Color Grading LUTs for Reels: 73 Looks and How to Pick One
Color grading LUTs for Reels give clips from different phones and lights one consistent look in a single step. Pick a look by the feeling you want: warm, moody, clean or retro. Apply it below full strength and use one look for the whole Reel so the cuts feel connected. Then finish with a little contrast or warmth. A LUT is a starting point, not a filter you max out.
What does a LUT do to your footage?
A LUT (lookup table) maps every color in your footage to a new color. Teal shadows and orange skin, faded blacks, a warm cast: each of those is one table applied to every pixel. It’s fast and repeatable, which is why it suits short-form. The same look on every clip makes ten cuts from three phones feel like one shoot.
How do you pick a look?
Pick by feel first, then check it against your footage.
| You want it to feel | Try a look like | Works best on |
|---|---|---|
| Cinematic, dramatic | Teal and orange, blue steel | Travel, cityscapes, action |
| Warm, nostalgic | Golden hour, amber, honey | Sunsets, food, family |
| Cool, calm | Ice, glacial, frost | Water, snow, tech |
| Retro, filmic | Analog, tape, super8 | Lifestyle, music, vlogs |
| Moody, serious | Noir, mafia noir, charcoal | Stories, quotes, night |
| Soft, light | Pastel, milk, cotton | Fashion, beauty, product |
Try the look on your most important shot, usually the face or the product. If skin looks wrong there, the look is wrong for this video.
Should you fix exposure before the look?
Yes. A look assumes reasonable footage: not too dark, not blown out, roughly neutral white. Brighten the dark clip and cool the orange indoor one first, then apply the look. A LUT on a badly exposed clip makes the problem stronger, not prettier.
How strong should the LUT be?
Less than full, in most cases. Looks are built for a typical shot, and your footage isn’t typical. Start around 60 to 80% and raise it only if the look disappears. Skin is the test: if faces turn orange or grey, lower the intensity before you change the look.
One look for the whole Reel, or one per scene?
One for the whole Reel, almost always. A consistent grade is what makes clips feel like they belong together. Use a per-scene adjustment only to fix a clip that doesn’t match: one shot too dark, one too warm under indoor light. Fix the clip first so it matches the others, and the shared look sits on top.
Should the look match your brand?
Over time, yes. A channel that always looks warm and soft is recognizable in the feed before anyone reads the name. Pick one or two looks that fit your topic and reuse them, the same way you’d reuse a font. Change the look for a special series, not for every video.
How do you keep skin tones right?
Watch faces, not skies. A look that makes a landscape gorgeous can turn skin green or grey. Check a close-up after every change. If skin drifts, lower the look’s intensity, warm the temperature slightly, or use vibrance instead of saturation, which pushes muted colors more than skin. People forgive a strange sky; they don’t forgive a strange face.
Which sliders finish the grade?
Small moves do the most:
- Contrast: a touch more for punch on phone screens.
- Temperature: warmer for people and food, cooler for tech and night.
- Saturation or vibrance: small steps; vibrance protects skin.
- Highlights and shadows: pull highlights down on bright skies.
- Vignette and grain: a little vignette pulls the eye to the center, and grain makes a filmic look feel real.
How does Cut Express grade a Reel?
You describe the feel, and Claude picks the look and the numbers:
- 73 looks in groups: cinematic, warm, cool, vintage, mono, vivid, soft, luxury and natural, with names like teal_orange, golden_hour, noir, analog, pastel and mafia_noir. Claude lists them and picks by your description.
- Intensity for each look, with up to three looks stacked.
- Sliders: temperature, tint, hue, saturation, vibrance, brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks and gamma, plus sharpen, fade, vignette and grain.
- Per scene or whole video: a grade on one scene fixes a mismatched clip, and one grade on the whole video sets the look. Texts, captions and logos sit on top of the grade, so your brand colors don’t shift.
A prompt that works: “Warm, filmic look at about 70%, a little grain, and fix the indoor clip, it’s too orange.” Looks are included in every plan and spend no credits (pricing). Pair the grade with word-by-word captions and a strong first three seconds.
FAQ
Can I use my own LUT files? Not yet; the 73 built-in looks cover most needs.
Will the look change my stock clips too? Yes, and that’s the point: stock and your footage end up matching (free stock footage).
Can I change the look after rendering? Ask for another look and Claude renders the next version with the same cuts.
Does grading slow down the render? Barely. The look is applied in the same pass as the rest of the edit.
Grade your next Reel with Cut Express
Cut Express is the video editor you drive from Claude: cuts, captions and color in one sentence. See the plans or read how editing with Claude works.