Color grading is where good footage becomes cinematic. It’s simpler than it looks, and DaVinci Resolve (free) is the industry-standard tool.

Step 1: Color Correction (Making It Right)

Before creative grading, make your footage technically correct:

  • Exposure: Balance brightness across all shots so they match
  • White balance: Correct any color casts (too warm/cool)
  • Contrast: Set your black point and white point using the lift/gain controls

Step 2: Shot Matching

Your footage should cut together seamlessly. Match skin tones, brightness, and color temperature across every shot in a scene. Use the parade waveform to compare shots.

Step 3: Creative Grading (Making It Beautiful)

Now add your creative look:

  • Shadows: Push toward blue/teal for a cool, cinematic feel
  • Highlights: Push toward warm/amber for skin-friendly warmth
  • Saturation: Reduce 10-20% for a less “video-like” feel
  • Contrast curve: Lift blacks slightly (don’t crush to pure black) for a filmic look

The Orange-Teal Look

The most popular cinematic grade: push shadows toward teal, midtones/highlights toward orange. It works because skin tones are warm (orange family) and look vibrant against cool backgrounds.

LUTs

Look-Up Tables (LUTs) are presets that transform color. They’re a starting point, not a final grade. Apply a LUT then adjust to taste — never use one straight out of the box without tweaking.

Skin Tone Rule

In any grade, protect skin tones. Use the vectorscope — skin tones should fall along the “skin tone line” regardless of ethnicity. If your creative grade makes skin look sickly, it’s too much.

DaVinci Resolve’s free version has every tool you need. Combine it with FrameCoach coaching on set (correct settings = better footage to grade) and your results will be dramatically better.

More in our Filmmaker Tools hub.