Color Grading Demystified

Who it's for

Shooters whose footage looks flat, grey, or inconsistent. You bought a camera that shoots log, watched a tutorial that promised "cinematic," dragged a LUT onto your clip, and it still looks flat, grey, or weirdly green. The problem isn't your camera and it isn't your eye — it's that nobody told you color happens in two separate stages, in a fixed order, using tools that measure the image instead of guessing at it. This guide fixes that.

What's inside

• Your Footage Isn't Broken — It's Just Uncooked
• Read the Image With Scopes
• Correction Step 1 — Exposure & Contrast
• Correction Step 2 — White Balance
• Log Footage & LUTs — What's Actually Going On
• The Primary Grade — Lift, Gamma, Gain
• Skin Tones — Keep People Looking Human
• Secondary & Selective Color
• Matching Shots Across a Scene
• Save the Look & Export Right