Build Free LUTs with CineD LUTs Builder – powered by fylm.ai

by Nino LeitnerJuly 13^th, 2022

Are you struggling to create beautiful, cinematic and custom LUTs for your productions? CineD LUTs Builder, powered by fylm.ai, is here to help. You can create 5 custom LUTs entirely free using our new tool. Here’s how it works.

At CineD, we are filmmaking professionals, but the majority of us comes from an on-set background and we certainly aren’t expert colorists. Creating the look you’re after isn’t always easy when working with log footage from all sorts of cameras. So we were really happy when fylm.ai arrived and made the process much faster and more straightforward, without complicated wheels and intransparent operation.

Here’s how it works: CineD LUTs Builder

So we decided to team up with the guys at fylm.ai to develop a tool exclusive to CineD readers: CineD LUTs Builder. It’s accessible from anywhere on our desktop site through the new top menu bar on CineD.com. (Please note that the LUTs Builder currently does not work on mobile, and will also not show up in the menu bar on mobile.)

Start by uploading a still or .mp4 video (of course ideally in LOG mode shot on your camera).

First, you define the ACES input and output transformation for proper color management – for input, you first define the logarithmic profile you shot in. For example, it might be S-Log3 with S-Gamut3 if you shot on a Sony a7S III. Then, you define what the output should be – sRGB, BT2020, and so on – depending on your target device.

Next, you have access to the Magic Mode in LUTs Builder, which consists of 12 structured color grading steps, which offer you previews for a range of possible choices on the right hand side of the screen in the Previews tab. These thumbnails offer exact previews of the look in each one of those steps, so any guesswork is eliminated. (You can also resize the previews column if you want to see bigger thumbnails.)

The 12 “magic” steps of color grading in LUTs Builder

The 12 color grading steps in LUTs Builder are logically ordered and contain primary corrections, creative looks, and print film emulations, but also secondary corrections such as skin tone refinements or HSL corrections.

To get started with grading, simply select the best looking option on the right, and go to the next step. If you are satisfied with a result as-is, you may skip a step. You can skip as many steps as you want, or you can make a selection in each and every one of them, it’s absolutely up to you. And of course you can always go back to earlier steps and revisit your selection to refine a look. For example, you may find that selecting a certain print film emulation adjusts the white point of your image, so you might want to go back a few steps and adjust your white balance as needed.

To change the intensity of a look, use the opacity slider below the preview image. To deselect any look, click on the selected preview image again or hit the Enter key.

Downloading your finished LUT

When you are done and satisfied with your color grade, click the last icon in the row to download a LUT. You can create up to 5 LUTs for free, we only require you to sign up for our newsletter in the process, which is very straightforward and easy to do. If you are already subscribed, you can download the LUT immediately after entering your email address.

If you like the LUTs Builder and want more than 5 free LUTs, you have the option to subscribe to a full fylm.ai plan when presented with the option. A full license of fylm.ai unlocks a lot more options to color grade on top of the “Magic Mode” which is used in the LUTs Builder. For example in the Pro plan for $16 per month (billed annually), you have many more custom grading options, you can create separate projects, you have unlimited LUTs creation, 50GB of cloud storage, comment and collaborate on projects and grades, and you can share your work directly with clients.

Intrigued? Click here to try the LUTs Builder for yourself.

More CineD site features are launching soon

We are very happy and thankful to have launched the LUTs Builder after a lot of development behind the scenes by the developers at fylm.ai and the CineD dev team at ABSS. Great team work by everyone involved.

CineD is about to launch another huge product on the site, our Camera and Lens Databases which have been in development for over two years. Among many other things, it will finally be possible to compare our Lab Test results from all previous tests with each other, plus tech data of all kinds of cameras – and much, much more.

But for now, let us know what you think of the LUTs Builder! Internally, we have been using the tool for many months for our own productions and reviews and simply love the easy and structured approach to get cinematic looks for our footage without having to be a professional colorist. Let us know what you think in the comments below!