CinemaLut: Generate Your Own Custom LUT from Any Footage with One Click
CinemaLut automatically generates matching LUTs by analyzing reference frames, helping creators quickly replicate cinematic colors.
CinemaLut is a tool launched on Product Hunt that solves color matching through algorithms. Users upload a reference frame, and the system analyzes its tone curve, color tints, and saturation per brightness band to generate a matching LUT for their footage. It supports Log and Rec.709, includes 60 original looks, and offers a free first match. Suitable for independent creators, though professional colorists still need fine-tuning in dedicated software.
Colorists and video creators often face this dilemma: they see a film still, are deeply drawn to its color, but struggle to quickly replicate it onto their own footage. Traditional LUTs (lookup tables) either require manual color grading to slowly approximate the look, or buying preset packs and hoping for the best. CinemaLut, newly launched on Product Hunt, attempts to solve this problem with an algorithm—upload any reference frame, and it analyzes the colors and generates a matching LUT.
From Reference Frame to LUT: How Does It Actually Work?
CinemaLut's workflow is straightforward: you drop in a movie still, a photo, or a video clip, and the system breaks down the color grading characteristics of that image. According to the official description, it measures four dimensions: tone curve, color tints in shadows/midtones/highlights, and saturation per brightness band. This data is used to build a LUT, which is then applied to your footage.
This means it's not just a filter overlay tool—it attempts to reverse-engineer the color structure of the reference image. CinemaLut claims compatibility with footage shot in Log or Rec.709, covering mainstream camera workflows.
LUT (Lookup Table) is essentially a mathematical mapping table that maps each RGB color value of an input image to a new output value. Common 3D LUTs (such as .cube files) define mappings in a three-dimensional color space, capable of adjusting hue, saturation, and brightness simultaneously. LUTs fall into two categories: technical and creative. Technical LUTs are used for color space conversion (e.g., Log to Rec.709), while creative LUTs are used for stylized grading. The limitation of LUTs is that they are fixed mappings and do not adapt to image content, so when lighting or exposure conditions differ significantly from those under which the LUT was created, the results may be suboptimal.
Tone curve describes the mapping of image brightness from dark to light, typically represented as a curve graph with input brightness on the horizontal axis and output brightness on the vertical axis. Adjusting the curve can change contrast, lift shadows, or pull down highlights. In color analysis, the tone curve reflects the overall tonal style of the reference image—for example, whether it has a film-like S-curve. Color tints refer to which colors the shadow, midtone, and highlight regions lean toward (e.g., shadows leaning cyan, highlights leaning warm)—an important characteristic of cinematic color grading. Saturation per brightness band controls the vividness of colors at different luminance levels, such as low-saturation shadows paired with high-saturation midtones. Together, these dimensions form the color fingerprint of an image.
60 Original Looks and Lightroom Profiles
In addition to generating LUTs from reference frames, CinemaLut also includes 60 original looks spread across 8 collections, available in .cube format and Lightroom profiles. This is a quick entry point for users who don't want to analyze from scratch every time—they can pick a preset close to the desired style first, then fine-tune with a reference frame.
The current pricing strategy is free for the first match, lowering the barrier to try it out. However, the official pricing model for subsequent use has not been disclosed, and interested creators should check the official website for confirmation.
Who Is It For?
Independent filmmakers and social media video creators are the core audience. They often don't have a dedicated colorist but want their footage to look cinematic. CinemaLut compresses the chain of "see a color you like → imitate it manually" into "upload → generate → apply," saving a great deal of trial-and-error time.
For professional colorists, this type of tool is better suited for rapid style exploration or reference matching during client pitches, rather than replacing the fine adjustments in DaVinci Resolve. LUTs are inherently fixed mappings, and complex lighting conditions still require manual intervention.
Notable Limitations
The accuracy of LUT matching depends heavily on the color space and exposure conditions of the reference frame versus the target footage. If the two differ too greatly, the generated LUT may produce color casts or banding. CinemaLut claims support for Log and Rec.709, but actual results need to be tested and verified.
Additionally, the 82 upvotes and 6 comments on Product Hunt indicate it is still at an early stage with limited community feedback. The maker is Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares, and the product's maturity and long-term maintenance plans remain to be seen.
If you frequently need to quickly match color styles, CinemaLut is worth trying once with the free quota; if you demand industry-grade precision, you'll still need to go back to professional color grading software and adjust item by item.
Background Notes
Log and Rec.709 are two common video color spaces. The Log (logarithmic) curve is a gamma curve designed by camera manufacturers to preserve high dynamic range—the image looks flat and gray but contains more highlight and shadow detail, making it suitable for post-production color grading. Rec.709 is the standard HDTV color space with a narrower dynamic range, often used for direct delivery. Converting Log footage to Rec.709 requires a technical LUT or manual adjustment. CinemaLut's claimed compatibility with both means the LUTs it generates can be applied to footage from different sources, but users still need to pay attention to correct color space conversion.
One-line Summary
CinemaLut automatically generates matching LUTs by analyzing reference frames, helping creators quickly replicate cinematic colors.
Paragraph Summary
CinemaLut is a tool launched on Product Hunt that aims to solve the color matching challenge through algorithms. Users upload a reference frame (movie still, photo, or video clip), and the system analyzes its tone curve, color tints in shadows/midtones/highlights, and saturation per brightness band to generate a corresponding LUT and apply it to target footage. It supports Log and Rec.709 footage and includes 60 original looks (8 collections), available in .cube format and Lightroom profiles. The first match is free, but the subsequent pricing model is undisclosed. The tool is suitable for independent creators doing rapid style exploration, but professional colorists still need to make fine adjustments in software like DaVinci Resolve. The product is currently at an early stage with limited community feedback.
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