Here are the best free LUTs for video editors, colorists, cinematographers, motion designers, and post-production professionals.
Unlike a traditional roundup that tells you all about finding free stuff, in this one, we’ve filtered dozens of free LUT packs to create a list of our favorites—and packs that we use the most often.
However, If you’ve clicked on this article with the promise of freebies but you’re not quite sure what a LUT is? Let me break it down for you.
LUTs are the hidden champions of video editing and color correction. Far beyond mere filters, a LUT (Lookup Table) is a specifically organized array of numbers that simplifies a specific computational process. Think of it as a color translator, altering the original colors and tones to a new set of hues.
This modification can range from basic brightness and contrast adjustments to more complex changes in individual color channels, aiming to capture a specific feeling or ambiance. They can also adjust the output from a device, such as a LUT for monitor calibration derived from profiled data.
Additionally, they’re frequently employed to preview the appearance of your image on a different format or device.
Now, let’s get to these freebies!
Color Grading Central: 70 Free LUTS
Okay, so here’s an insider secret. We continuously update these articles over the years because so many new LUTs come onto the market, often superseding the original items mentioned.
Initially, Color Grading Central, the brainchild of Denver Riddle—a professional colorist who has contributed significantly to color grading education through his products and tutorials—had 36 LUTs to give away. Now, we’re at 70!
So, the 129 mentioned in the title is outdated; more than 150 LUTs are scattered throughout this list.
Within this list, you have 17 LOG to REC709 LUTS, 40 Colorist Look LUTs, and 13 film stock LUTs.
You can achieve the iconic visual styles of renowned Hollywood films such as Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max, Moonrise Kingdom, Revenant, Stranger Things, and Wonder Woman, and also replicate the classic appearance of 35mm film, giving your video the essence of being shot on traditional celluloid film.
Shutterstock: 13 Free LUTs
Okay, we can’t ignore the fact that we have 13 FREE LUTs, which have been put to great use across the filmmaking community.
DP Todd Blankenship developed these, primarily producing them for footage from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, leveraging Blackmagic’s color science for minimal adjustments.
If you apply them to different Log curves (like F-Log, C-Log, S-Log, etc.), reducing the LUT’s intensity or modifying other parameters to achieve the desired effect might be necessary.
I encourage you to experiment and discover the visual styles these LUTs can offer.
Pond5: 35 Free LUTs
This complimentary pack, which I frequently utilize, contains 3D.CUBE files that are compatible with a wide range of software, including Premiere Pro CC, FCPX, After Effects CC, and DaVinci Resolve, among other NLEs and color-grading applications.
Ideal for achieving swift vintage and cinematic styles, this collection offers versatile usability for your editing projects. The variety within the pack ensures that you can find the perfect match for any project, making it a staple in your creative toolkit.
Lutify Me: 5 Free LUTs
Lutify.me has five stellar LUTs available to download for free. These are seriously some of the more impressive LUTS available on this list.
Included are:
- Cine World Pro – Amy: This LUT, inspired by the Fuji 3513 print film, enhances your footage with a cinematic flair, offering warmer mid-tones, neutral exposure, and heightened contrast for a bold, creative look.
- Commercial Pro – Claire: Tailored for commercial, music video, and ad cinematography, this LUT utilizes a teal-orange palette with a unique teal-blue tint along the neutral axis, ensuring cold-warm dynamics with enhanced contrast.
- Color Film Boost Pro – 10: Drawing inspiration from Kodak 2383 print film, this LUT pack enriches color depth and range, offers warmer skin tones, and slightly increases contrast for a bold, contemporary finish with a warm midpoint.
- Film Tone Pro – 3: Mimicking Kodak 2393 print film, this LUT provides a softer look with lower contrast, a warmer white point, and a pleasing highlight rolloff, resulting in a deep yet pastel-like color palette for a bold and contemporary aesthetic.
- Print Film Pro – 2: This print film emulation LUT—based on Kodak 2383, but adjusted for broader lighting conditions—focuses on producing filmic and cinematic characteristics, especially pleasing skin tones, with a D65 white point, designed to be used at the end of the grading pipeline.
If you want even more LUTs inspired by classic films for that film-stock look, grab the free Wanderlust pack from PremiumBeat, which is ideal for enhancing your videos from distant lands—or even those captured closer to home.
These 17 .CUBE files work seamlessly across several NLEs and color correction software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017, FCPX, and DaVinci Resolve.
SmallHD: 7 Free LUTs
This pack of free LUTs draws its inspiration from well-known films.
Including:
- Apocalypse This Very Moment features a desaturated look paired with a warm overall cast, setting a subdued yet tense atmosphere.
- B-Boyz 2 boasts intense contrast with a strong balance between warm and cool tones, creating a dynamic and engaging visual experience.
- Bob Ford delivers intense contrast and highly saturated warm tones, offering a vivid and striking visual style.
- Life-Giving Tree presents a subtle, neutral balance with saturated warm shadows, evoking a serene and inviting ambiance.
- Moonrise, characterized by heavily saturated warm highlights and cool/green shadow tones, creates a dramatic and captivating contrast.
- Saving Private Damon emulates a bleach bypass look with a sharp contrast curve, resulting in a gritty and intense visual aesthetic.
- The Matrices, described as a unique, never-before-seen visual approach, implys innovation and creativity in its visual style (sarcasm).
If you can’t guess which films these LUTS are based on, I hearby give you a filmmaker pass!
Juan Melara: 3 Free LUTs
This is another excellent freebie pack from professional colorist Juan Melata. This pack includes three more Kodak film emulations.
Within the package, you’ll find the following print film emulations:
- Fujifilm 3510
- Kodak 2383
- Kodak 2393
Additionally, it features the physically precise halation emulation Juan has utilized over recent years. Thanks to the exceptional accuracy of the FilmUnlimited negative emulations, they seamlessly integrate with the complimentary PFE LUTs provided below.
Looking for more film and video resources? Check these out:
- 191 FREE Assets and Elements for Video Editors and Designers
- 5 Must-Have Accessories for the DJI Mavic 2 (Pro/Zoom)
- 24 Premiere Pro and After Effects Tutorials Covering All Things Text
- Filmmaking Roundup: The Best Free Video Editing Programs
- 11 YouTube Channels Every Filmmaker Should Be Following
License this cover image via Raul Jichici.
