To apply the LUT follow these simple steps:

  1. In the Effects tab open the Color and Image Correction category and select the Apply LUT effect. Assign it to the clip in the timeline

  2. Open the LUT file to apply drop-down and select Custom

  3. Navigate to the folder with the LUT file(s) you downloaded

  4. Select the LUT file you want and click Open

kdenlive2304_effects-apply_lut_example_1

Apply LUT effect with default settings

kdenlive2304_effects-apply_lut_example_2

Apply LUT file selection dialog

Note that this example shows an individual video editing directory structure with a folder for stock media containing a folder for LUTs. Your mileage may vary …

kdenlive2304_effects-apply_lut_example_4

Apply LUT effect with Tahoe.cube LUT file applied

Of course, you can add other effects from the Color and Image Correction category to further adjust or correct the colors. A good rule of thumb is “less is more”.

You can find more about color correction and color grading in the Tutorial section of the documentation.

Notes